Certainly, few would argue that this has not been a great, good, or even average duck season for the Old North State. I guess I picked up the sport recently enough to have no knowledge of the bad days of the early 21st Century. Still, even I knew that the seasons of 09-10 and 10-11 were a little special. We had extra-cold air early and often. If it's cold here, it has to be a mother up north of us. North Carolina's hunters truly believe that it's the weather that affects our duck season.
In my early days of duck hunting, I paddled the local creeks looking for passing shots at scorching wood ducks. I think I averaged 1.4 ducks per day that first full season. Still, I yearned for bigger water and bigger ducks. Only until I forked over the funds for a genuine duck boat propelled by combustioned motor did I truly begin to learn about the different species of ducks, what they eat, what they did after they ate, and when they typically arrived. Every day, I take copious notes of my hunts. It is useless. I remember everything in my head, but the the one purpose of the notes is to remind me that the notes are FACTS.
Anyway, after spreading my decoys over various waters, I learned the most common species of birds to migrate through our great state...well, on the coast anyway. I even found a couple of favorite species that were easy for my style, delicious for my plate, or just spectacular hard-to-get-to trophies. I imagine that if I had live 200 years ago, I would have been one of those fools who would have traveled out west to stake a claim on 40 acres in the Great Plains. Venturing into the unknown and making it familiar to myself is how I express my creativity. Some people paint, sing, and carve. I wander.
So what all of you trolls are looking for...with each Migration Report from me, I'll highlight 7 species that I commonly see. Over the years, I can mark their arrival in a certain order and know when to expect more of the same and more of the other species. common species that I encounter in my scouting include:Redheads, Bluebills, Swans, Wigeon, Pintail, Mergansers, and Scoters. Yeah, I hunt a lot of saltwater. So here's what I know...
Redheads: Continentally, this prairie nester's population has increased recently...and North Carolina coastal hunters have seen the results, too. Strongholds for redheads include Currituck Sound, areas near Oregon Inlet, northern Pamlico Sound areas, and the Southern Core Banks. Redheads are relatively early migrators and can be spied throughout the season. I saw and bagged redheads on opening day this year...since then, though, I have bagged only two. On Ocracoke Island, the guides have done well with them, but only with good blind rotation. They, too, suggest that the redheads haven't "pushed" down yet. Currituck Sound and Oregon Inlet are suffering from "rafting" redheads...the Core Banks are still waiting on the redheads...Overall, I don't consider redheads when considering my "flight factor"...they could literally be here at anytime from September through April. And they are guilty of rafting anywhere...
Bluebills are my bread-and-butter duck. Generally, the blinds I keep see only Greater Scaup. In fact, I've never killed a Lesser, but I know that they frequent the bay adjacent to where I prefer to hunt on northerly days. Nevertheless, bluebills generally began arriving in medium sized flocks of 30 birds by late November...usually the weekend after Thanksgiving. thus far in the season, I have killed less than 10 bluebills...normally, I've killed three times that. Yet have I seen a flock of more than 10 birds over my decoys. What's most bittersweet is that I've killed only very young birds. One hen was genuinely mistaken for a bluewing teal drake. When the bluebills are here, I'm happy. They're just not here in significant numbers. All Outer Banks areas are seeing the birds, though. The Northern Pamlico has isolated flocks not worthy of specifically pursuing. Core Banks areas are experiencing bluebill presence similar to Northern Pamlico areas.
Swans are here and in good numbers. I've already bagged my swan for the year, too! Swans generally arrive with the first 20 mile-an-hour winds in November. Peak population is reached around the turn oof the year. Swans, I have noticed, have been especially "clannish" this year, meaning they are illustrating behaviors seen in snow geese. Large wary flocks of old birds...tough to decoy. Additionally, they're much more concentrated than in years past. Strangely enough, the wheat fields that they normally prefer have been mostly ignored, with the birds preferring the waste corn. Nevertheless, the swans are here, which are traditionally the first birds to arrive en masse.
