Duck Hunting in southern California

[Hunt anything]

That’s bad assed, I was afflicted with the taxidermy bug as a kid and can’t shake it, I would like to collect all of the races of Canada/ cackling geese. I have giant, Richardson, Hutchison’s, lesser and Atlantic. Lost an Aleutian in shipping so I need to go shoot another.

 

[Hunt anything]

Rubber head I didn’t realize y’all got common eider that far south, I shot a cinnamon teal in Bon Secour bay many years ago, long way from their normal migration pattern, didnt seem quite right not shooting it surrounded by a bunch of tules. Good luck on your quest!

 

[Deleted member 40394]

I'm, slowly, working on the Duck Slam and a cinnamon is on the list...I'm trying to do it DYI entirely in my home state of South Carolina. Of course, killing all 32 species of ducks in the slam entirely in SC is somewhere between illegal and impossible because the harlequin is illegal everywhere except 1/year in Washington state and 4/year in Alaska. And, a Barrow's goldeneye has never been recorded anywhere in either of the carolinas. I'm at 25 now with a Black-bellied Whistling Duck and Common Mergansers as the most likely to get me to 27. I'm going to allow myself to travel to finish things out if I can get to 27. Here's my total right now - everything except the Cackling Goose and Tundra Swans were taken in SC...

As far as documentation goes, I've got a video pick-up of every species (except greater scaup but I'm working on that) and have every species documented in the USFWS wing survey. I'm not dong taxidermy - I'm trying to get a "magazine quality" photo of each bird with something meaningful to the hunt like gun, calls, decoys, etc and I'm going to bind them into a hard back photo gook for the coffee table. Five of the last 6 species I've added were killed over decoys that I made from old Herter's bodies and painted myself...

That is impressive. I don’t have near that time to hunt coast and lakes and all. I have only ever killed wood ducks, blue wing, bufflehead, ring neck, and blue bill here in SC. There is a whole lot of ducks I have yet to kill. Widgeon being the one I really want.

 

[Rubberhead]

If only they could stop some from leaving.

Good luck getting that slam Rubberhead, I'll be pulling for you! My count stands at 39 of the Big 41.

So, what are you missing?

I've actually photographed king eider, common merganser and black-bellied whistling ducks in SC during the season - I just haven't crossed paths when/where it was legal. The slam has become my personal, real-life, journey to Mordor.

My "cinnamon strategy" was to put in for a WMA draw where they kill a lot of bluewings and parse through the flocks hoping for a cinnamon. I killed 3 wigeon, 2 gadwall, a pintail but only had one small group of bluewings come anywhere near me. Oh well, it only takes 4 years to get drawn...

I'm not real interested in geese and SC has very few except for Golf Course Canadas but I'm managed snow, blue, Atlantic brant and Canadas in SC. I've killed a lot of tundra swans in NC and the cackling goose (actually a Richardson's) in NoDak.

 

[Rubberhead]

Rubber head I didn’t realize y’all got common eider that far south, I shot a cinnamon teal in Bon Secour bay many years ago, long way from their normal migration pattern, didnt seem quite right not shooting it surrounded by a bunch of tules. Good luck on your quest!

It was a hen and by herself but she came into a pair of common eider decoys that I had made and painted for just that occasion...

 

[Hunt anything]

That is gratifying to shoot birds over your own decoys! I took some brant decoys that I made to California years ago, we hunted in Humbolt bay and shot my one and only pacific brant over them. My buddy used them for years until he moved to the Central Valley and no longer hunts the salt water.

 

[jduckhunter]

The Black bellied and the Fulvous whistling ducks are my only 2 left. I never was too interested in hunting them but now some friends and relatives are nudging me to go and get them. They just want to see me finish the slam.
If I were you, I would get a Texas license and a public land permit and head to Choke Canyon State Park for cinnamons. Just keep an eye on the water level, if the level is right the hunting is easy.

 

[Hunt anything]

The fulvous is a tough one, south Florida is the most reliable you can also get a lot of bb whistling ducks, prime blue wings and the Florida strain of mottled duck.

 

[jduckhunter]

Seriously considering Florida for next year. I got the Florida mottled duck a few years ago on a trip down the Banana River. The Fulvous is going to take a bit of luck I'm afraid.

 

[Hunt anything]

That is one of the 3 i need mis-typed earlier, I looked at some outfitters south of okechobee but they were really expensive. I had a client shoot one in south Louisiana years ago and that is the only one I saw in the time I hunted there.

 

[UKHunter]

A few weeks ago, my son and I took a drive over to El Centro, California to see if we could shoot a couple of Cinnamon teal. It was a lovely drive of 2506 miles one way. We saw some pretty amazing landscapes and a few awesome sunrises and sunsets. And we didn't have to worry about wearing masks until we hit some of the more liberal states and even than we didn't always wear them. I guess if looks could kill we would have both been in trouble, but luckily, we both have pretty thick hides.
Any way the duck hunting was a bit slow, but we did manage to shoot a couple of nice cinnamon and green wing teal and even a few shovelers. Hunting ducks in 70+ degree temperatures is not what we are used to, but we adapted very quickly. It was the mud surrounding the ponds that presented the toughest challenge, some of it seemed bottomless and could really give you a problem if you lingered too long in one spot. All in all, it was a pretty amazing trip!View attachment 448135View attachment 448139View attachment 448134View attachment 448138

Well done, Jeff. Hope all is well?

 

[jduckhunter]

Well done, Jeff. Hope all is well?

Hey Tom, I thought that you might have fallen off the edge of the earth or something. Nice to hear from you, things are going pretty well here, except for this sore leg that I've been putting up with since November. Doctors weren't sure what's wrong with it and with hunting season starting I didn't have time to mess with it. Been taking pain meds and hunting, seasons are winding down now so I guess I'll make an appointment and try to let them figure it out. How's things with you?

 

[UKHunter]

Hey Tom, I thought that you might have fallen off the edge of the earth or something. Nice to hear from you, things are going pretty well here, except for this sore leg that I've been putting up with since November. Doctors weren't sure what's wrong with it and with hunting season starting I didn't have time to mess with it. Been taking pain meds and hunting, seasons are winding down now so I guess I'll make an appointment and try to let them figure it out. How's things with you?

About as close as you can come to falling off the planet - currently out in Australia for the next 6 months! Sorry about the leg but glad it didnt stop you getting out, hope its sorted soon. All good here thanks, just enjoying a sunny summer in Aus and trying to avoid working.

 

[jduckhunter]

My cinnamons from California are ready for the wall.