Where Are You From & Where Do You Hunt Waterfowl?

[ollybama]

hi names ollin keithley I go by olly most times ,live in fresno for now lookin to relocate soon, just started duck huntin lately but hunted most of my life I'm so close ta 50 now it hurts( really every thing hurts) been hunting the lakes and rivers close by , went to mendota & merced this week for the first time learned alot but didn't kill much; got me a new spr 453 this year like it alot going to make canada one day, next long range trip to mexico for some big bluefins, always up for a hunt, ya ever need a huntin partner give me a hollier

 

[Duknutz]

Another Sac Val boy,born and raised here.Still hunt the refuges when I get a good draw for a blind or a low number to a couple of refuges.Mostly hunt my club here in the valley,because it's 20 mins. to my blind from my house,if I get of work early.With a wife and a couple of young ones at home,it's hard to go on those all dayers at the refuges anymore.Still do alot of big game hunting all over the western states(MT.,ID.,NV.,

including our own.I hunt hogs up north alot and deer,bear in the D-4 and X-7 areas.I also was very fortunate enough to go to South Africa this last year for a 14 day hunt with a buddy,it was a trip of a lifetime and am now planning to go back in 2008.I reccomend every big game hunter to make a trip overthere if possible.I really had no desire to go their originally,but am so glad I did!!!!

 

[plannermatt]

Matt, age 30, from Sac and Bay Area, now live in Paso Robles..

Love the Beretta Pintail..will shoot with it near full of H20 and mud..

Hunt everything with GotDux who's on it most of the time in nor cal..learned from him to follow the ducks.

would like to hunt, look at clubs near Kern due to location.

ideal hunts..canada, argentina, and LA with Duckmen.

anyone hunt mendota or los banos out of a boat?

thanks
matt

 

[Greekxicankid]

Hey im Nikole, Im 18 and I hunt all my ducks and geese at a place called Wister. Its in california. My dad pretty much taught me how to hunt since i was 4 years old. My favorite shot gun is my new 12 gauge fanchi, its pretty amazin'. My dream hunt would either be, to go to Nebraska and shoot as many ducks and geese as I can, and take my dad on a trip to Canada for his birthday to shoot some honkers.

Thats just about it, if you wanna know more, just ask me

 

[the supernuge]

Where are you from & where do you hunt waterfowl?
Todd From Laguna Niguel and I will hunt anywhere. I usually hunt at places like Sac Refuge (if up there) Salton or San J.

Who taught you to hunt waterfowl and when?
No one, self taught I guess.

What is your favorite duck or goose to hunt?
Greenheads with Pins a close second. I love how they work the decoys. Spoons are great too-for confindence. Ross's geese are by far the best geese I have hunted. When they come in your head starts spinnin!

What is you favorite shotgun?
I guess my 870 Wingmaster (name fits). It's killed a lot o' birds.

What would be your dream waterfowl hunt?
Back home in the Louisiana Bayou. I would love to be back in Lake Charles knowing what I know now about birds.

 

[Nomaspescado]

Hi there,
I grew up in San Diego and am currently living on the north shore of Lake Tahoe.
I am a rifle hunter and picked up a shotgun just three years ago and have been lovin' it since. I went back to school three years ago and only have a few weeks each winter to shoot. I'll finish this May...then it's game on!
I was lucky enough to have a co-worker invite me to his club in Colusa, CA. Geeesh...I'm now spoiled for life and I don't even know what I'm doing!
I'm still very new to this and just dream of getting more trigger time along with formal instruction. For instance, a shotgun with it's long barrel still feels like I'm holding on to a broom stick, and following through and slapping the trigger feels very unnatural...I'm learning!
I started with a Nova for my first two seasons and bought a SBE II last year...wow. What a difference a proper fitting gun makes!
I'm surprised to see so many fellow San Diegans here.

I love this sport!

 

[Ridn9high]

Been on here a long time and don't remember filling this one out.

I am originally from Livermore, CA but have lived in Madill,Ok for the last year and a half. I have hunted ducks all my life and grew up at San Luis and Los Banos refuges. The last few years before I moved away I hunted in the Yuba City area on my uncle's 4000 acres.

Now I have a new honey hole here on Lake Texoma and have done quite well. Duck hunting is my way of life in the winter and if you want to see me, you better make reservations for my blind. I Can say I have hunted from California to Oregon and all the way to Oklahoma for waterfowl. Here are some quality hunt photos

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[the supernuge]

Cool Mike, welcome. I moved to Ca from Ponca. Glad to hear your killin' 'em in Texoma!