Wigeons showed up early this year in the Oregon Inlet. Which means they were also prevalent in most places that I familiarize myself with. Nevertheless, many came and went, and the hardy wigeons of the boreal forest region have failed to move to far. Generally, there presence is mirrored by redheads. Wigeons eat, poop, and migrate with redheads, or so it seems. They are around, but there's a lot well north of us. The Northern Pamlico has a few wigeon...and I bagged both of them I believe. So far this season, I have not heard the excitement of a 30-something flock of peeping wigeons...
Pintails were bagged in October on the coast. Even the J. Morgan Futch Impoundment had a few pintails bagged on the draw hunts. Other very nearby areas saw early pintails, too. Early in the year, pinails were surprisig many officials and hunters with their presence and location. Pintails were being spotted well inland. Traditionally a wide-open-water duck, pintails stuck to this...yet traditional wintering areas, such as Pea Island NWR seem t have fewer pintails than normal. I blame Hurricane Irene for dramatically altering the salinity and killing localized food sources. Up until January 1st, I had heard of no sizable flocks of pintails, except for the flock of 300 using the channel space leading into Ocracoke Island. J Morgan Futch had about 200 birds using the food source there, but those birds moved out around December 5. As of now, pintails appear to be arriving in traditional areas. Rarely though, will these birds be taken inland. Only large impoundments and wide open water blinds bring pintails to bag. Best odds for hunters pursuing pintail are probably best realized near Ocracoke.
Why in the hell would anyone monitor mergansers? Well, the hooded versions are not tallied, as they may show up in any hog lagoon, tidal gut, or indoor toilet. Personally, I pass on them because I hate them so much. I leave them for the kids on Youth Day and for the idiots with the mojos. Still, Common and Red-breasted Mergansers are actually pretty special birds when in the hand. I'm still looking for a prime drake to have taxidermied. Nevertheless, I saw big mergansers in late November during the 10-11 season. It was the earliest I had ever seen them. Normally, they are the hardiest of birds and only fly out when their favorite fish or fishing holes are frozen solid. This year, I counted my first big mergansers around January 2. That's normal. I do know of harvested specimens in Core Sound areas. Currituck hunters would never admit to killing mergansers, but I would imagine that they have also bagged them. I did bring one to bag this year, but only after it decoyed for the 5th time...But as usual, they're always an incidental bird. However, they're presence generally ushers in the peak within a week or two. Hopefully, the good ducks are just behind them...
Scoters are pursued by few in North Carolina. I love shooting scoters, and I want go in to a whole lot of detail about how and why I am successful with them, for I'm afraid that if I do share my knowledge I'll see rubberheads trying to figure out ways to plant their Mojos into 20 feet of water. But I digress. North Carolina has a Sea Duck season that opens around the first of October. Never are there scoters here at that time. Ever. Still, October 20 is my standard mark for their arrival in my stomping grounds. Black Scoters always show up first, too. The Surf Scoter generally arrive in small numbers in November, but as the weather turns frigid, they'll begin to appear. Nevertheless, this season saw a delayed arrival of scoters. I wasn't successful until November 1 with scoters. And the flocks were meager. Worthwhile sea ducking didn't take place until the middle of November....a full 20 days later than always! I knew at that point that this season wouldn't be like the rest. The birds are here, now, though. Traditionally, these birds don't use the beach areas, but they are prevalent in throughout the Pamlico Sound. In fact, some hunters are doing well from shore blinds for them, but the real action is from a boat blind several squints from the mainland.
To wrap this too long article up....this season is VERY average, maybe even below average. Piedmont duck hunters, those with access to water or annually wet swamps are having banner years on woodies. I'd take a daily limit of woodies most days in this current season. Not counting sea ducks, I've limited once this season. It was one of those days that made you forget about the bad days. I picked out the drakes, and passed on the less desirable species. I wish it could be that way every day. Maybe that's what Heaven is like. And I'm certain that in Heaven, it's shoot and release...
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