2021-22 RECAP
Already heading into another ducking season and I never really closed out last year’s. We ended up pretty good despite suffering through our third consecutive El Nino year. El Ninos result in warm weather and relatively calm, southerly winds. Not ideal for fowling pursuits, but we got through it pretty well. 1296 birds taken, over all. Decent numbers of pintail despite ‘one-and-done limits on our favorite quarry. Twenty-three species harvested. Great memories sprinkled in with some ‘first-evers’ and ‘best-evers’ for our clients, despite the balmy weather. It was so warm at season’s end that we harvested our guide service’s first ever cinnamon teal and some gorgeous blue wing teal that were already migrating back north! LOL. (You take your wins when you get ‘em)
The redheads were here again, but never really broke up into smaller groups. They spent their time in massive flocks on the open water of our big sounds. We tagged decent numbers of the big diving ducks but nowhere near the numbers we did in the last few years. We did shoot more mallards, teal and greater scaup than usual though. Had a run on coot in November. People call them dumb, but they got non-cooperative real quick.
Oh! Here’s a number that not many waterfowl enthusiasts get to claim. 37,466! Totaled up our log books and that’s the number of fowl harvested by OBW since our inception in 1977.
I’m afraid that if God is a duck, I could be in real trouble when I pass on!!... But meanwhile, duck guiding is what I know and what we do. So give us a call, and let’s plan y’all a trip!
We’re already taking deposits on next season’s dates so don’t hold back. Talk to your buddies, pick some dates and give us a call. Especially if you have a big group or need specific days, you’re better off getting up with us sooner rather than later. Don’t get left out.
We cherish all of our past clients and relish the opportunity to meet our new friends and hunters.
Vic, Ellen and the crew
PS New for the upcoming season. We’ve decided that we’re better off ending our hunting days at 4:30 at the latest in the afternoon. On really nautical days it’s much, much safer and it allows the fowl to feel more confident coming to the marshes in daylight hours. Plus it gets our guides home early enough to actually interact with their wives and families during a fowling season. I truly believe this change will result in more birds taken than less, we’ll all be safer, and our guides will be sharper and more enthusiastic.
Aloha, Vic