 

[faith]

Im from So.Cal. and have been hunting forover 20 years. I hunt waterfowl and upland game in So. Cal., Wister,San Jacinto and Kern are my stomping grounds. San Jacinto most every Wed. and Sat when my wife allows me to(want to keep my wife happy).

 

[RPO KQ 700]

Where are you from & where do you hunt waterfowl?
I live in Central California. I have always hunted at Refuges whether by reservations or the sweat lines. I am a jump shooter so I have no problem when people go out and shoot for 2 hrs and leave. I can always get birds. I had taken a hiatus from the sport for about 14 years during that time my focus was my wife and daughters and supporting the family. I did not want guns around the house nor did I want to be one of the guys always gone. I wanted my daughters to know me. Last year I headed back to the sport. It has been great getting out again. I love the exercise and just being out. I typically go alone. All my duck hunting friends of years past are gone.

Who taught you to hunt waterfowl and when?
I guess I would say I am self taught. My Dad was not a hunter. My grandpa was an upland game hunter but never took me. I think because my Pops did not like the thought of it. I started hunting the ponds up in the Santa Cruz mountains. Got lots of Wood ducks. I have been hunting since my 11th birthday when I got my first single shot 410 from my Grandpa back in 1971. I then moved on to 16 gauge bolt action(that was fun) then to my Grandpa's Pietro Beretta O/U 12 gauge which he passed on to me. I have always been an O/U user. I recently bought the Mossberg Silver Reserve O/U and really like the gun. My Christmas gift to myself this year is the Benelli SBEII. I have not used it yet. I pick it up this Saturday.

What is you favorite shotgun?
So far, the O/U Beretta, however I recently used a friends SBEII and what a extremely well balanced gun. I enjoyed it so much I went and bought one. So for now the jury is out but I still think I will always favor an O/U but will like the 3.5" Benelli.

On comment: I have recently hunted a few refuges in the Los Banos area. I must say the hunters I have met so far have been pretty rude when out trying to set up. I was walking out to a spot with my pack of decoys and a guy actually ran by me. I thought it was strange. As I headed out to the pond I was walking through the water and the guy that had ran past me was now running towards me as I saw his flashlight. As I approached the area where I want to hunt, he walked up onto the island blind that I was going too and said "First Come First Serve and I was here first" I said well where did you think I was going(I was less than 20 feet away from the location. He said" Sorry buddy, I am here first". I just walked away thinking what a clown. Then I heard him calling his other buddies on their cell phones saying he had bagged the place and bring the gear. So I headed to the south end of the pond, set up decoys and waited for shooting time. After the sun came he said I was too close to him. I said "sorry hard to judge distance in fog at 4:30am. He asked me to leave" I styed and had a good shoot. They eventually left as the bird path for working was right over me...Anyway this is not the first time since my return. People are really pushy. I never remember it being like that. Guess times have changed. Might have to look into a duck club.

 

[faith]

RPO, Dont judge all of us by that fool, There everywhere. They are usually a few of the regulars and they call the guys who are not regulars"newbee's" and hate the fact that the DFG guys give them the good sites. we are not all like this! Keep going, dont let these guys take the hunting away from you. They are the minority where I hunt!

 

[RPO KQ 700]

Faith,
Thanks for the input. I guess I need to move around. I went out today up North at Sherman Island. Guys there were brutally rude to my partner and I. My partner told me we might run into this as the area has been run by locals and they try and intimidate people away. It was funny in some ways, As we pulled up a few of the "Regulars" approached us and asked if we were DFG, Lawyers or Feds...I Laughed and said "Good morning to you". He did not think it was funny. He asked again and I said "Anything is possible". He said "I asked you and if you are, you have to tell me"...My partner and I just laughed and walked away. As we were unloading the boat to head over to hunt, one of the guys came up and apologized for his rude friends and said we could hunt with him and his partner. They had a big blind on the water. We did and got a couple of big birds. We left around 10am and went around the place to hunt our deal. But again this was totally uncalled for. I guess where I struggle as this is just duck hunting for cryin out loud. We are not protecting a birth right...

I remember when I would have a reservation and went solo. I would meet people in the sweat line and they were solo and I would take them in on my reservation. I am still friends with them today. One is the guy I hunt with now.

I guess times have changed out here in California.

