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I've been a little lax in posting updates the last few weeks.  Suffice it to say that the below freezing tempertures have effected the opportunities as much as it has effected the birds.  In an effort to catch up while being brief, the following paragraphs capture the spirit of the last few hunts and may provide a little insight for those still trying to get in a last minute hunt or two.

The first of three hunts covered by this article is a trip to Truman that partner Dave Gaulden and I took a week ago Saturday.  Figuring the marshes to be frozen solid, we decided to make a run to the Tebo arm and see if we could duplicate past sucesses.  The day started off alright, as the point we wanted to hunt, which was staked with a blind-permit sign, was vacant an hour before shooting time, meaning we were free to set up as we wished.  We put out about five dozen blocks, including a dozen of Dave's new full body dekes, then snuggled into our layout blinds to get out of the frigid winds.  Shortly after shooting time, a rogue Canada goose worked in over the spread, head up and feet down.  Dave dropped him with one shot, which put up a decent-sized group of mallards across the lake.  Things were looking promising.  However, by 4:00pm, all we had to show for the day was a pair of hooded mergansers along with five common mergansers, not what we had hoped to find.  We made it make to the truck shortly after sundown and called it a day.

Our next trip was supposed to have been last Tuesday when Dave had a reservation at Four Rivers.  However, work commitments kept me from going, and we figured the foul weather forecast for Wednesday might make for a better hunt.  As such, Dave picked me up at 3:30am and we headed south to spend the day in the rain.  Battling a strong wind that kept shifting, low clouds that hid the flight birds, and a nonestop rain, we managed four mallards apiece, while I added a bonus shoveler.  We didn't have a ton of birds working, and many of those that did were put off by other shots in the marsh or ill-timed claps of thunder.  Still, we beat the average for the day and had a fun trip.

I decided to try again the following morning, although I would only be able to hunt until noon as I would need to get home for Christmas Eve festivities.  Hoping to get my bag of greenheads early, I only managed three mallards and a gadwall.  I had a few shot opportunites early, but the low cloud cover made distinquishing greenheads from hens impossible, so I passed up a few early shots that I later regretted.  Of course, there were a few shots that didn't result in a bagged bird, but I'm sticking with the excuse of laying in the boat for hours caused me to stiffen up a might, which I'm sure effected my swing!  On the way out I noticed the borrow ditches outside the levies were overflowing, the result of several inches of rain.  There appeared to be quite a bit of water flooding the surrounding timber, which may have enticed some of the birds out of the shooting pools and into the freshly submerged grasses and timbers in seach of new food sources.  Whatever the case, I didn't see near as many birds as the day before, but I still left with four ducks on my lanyard.

The Christmas Eve storm, which continued into Christmas Day as well as the day after, may very well signal the close of the 2009 duck season.  The local waterholes are all pretty much frozen, and the forecast doesn't look promising in regards to a thaw.  I have a reservation on Monday at Four Rivers, but I'll wait until this afternoon and check the hotline before determining whether to use my last vacation day or save it for a goose hunt later in the week.

Posted by Mark Thompson, who is proud to support Smithville Marine, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha Motors, Mustad, 724Outdoors.com, Dave’s Custom Baits, and The Buck Stops Here Taxidermy .