1/23/2021 coastal hunt - first black duck!

[mazzgolf]

I hit another "first" milestone this morning - my first black duck!

I had grand plans to hunt with a buddy of mine in his boat - but "Gale Warning" put a halt to those plans. Undeterred, late last night I convinced myself to come up with a plan to go out on foot! What could possibly go wrong? No dog, no boat, gale force winds.

There was an area I knew of that held black ducks but I never actually hunted or scouted it (only seen it from afar). So, I decided to throw caution to the wind (pun intended) and even though I never walked in here before, I figured it was safe enough to get there at 6am and hope my headlamp could help me find a good spot where I could set up some decoys and had some cover that I could sit in. Wasn't too hard - about a third of a mile walk in and I found a nice spot.

Literally 60 seconds after shooting time, this one came in on a string right at me - I took 2 practice shots to warm up and then decided to shoot it with my 3rd  

Drake and hen black ducks look the same to me - when I got home, I needed my duck identification booklet to help me figure out it was a female

There was a lot more shooting going on around me - I only saw a few more small flocks nearby, none came in range. But I did walk around a little bit to do some on-the-fly scouting for the next time I come here. Found a couple more good spots to try.

All in all, a very successful day, considering the original plans got scuttled and I almost didn't go out at all.

[Swamprat]

Congrats. Haven't duck hunted in years.  Had a spot in the pines where all you had was black ducks. Limit was 1 back then.(think it's 2 now). You'd shoot your one black and watch dozens come in.  Lol. The road to get back has since washed out.  Hhhmmmm may have to seek another route.  

Congrats. Enjoy the harvest. 

[jerseyducker]

Nice job. Was cold/windy today. me and son managed a few blacks ourselves. 

[Batsto]

6 hours ago, mazzgolf said:

I hit another "first" milestone this morning - my first black duck!

I had grand plans to hunt with a buddy of mine in his boat - but "Gale Warning" put a halt to those plans. Undeterred, late last night I convinced myself to come up with a plan to go out on foot! What could possibly go wrong? No dog, no boat, gale force winds.

There was an area I knew of that held black ducks but I never actually hunted or scouted it (only seen it from afar). So, I decided to throw caution to the wind (pun intended) and even though I never walked in here before, I figured it was safe enough to get there at 6am and hope my headlamp could help me find a good spot where I could set up some decoys and had some cover that I could sit in. Wasn't too hard - about a third of a mile walk in and I found a nice spot.

Literally 60 seconds after shooting time, this one came in on a string right at me - I took 2 practice shots to warm up and then decided to shoot it with my 3rd  

Drake and hen black ducks look the same to me - when I got home, I needed my duck identification booklet to help me figure out it was a female

There was a lot more shooting going on around me - I only saw a few more small flocks nearby, none came in range. But I did walk around a little bit to do some on-the-fly scouting for the next time I come here. Found a couple more good spots to try.

All in all, a very successful day, considering the original plans got scuttled and I almost didn't go out at all.

Did you shoot that on the beach? Good shooting!!

[rem870hunter1]

Nice!  👍👍

 

"Practice shots"  i'll have to remember that one 😅🤣😂

[Jim_]

.

Fun day ... congrats!

 

8 hours ago, mazzgolf said:

Literally 60 seconds after shooting time, this one came in on a string right at me - I took 2 practice shots to warm up and then decided to shoot it with my 3rd  

[Integracingsr]

Nice going, Mazz. Way to stick with it, change the plan, and still make it happen. Congrats on your first black duck. 

[Kype]

well earned duck with todays weather. congrats

[Buck154]

Congrats

[LPJR]

[Lunatic]

Very Cool. Its always very exciting to try something new.