My Greatest Duck Hunt

[Cajun Outdoors]

Ready for the season, so felt like reminiscing.

Over the years I've had some great hunts. Quick limits, all big ducks, snow hunts, ice hunts. But if asked, my best hunt is the one below.

The year: 2000
The place: Atchafalaya Basin - Gravenburg Area
2 hunters : 8 green heads 1 woodie hen

Me and my buddy Jacob got slightly hammer drunk the night before. Everyone got up early to go hunting, but we slept in. We were going to catch the "9 o'clock" flight. It wasn't particularly cold that week of early January but the water was the right height and there were no lillies and the mallards had found the swamp.

When we got to my father in laws blind about 8:30 we jumped about 200 mallards out of the decoys. We could've shot our limit unloading the pirogue. We just looked at each other and never said a word. We knew it was about to be on.

We paddled 250 yds to the blind and got set up. I immediately called in a flock of mallards and Jacob jumped up and dropped a green head. We proceeded to take turns killing one green head per flock, alternating shots. As soon as we'd shoot at a flock another was coming back down trying to hit the decoys. Within 45 minutes we had our 8 green heads and one woodie shooting one bird per flock. We could've stayed and tried to pick up some grays to fill the limits but I told him I'd rather end the hunt this way.

It's a hunt I will never forget and I hope to someday share a similar one with my son.

We've never had a season like that since...

The pic is of me and Jacob in front of Camp Croche on the GA cut with our birds.

[mallard matt]

You sure got to love those good hunts were every thing works out and the bird want in.Me and a freind had a hunt like that this last season we had eight mallards in thirty minutes.Best hunt ever especially since my dog proved himself that hunt didnt lose a bird.On another note hows the hunting been in that area i recently inherited a camp on the crook shane.I havn't talked to anybody whos hunted there in the last twenty years.I've heard they got some good late season hunting back there.Just havn't made it back there in the season yet.

[specktator]

Nothin like watchin those big mallards bomb into the swamp. We have a 20 acre lake to hunt in the middle of Cat Island swamp and hammer them up there, but this past year the water was too high. You couldnt even get back there. Never shot our limit of mallards but have had some awesome hunts shooting teal, greys, mallards, and woodies. Come on September!

[Cajun Outdoors]

It was spotty last year, but there were some mallards killed. The water was really too deep for it to get really good though.

My best hunts were in Venice last year where 6 of us killed limits 3 days in a row on Passe a l'outre WMA. Wondering what the oil is going to do to that place...

[specktator]

Originally Posted by Cajun Outdoors

It was spotty last year, but there were some mallards killed. The water was really too deep for it to get really good though.

My best hunts were in Venice last year where 6 of us killed limits 3 days in a row on Passe a l'outre WMA. Wondering what the oil is going to do to that place...

Yeh I remember reading about that in Cajun Outdoor. I have never hunted down there but talked to some ppl that said they always do very well down there. I used to hunt the Wax alot in college and we would do very well out there. Im too lazy for all that work now though!

[Cajun Outdoors]

Originally Posted by specktator

Yeh I remember reading about that in Cajun Outdoor. I have never hunted down there but talked to some ppl that said they always do very well down there. I used to hunt the Wax alot in college and we would do very well out there. Im too lazy for all that work now though!

Yeah, when I was in college I spent many accounting/business classes shooting ducks at wax lake. Ducks don't seem to be there as much as they used to either, though I haven't been in 5-6 years.

[specktator]

Originally Posted by Cajun Outdoors

Yeah, when I was in college I spent many accounting/business classes shooting ducks at wax lake. Ducks don't seem to be there as much as they used to either, though I haven't been in 5-6 years.

Talked to a guy other day that said they did very well at the Wax this past year.

[huntin fool]

Originally Posted by specktator

Nothin like watchin those big mallards bomb into the swamp. We have a 20 acre lake to hunt in the middle of Cat Island swamp and hammer them up there, but this past year the water was too high. You couldnt even get back there. Never shot our limit of mallards but have had some awesome hunts shooting teal, greys, mallards, and woodies. Come on September!

Forget september!!! Bring on November!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[specktator]

Originally Posted by huntin fool

Forget september!!! Bring on November!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well at least we get a little "teal tease!"

[huntin fool]

Originally Posted by specktator

Well at least I get a little "teal tease!"

Aint no We, i could not find the teal last season...have all dem teal ducks you want!!!!

