Louisiana Suburban Duck Hunting

  • This section seems pretty dormant.. thought I'd contribute to it a bit. This is a pretty lengthy write up with maybe a little too much back ground info and/or detail.. but my stoke is still so strong that I just can't help it.


    So.. I spent my high school years in Louisiana. All it took was my first opening day of duck hunting to be completely addicted, for life. I probably shot 2 boxes of 20 gauge shells that day, all of which without dropping a single unassisted bird, but it didn't matter. There's some intangible, indescribable aspect about duck hunting that makes waking up at 4 am to freeze your ass off completely worth it. Anyway, for the past 7 years, my dad has had a duck lease in West Monroe, Louisiana. West Monroe is known for being right in the middle of the migration pattern for many of the more popular duck species.. such as mallards, pintails, gadwalls, several species of teal, and the occasional wigeon or two. This year, with the budget a bit tighter than it has been, the lease was not renewed. I arrived home in Brusly (very small, 1 street light town, directly across the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge) on December 3, for Christmas break. In the past, my entire break has been spent somewhere in the swamp, wreaking havoc on any form of waterfowl that dare cross my path. Regardless of having a lease or not.. this year was to be no different.
    My parent's house is on what is called a river road. The river roads run along the levees that boarder the Mississippi River. There are small traces of land between the levees and where the Mississippi River banks actually start. In most cases, this land is owned by barge companies for mooring purposes, however our house has been in the same family so long that the trace of land directly opposite the levee from the house was never sold, therefore it is our own private property.. about 40 acres. We've seen wood ducks back there in the past, but with more renowned places to actually hunt, we paid little attention to them. However, this year.. it would be our ace in the hole.
    The river has been a bit higher this year than it typically is.. to the point that all 40 acres were completely flooded all the way up to the base of the levee. This was great for ducks, however it also provided another obstacle. We've got boats coming out of our ears. Everything from a world cat to a go devil. The problem was, the woods were too thick to get our typical pop-up blind duck boat through them to the openings that we knew were in the middle. My younger brother, 18, managed to get a 12 ft Gheenoe from one of his buddies.. and a 1982 7.5hp Mercury that wouldn't crank from another buddy. The Gheenoe began with a shiny green outside with a white inside.. a definite no-no for duck hunting. I've got a buddy who owns an auto shop.. so I brought it over and had him spray the entire inside with a dark khaki rhino line. Once that was dry, I brought it back to the house where my bro painted the outside with a very resilient dead grass green and then stenciled on some brown reed patterns. All the while, I was trying to get the motor running. The problem with the motor turned out to be bad wiring going to the powerpack. I rewired it and we were finally starting to get a spark. We put it on a saw horse, in a 50 gal drum of water and cranked her for the first time in God knows how long.. damn thing wouldn't pee. I dropped the lower unit and checked the water pump.. 4 of the rubber wings on the impeller were dry rotted and broken. After a quick trip to my local Merc dealer and about 2 hours of trial and error to get the lower unit gears to line up correctly.. we were in business. It wasn't until I put the motor on the transom for the first time that I noticed another problem, that little did I know would severely bite me in the ass. The threads on one of the tightening screws that attach the motor to the transom, were completely flat.. as if they had been hit by a hammer. I decided to worry about that later, I wanted to get it on the boat and in the water for a test run.. as the opener was approaching pretty quick. I stuck a small piece of 3/4" ply wood on the inside and another on the outside of the transom to take up some dead space so I didn't have to turn the fubar'd screws as far. We dump the Gheenoe in the water on the backside of the levee, and the merc cranks right up. My bro and I were so stoked.. everything was coming together.. and our new rig looked like some several thousand dollar duck rig. After we were content with the way it ran, my bro dropped me off on the levee to back the trailer down (this is right after dark). I get the trailer in.. and my bro is about 50 yds down river up against the levee.. and I can make out that there's no motor on the back of the boat. Shit.. Turns out, he wanted to see how fast it would go without me in