After years of talking about it I finally decided to set up a spot on my lease just for duck hunting. With the limit raised to three on Wood Ducks it makes it worthwhile. The $50 Canoe I bought was still there. The water had risen close to it, but not enough to float it away to the Brazos. Yes, I have a rope on it now. I picked a spot on the creek far from where I Deer hunt to stay legal on the baiting issue. I had a place in mind that was a bend that pointed north that makes the prevailing winds tend to bunch up anything floating in the river at that location, including Pecans and Acorns. It is hard to reach by land, but I have always been able to jump Wood Ducks there and it is the only spot on the lease that I have seen duck species other than wood ducks.

So here is the bend. Water is up, but with the high banks it looks about the same even with lower water levels.



There are very few places one can access a bank on this one, but right at the bend there is a dry creek bed access that makes for a great spot to beach the canoe and be able to drag it out of sight.




I cut a trail through the woods to a terraced area on the creek and started a natural brush blind. It will be a work in progress. I will take a second chair and paint the next trip up. Evenings the ducks fly the treetops from right to left, but mornings they fly just a few feet off the water following the creek going left to right. I should be shooting down at them as they come in. Being private I will be able to leave me a set of wood duck decoys in the canoe ready to deploy.



I had to do a little tree trimming, but here is my view left and right from the blind. I had several Wood Ducks try to fly through or try to fly in and land while I was working clearing the brush.





I cut a tree to lay across the snag in the creek to create a nice loafing or roost spot. When I paddled the creek literally every snag in the river had Wood ducks sitting on them.







I am excited. I should have taken a canoe or kayak up there to do this years ago. Going to be a great season.

That spot looks exactly like the setup where I got my wall hanger a few years ago. The bend, old creek bed, everything. But it was on public land and we would walk 50 minutes one way through thick brush to get there. If we waited long enough we'd get some greenheads to come in there, too.

With the limit going up I may have to see if I can get back in there this year...

I can see why they've raised the limit. Yesterday Gary said he had never seen a wood duck where we had the boys on their youth hunt. Sure enough they got one, and we saw quite a few but none were decoying as usual just flying by.

Looks like a cool spot, good luck with it.

I agree with ya on the woodies. We saw wads and wads of them on Sat AM youth hunt, as well as all the spots I've been scouting.

Great looking spot!!! I hope you get several limits!

You better be quick on the trigger. You will also have to keep moving up or down the creek to keep getting them good. I hunt several spots just like that.

John that looks awesome man, good work. Thanks for the pics, got me excited for this weekend!!!!!

nice pics, thanks for the idea of the loafing branch. Never thought about that. I need to go scout my creek

Pictures from the same creek.

Loafing Wood Ducks in Love



Roosting Wood Ducks



D.D. I will not be hunting it very much because also hunt Deer,Hogs,and Cranes there, but when I do.. That picture showing the view to the left of the blind. The birds fly right down the pipe almost straight at where my position will be. Decoys or not it should be easy straight on quartered shots. Been watching them fly the creek for years from my Deer Stand at another location. It is a set pattern. The last time I used decoys there, it was a drought year and I set up a portable blind in the middle of the creek. I could have batted them with my stock as they flew past me. Others would hit the breaks and crash into my decoys. Squirrels will likely fall from my Wood duck blind during wood duck hunts also.

Thats a great pic! I saw several woodies this past weekend
































at the San Antonio zoo

that "woodies in love" pic would make a good mount imo.

great mixed bag with the squirrels and woodies. All you need is some hot grease and gravy.

Nice job John- cool pics.

Exactly what I was thinking!

Looks like a place where I go for white bass.

Looks like you are gunna get into them pretty good.

Hey John, since I've never bagged a Wood Duck I'll let you invite me up for a shot at one!!!! LOL Great looking set-up.

Man, I would if I could, but the lease has a "no guests" contract. The two other guys on it have been there for I know at least 15 years. We have been treated well, so we don't do anything to mess that up.

Great picks and nice place. i wish I had a lease like that.

Nice pics John, that fold out chair looks a little out of place tho.

Also make for a good skillet shot.

Yea, like said, it is a work in progress. "All work and no play makes john a dull boy", so I left in time to go dove hunting. I will take some spray paint with me next time and a second chair for when I take my youngest son or my duck hunting lease partner. You know though, I pulled the chair from the other side of the woods where I have been shooting Turkeys from for years, as is. The critters get used to it being there.

Now you want a skillet shot opportunity. Here it is. All the same in different formats. Take your pick.

http://www.fototime.com/3E0B16F36EC92C2/convx264.mp4
http://www.fototime.com/3E0B16F36EC92C2/conv.wmv
http://www.fototime.com/3E0B16F36EC92C2/orig.mpg

whoa, that was cool!

They like that corn dont they. That blind looks like a great setup. I think I need to go check out some of the creeks in my neck of the woods.

Well that was taken on the second day of an opening weekend of Deer season. The day before there were like 50 of them suckers that attacked that feeder. It was a complete surprise. Like in Alfred Hitchcocks "Birds" they were all around me in the trees. I was amazed and had no idea what was about to happen. It was a Deer season disaster. I had to take that feeder down. I am unable to run one anywhere close to that creek. I also had a fish feeder running, but I took it down three years ago because my source for fish chow could no longer get me sinking chow and the floating would get ate up by the birds before the catfish had a chance. You could actually see big catfish tuggin on the birds while they were gobbling up the catfish's chow.