A christmas duck

[anser2]

I had hoped that with the last spell of cold weather we might have a few more duck about , but the  situation does not seem to have got any better on the East Norfolk marshes I shoot. Boxing Morning was a funny dawn with the first light showing very early and  then hanging for ages before the sun finaly rose.  Of the duck one mallard flew past 100 yards wide  in the first glimmer of light and nothing for the next hour when a pair flew past well out of shot. Just 3 duck seen on what in past seasons had been a very productive flightline. Just after  sunrise a few  small flocks of pinks left the roost , but all kept well out of range. And that was it. Almost in desperation I had a shot at a wide passing pigeon more in the hopes that a shot just might stir up a few duck . It crumpled just as it was meant to and then I remembered I still was loaded with 3 inch steel 1s. Despite the open choke and large shot size the bird was hit with 2 pellets in the breast and a broken wing. Maybe I should use no 1 more often for pigeon! 

Evening flight was spent hiding next to the most super looking flash close to the river , but no duck came in and not one was even seen crossing the sky despite a large RSPB marsh just across the river. This mornings flight was not planed , but the iogs woke me up and a quick look outside showed that the promised wet dawn only held a little drizzle which soon stooped.  Despite the cloud there was plenty of light to see to shoot by 7 am as I reached the marsh. There was a small carp pond just over my boundary that a few mallard sometimes spent the day on and I hoped I might be able to  intercept one  from behind a small bush a couple of hundred yards away out on the grazing marsh. No sooner had I loaded up than seven came  overhead in the murky sky on set wings. Perhaps I should not have taken the shot as they were high , very high , but after a duckless day yesterday I could not resist and took a single snap shot. One bird fell out of the flight , crashing well behind, giving my dog meg a long search before she found it  and delivered a stone dead duck mallard into my hands.  One woodcock flashed past low and perhaps i should have taken a shot , but that one duck made the morning a success and I was not too bothered. I waited for an hour or so , but no more apeared and I never saw any pinks over the marsh. They seem to have deserted this area this year.  The wind changed , swinging from the south east to the north and a nasty dark cloud aproached with the increasing wind, it was time to go.  I just got to the car before the squall hit  and by the time I got to my friends house a full blown gale was blowing and it started to snow. The season is rapidly running out and this has to bve the worst duck shooting season I have known. For months the grazing marshes were too dry , but the th rain and wet snow has left some good flashes now , but still there are very few duck on the marshes i shoot on. I have even yet to shoot my first wigeon this winter and my seasons duck bag is less than 20% of what i would expect. One bright point of the past few days is that I seem to  have regained my shooting form after a  bad spell  over the past month..

[marsh man]

14 minutes ago, anser2 said:

I had hoped that with the last spell of cold weather we might have a few more duck about , but the  situation does not seem to have got any better on the East Norfolk marshes I shoot. Boxing Morning was a funny dawn with the first light showing very early and  then hanging for ages before the sun finaly rose.  Of the duck one mallard flew past 100 yards wide  in the first glimmer of light and nothing for the next hour when a pair flew past well out of shot. Just 3 duck seen on what in past seasons had been a very productive flightline. Just after  sunrise a few  small flocks of pinks left the roost , but all kept well out of range. And that was it. Almost in desperation I had a shot at a wide passing pigeon more in the hopes that a shot just might stir up a few duck . It crumpled just as it was meant to and then I remembered I still was loaded with 3 inch steel 1s. Despite the open choke and large shot size the bird was hit with 2 pellets in the breast and a broken wing. Maybe I should use no 1 more often for pigeon! 