it.. in the process, he whacks a log that had enough punch to let one of the plywood shims fall out, and the motor went over the side. It took me all of 30 seconds to make up my mind that I was going after it. I stripped down to my boxers and walked out about 25 yds from the levee to the point where my bro thought he lost the motor. I walked around naked in chest deep, freezing cold water, in the dark for a little over 30 minutes before I finally caught the smell of gasoline and located it shortly after. We get it back to the garage, and while I'm in the shower.. waiting for my balls to descend, my dad is cleaning the carburetor and getting the water out of the engine. It took about an hour of tlc before she was running strong in the 50 gal drum. Season saved.. for the second time.
    Now to the actual hunting.. if you made it this far. There are several different ways to duck hunt. The stereotypical way here in the south is a wide open marsh where you can see the ducks coming from a good ways away. However hunting woodies in thick cover is a completely different ballgame. Everything happens so fast.. from the time that you see the duck to the time you shoot can literally be fractions of a second.. and woodies are known for being decisive fliers, they're going where they're going and most of the time no amount of calling or decoys are going to make any difference. This makes them all the more fun to hunt, and definitely more rewarding. There are several bar pits on the property. Bar pits are small clearings that hold water year round, regardless of the river stage. Throughout the season, we tried just about every one of them.. but we found one that was extremely active. The first morning that we hunted this one was actually Christmas morning. As soon as shooting light arrived, the ducks were flying. My brother and I have been hunting together since I was 13, putting him at 9. While we both sucked terribly for the first several years, we've grown together and learned how the other is going to act. Depending on who's sitting on the right or left, we can have a flock of 5 or so birds come in and never shoot at the same bird. I'm not trying to get all mushy, but it really is a beautiful thing.. and words can't express how much I appreciate being able to hunt with somebody who I'm so in sync with. So anyway.. Christmas morning, sun is finally up, ducks are whistling and it's foggy as hell.. I'm on the left, in the front of the boat, my bro is on the right.. naturally I'm watching my side and he's watching his. Then come the whistles.. they're coming but we don't know from where. Suddenly my bro says.. Nate, my side.. and there they were, 6 of them. We pulled up at the same time, I started working from the front of the flock to the back, and my bro from the back to the front. Two seconds and 6 spent shells later, there are 6 woodies floating out in front of our Gheenoe. My bro and I had just both shot simultaneous triples on wood ducks. We were both hollering and highfiving.. 2 triples, at the same time, in these conditions, on wood ducks.. just doesn't happen. We were stoked, completely stoked. Then we realize.. we're limited. The limit on woodies is 3/person/day, sex doesn't matter. We discussed whether we should just go back to bed.. i mean it's like 6:30am, or just chill and hope some other species flies by. We were both so fired up that we chose to stay, even though we'd never seen any other species back there. At about 8am, a blue wing teal lights in our decoys. Teal are small, super fast ducks. We never even saw the damn thing.. he probably came in at 90mph through the trees. Anyway, it's still super foggy.. my bro says, Nate.. we put out 6 deeks, and there's 7 birds out there. I started counting.. and he's right, one of those is a real duck. We both got ready to shoot and I screamed HEY really loud to spook it up.. she jumped and my bro put her down. We decided to call it, picked up the ducks and deeks and headed back to the house. One of the woodies happened to be banded. Shooting a banded duck is like shooting a 12 pt buck, or a 20lb mutton.. it's a trophy. Once back at the house, my bro calls in the number to see where the duck came from. After getting the location, I checked Google Earth.. we killed this duck 1.1miles as the crow flies, or duck in this case, from where it was released.. 5 months ago. :laughing: Anyway, throughout the course of the season, my bro and I hunted every single morning. We ended up with 8 limits, and not a morning where we came back empty handed. I've got 3 ducks wrapped whole in the freezer.. I plan to try my hand at taxidermy this summer. For years, I've shot big, prestigious ducks on high dollar leases.. and called it duck hunting. However, I have never had more fun in my entire life, than I did shooting only woodies, in thick cover, out of a hand me down boat, with a hand me down motor, with my brother.


