Halftime is Over
The Split is winding down and duck season is getting back under way. With the recent rains, most of our ponds are looking good and should be ready for the second half of the season.
I heard a good story recently about a large operation of Federal Game Wardens checking hunters on the prairie. It’s a good reminder to make sure you have your birds separated in the field while hunting and as you leave the field. Once back at the trucks, the birds should stay separated by hunter until the birds are placed in the trucks to go back to town or they are cleaned. If you clean them at the trucks, make sure to leave a wing on each carcass and to keep them separated in baggies as you clean them. If someone else is taking your birds, using a Wildlife Resource Doc to transfer is the safest way to transfer the birds (see TPWD Outdoor Annual). It was also mentioned to me by this person who knew about the large operation that piling birds in the back of a 4-wheeler is also not permitted. Once again the idea being that each hunter's birds should be kept separate the entire time from being bagged to getting back to town.
Bird reports are showing good numbers of birds on the prairie but even larger numbers South of us in the coastal marshes. Ample rain and good marsh vegetation is combining to make it a banner year on the coast. Keep an eye on big "northers" that push the water out of the bays and cause the ducks to track back up to the prairie.
It's that time of year to start moving away from the blinds and concentrating on those areas where the ducks are holding on the various properties. That spot of reeds, Johnson grass or the brush on the property that you cut and pile up may be the best place to hunt if it is near where the birds want to be. The blinds are comfortable but may not be the best place to bag the birds in the later part of the season.
Scouting: has been a bit harried the first part of the season with two new guys patrolling but plan on it being a little more routine as we get out of "finals" and into the winter break.
Upcoming calendar:
December 8th 
Duck Reopens
Dec 22 Crane Opens
Dec 26 Central and South Zone Doves Open back up
Dec 29th or 30th 290 Dove Hunt (Details to follow)