 

[faith]

Sorry to hear about these guys. At S.J. there are a few, but they talk about you and not to your face. Make jokes about new guys after they walk away and I hear these guys. At least there not confrontational like the ones you have run into. Most of us there are good guys and try to help other hunters and try not to hang out with these guys. I know of only 5 out of about 50 friendly hunters. If your ever in the nieghborhood stop by and hang out at the office it wont take long to seperate the jerks from the friendly hunters!

 

[RPO KQ 700]

Faith,
I think you are right. Only a handful are what I would consider good ones. But you know in the grand scheme of things I understand why folks get so posessive. It is hard to find a good place to hunt and have a nice bird day. I talk to friends in the midwest and they have no idea what it is like to have a bad day. They have endless birds and all day to hunt them. California waterfowl hunting is definitely under continious pressure. Even private duck clubs are allowing 7 day hunts to keep members on board.

Anyway any day I get out to hunt waterfowl is a good day even if I have to navigate through the "Super hunters" and their ego's. At the end of the day I still get my shots in and bag a few birds.

 

[Jesse187]

Where are you from & where do you hunt waterfowl?
iam jesse iam 15 and from livermore ca. ive been waterfowl hunting since i was 6, got my lisence and started shooting my 20 gauge single shot walmart shotgun at 9. my dad got me into hunting. i hunt all the grasslands area, were ever we get a ressi if we get one. mostly hunt volta( seems the only refuge i can get drawn for). i dont get to hunt as much as i would like to.

my favorite duck is whatever in the bag. and my favorite gun is a benelli nova because its what i shoot. shot my first box of 3-1/2" shells at 12, that first shot woke me up a bit

my dream hunt would be for me and my dad to walk off the refuge both with limits of ducks. i havent shot a full limit yet, got 6 on a junior hunt once but thats the closest ive been to a limit.



thanks for the great site

 

[spoonylover]

Hi there,

My name is Josh. I am only a jr. so I haven't been hunting for a very long time. Iv'e lived in so cal my whole life. I grew up hunting deer and upland with my dad and didn't hunt ducks until I was ten years old. After my first duck hunt ever I had killed a drake ringneck and a hen wigeon and I was hooked. I love hunting ducks most of all and turkeys too. Iv'e been hunting waterfowl for 5 years now and plan to hunt till I die. This past year I hunted 23 times and I plan on hunting more in the seasons to come. I shoot an old browning semi-auto A5 and am hoping for a super black eagle for christmas. And last but not least my favorite duck is a drake spooney.

 

[smokinquack]

Hello all, my name is smokinquack. I have been waterfowl hunting for 20 years and live in the bay area. I have put some serious time into hunting the refuges since I was 15 in the Sac valley (Delevan, Sac, and Little Dry Creek). Last year I joined a rice club in the Butte Sink. I am just West of Little Dry Creek. I probably hunted a total of 25 days. I ended up with a 5 bird average for the season with the majority of the birds being Widgeon, Mallard and Gads. Sniped about 15 geese as well. Not bad for a season with no weather. I am hoping for a more wet year this time around. I was shooting a Super Black Eagle 2, but had some serious porblems with it ejecting, so I went out a bought a Beretta Extrema 2. Took it Dove hunting and had no issues. I think I finally found a gun that will eject. Anyway, I am fired up for this season and enjoy this site. I am headed off to Alberta for a duck and goose hunt this Sunday. I hunt with an outfit called River Valley Lodge. Three of us hammered the Geese and whacked our limits of Mallard and Pintail last year. I will post my results.


Regards,

Smokinquack

 

[fresnodukhunter]

Hi everyone, Just wanted to let everyone know about myself..

I was born and raised in Oroville, CA. I am currently 26 now. I started hunting ducks when I was 12. After high school, I joined the Navy and just recently finished my enlistment. I have been back for two seasons now. Moved to Sacramento last season and hunted at Yolo a few times only. This season I want to try out Mendota but dont really know anyone who would go out with me. Plus, I am a little rusty to be honest.

My dad and uncle taught me to duck hunt when I was 12. I loved going to Sacramento and Delevan NWR, I haven't been there for a long time.

My favorite duck to hunt are mallards, I love working them and seeing them respond.

I currently have a Mossberg Model 500. I has sentimental valuse because its my first shotgun I ever got from my pops.

Hum.. my dream hunt would just to see ducks flood the sky and shooting my limit before 8 am.. I haven't shot a limit day for a long time. Though I haven't hunted that much lately.

 

[Hoppy]

I'm Hoppy From Oak Grove and We do Goosehunts. I'll post more later. Thanks for inviting me to your Forum!

 

[Hoppy]

Here is the construction of our latest Pit.

will be posting more pictures as the Season progresses.