  • I echo the comments. That was a great great write up. You really should submit that to a few water fowl/ hunting mags. That is an article I know I would read.


    The image of you, determined, wading in freezing water in your drawers is hilarious. Only because I know I would have done the same thing and been making the same face too hahahaha memory that will be with you for ever


    Thanks for the report. Try to make Peking duck. The crispy skin is kind of like bacon but ten thousand time better

    i like to spear fish

  • I'm late to the party, what a great read, I felt like a kid in Connecticut again with frost on my .410.


    Cheers, Don

    "Great mother ocean brought forth all life, it is my eternal home'' Don Berry from Blue Water Hunters.


    Spearfishing Store the freediving and spearfishing equipment specialists.

  • :) I'll have to pull a few out of the freezer and give that Peking Duck a go.

  • 2 good methods


    The recipe below is complete except for the ingredient amounts (_). Since the recipes offered at DVO.com are brand name recipes, our publisher partners require us to account for each recipe distributed. To get the entire recipe click Request Recipe below. This is the best Peking Duck recipe on the web!!


    MACAO
    Advance Preparation: 24 hours for drying the duck skin


    Peking duck is one of the glories of Chinese gastronomy. I never thought of it as barbecue until I visited Macao. This tiny Portuguese enclave, located an hour south of Hong Kong by hydrofoil, boasts some of the best food in Asia. (That’s what happens when you marry two cultures who love to eat: the Portuguese and the Chinese.)


    You won’t find Lam Yam Wing in any of the guidebooks, but to come to Macao without visiting the restaurant would be to miss a major gastronomic experience. The real pride and joy of the house is Peking duck, which has been brushed with honey and roasted to the color of mahogany. The waiter carves the skin into crackling crisp shards and serves it with silver dollarnsize scallion pancakes. (No papery Peking pancakes here, but velvety, delicate, thin crêpes.) The actual meat of the duck is returned to the kitchen, to be stir-fried with shallots and garlic. This recipe is inspired by Lam Yam Wing.


    Cooking duck in a covered grill using the indirect method produces a succulent and crisp duck without a lot of mess and work. Leaving the duck to dry uncovered in the refrigerator overnight crisps the skin even more.


    Here, then, is a not strictly traditional, but eminently tasty Peking duck cooked on the grill. Don’t be intimidated by the length of the recipe-the actual preparation time is minimal. I’ve included a recipe for scallion crêpes, which you can make while the duck cooks. If you’re in a hurry, you could use packaged Peking pancakes or even flour tortillas, but neither is as deli-cate as the crêpes.



    FOR THE DUCK:
    _ duckling (5 pounds), thawed if frozen
    Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
    _ tsp Chinese five-spice powder
    _ clove garlic, peeled
    _ scallion, both white and green parts, trimmed
    _ slice ginger, thinly sliced, fresh
    _ tbs sesame oil, Asain (dark)
    FOR THE SAUCE:
    _ c hoisin sauce
    ___ c honey
    ___ c soy sauce
    ___ c rice cooking wine or sake
    _ clove garlic, minced
    _ tbs ginger, minced fresh
    FOR SERVING:
    __ scallion crepes (see recipe under "Bird Meets Grill") or 12 Peking pancakes or flour tortillas
    __ scallion brushes (see note)



    1. The day before you’re serving, remove and discard the fat just inside the body cavities of the duck. Remove the package of giblets and set aside for another use. Rinse the duck, inside and out, under cold running water, then drain and blot dry, inside and out, with paper towels. Place the duck in a roasting pan and let stand, uncovered, in the refrigerator overnight to dry out the skin.


    2. Set the grill up for indirect grilling, placing a large drip pan in the center, and preheat to medium-low.


    3. Season the body cavity with salt, pepper, and half the five-spice powder. Place the garlic, scallion, and ginger slices in the body cavity, then turn the duck over on its breast so the back side is up. Using the tip of a sharp, slender knife, make 1 small slit in the fatty part of the duck under each wing and 1 slit on the underside of each thigh. Prick the duck skin all over with a fork, being careful not to pierce the meat. Brush the duck all over the outside with sesame oil and season by rubbing the skin all over with the remaining five-spice powder and salt and pepper.


    4. When ready to cook place the duck, breast side up, on the hot grill grate over the drip pan. Cover the grill and cook the duck for 1 1/2 hours.


    5. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Combine the hoisin sauce, honey, soy sauce, rice wine, garlic, and ginger in a small, heavy saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat. Simmer gently, uncovered, until well flavored and syrupy, about 5 minutes.


    6. After 1 1/2 hours, turn the bird on its end over a bowl to drain off any juices that accumulate in the cavity; discard the juices. Reprick the skin with a fork and make fresh slits under the wings and thighs to encourage draining. Continue cooking the duck until the skin is mahogany brown and crackling crisp and the meat is well done and tender, another 30 to 60 minutes. An instant-read meat thermometer inserted in the inner muscle of a thigh, not touching the bone, should register 170°F. If using a charcoal grill, add 10 to 12 fresh coals per side after each hour of cooking.


