Couple Black Ducks

[fox-admin]

Our marsh is frozen but hunted the unfrozen creek that run into our marsh. Nellie picked up two on two great blind retrieves, shot the DE Pawn Shop gun again becoming my favorite Fox.

[Jeff S]

Way to go Craig. When the marsh freezes over, you have to find open water. Good job Nellie!

[44whiskey]

great pic, thanks for posting

[Stan Hillis]

Blacks are a true trophy duck down he'ah. I know from past pics that y'all have a lot more of them, Craig. But, I always love seeing them. Congrats on a great hunt. Give Nellie a rub behind the ears, and a pat for me.

Well done.

[vaturkey]

Good job. They are a fine eating duck as well.

[fox-admin]

Duck hunting has been a difficult game the last few years. For decades our mallard bag was about 50% of our total. The mallards have vanished from our part of the Atlantic Flyway. I am yet to shoot a mallard this year. A decade ago I would shoot 25+ in our marsh by now. In big ducks we now see 85% Blacks and 15% Mallards the exact reverse of a decade ago. Some blame global warming, crossing breeding with released mallards, all I know there is a major problem with mallards in the Atlantic Flyway.

[Stan Hillis]

You may not, Craig, but I consider blacks equal to or above mallards in desirability. But, I guess the biggest problem there is the limit. Mallards are four. Blacks are not.

Funny how as the years go by the presence of the different species changes.

[Sporrns]

In 55 years of duck hunting, I have always considered Black Ducks to be the ultimate prize. Notoriously wary, always hard to decoy, and infuriatingly hard to hit after their "warning light" goes on coming into decoys, they are indeed trophies from any standpoint. I have hunted them in MD, DE, NJ, MS, and Canada. If a prime drake mallard is a perfect-racked 8-point buck, a big orange-legged late season Black Duck is a 10-point bull elk. Kevin

[Researcher]

Oh the horror!! The only Black Duck I ever shot was with a 1947 L.C. Smith 16-gauge I briefly owned.

[Woody]

Duck hunting has been a difficult game the last few years. For decades our mallard bag was about 50% of our total. The mallards have vanished from our part of the Atlantic Flyway. I am yet to shoot a mallard this year. A decade ago I would shoot 25+ in our marsh by now. In big ducks we now see 85% Blacks and 15% Mallards the exact reverse of a decade ago. Some blame global warming, crossing breeding with released mallards, all I know there is a major problem with mallards in the Atlantic Flyway.

If your club isn’t shooting mallards that speaks volumes about the status of mallards in our flyway!!! You guys have probably the primmest duck hunting in NY!!! So if you don’t have them there isn’t any around.

I haven’t shot a mallard in a 2 years!!! I don’t have good big duck hunting. Mostly woodies and blacks. But still don’t see a lot of mallards around. There has been a few around closet to your club in the flooded fields. I drive through there last week. Nothing really a lot of birds in Montezuma either.

[fox-admin]

Eric: The big ducks are just starting to come but mostly blacks. 15 years ago this time of year it would be 90% mallards and 10% blacks. Now it's 90% blacks and 10% mallards. The black numbers seem unchanged from years passed, mallards are WAY down from my observations. It's a hard game the last few years but shooting a couple of ducks is a great day.

[Rbishop]

That is a "stout" looking Parker!

[Jeff S]

Nice picture Craig.

[vaturkey]

Eric: The big ducks are just starting to come but mostly blacks. 15 years ago this time of year it would be 90% mallards and 10% blacks. Now it's 90% blacks and 10% mallards. The black numbers seem unchanged from years passed, mallards are WAY down from my observations. It's a hard game the last few years but shooting a couple of ducks is a great day.

When I duck hunted here 15 plus years ago outside the town of Round Hill Va on a 33 acre lake (Sleeter Lake), the most popular big duck by far was the Black duck. The limit then 1 black duck per person and we pretty much would hit that every time we went out. Mallards we would only get a single drake every other weekend (we were working those days). Limit on Green Heads was 4 as I recall. Best hunting was in the very early season when the Wood ducks were damn near everywhere. That lake is now surrounded by houses and townhouses and hunting was discontinued years and years ago. Well, it was good while it lasted for sure. PS. That was pre-fox days. I was carrying a Benelli SBE at first and when Hevi-shot came out I went to a 20 gauge Benelli Nova. That hevi-shot was expensive, but my goodness it was lethal.

[Woody]

Eric: The big ducks are just starting to come but mostly blacks. 15 years ago this time of year it would be 90% mallards and 10% blacks. Now it's 90% blacks and 10% mallards. The black numbers seem unchanged from years passed, mallards are WAY down from my observations. It's a hard game the last few years but shooting a couple of ducks is a great day.

I jumped/bumped a good flock of ducks last week when I was duck hunting. Kind of surprised me. If I had know they were there I would have jumped them instead of deer hunting!!! . Anyways It was a flock of probably 50-60 birds. And as you said probably 90/10 blacks to mallards.

Back in the 90’s-mid 2000’s I had some really good field duck hunting and it was the total opposite. Tons of mallards with enough blacks mixed in to get your 1 daily limit.

I’ve come to the conclusion if I want to have good duck hunting I’m going to have to travel out of state to do it now days. I feel bad for my boys. They missed good hunting. More than anything one of my twins says every year he would like to kill some mallards. He’s seen enough of my pictures to see what it was like.