Spring Rains

Coming up on that time of year where the spring rains lead to frequent flooding.  Dad and I went down to check on the pipes, stoplogs, and flap gates during the last flood to make sure the timber and west field would drain, and east field hold water.  Attempted to drain the fields to mow down the corn before the floods hit but never got close to dry enough.  The majority of the migration has already moved through, but still saw plenty of ducks.

Hope we can avoid any major flooding this year to give our local turkey population a little break.  Just over a week to go for turkey season!  As the forecast stands now, good chance the river will be out of its banks for the opener but we will somehow manage as we do just about every year.

 

Post Season Videos

Some videos Jason took in the past week while he attempted to goose hunt.  Sure makes it tough to focus on geese when you're covered up with ducks!

(click on the settings button in the bottom right corner and change the videos to high quality)

Flooded Corn Roost

Typical of many years, the ducks continue to hang around the area in mass numbers weeks after the season has ended.  At least we got to enjoy a week of hunting this before the season closed.  This just gives us a little more encouragement that flooding standing corn was worth it, and we will continue to keep trying to improve the habitat to see sights like this (hopefully moreso during season if the weather and ducks cooperate!).

The ears of corn are stripped clean, but they continue to hang around and use the field as a roost and feed on what waste grain and invertebrates are left.  Jason went down a couple times this past week and took some pictures and video of what was hanging around.

Late December Bean Field Hunt

Here's the full video of the field hunt we had near the end of the season in some cut beans.  Gets a little slow and repetitious towards the middle, so if you want, fast forward to the last 6 minutes or so to see the big groups of ducks funneling in!