Evening flight was spent hiding next to the most super looking flash close to the river , but no duck came in and not one was even seen crossing the sky despite a large RSPB marsh just across the river. This mornings flight was not planed , but the iogs woke me up and a quick look outside showed that the promised wet dawn only held a little drizzle which soon stooped.  Despite the cloud there was plenty of light to see to shoot by 7 am as I reached the marsh. There was a small carp pond just over my boundary that a few mallard sometimes spent the day on and I hoped I might be able to  intercept one  from behind a small bush a couple of hundred yards away out on the grazing marsh. No sooner had I loaded up than seven came  overhead in the murky sky on set wings. Perhaps I should not have taken the shot as they were high , very high , but after a duckless day yesterday I could not resist and took a single snap shot. One bird fell out of the flight , crashing well behind, giving my dog meg a long search before she found it  and delivered a stone dead duck mallard into my hands.  One woodcock flashed past low and perhaps i should have taken a shot , but that one duck made the morning a success and I was not too bothered. I waited for an hour or so , but no more apeared and I never saw any pinks over the marsh. They seem to have deserted this area this year.  The wind changed , swinging from the south east to the north and a nasty dark cloud aproached with the increasing wind, it was time to go.  I just got to the car before the squall hit  and by the time I got to my friends house a full blown gale was blowing and it started to snow. The season is rapidly running out and this has to bve the worst duck shooting season I have known. For months the grazing marshes were too dry , but the th rain and wet snow has left some good flashes now , but still there are very few duck on the marshes i shoot on. I have even yet to shoot my first wigeon this winter and my seasons duck bag is less than 20% of what i would expect. One bright point of the past few days is that I seem to  have regained my shooting form after a  bad spell  over the past month..

The estuary at the moment have got a fair amount of duck ( mainly Widgeon ) and up till two or three weeks ago that's where they stayed , then after the early December snow thawed out the first splashes appeared and the duck at long last started to move , for a couple of weeks I had some decent flights with hardly a blank ,  now if anything there is far to much water although tonight there were a few shots going off and I did manage another Widgeon .

Today I took the dog out at 7 .15am and it was still dark and a light drizzle , we had a shoot on near Norwich today and it stated to rain hard just as we got there at 10 to 9 , we done two drives in terrible weather , cold , heavy rain / snow and freezing cold , we went back to the farm for 11s and it was a unanimous decision to call it a day , I have finished a few times at dinner through inclement weather but this was the first time we were on the way home before dinner .

Tonight was very cold and windy but it didn't rain until I got back home , so at least I still have one dry coat left.

If you are staying down near mine get in touch and I will do my best for you to get your Widgeon before the season run out , every marsh have now got enough water on so as long as it don't freeze there is a good chance of getting a duck. 

[6.5x55SE]

Hope you had a good Christmas Robert and all the very best for the forth coming New Year ?.

Although I've shot Duck this season has been terrible at the moment I've got miles of flooded River plains which in other years would hold thousands of Duck along with a few Geese but at the moment the chances are remote so it can only get better hopefully before the season close's. 

 

[anser2]

3 hours ago, 6.5x55SE said:

Hope you had a good Christmas Robert and all the very best for the forth coming New Year ?.

Although I've shot Duck this season has been terrible at the moment I've got miles of flooded River plains which in other years would hold thousands of Duck along with a few Geese but at the moment the chances are remote so it can only get better hopefully before the season close's. 

 

Thanks and a happy New Year to you. What i cant understand this year is we have been almost snow free  in Norfolk while the remainder of the country has had 2 spells snow, ice and low temperatures and still we have few very duck! The flash I shot over was as perfect place to shoot as you could think of , nice fresh water , short  grass close to a big Norfolk river and very close to a bird reserve. The marsh known for very good duck flighting and  is very lightly shot and yet we never even saw a duck. As you say it can only get better, I hope.

 

[anser2]

3 hours ago, marsh man said:

The estuary at the moment have got a fair amount of duck ( mainly Widgeon ) and up till two or three weeks ago that's where they stayed , then after the early December snow thawed out the first splashes appeared and the duck at long last started to move , for a couple of weeks I had some decent flights with hardly a blank ,  now if anything there is far to much water although tonight there were a few shots going off and I did manage another Widgeon .

Today I took the dog out at 7 .15am and it was still dark and a light drizzle , we had a shoot on near Norwich today and it stated to rain hard just as we got there at 10 to 9 , we done two drives in terrible weather , cold , heavy rain / snow and freezing cold , we went back to the farm for 11s and it was a unanimous decision to call it a day , I have finished a few times at dinner through inclement weather but this was the first time we were on the way home before dinner .

Tonight was very cold and windy but it didn't rain until I got back home , so at least I still have one dry coat left.

If you are staying down near mine get in touch and I will do my best for you to get your Widgeon before the season run out , every marsh have now got enough water on so as long as it don't freeze there is a good chance of getting a duck. 

Thanks for the offer MM but I am back home in North Norfolk now. However I should be back your way before the end of the season so I may well take you up on your kind offer. So far I have had just one half a chance at a wigeon all season. That was on the Ouse washes , but the night was very dark and murky and the small bunch almost vanished into the darkness before I even got the gun on them.