EPIC SEASON COMING TO INEVITABLE CLOSE

[BRHC Manager]

To say the duck hunting in parts of the South Delta has been good this year is a major understatement. Let me use statistics as a poor representation for what words could never say: 24 personal hunts- 19 hunts with a 6 duck limit. Of the 5 "slow" days, 3 of them were 4 mallard days and the other 2 day were early season wood duck shoots. 8 of my 24 hunts have included a drake pintail. Every guest I have taken has bagged at least a 4 mallard limit except 1 guest on 1 day early in the season and he finished strong today with a 3GH, 2 GAD, 1 DRAKE PINTAIL limit, including a BANDED GH- his first bander since 2003. 13 of the 24 days have included shooting guests, 4 more have included non-shooting guests.
I still enjoy the occassional solo hunt but, admittedly, not as much as I used to.

I could ask for nothing more from the birds this year. They have given me their souls and I have given them mine. What a joy it is been to get totally lost in the magic, the splendor of the wintering waterfowl migration, like an old love I have lost and suddenly found, never quite realizing how hot the smoldering ambers had been burning. Ah yes, my friends, I have fallen in love with the great sport, the wonderful tradition, the timeless essence of waterfowling all over again.

And what a joy it has been to share this passion with old friends and new friends, four legged friends and mostly with my son, aged 7 and a natural born duck hunter if there has ever been one. He has joined me on hunts, hot and cold, dry and wet, transfixed by the magic of it all, shooting every bird he sees with his imaginary stick gun, a willow oak or water oak branch perfectfully suited for the duck hunt of his youthful dreams. I drag him kicking and screaming to the deer stand, his DS in tow, but he is in his element at the duck hole as much as I am in mine and no silly electronic gimmicks are needed to totally capitivate his attention. He too recognizes, intuitively if not yet consiously, that nothing created by the hand of man has ever - or will ever- compare with the absolute, sheer perfection of ducks in flight under a steel gray, cold January sky or framed against a blue bird December dawn, whether at 10 yards over decoys in the timber or a mile away windmilling into a nearby corn or bean or rice field.

So here is to the mighty mallard, the tumultous teal, the prideful pintail, the wacky wigeon, the gawky gadwall and the wizardly woody, among others. Farewell my friends and Godspeed. Take care of the ducks and they will take care of you. INDEED.

[HEADSHOT]

well put

[Rice]

To say the duck hunting in parts of the South Delta has been good this year is a major understatement. Let me use statistics as a poor representation for what words could never say: 24 personal hunts- 19 hunts with a 6 duck limit. Of the 5 "slow" days, 3 of them were 4 mallard days and the other 2 day were early season wood duck shoots. 8 of my 24 hunts have included a drake pintail. Every guest I have taken has bagged at least a 4 mallard limit except 1 guest on 1 day early in the season and he finished strong today with a 3GH, 2 GAD, 1 DRAKE PINTAIL limit, including a BANDED GH- his first bander since 2003. 13 of the 24 days have included shooting guests, 4 more have included non-shooting guests.
I still enjoy the occassional solo hunt but, admittedly, not as much as I used to.

I could ask for nothing more from the birds this year. They have given me their souls and I have given them mine. What a joy it is been to get totally lost in the magic, the splendor of the wintering waterfowl migration, like an old love I have lost and suddenly found, never quite realizing how hot the smoldering ambers had been burning. Ah yes, my friends, I have fallen in love with the great sport, the wonderful tradition, the timeless essence of waterfowling all over again.

And what a joy it has been to share this passion with old friends and new friends, four legged friends and mostly with my son, aged 7 and a natural born duck hunter if there has ever been one. He has joined me on hunts, hot and cold, dry and wet, transfixed by the magic of it all, shooting every bird he sees with his imaginary stick gun, a willow oak or water oak branch perfectfully suited for the duck hunt of his youthful dreams. I drag him kicking and screaming to the deer stand, his DS in tow, but he is in his element at the duck hole as much as I am in mine and no silly electronic gimmicks are needed to totally capitivate his attention. He too recognizes, intuitively if not yet consiously, that nothing created by the hand of man has ever - or will ever- compare with the absolute, sheer perfection of ducks in flight under a steel gray, cold January sky or framed against a blue bird December dawn, whether at 10 yards over decoys in the timber or a mile away windmilling into a nearby corn or bean or rice field.