[specktator]

Originally Posted by huntin fool

Aint no We, i could not find the teal last season...have all dem teal ducks you want!!!!

We slaughter the teal in PI. Limit out just about every hunt. I'll let u come bust some if u want!

[longsidelandry]

Originally Posted by specktator

Yeh I remember reading about that in Cajun Outdoor. I have never hunted down there but talked to some ppl that said they always do very well down there. I used to hunt the Wax alot in college and we would do very well out there. Im too lazy for all that work now though!

We usually go to Wax for opening of teal every year and we've been going to Shell Island on opening weekend of big ducks every year for the past 12 years. My favorite hunt would be about 6 or 7 years ago at the Wax. Me and 2 buddies went to Wax but had to idle all the way there because we were breaking in the brand new motor and it was very foggy so we didn't get to our spot til the sun was well on its way up. When we could actually see more than 10 feet in front of the boat we decided to hunt in a small cut that we had found a few weeks before that made a short run through the marsh. While walking to the cut we could have killed our limit of teal there were so many of them around. We set up along a little bend in the cut. All we shot were fly-by's and we had our 3 man limit in right at 1 hour. We were back at my house in Delcambre and had all the ducks cleaned before 11 o'clock. We ended up putting the boat back down in Delcambre to finish breaking in the motor and waste the day away!!

[specktator]

I have had some awesome hunts out there. I used to have an 18' aluminum center console with 135hp. We went down one of the channels to where we wanted to hunt. Since my boat was so big we had to park it off the cut and walk about 400-500yards through the marsh to our spot. We hammered the ducks. And like u said landry, majority of ducks u shoot at wax are passing shots. After limiting we walk all the way back to my boat. When we get there, the tide had fallen hard, and my boat was on dry ground about 30 yards from the water! Luckily, there was 6 of us to push it or we would have never gotten it off.
We had some great times staying down there. We used to get to the campground on Friday mornings and party all day and night. Those were the days!

[longsidelandry]

Originally Posted by specktator

I have had some awesome hunts out there. I used to have an 18' aluminum center console with 135hp. We went down one of the channels to where we wanted to hunt. Since my boat was so big we had to park it off the cut and walk about 400-500yards through the marsh to our spot. We hammered the ducks. And like u said landry, majority of ducks u shoot at wax are passing shots. After limiting we walk all the way back to my boat. When we get there, the tide had fallen hard, and my boat was on dry ground about 30 yards from the water! Luckily, there was 6 of us to push it or we would have never gotten it off.
We had some great times staying down there. We used to get to the campground on Friday mornings and party all day and night. Those were the days!

That's pretty much all we've done the last few years at Shell Island. We haven't been doing good until later in the season out there so we just go party it up on opening weekend. Last year we didn't even fire a shot. We're thinking about not even bringing our guns and waders this year lol.

[Montauk17]

Originally Posted by longsidelandry

That's pretty much all we've done the last few years at Shell Island. We haven't been doing good until later in the season out there so we just go party it up on opening weekend. Last year we didn't even fire a shot. We're thinking about not even bringing our guns and waders this year lol.

LOL

[all star rod]

Originally Posted by specktator

We slaughter the teal in PI. Limit out just about every hunt. I'll let u come bust some if u want!

Man cannot wait for Teal Season.......Last year was our wrose in the past 4 years.....we only killed about 80.......
In the past, we averaged at least 180 for the 16 day season. It will be here before you know it!

[Ducktrickster]

One of the best I've ever been on in the cypress swamp. Hope to do it again.

[Cajun Outdoors]

that some duckies there...awesome hunt.

[Raymond]

I can't really start to list all of my greatest hunts since just being out in the marsh is great. Sunrise in the marsh is one of the prettiest sights I have ever witnessed, each one is different but beautiful. The saturday before the season close I took my 8 yo even though he was kind of croopy. We bundled him up and samiched him between my two buddies to keep him warm on the boat ride into the marsh. Once on the lease he went into hunt mode looking for gators(did not matter that it was 30 degrees). His spot would be on top of one of our dog stands between me and Uncle Ryan. As the sun started to come up waves of mallards, pintail,teal, and grey ducks rose and began to take flight. Our 3 man limit was easy to fill that saturday morning, mallards,pintail,and mottled ducks. Hayden had a great time and actually called the shot on a group of teal that landed in the decoys, unfortunetly, we were waiting for the 3 mallards to work in close enough for me to call the shot.

[SULPHITE]

throwing up the LC!!! LMAO!!