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What was your first duck ? and where?

2K views 23 replies 7 participants last post by  quackadikt 
#1 ·
Just to get a little conversation going.

Mine was a green wing teal on north side of 60 in Bernardo. Got a feeling gwt were a lot of people's first duck.
 
#2 ·
Shot 2 GWT and 1 hen Spooner in one shot that were swatted on the water at W. portion Bernardo. Shot my first Duck in the air, also hen spooner, that same season at N. La Joya back in the '86/'87 season with a Remington 1100 12 ga. Anyone who shoots hollywoods on a consistent bases needs to have this song played for them lol.
 
#3 ·
On a Monday morning in 1970 when the Roswell Country Club was closed to golfing and the restaurant where I worked as a busboy was locked up. The manager gave me permission, two days prior to go out on the lake with a friend. It was the point system back then and our first volley while standing on the boat dock brought down enough ducks to send both of us 25 -30 % over the limit -not a good sportsman thing my first time out. But one of the ducks I got was a drake Canvasback hit with the old golden BB single pellet in the head. Duck stamps were a buck fifty.

edit: both of us had single shot 20 gauge guns and we fired two shots each
 
#7 ·
1992. 6yo, single shot NEF .410. Drake woodie coming in to roost. I was shooting a 3" Winchester Super-X lead shell. It was either a #6 or #9, can't remember. My dad wasn't much of a hunter and didn't own a pair of waders, but he waded out in the beaver swamp and got it for me. It was supposed to be mounted, but stayed in the freezer for about 10 years till it got thrown out.
 
#8 ·
it was 1982, i was 8 years old and had just inherited my brothers single shot .410, since he was now 10 and had graduated to a single shot 20 ga....we were on a pond about 75 yards from the san juan, which my dad had bartered us access to. he had thrown out some decoys, and left me and my brother to go work the river....a pair of mallards came in, circled a few times, and cupped up to land...we both popped up, shot, and i knocked down the drake. he hit the water, then took off running/flapping across the pond, when my brother finished him off for me (he was much better at getting that second shell loaded up, and i was in shock that i had actually hit something!) my dad had taken our dog with him, so my brother waded out into the pond and and fetched my first kill, since i was too short, and my waders weren't quite tall enough to keep me dry. even though my brother actually killed it, he could see how excited i was, so he let me take the credit. when he got back to the blind he tossed the drake at my feet, said "good shot" and gave me a high five. i had been going duck hunting with him and my dad since i was 4, but this was the first time i got to experience the thrill of plucking one out of the sky...i was hooked.
 
#9 ·
1968, 12 years old, water-swatted a ringneck duck drake in NW La., Black lake/Clear Lake. Tough times back then for ducks and duck hunters. For several years in the 60's I think the limit was 3 ducks, only 1 mallard, and a 30 day season. Got much better by early-mid 70's. We had a typical duck blind back then made on pilings driven into 3ft of water. Big enough to park a boat in it, with a shooting gallery and covered area to get out of the rain. Put out 150-200 decoys, and left them out all season. Working on the blind, brushing it, and getting all the decoys ready took a lot of off-season work, but got the blood boiling and kept it interesting. Have almost no pictures from back then, sure wish I did.
 
#13 ·
JR, being from Louisiana, have you ever hunted Catahoula?

That place is a world all its own.
 
#14 ·
My oldest brother had a blind there for a few years in the early 70's. It was (is?) an amazing place just from the sheer number of ducks typically sitting in the middle of the lake, some years 300,000. I only hunted it a couple of times with him, shot my first pintail and canvasback there. He eventually got tired of the Yahoo factor, and loosing all of his decoys every other year due to flooding or theft, gave up his blind and moved on. Catahoula Lake was only about 80 miles from my house, but back then that was a long ways to go duck hunting. When were you there QA?
 
#15 ·
I went in 2005. Hunted with a guide on the north end of the lake. It's such a cool place, and the fact that it's basically managed for nothing other than ducks is pretty awesome too. I've been saying I want to go back and freelance it for awhile now, but it's just never worked out timing wise. My daddy lives in Pineville(Tioga actually), but he's not a hunter.

The pine tree blinds, the pepsi bottle decoys, and the locals make it about as unique as it can get. And if you want to kill a pintail or a canvasback, that's THE place to go. The pintails there are dumb as dirt, compared to everywhere else in the country that I've hunted.
 
#16 ·
Boy it's a small world .

My uncle guides on the north side . Says south side is a freaking war zone these last few years.

Wouldn't figure you would like it there seeing it's mostly public land that everyone has "their" blind on .also a lot of guides operate on it.

O ya and a ton of people leave decoys out all season :fingerpt: ????

Everything you dislike all in one
 
#17 ·
I like it for the number of birds, the scenery, the food, etc. I actually hate the blinds and decoys being left out, and the guides that act like they own the place.

But if nobody is in a blind, hop your ass in and hunt it.

If the 2 liter bottles that get used as decoys always got picked up after the season instead of trashing the place up, it wouldn't be as bad.

I don't see blinds lasting a whole lot longer out there. Folks are tired of that crap and ghost blinds are getting worse. The state has been talking about getting rid of the blinds for the last couple of years and seems to be getting more serious about it.
 
#18 ·
We will see if it does but they have been saying that for some time . Supposedly changing it to a wma and taking blinds out but that place is ran by locals . Makes hunting Bernardo ponds look like a cake walk.

Lot of birds though
 
#21 ·
You shoot that thing with a slingshot?
 
#23 ·
I probably just peppered him with the .410 before pops took him out with the 12 ga. If I remember correctly in those days you were only supposed to shoot 2 a year or something. Total honor system, way to think things through New Mexico...so I'm sure my dad was more than willing to let me take the credit!

The sad thing is QA, I'm probably 10 in that pic...late bloomer.
 
#24 ·
jayclarkie said:
I probably just peppered him with the .410 before pops took him out with the 12 ga. If I remember correctly in those days you were only supposed to shoot 2 a year or something. Total honor system, way to think things through New Mexico...so I'm sure my dad was more than willing to let me take the credit!

The sad thing is QA, I'm probably 10 in that pic...late bloomer.
:lol3: You were a runt for sure.
 
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