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Post by mstr2175 on Jan 10, 2023 7:01:15 GMT -5
Well, my friend and I finally decided to go hunt Stillwater for the first time on the last day of central duck and let me tell you, what a disaster that place was. The marsh itself is set up good, wish there was more corn but the birds were definitely in the air and trying to land on the water.
Problem is, every other group is out there highballing to any group that flys in. A handful of times we had a small group maybe 5-12 ducks only 80 yards above us and working the deeks and some groups over there pulls them off of us and out of the marsh entirely.
At some point around 130 after all the ducks cleared the area, a bunch of yelling starts to happen amongst different groups. “You ruined the hunt for the day!” “You don’t know s*** about calling!” Then one guy gets so upset for being called out on over calling, he decides to just call over and over for 20 minutes straight until multiple groups are yelling at them. Then they finally get up and leave the marsh for the day around 245.
Overall, it was our first draw experience anywhere so it was still fun to get to experience and I’m sure we will go back. Didn’t have the best area and I have a better idea of what areas the birds like now.
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Post by jman46151 on Jan 10, 2023 9:58:46 GMT -5
There always seems to be someone there calling too much or skybusting. I didn't go this year but a few weeks ago I heard that one group went through their 25 shell limit in 2 hours. Also heard another group was calling so much that someone brought a kazoo with them and just started blowing on it.
I have a feeling a lot of the issues happen on the afternoon hunts. It's real easy for people who don't know what they're doing to scout before the hunt and set up in daylight.
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Post by featherduster on Jan 10, 2023 11:25:34 GMT -5
Welcome to PUBLIC LAND HUNTING.
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Post by mstr2175 on Jan 10, 2023 13:00:17 GMT -5
Welcome to PUBLIC LAND HUNTING. Well I can take it, I’ve hunted public before just not a draw where’s it’s that packed so I can see how others get annoyed. |
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Post by duff on Jan 10, 2023 16:12:40 GMT -5
I tried it 1 time. It was a mess 6 or 7 yrs ago. We got last pick and decided to try another spot. I fish the lake almost weekly and have 0 interest in hunting stillwater. I have not hunted the main lake in 3 yrs I bet.
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Post by jman46151 on Jan 10, 2023 16:30:31 GMT -5
I tried it 1 time. It was a mess 6 or 7 yrs ago. We got last pick and decided to try another spot. I fish the lake almost weekly and have 0 interest in hunting stillwater. I have not hunted the main lake in 3 yrs I bet. I only hunt it if I get an invite. I've only been a few times but it seems to be very hit or miss. There's either a ton of birds or nothing. Went one year with someone who had 2nd pick and everything was freezing up. There were probably 500 birds there the day before and overnight it locked up and they disappeared. |
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Post by wadwinger22 on Jan 10, 2023 18:32:52 GMT -5
Ran into the same problem Saturday. Everyone is against each other instead of just hunting together and everyone getting birds.
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Post by duff on Jan 10, 2023 18:34:16 GMT -5
I tried it 1 time. It was a mess 6 or 7 yrs ago. We got last pick and decided to try another spot. I fish the lake almost weekly and have 0 interest in hunting stillwater. I have not hunted the main lake in 3 yrs I bet. I only hunt it if I get an invite. I've only been a few times but it seems to be very hit or miss. There's either a ton of birds or nothing. Went one year with someone who had 2nd pick and everything was freezing up. There were probably 500 birds there the day before and overnight it locked up and they disappeared. I know some guys love it. Just not for me. I don't really care for any draw. Goose pond is bearable since you get 2 days for 1 draw. Have not hunted there, for ducks in 2 years. I drove around some this year and had the urge but got rid of my kayak. |
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Post by esshup on Jan 11, 2023 12:30:50 GMT -5
I hunted a public body of water ONCE, and that was out in California. It was a place that was governed by a ranger, you had to be in line early in the morning to sign up, then they pulled numbers out of a hat for blind assignments.
About 11am the ranger came around to each blind and said. "Stay in the blind, I'm going to run the boat around the reservoir a few times to get the birds up in the air."
Still didn't dome home with any.
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Post by duff on Jan 11, 2023 13:06:09 GMT -5
I love public land/water but not when run by the state.
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Post by genesis273 on Jan 12, 2023 7:13:52 GMT -5
Well, my friend and I finally decided to go hunt Stillwater for the first time on the last day of central duck and let me tell you, what a disaster that place was. The marsh itself is set up good, wish there was more corn but the birds were definitely in the air and trying to land on the water. Problem is, every other group is out there highballing to any group that flys in. A handful of times we had a small group maybe 5-12 ducks only 80 yards above us and working the deeks and some groups over there pulls them off of us and out of the marsh entirely. At some point around 130 after all the ducks cleared the area, a bunch of yelling starts to happen amongst different groups. “You ruined the hunt for the day!” “You don’t know s*** about calling!” Then one guy gets so upset for being called out on over calling, he decides to just call over and over for 20 minutes straight until multiple groups are yelling at them. Then they finally get up and leave the marsh for the day around 245. Overall, it was our first draw experience anywhere so it was still fun to get to experience and I’m sure we will go back. Didn’t have the best area and I have a better idea of what areas the birds like now. Pardon my ignorance but, what does "Highballing" mean? |
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Post by mstr2175 on Jan 12, 2023 11:15:15 GMT -5
Well, my friend and I finally decided to go hunt Stillwater for the first time on the last day of central duck and let me tell you, what a disaster that place was. The marsh itself is set up good, wish there was more corn but the birds were definitely in the air and trying to land on the water. Problem is, every other group is out there highballing to any group that flys in. A handful of times we had a small group maybe 5-12 ducks only 80 yards above us and working the deeks and some groups over there pulls them off of us and out of the marsh entirely. At some point around 130 after all the ducks cleared the area, a bunch of yelling starts to happen amongst different groups. “You ruined the hunt for the day!” “You don’t know s*** about calling!” Then one guy gets so upset for being called out on over calling, he decides to just call over and over for 20 minutes straight until multiple groups are yelling at them. Then they finally get up and leave the marsh for the day around 245. Overall, it was our first draw experience anywhere so it was still fun to get to experience and I’m sure we will go back. Didn’t have the best area and I have a better idea of what areas the birds like now. Pardon my ignorance but, what does "Highballing" mean? Basically a very loud and aggressive come back call to birds really high up. Ducks in the late season are well tuned to that sort of desperate attempt it’s almost worthless. It mostly just scares them away |
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Post by genesis273 on Jan 12, 2023 18:08:35 GMT -5
Thanks for the explanation.
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Post by featherduster on Jan 12, 2023 18:51:34 GMT -5
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