    7. Transfer the duck to a platter. Present it to your guests, then, using a sharp knife, carve the skin and meat off the bones. (You may want to do this in the kitchen.) Spoon the sauce into small bowls or ramekins, one per guest. Arrange the duck meat and skin on one platter, the crêpes and scallion brushes on another. Have each guest brush a crêpe with sauce, using a scallion brush. Place a slice of duck skin and meat on the crêpe (and a scallion brush, if desired) and roll it into a cone for eating.


    Serves 4



    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------


    # 2



    Original Recipe Yield 4 servings
    Ingredients
    1 (4 pound) whole duck, dressed
    1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
    1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
    1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
    3 tablespoons soy sauce
    1 tablespoon honey
    1 orange, sliced in rounds
    1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
    5 green onions

    1/2 cup plum jam
    1 1/2 teaspoons sugar1 1/2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
    1/4 cup finely chopped chutney
    Directions
    1.Rinse the duck inside and out, and pat dry. Cut off tail and discard. In a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, white pepper and cloves. Sprinkle one teaspoon of the mixture into the cavity of the duck. Stir one tablespoon of the soy sauce into the remaining spice mixture and rub evenly over the entire outside of the bird. Cut one of the green onions in half and tuck inside the cavity. Cover and refrigerate the bird for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
    2.Place duck breast side up on a rack in a big enough wok or pot and steam for an hour adding a little more water, if necessary, as it evaporates. Lift duck with two large spoons, and drain juices and green onion.
    3.Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place duck breast side up in a roasting pan and prick skin all over using a fork.
    4.Roast for 30 minutes in the preheated oven. While the duck is roasting, mix together the remaining 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and honey. After 30 minutes, brush the honey mixture onto the duck and return it to the oven. Turn the heat up to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Roast for 5 minutes, or until the skin is richly browned. Do not allow the skin to char.
    5.Prepare the duck sauce by mixing the plum jam with the sugar, vinegar and chutney in a small serving bowl. Chop remaining green onions and place them into a separate bowl. Place whole duck onto a serving platter and garnish with orange slices and fresh parsley. Use plum sauce and onions for dipping.

    i like to spear fish

  • I just returned home from a month and a half hiatus that I call duck season. I thought I'd update this thread with this year's laughs and bounties.


