Honker Hunt
Anyone who has ever hunted there knows how fantastic the duck hunting can be. The
primary bird is the mallard, but for many central valley hunters the sprig is king.
Most of my hunting has been done from private clubs and the numerous National Wildlife
Refuges like Gray Lodge, Colusa, Delevan, and Sutter.
The hunting all throughout
the valley is superb, especially in Dec. and Jan. when cold storms up north push all the
birds down. It is not uncommon to see literally hundreds of thousands of ducks and geese
in a single day, for the valley is a large wintering area due to its ample agriculture. The
North valley (N. of Sacramento) is mainly rice fields, while in the Southern Valley (San
Joaquin) is full of lots of wild, flooded grasslands and home to some of the oldest duck
clubs in the country.
Two hundred years ago, the central valley was one of the
largest deltas in the world, now CA. has lost 97% of its original wetlands. However,
thanks to Ducks Unlimited, California Waterfowl Association, and others, we are now
gaining some of that back.
On with the story
This
is Marley making a retrieve. This was when she was still a puppy, just about 7
months old. We were hunting a duck club that is just North of Sacramento CA. It is in
sight of the Metro Airport if you know where that is. It was a great club because it was so
close to home. Twenty minutes and I was in the blind. It is about 1000 acres of flooded
rice fields with four 2 man tanks. It has been a consistent club in the years that I have shot
there, but the hunting never gets good until late dec. The birds are mostly mallards, sprig,
and wigeon.
Has anyone else ever noticed that a ducks approach is different at
almost every place you hunt. Sometimes they have a tendency to come in high and drop
straight out of the sky. Sometimes they come in low and b-line straight for the decoys.
Well at this club the birds approach is truly fascinating. It usually starts with one
small flock of mallards, coming in high and almost nonchalant With the right notes on the
call, this flock will start to make big loops, slowly dropping in altitude. Then suddenly
another group joins them, then another and another, coming out of nowhere. By the time
they get down to shooting level, which is usually after at least half a dozen passes, there
could be hundreds of ducks. It doesn’t always work this way, but when the birds are in it
is common.
This hunt took place after a week of nothing but successful, quick
hunts. We shot limits of mallards and sprig just about every day this week, so on this
particular day my buddy Erik and I decided to bring out our 20 ga. We just let the birds
work in a little closer and took more time on our shots. It didn’t seem to be too much
different than a 12 ga., but just having them out there was nostalgic. It reminded me of my
younger days praying for ducks to jump shoot along the feather river. I do not remember
the details of that day and wouldn’t know where to begin to look in my duck hunting
journals, but I do remember that we had 20’s that day and I was proud of my young dogs
eagerness to retrieve. Erik and I had many memorable hunts that year, including the day
after or before (that week is still kind of a blur) when I got a European wigeon. We had a
flock of about 30 wigeon come in and I picked this drake out because he just looked
‘different’. Sure enough, it was a lot different. He was a beautiful bird, but not quite
colored out yet or I would of mounted him. To this day, I have heard of only 1 other
person that has shot a European. That person is Erik and I was with him. Same blind,
same club, different year. Erik’s Dad has been hunting in the Sac. Valley for over 40 years
and has killed thousands of birds, but never a European.
A Beautiful
Sunrise
Christmas Hunt 92
Colusa Refuge on the opener
Partner in Crime
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