So here is to the mighty mallard, the tumultous teal, the prideful pintail, the wacky wigeon, the gawky gadwall and the wizardly woody, among others. Farewell my friends and Godspeed. Take care of the ducks and they will take care of you. INDEED.

Guys already putting in some good advertising for next season!!

[DeltaCotton12]

i just dont know how or why, but i hunted the north Delta 22 times this year and killed 25 ducks... i hunted a week straight with 0 kills. to say this year was magical to me is a joke. i hunted 1 day with birds working. every other day was a windy cloudy day and birds acting as if i was standing in my dekes with a Suzy in my hands and a gun to her head. i thought it was bad cover, so i fixed that, maybe the robo, took them out, maybe to many dekes, smaller spread, maybe call shy, limited/quit calling, not help there. my season was by far miserable on the bird count. now the chase was fun as well as the times spent with my Brother and friends.

i"m done for the year. My last hunt was MLK day. keep in mind that i killed 25 ducks total, i killed 8 during that long weekend... 1/3 came from my last weekend. it was rough.

but come next year i"ll be ready. My dog is about a week away from here so i'll be ready to get her in the water after some green...

Chasing Green, The Southern Mans Dream

DCB12

[BRHC Manager]

Memo to Rice: Nope. No advertising. For the first time ever on this lease, I went it alone this year. Ate the entire lease, well, dirt work, etc. Best hunting investment in my life. No worries about guests. No worries about when I hunted. No worries about which hole had been hunted when and by whom. If I wanted to go, I did. If I didn't want to go, I didn't with no concern about so and so hunting the hole before I could or their non-hunting guest shooting 2 boxes to kill a couple of spoonies.

I got downright silly on several occassions with a duck/buck morning hunt or buck/duck afternoon hunt. Even went buck/duck a time or two where I hunted deer from light until around 10, then killed a mallard limit from 10 to 12. One of these hunts yielded a 6 duck limit and a 22" 6 point with 23" beams and 5" bases.

One of the ancilliary benefits has been, that I am now super motivated to maintain my duck hunting independence from henceforth. Big financial nut to crack, but God willing, I will find a way to earn the dinero necessary to flick my finger at the duck club witch in favor of the good fairy of self determination for another year.

[DanP]

Well hello Hammer

[mudsucker]

What does BRHC stand for? Black Republican Hunt Club?

[Wildfowler]

You summed that up very nicely. There was something magical that happened this season for sure. The greatest season I've ever experienced.

[Click]

You summed that up very nicely. There was something magical that happened this season for sure. The greatest season I've ever experienced.

Agreed. It was downright fantastic.

[mmkenty]

it was a great season for me even though i got to go hunt a few times

[novacaine]

Awesome season-one of the best ive had since highschool and college back in the 70's & early 80's. Less mallards but more teal & gads than ever before.
Got to go with my 15 yr old son, old friends, new friends and a few solitary hunts by myself like the old days.
Today I knew that I probably would not hunt tomorrow for the closer. I shot my limit of gads over close to the river while hunting with a new hunting buddy. The last one that locked over the decoys almost made me sad that this season was coming to a close for me. Then I folded him and it put a smile back on my face. I look forward to carrying a wad of kids to my best hole next weekend and also getting together with close buddies to gang up on snows over the next month. Had so many great hunts this year that the few bad ones won't be remembered

[Scully]

Yall take me with ya next year- this was the worst for me in 10 yrs.

[deltadukman]

13 of the 24 days have included shooting guests

Remind me never to go with you as a guest there Dick Cheney

[Gumbo]

here, here...

excellent year...wish they all were like this one