Monthly Archives: October 2013

Had two great hunts this week.  Hunted the “duck pond” on Friday and had the best shooting of the season.  Right at shooting time numerous flocks of mallards dropped into the decoys.  Shooting was fast and furious and we picked up a three person 18 bird limit in just under an hour!  Final total was 12 mallards, 2 gadwall, and 4 woodducks.  Just before 9am we heard a distant honk and everyone got done.  Next thing we knew a flock of 30 geese was locked and coming.  When they got over the pond I called the shot and we dropped 6 birds with some efficient shooting.  Awesome day.

This morning 10/27/13 we hunted a old beaver pond near Coloma.  The first 30 minutes were action packed and we dropped 4 woodies and 2 mallards.  DOGEEE had some great retrieves as well.

Still looking for  another group of hunters on Saginaw Bay next weekend!

Ramsey is all smiles!

11 year old Ramsey is our newest Team Quacker Wacker member (not youngest ask Pete about that),   Ramsey killed 4 birds including this drake mallard opening weekend.  The thing that made me proudest is how safe he is in the field.   I can’t wait to get him on the Bay in the layout boat!

Hunted opening morning with my Dad and college friend Chris.  Chris had never duck hunted before so I walked him through the process of buying a license and duck stamp.  The night before the opener we went through the entire regulation book and talked about different bag limits for different species.  It was fun to see the excitement in the new Quacker Wackers eyes.

Opening morning was picture perfect with woodies and mallards landing in the decoys before shooting time.  Once shooting time arrived it was quick and steady action as wood ducks buzzed by and mallards swung in.  Once things settled down and the dogs retrieved the birds we hardly had time to sit down when the first flock of geese arrived.  Chris couldn’t believe how big they looked!  Needless to say we killed a limit of geese in the first two flocks and called it a day.  We spent the next few hours cleaning all the birds–all part of the hunt.   I told Chris how spoiled he is and how I need to take him on a late season hunt to give him another perspective.  He is hooked.

Team Quacker Wackers got permission to hunt a cut corn field in the northern lower peninsula last weekend and it turned out to be a very productive hunt!  We scouted the field the night before and located exactly where the geese wanted to be and set up the following morning.  We were rewarded when the first flock dropped right into the decoys.  We took two from the first flock and eagerly awaited the next flock. It didn’t take long before a second flock of five birds cupped up into the decoys.  With their feet down at 20 yards, we let them have it and knocked down four birds in short order.  It was a short hunt and we had five more flocks come in while we packed up, but it was extraordinarily fun to be able to shoot those big birds with their feet down in the decoys.

Team Quacker Wackers ventured to Saginaw Bay for a cast and blast weekend.  The weekend went well with ten ducks per day and a nice package of about 15 perch from the weekend.  We shot Lesser Scaup, Greater Scaup, Redheads, Buffleheads, Ruddy Ducks, and Green-winged Teal.  It was nice to hunt some shallow vegetated flats and be covered up with birds for most of the day.  The tender boat enjoyed some good perch fishing.  Just as the perch fishing got good, the tender had to pick up birds from the layout!  Several perch exceeding 11 inches were picked up!  The days were made even better with a hot breakfast of sausage, eggs and toast!

We’ll be headed back out on October 31 and still have that date open.  Please call Captain Chris if you are interested in booking a hunt!

The Quacker Wacker Team is splitting up to hunt different areas of Michigan for the Southern Lower Peninsula Duck Opener.  Pete Wyckoff will be headed to Saginaw Bay to hunt divers and puddle ducks.  We’ll be headed out of the thumb trying to shoot a few birds.  Second day should be exciting with Pete’s 3 year old son observing the hunt.

Captain Chris Blough will be hunting small water in southwest Michigan for puddle ducks with a focus on mallards and wood ducks.  Good numbers of birds have been located in the marshes he hunts and should provide some good shooting for the hunting party!

Check back in after the opener for updates.

We are still booking hunts for October 17-20, 31 and November 1-3.  Book now and experience Saginaw Bay Diver and Sea Duck hunting from a two-man layout boat!

Pete Wyckoff’s first snow goose, taken in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan!

Part of the Quacker Wacker Team had the opportunity to hunt the western Upper Peninsula for the season opener.  We arrived in the middle of the night on Thursday, September 21st and grouse hunted Friday morning, yielding one bird.  Friday afternoon was spent scouting the marsh and developing a game plan for the opening morning hunt.  With the opener as early as it was, there were not many birds congregated in the marsh that we hunt.  In the first half hour we picked up two birds and ended with five for the day.  It was a pretty slow hunt, but we did well compared to the number of birds in the area.  Sunday blessed us with the opportunity to take a rare snow goose.  It was a great camp with 9 attendees, 6 who hunted ducks and two who hunted deer for the youth season.  It was a great weekend with incredible food provided by the camp host!