Bucket list birds

[wesheltonj]

(1) Quail
(2) Quail
(3) Quail
(4) Quail
(5) Quail
(6) Quail
(7) Quail
(8) White Wing Dove
(9) Canada Goose
(10) Mallard

 

[JPbowhunter]

1-Harlequin
2-Cinnamon Teal
3-chiloe widgeon
4-Eurasian Widgeon
5-Brant Atlantic or Pacific
6-king eider
7-oldsqaw
8-Plummed Blue-wing real
9-barrows goldeneye
10-Australain shoveler

I've successfully hunted in NC - mallard, black duck, wood duck, green-wing real,blue wing real, widgeon, gadwall, pintail, shoveler, ring-neck, lesser and greater scaup, redhead, buffleheads, black scoter, surf scoter, white wing scoter, hooded merganser, common merganser, red-breasted merganser, ruddy duck, tundra swan, lesser snow goose, Canada goose

Great to see an aussie bird in the mix, they don't do real well in dry years and have been protected the last few seasons.

More aussie ones to add are chestnut teal, mountain duck, pink eared duck and my favorite hardhead.

Hardhead are extremely fast fliers and hard to hit, males have a half blue bill and a white eye.

P.s. if you want to sound like a local we call them blue winged shovelers, usually just blue wing.

 

[WAB]

No we'll be a bit further north in the middle of the Berring sea.

Sounds awesome! Watch the weather and don’t push it. That’s rough country!

 

[gizmo]

(1) Quail
(2) Quail
(3) Quail
(4) Quail
(5) Quail
(6) Quail
(7) Quail
(8) White Wing Dove
(9) Canada Goose
(10) Mallard

I’m guessing you may enjoy hunting Quail. We had good rains this summer late so I will be interested to see how our season fairs with Quail. In good years I don’t know of anywhere that can rival us in numbers of wild Quail. Bobs and blues. Sadly blues aren’t near as plentiful as they once were but we still nock quite a few down in the course of a good year.

 

[wesheltonj]

I’m guessing you may enjoy hunting Quail. . . . .

Not was much as I like eating them.

 

[gizmo]

Not was much as I like eating them.

Well maybe one day we’ll get to enjoy roasted Quail and cold beer together.

 

[buckmarkhunter]

I was pulling our boat out of the mighty miss here in MN. And the guy next to me had a sticker on his truck that said North American waterfowl slam. I was intrigued so asked him what that was he said 41 diff waterfowl species from North America. I didn’t even know that was a thing.

 

[gizmo]

I was pulling our boat out of the mighty miss here in MN. And the guy next to me had a sticker on his truck that said North American waterfowl slam. I was intrigued so asked him what that was he said 41 diff waterfowl species from North America. I didn’t even know that was a thing.

Wow that’s quite the accomplishment. He must be quite the seasoned waterfowler.

 

[gizmo]

It’s funny, I don’t know why but I’d rather hunt waterfowl than just about anything else in North America. I guess I’m just a duck head.

 

[jduckhunter]

Wow that’s quite the accomplishment. He must be quite the seasoned waterfowler.

It would be awesome to get them all, to date I only have 35 of them. Maybe some day if I keep plugging away.

 

[gizmo]

It would be awesome to get them all, to date I only have 35 of them. Maybe some day if I keep plugging away.

I have no earthly idea how many species I’ve taken. I’ve never counted. Maybe I should and see how crazy I’ll go trying to get the rest because that’s exactly what I need is another costly pursuit to drive myself crazy with.

 

[jduckhunter]

I have no earthly idea how many species I’ve taken. I’ve never counted. Maybe I should and see how crazy I’ll go trying to get the rest because that’s exactly what I need is another costly pursuit to drive myself crazy with.

I just took a quick count of what's hanging on the wall and sitting around the house. Might have missed 1 or 2, been getting things mounted for a long time. It really helps when your best friend is a taxidermist.

