Day one of first session tomorrow.

bte0816

Eight Pointer
I don't think I have ever skipped an entire early season. Between no water in the swamp and lack of birds this might be the first. Not sure much will change before the regular season.
 

wncdeerhunter

Old Mossy Horns
I don't think I have ever skipped an entire early season. Between no water in the swamp and lack of birds this might be the first. Not sure much will change before the regular season.

No birds this morning at our spot - only saw a pair yesterday morning while deer hunting
 

Hevi 13. Anson

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Got an invite to hunt with a buddy and his son's. Swamp had water and a good number of Woodies but the kids insisted on putting out 2 bags of decoys including 4 Mojo's. Bout 10 minutes before LST the inner beaver came out in the retriever so there was plenty of motion in the decoys. No ducks were harmed, I never raised my gun.
 

hawglips

Old Mossy Horns
Had lots of ducks last weekend, gone today. Think they headed south. Was afraid this might be an issue with the new early season dates.
 

valetroutfisherman

Ten Pointer
Our spot was a bust. The small beaver dam pond was more of a creek. About 2' wide, at the dam, about a 15x15 pool. No woody's came in. Didnt even hear any fly around. This was a super hot hole 3x we were there last year 3rd season
 

nekkedducker

Ten Pointer
Totally surprised to see about 15 woodies in a puddle about 15 ft across at our farm. Swamp is usually 100 yards square, but its really dry. Always holds a good number of birds but my expectations were low with the water level.
 

TomstoSwans486

Four Pointer
Same issue on my tract opening day, very few birds, no big ducks (which were there weeks before). Had a great day fishing today down on the crystal coast and I'm hoping Monday is the last 80 degree day we see until May 2022.
 

Roanoke

Eight Pointer
Glad you Piedmonters have ducks. I was all over the Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula the past three days working on blinds, water issues, etc. Waiting game for us right now but it is starting to get cold up North. Few swans showed up in Virginia. Not real happy with the way the season splits are this year. If we get big flocks to arrive in early November they will have no time to imprint unless you can manage the pressure. I would rather have more days in December than November.
 

Sportsman

Old Mossy Horns
I spent the last two days trout fishing in Hyde Co from the Pungo to Swanquarter Bay. I saw 4 black ducks, 1 mallard, and one flock of teal. None too exciting.
 

Duckmauler dhc

Old Mossy Horns
Rode from Juniper to Wysocking saturday, saw 1 bird.


I remember 5-10 years ago if you rode through that area this time of the year you couldn’t move more than 1/8 of a mile without seeing big numbers of scoters and some divers mixed in. When you could hunt scoters in October we would kill several limits of sea ducks starting around October 15th.

I did see about 75 mallards with about the same number of wood ducks, some blue wings, handful of ruddies and about 15 ringnecks while fishing one of the city lakes yesterday. Was nice to see a few birds.
 
Last edited:

TH80

Eight Pointer
I saw a few black ducks and 1 teal Saturday while fishing rose bay. I’ll be in the swamp Saturday after a few wood ducks. Hopefully the storms last night and the rain Thursday night and Friday will bring the water up some
 

kahunter

Eight Pointer
I remember 5-10 years ago if you rode through that area this time of the year you couldn’t move more than 1/8 of a mile without seeing big numbers of scoters and some divers mixed in. When you could hunt scoters in October we would kill several limits of sea ducks starting around October 15th.

I did see about 75 mallards with about the same number of wood ducks, some blue wings, handful of riddles and about 15 ringnecks while fishing one of the city lakes yesterday. Was nice to see a few birds.
I also remember when you could cross the lake and see alot of ducks this time of year. I did not see any in 2 trips this past weekend. Sad
 

Duckmauler dhc

Old Mossy Horns
I also remember when you could cross the lake and see alot of ducks this time of year. I did not see any in 2 trips this past weekend. Sad

Oh yes that too. Back in the 90s when it was a thriving bass fishery we would spend a week or 2 in October on mattamuskeet fishing and would see thousands upon thousands of ducks.
 
Top