So I’m after these greenheads on a mud flat on public, and I’m ready to go for it, I’m only shooting greenheads. Have only scouted the spot from a distance, so really not sure how muddy it would be or how deep the water was. Well it is very muddy, and water extremely shallow. So that spot you see below is where I set up originally, passed on teal all morning, mallards started coming in 8:30, but they were landing further out. Raining on me all morning never stopped..



The water was like a tide, one minute my deeks would be floating and another minute water was lower and my deeks were on mud, very odd… Anyway, if I wanted to kill some mallards I needed to be further out. So I finally decided to move out after watching them for an hour, now I’m sitting in the water, still raining, spread looks good but birds stopped flying. I started sinking in the mud, and water going down my waders, rain stopped, so I figured it was time to picked up, snapped a few pics..



pic from my layout blind..




Pic of molly all covered...





Man if I would have set-up like that early morning I could have been on some green, but by the time I walked out of there I was worn plum out!! No birds but I sure burned some calories!!

All i got to say is WOW !!!!!
You hard core guys are killin me.

You ain't kidding about getting a work out with mud caking up on the waders. The walk from were we parked to where we were setting up felt like a 10 mile hike.

Guy,

You didn't flare the birds with the layout?

I ask because we tried hunting out of layouts last year, but I felt they stuck out to much. The cows keep the vegitation so low that the layouts don't blind in well.

Your a better man than I.

I hear ya on that one. It's been a muddy, calorie burning season. And I have a feeling it's only going to get worse...

-Matt

I think when I'm covered and Molly is covered, we just look like a clump of mud.

Walking out of there was a bitch. I really could not fold up my layout all wet, it would have just weigh me down and I would have sunk further in the mud, so I pulled the blind along like a sled with my deeks and gun on the layout blind. This was like take 2 steps, pull blind, get feet unstuck, 2 more steps repeat..



Funny I accessed this area thru private property, a neighbor saw me walking out, they call the land owner and said “There is a man stuck in the mud behind your property, he is stuck in the mud trying to pull his boat”.

You could have had 2 heart attacks that day, the first one walking on yhat mud, the second one eating all that pile of bacon to recupe from calorieburning

These mud flats are the reason I haven't even attempted hunting yet. Where we hunt it's mostly blackland and I am affraid to attempt trying to cross the mud by myself for fear I might get stuck until someone found me. If we could get about 1 foot of rain these marshes would be underwater and the ground next to the water would be hard enough to walk on. When these marshes get water over them you can walk all over them with little or no trouble.

so can you tell me why the lake level would rise and fall like a tide ? I noticed the same thing on the lake this weekend and couldn't figure it out. is it a high pressure low pressure situation, or the wind ?

Uhhhh.....what is wind for a $1000, Alex

It was all those damn ribs that made you sink Slim

I was out in the rain on Saturday. Wasn't sure I wanted to sit in it for long, then ducks started dropping in on me and my buddy. We ended up with 11, mixed bag. Ducks flew from 6:50 a.m. until 10 a.m. It was totally worth sitting in the rain.

My wife and I sat through it Saturday morning. She was a trooper. Ended up not getting anything. Just wasnt on the X that day.

Yeah I gained 4 lbs over those ribs, that did not help!

Not bad if you got the right gear. I just got a new Cabela's gore-tex jacket, so I gave it the real test, it rained on me all morning. I was fine until my butt started sinking in the mud and water started running down the back of my waders..

Good job getting the lady out there! My wife has never been, if I could ever get her to go, I would pick a nicer day though.

Yeah, I figured it had to be the wind, I was not sure though. I was hoping the water level would come up with the rain and I would not have to move out into deeper water.

dude, we didn't have that problem


Hardcore Guy, hardcore

hahaha

I should add, Hopedale, you think layout blinds stick out? Here's an idea: build a 4 foot cedar blind, it'll blend in more

Hardcore Guy....so you zeroed out? At least you got out there. I've now had two zeros this year (one in teal and one the weekend before last).

Ever since I got stuck in some mud two years ago when I was hunting with Gary's son Tyler (just me and him on this one area of private) I'm super wary of mud. I sunk down so deep and was to the point of exhaustion....I could have been in real trouble if Tyler wasnt there. The funny thing was is he went off to put some stuff up and I was just sitting there suck in the mud alone in the dark for like 10 minutes....felt like an hour. Then you hear about people that end up dying in that stuff.

Hunted in the rain Saturday killed a three man limit, three hunters, hunted Sunday in the gale force wind and only killed 13.
Was expecting a lot better hunt Sunday but did not happen.

Uhhhhhh.... so why is she not signed up for the All-Women's Goose Hunt this weekend? Seeing other women out there and having an easy first hunt could go a long way in convincing her.

Paddled into some sloughs and got muddy/soaked Saturday - might as well have left the kayak behind and walked/swam. Got a heck of a workout poling thru some serious mud & invasives. Saw some ducks, but not in range.

Sunday, met some buddies down at the lease. We braved the gale force winds and got a nice mixed bag. Not a lot of ducks, but the mix was cool. Definitely glad I was out there both days - ended the first split with a smile on my face and tired, happy dogs.

We're working on her shotgun skills right now. The pump 12 is to much for her right now so she's using a single shot 20ga. We're having problems because she's left eye dominant but right handed. She just doesnt look comfortable holding the shotgun.

Throw a snake out in front of her. Watch how fast she gets proficient!