Hunter (aka "Bug") and I spent the morning on my duck shoot.
We had birds working most of the morning. Teal, Pintail and Mallards gave Bug a nice bag.
Bug with a nice drake mallard.
Cacks are back!
For the first time since the season started, we saw huge flocks of Cacklers. The smallest of all the Canadian goose subspecies, these birds have a real hi-pitched squeaking type of "honk". They fly in large flocks, sometimes in the thousands of birds and they are about the size of a mallard. The grass seed farmers in the areas I hunt endure huge losses in their crops every winter because of the Cacklers.
Swan in the dekes.
An immature swan landed in the dekes and spent a long time feeding amongst them. I enjoy seeing the wide variety of water fowl that makes the Willamette valley its home during the winter migration.
For my family and friends, Halloween has always been a great day to spend afield. In years past we've had great days chasing coho and chinook on the Umpqua. Deer and Bear hunts in the cascades or coast range and on wet rainy days like this years Halloween, spending the day in a duck blind with one of your son's is pretty hard to beat!