    I left South Florida on the morning of December 17th and arrived in good ol' Louisiana at about 3am on the 18th. I had been talking on the phone with a good buddy of mine whom I've hunted with for years, and I did a lot of work in training his new lab this past summer. I was supposed to leave at noon to go directly to Ohio to do the dreaded extended family Christmas that pops up once every several years. By my calculations, I had just enough time to get to my buddy's place, bust a few ducks, and get home for the 16 hour drive. I walked in the house, hugged my dad, loved up on my dogs, changed into camo, grabbed my shotgun and was out the door in 15 minutes flat. It ended up being a beautiful morning, we each limited out which is always nice.. however the best part was watching my buddy's dog make some great retrieves on his first working season. I made it home in time to shower and load the car, then I was off to Ohio, where I spent the next 6 days editing spearfishing clips and watching duck hunting video's on youtube.. going outside only to walk my dogs.
    I have been reading yardsale's thread about New Zealand recently, and NZ has always been my #1 place to visit, not only for the spearfishing, but for the geographical diversity. Here in the US, we often take for granted the different landscapes that we actually have, and it took this past trip for me to actually realize all that the US has to offer. In a period of 48hrs, I went from SoFla where the diving and saltwater fishing is amazing, to Louisiana where the hunting and freshwater/inshore fishing is amazing, through the mountains of Tennessee (maybe not mountains to some of you, but anything taller than a river levee or landfill is a mountain to me), to Ohio with a ton of snow that was.. well honestly, I'm still not quite sure what to think about that cold white stuff, but it wasn't all that bad. The US is no New Zealand, but it's got diversity that may often go unappreciated.
    I returned to Louisiana and got a good night's sleep, then loaded the boat and headed to what I call "the camp." The camp is a floating houseboat out in the middle of the Atchafalaya Basin, about a 45 minute car ride to the boon docks, then another 45 minute boat ride through winding canals to get to there. It really provides the feeling of seclusion, I've taken many people out there for the experience.. and some have had a really hard time feeling so separated from civilization, but personally, I enjoy every second of it.
    My younger brother, who still lives in Louisiana, had been scouting new duck hunting spots for the past several months, and he had been hunting several of these spots prior to the Ohio trip for a couple of weeks with great success. Throughout the next few weeks, I hunted damn near every morning, oftentimes with my brother and some of his buddies, with my dad on his days off, or my buddies when they weren't drinking themselves into a long waiting list for liver transplants. We killed a lot of birds, a majority of them wood ducks (which are my favorite anyway), but we did get a few bigger ducks on a few days.
    The most memorable hunt I had this year was with my brother and 2 of his buddies. My brother had found a perfect little pothole that we were hunting for the first time, but the water was too high to hunt standing, unless you had chest high waders. One of his buddies had waders, so I put him in the water standing next to a tree, I put my brother in a climbing deer stand about 20 yards away, and his other buddy stayed and hunted out of the boat blind with me. We had been putting down a few cold ones the night before, and the guy in the boat with me had drank enough to ensure a hangover in the morning. He was sleeping hard in the front seat of the boat, never even loaded his gun. Right at shooting hours, there was just enough light to see the birds flying if they came directly overhead, but you still couldn't see them when they got down to the tree line. I had 3 wood ducks fly directly over the trees towards me at about mach 5. I busted two of them, the first was winged so he fluttered down, but the second was DOA. The guy in the boat woke up immediately, but never saw the duck because it was coming down in line with the trees. It hit him square in the chest , nocking him off his seat.. he screamed a few profanities while I died laughing. Once the sun was high enough to see well, I noticed he had a bunch of feathers stuck all over the front of his jacket.. good times.
    I spent every day that I could at the camp, the longest stretch being 11 days straight. I would head out to pick up my dad when he got off work, he would stay for the weekend and then I'd bring him back so he could go to work.. often times simultaneously picking up my brother. Last Wednesday was the last day of my stay at the camp, I hunted that morning with my brother and a buddy.. right after we picked up the decoys for the last time, my brother looked at me in a manner that I knew he was thinking something. I asked him what's up, and he asked "Dude, how long have you been out here?" I reached up and felt the beard that I've been growing for the past month or so and realized.. it was time to go home. 293 Days until next year's season.


    I could ramble about this stuff for days, and I'm sure the guys I hang with will hear more stories than they care to.. I'll spare you all and get to the pics.


    Here's a nice panoramic pic of one of our better duck holes, taken by my brother.


    These are my birthday ducks. Unfortunately I was hunting solo the morning of my birthday, but I had a blast none the less. The birds were scarce, but I managed a beautiful wood duck drake and a somewhat rare, late-season gray duck.


    My bro with a healthy stringer of woodies.


    The best day we had this season, a nice pile of woodies.


    Stringer of Mallards


    It's rare to see frogs in the cold winter months, but we saw some bullfrogs in the lillies on the way to the duck holes one morning so I grabbed them. Here's the 2 biggest ones, and a video of the frog legs jumping in the sink. Often they'll jump as soon as you start to season them, even though the frogs have been long dead. These had been partially frozen for about 3 hours.. can't believe they came to life.

    Frogs - YouTube


    And this last series is for you, Dan. I've replied a few times when you've brought up eating squirrel, and I thought I'd back up my talk.:D We ran out of stuff to eat one day before we planned to head back, not wanting to eat ducks, as I had plans for them already, we decided to make a quick squirrel hunt for a jambalaya. My bro and I went just at the right time, 11 squirrels in about 45 minutes. We cooked up a nice jambalaya, dusted a few of the larger legs in flour and fried them, and cracked open a can of sweet corn. The plate may not look too elegant, it certainly lacks in the presentation category, but it was a wonderfully hot meal on a cold rainy day.. and it beat the hell out of plan B which was peanut butter sandwiches and canned ravioli.



  • Great post! I enjoyed it from start to finish. You Americans are Lucky to be free. Here in México hunting and bearing and keeping firearms is reserved to either outlaws or the rich and famous.


    Great hunting.

    I'm a Speardiver, not a freediver

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