Live Hunts - Texas Duck Hunt - January 4

Live Hunts - Texas Duck Hunt - January 4 - Day 1

January 4, Day 1
Texas Duck Hunt

This is a duck hunt on the Texas Gulf Coast near Port Aransas. I'm hunting coastal bays where the ducks are rafted up and spending the day in large numbers. I've never hunted the coast before, so this is a new and exciting experience for me. I'm a little concerned about hunting in a tidal area and knowing nothing about hunting in a tidal area. I guess I'll just take things as they come and watch the water level. The water is extremely shallow, in some places no more than a few inches. The primary ducks in this area are Redheads and Pintails, with a scattering of Wigeon, Scaup, Bufflehead and a few others. The trick down here is not getting enough shot opportunities to shoot a limit of 6 birds in one day. The trick is getting those last 3 birds to be something other than Redheads and Pintails, since they are so prevalent.

A shot of about half my decoy spread.
Couldn't fit the whole thing in one camera frame

My boat, decked out in Quack Grass - great stuff
I started out this morning hunting a huge flat that I scouted yesterday evening and saw had quite a few ducks. I was eager to see what the morning flight would be like. I was not in the main flyway of the ducks coming onto that flat, but I still got a trickle effect of birds check me out if just from the sheer numbers of birds in the area. 80% of the birds I saw were Redheads, with about 15% being Pintail, and the rest mostly Bufflehead and Wigeon. I had group after group of Redheads come into my spread, and shot my 2 Redheads rather quickly. I enjoyed watching them the rest of the morning, and taking a few photos. They'd come right in with reckless abandon, feet down and plop right in with my decoys. It took a little more doing to get a Pintail, as they are quite a bit more wary than Redheads, but about mid-morning I did take a very nice drake with beautiful colors and a long pin. Shortly after that I had 2 Wigeon come in and I only had a good shot at one, the hen, so I took it. Add 1 more bird to the bag. I had several other "almost" opportunities at Wigeon throughout the morning, but couldn't quite make it happen. I missed a long (desperate) shot at a drake Bufflehead. I've only taken 1 Bufflehead ever and I really want another one. Hunted till noon, but that was all she wrote. I wanted to have a little time still to do some scouting for tomorrow. One thing that was very difficult about this hunt is that the area I hunted today had a very soft, mucky bottom, and every time I took a step my foot would sink almost up to my calf. It made putting out decoys and picking them up a serious, tiring chore. Check back for tomorrow's update!

A quartet of Redheads comes in for a suicide run

More Redheads

A trio of Pintails

One last Redhead

Pintail Drakes are one of the
prettiest ducks in North America

We don't get many Redheads in east Texas, so
it was a real treat to get a nice Redhead Drake

Results of today's hunt

Go to Day 2

Trip Notes
My duck hunt is taking place near Port Aransas, on the Texas Gulf Coast. I'm hunting coastal bays.

Equipment
I'm using a 12' pirogue made by Bobcat Boats in Louisiana. It's not a traditional pirogue, but actually more like a sneak/marsh/layout boat. It's great for shallow water hunting. My primary gun is a Browning A-5 Light 12 that handed down to me by my father. My secondary gun on the trip is a good old Remington 870 Express. In the Browning I am shooting 2 3/4" Estate #3's & #4's. In the 870, I'm shooting the same thing, except in 3". The decoys I'm using are a variety, about half of which I made myself, carved from cork and hand-painted. It's a hobby I enjoy.

Equipment
This section is to tell you about some equipment that I've used extensively and highly recommend. I'm not a paid representative of any hunting product manufacturer, so these are honest-to-goodness reviews of quality equipment. In case you're interested in trying out some of this equipment for yourself, I've made links to places on the Internet where you can buy them at good prices. Just click on the photo or the name of the product.

Bausch & Lomb® 7x42 Binoculars	I've had a pair of B&L 7x42 Discoverer's for 5 years and have given them a real beating in a large variety of climates and conditions. I am very impressed with the overall quality. Compared side by side with Swarovski Binoculars in the field, the only noticeable difference was the price. They will cost you about $500 less than Swarovski's.
Garmin® GPS 12	Buying a Garmin GPS 12 was one of the best purchases I ever made. It has so many uses, and is so easy to use. In unfamiliar hunting areas, just mark your vehicle, hunt anywhere you want, and at the end of the day, get back to your vehicle with no problem. It's also great for marking downed animals to return to later. My GPS goes with me on EVERY hunting outing.
Olympus D-450 Zoom Digital Camera	If you're interested in getting a very high-quality Digital Camera, the Olympus D-450 or one of it's successors is a great choice. I've had my D-450 for about 3 years now, and have taken all of the photos for all my Live Hunts with this camera. It's not cheap, but this is one instance where you definitely get what you pay for. I highly recommend this camera.

e-mail Joshua Flournoy

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