 

[gizmo]

Well you got me curious so I counted. I’m at 19. Not even half way there. Ooooh that was a bad idea because now I’m going to be on a mission.

 

[gizmo]

Truth be told, if money was no object I would much rather get the North American waterfowl slam than the North American sheep slam. Once I obtained that I’d go for the world waterfowl slam if there is such a thing. I’m probably crazy but man I love waterfowling. Very odd addiction for a guy that absolutely hates mornings.

 

[jduckhunter]

Truth be told, if money was no object I would much rather get the North American waterfowl slam than the North American sheep slam. Once I obtained that I’d go for the world waterfowl slam if there is such a thing. I’m probably crazy but man I love waterfowling. Very odd addiction for a guy that absolutely hates mornings.

Waterfowlers are an odd group in general, maybe I should say die hard waterfowlers are an odd group. I know plenty of occasional duck hunters that seem normal enough. I think most of us are not morning people, yet there is nowhere that we would rather be then in a duck blind sipping coffee watching the sun come up and straining our eyes waiting for that first flight.
Years ago I too wanted the NA waterfowl slam and I aggressively pursued it for a number of years but there were a lot of other things I wanted to hunt also and a lot of other places to see. For the last few years I've put waterfowling on a back burner, with my arthritis advancing and cold damp locations aggravating it quite a bit, it just seemed like a smart move. Now my son is pushing me to finish what I started, that's why the trip to St. Paul Island for King eiders.

 

[WAB]

I have no idea how many species I’ve taken but I do remember the most diverse day. A little known fact is that the spring fed ponds in the red desert (Wyoming) hold great numbers of ducks. One morning three of us limited out and our bag contained 12 species of duck! That would have been a great day to start keeping track!!!

 

[Mr. 16 gauge]

For me, it's not so much about the "what", but the "how"..........I don't mind hunting familiar species over and over......I just like doing it with good friends or in a different manner. For example, this year I am hunting over some new hand made teal decoys (didn't quite get them completed before early teal season rolled around) and I plan on using my muzzleloading shotgun this year. I managed to get out with it once last fall, but the birds didn't cooperate. I also enjoy taking birds with my own handloads. I have a wood duck mount; it's special for a few reasons: 1.) it was my first hunting dogs first retrieve (trained him myself) and the bird was missing all of one foot and about 2/3rds of the other (I'm thinking a snapping turtle when it was a duckling). I had my last labradors first retrieve mounted.....it's just a drake mallard, but when I look at it, it brings back a lot of good memories.
Having said that, here are some birds I would like to take (and how I would like to take them, in some cases)
1.) wild turkey (muzzleloading shotgun, trade musket, and 16 gauge handload)
2.) Sharptail grouse (our season here in MI was closed for quite a while, and just recently reopened a couple of years back)
3.) Dove......never had the opportunity, and our state has no season. Tried to find an outfitter in a nearby state without any success.
4.) Occasionally, we get a European widgeon taken on the local waterfowl production area............the next one that is taken I hope gets taken by me.
5.) common goldeneye. They are fairly plentiful in my neck of the woods, esp. during the later part of the season.......I've taken just about every other species that is common to our area, except this one.
6.) Gambels or California quail.....just think that they are neat looking little birds.

 

[bilmcc]

Ruffed grouse
Wild Turkey (maybe all sub-species, but I will start with one)
More ruffed grouse

 

[Jfet]

Very odd addiction for a guy that absolutely hates mornings.

...and lives in a very dry environment. But oddly enough your place is in the middle of a major flyway. Based on the talent level of your children you don't need to worry about leaving them an inheritance. They are going to do a lot better than you. Go chase down those birds.

 

[buck wild]

I’m not a big duck hunter- been 4 times in my life but I must be lucky because I have several birds people are listing. A have a cinnamon teal, wood duck and wigeon. I know the guys that were with me with ooohhing and aaayyyinh about the cim teal.