The Duck Report
Well I haven’t taken to many days off this duck season; I have only missed 8 days all year. In one word it’s been slow. Over the past 2 weeks the hunting has greatly improved: at the big duck club that I manage, the past 6 shoot days have finally produced some OK numbers, averaging 4 birds per gun. I hunted some of my friends’ blinds in the Robbins area last week and had some really good shoots, only shooting mallards and sprig for two days. We didn’t get full limits but could have if we shot small ducks. After talking with 12 different blinds and 2 refuges I found out that on Saturday the 12th, the Sacramento Valley, from Road 32 (just below Chico) to Highway 113, shot like wildfire; almost everybody I talked with shot limits with a good number being mallards. My guide blind was not hunted on that Saturday, but shot 17 on Sunday with 5 mallards. What happened this past week was, we have had a lot of birds in the valley for the past 2 or 3 weeks. But with clear and cold weather, the ducks have been on a routine and staying out of harm’s way. Well, Saturday the weather pattern changed, and the fog rolled in and messed up all the birds in the valley. Mix that with a little wind on Sunday and you have perfect hunt conditions.