Hunting Blog Archives September 2009 June 2010

2009/2010 Duck Season Archives November 2009

2008/2009 Duck Season January 19, 2009 More Bars in More Places...  January 19, 2009- More Bars in More Places   I should simply let the aftermath picture tell the story of this hunt...  It was unfortunate that all of these birds were taken on "one up"!!! It was a pretty long "UP" though. It started a minute after shoot time and ended just before 8:00am. Confused... Let me help you out... the birds started coming to the call at shoot time... the first group landed... and it was downhill for the specks after that. All I can say is Thank you to my brother Dave for getting me in on this one.  Jeff, JB, Cole, Ian,Billy, Trevor, Dave Jernigan and I had one amazing hunt!  Please enjoy the photo. I took numerous others, but you guys would recognize the Willows area if you saw it...   January 18, 2009 January 18th-OUT WITH LABIN  Janaury 18, 2009     This morning was "quality" and "quantity". Labin and I had to sneak out to the blind so as not to jump up the swans, specks, and ducks that were roosted up. We made it out with ten minutes to spare before shoot time and fixed the decoys that had fallen over in the past week since I last hunted this tank. Only a minute into the shoot the first speck entered the scene... an immature goose giving us the distant "I'm lost and want to come into your decoys sound". It was perfect. I locked him up and he followed the call right into the hole. He was less than 20 yards when his adventure ended. Shortly after that a pair worked in from the East. I love it when they come in from the East side...They worked the call a little too well, and found themselves in the middle of a hurt sandwich. The next few birds were way too excited to visit the Jernigan Speck Hole. Labin kept reminding me that he was having a GREAT time... it was nice to hear... but I was more than happy to call birds in for such a great guy. My job- CALL Specks... His job- SHOOT Specks! The rest of the birds of the morning were just like the ones I've already told you about. You wouldn't believe how the birds worked the call/decoy combo! I landed three different geese less than 20 yards out in the hole at different times today. Heck... we even let one get out of dodge... just to keep him in the gene pool.  Full two man limits of specks for us plus a snow goose. Who can argue with that??? January 3, 2009 This North wind is a killer! Apparently a North wind is magic at the Gridley tank!!! I must be crazy hunting... now 4 days in a row.  I can barely type this out.  I have fallen asleep twice while editing pictures... anyways.  The hunt today was magical.  I got out with my father, Anthony Rojo, and Gabe Garcia in the morning and had a great time.  We had some of the best ups of the season.  I got to call birds into the hole and watch as Anthony and Gabe pulled pairs out  of the air... bird after bird.  It was beautiful.  Gabe took a banded bull sprig this morning as well.  My Dad had some stellar shots on specks and put two in the blind during the morning shoot.  I did my fair share of smacking the birds in the North wind, and was more than satisfied with my pile as it grew throughout the day.  Gabe and Anthony left the blind at noon with 3 geese each and 11 ducks between the two of them.  They wore smiles all the way home... I'm sure. The two of us stayed on to finish our limits of specks and ducks.  My dad pulled out two more specks and in less then 30 minutes after Gabe and Anthony left I had call more than 30 singles or pairs of specks into the decoys.  It was very nice...!  I pulled my limit down in that 30 minute window.  I returned a call to my brother Dave, and he let me know he would be there before 2:00 to try his luck on the geese.  He ended up pulling down 3 specks and 5 ducks in less than two hours...  very nice.  A few mallard came into the area with a half hour to go.  This was a day to remember... at least until the next hunt... Ha Afternoon birds... January 2, 2009 Christmas Eve Hunt with my father. Christmas Eve Duck Hunt   My Dad and I got out and put a real hurtin' on the ducks...  the geese... not so much.  The geese wanted into the GIANT grind of snow geese nearby.  It was a great hunt. January 2, 2009 The last hunt of 2008! The Last Duck Hunt of 2008! I was lucky enough to take a half day off on December 31st, and got to take one of my boys, Jalen, and Gunner (my new pup) out to a local refuge.  By the time we got into the refuge there was only an hour left until shoot time was over, so we hit the diver pond.  You guys know how the rest played out.  We had a great time jump shooting. It was the first time Jalen got out with me this year, and it was Gunner's first time out.  He had a great time and had plenty of chances to have shots fired near him with great results.  Good times... January 2, 2009 January 1st... Solo Hunt Solo at the Gridley Tank My alarm clock went off at 4:00am and I couldn't resist the urge to get my gear on and go chase the birds. I didn't plan on going out at all.  I was going to start a tile project and make my wife smile... that didn't happen.  Hey... don't judge me... the tile for Christmas this year was a lot better than the Ducks Unlimited waders I got her a couple of years ago.    (She was my girlfriend then.)  Now she's been upgraded to tile.  The geese worked great and simply could not resist the calling.  I even called a juvenile snow into the decoys that came in like a mallard.  You know things are going well when you start off with 3 doubles in a row with the ducks.  I could have filled the back of the truck with all of the specks I missed, though.  Being the only one in the tank I simply yelled at myself and went on with it.  The specks I did get were the greatest decoying specks of the year.  The picture tells the story. January 2, 2009 The Generations Club... Round 2 Generations Club, part 2 I have start this one off with a giant THANK YOU to Labin, Rocky, and Ross for hosting such a great hunt at the Generations Club.  This place is a gem stuck in the middle of the Delta Region of Northern California.  It seemed as though we were in the closed zone of a duck refuge... all morning long.  We piled the birds quickly and something that usually takes a day to complete was over in just a couple of hours.  We barely had time to talk about how great the scenery was or have that early morning coffee break between flights of ducks.  The birds kept coming... and we kept picking out "the one".  Each flight of birds had one or two that looked "good enough".  Ace retrieved our birds each and every time with great enthusiasm.  Thanks again! Labin was able to take a couple of bonus geese after we "called it" on ducks. Labin gave Ace some assistance on long goose retrieve. Archives October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009

2007 CA Duck Season Archives November 2007 December 2007 January 2008