marsh man Posted October 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2019 17 minutes ago, islandgun said: Not a lot of cover out there, were you shooting from where you took the picture, or were you under a flight line, or just hoping [like me] something would chance to get within range I took the photo from the track that run down to the pump house which is on the South side of the estuary , the marshes are roughly four miles long and in places nearly a mile wide , so the duck have got plenty of choice , on the other side of the estuary the block of marshes are a lot bigger , getting on to 10 miles long and well over 2 miles wide . over the years I have been shooting on most of them where I could go , and in my younger day one or two where I couldn't 😊 The ones I go on now are roughly the same as the ones in the photo , very little cover but as you are shooting in nigh on darkness the lack of cover don't really matter . I always have the wind on my back with the water in front of me , I have the advantage of being able to shoot fairly well while sitting down , so I weigh up what way they will approach the water ( stronger the wind the better ) stick my stool down 10 / 15 yds from the edge of the water facing where I am going to get the most light , either towards the town with the wind blowing from the west , or if the stars are out you will get the last bit of light looking towards the west where the sun had gone down , if you sit still the duck will come in well in range and I have had them pitch in and they don't know I am sitting there , decoys can also help as they give the duck a bit of confidence to come in and they are looking at the decoys and not you , try it and you will be surprised how well they can come into it , mind you it do help a lot if you have got the duck using the marsh in the first place Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted October 30, 2019 Report Share Posted October 30, 2019 48 minutes ago, marsh man said: I took the photo from the track that run down to the pump house which is on the South side of the estuary , the marshes are roughly four miles long and in places nearly a mile wide , so the duck have got plenty of choice , on the other side of the estuary the block of marshes are a lot bigger , getting on to 10 miles long and well over 2 miles wide . over the years I have been shooting on most of them where I could go , and in my younger day one or two where I couldn't 😊 The ones I go on now are roughly the same as the ones in the photo , very little cover but as you are shooting in nigh on darkness the lack of cover don't really matter . I always have the wind on my back with the water in front of me , I have the advantage of being able to shoot fairly well while sitting down , so I weigh up what way they will approach the water ( stronger the wind the better ) stick my stool down 10 / 15 yds from the edge of the water facing where I am going to get the most light , either towards the town with the wind blowing from the west , or if the stars are out you will get the last bit of light looking towards the west where the sun had gone down , if you sit still the duck will come in well in range and I have had them pitch in and they don't know I am sitting there , decoys can also help as they give the duck a bit of confidence to come in and they are looking at the decoys and not you , try it and you will be surprised how well they can come into it , mind you it do help a lot if you have got the duck using the marsh in the first place Cheers MM, excellent response. Im guessing your duck are roosting on the estuary mud and coming to the splash at sunset to feed, my situation is slightly different. my estuary is almost pure sand and of little interest to ducks, apart from a salt water lagoon which they sometimes roost on during the day. i have lots of permanent splashes about 1ft deep, which they roost and/or feed on, day or night, I usually try and get under them between the lagoon and the splashes. Very random and dependant on luck. consequently im lucky to get more than a couple of shots. Greylags are much more predictable, [which is obviously why i spend so much time after duck,] I get mallard and Teal. Below is a picture of the area showing some of the splashes. have you or anyone else any ideas about how to tackle it, I would feed a splash but the bottom is made up of very fine silt and i reckon the grain would disappear. The photo was taken last year on a welcome beautiful day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigeon jim Posted October 30, 2019 Report Share Posted October 30, 2019 Yeah that`s it. I was fortunate to meet and chat with Clarissa Dixon-Wright and she said that leaving them immersed in milk overnight removes the flavour, yet I still could not bring myself to do it just in case I still didn`t like them. I also stopped eating goldies and tufties for similar reasons too. needs to be full fat milk,. Jim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted October 31, 2019 Report Share Posted October 31, 2019 (edited) 12 hours ago, islandgun said: Cheers MM, excellent response. Im guessing your duck are roosting on the estuary mud and coming to the splash at sunset to feed, my situation is slightly different. my estuary is almost pure sand and of little interest to ducks, apart from a salt water lagoon which they sometimes roost on during the day. i have lots of permanent splashes about 1ft deep, which they roost and/or feed on, day or night, I usually try and get under them between the lagoon and the splashes. Very random and dependant on luck. consequently im lucky to get more than a couple of shots. Greylags are much more predictable, [which is obviously why i spend so much time after duck,] I get mallard and Teal. Below is a picture of the area showing some of the splashes. have you or anyone else any ideas about how to tackle it, I would feed a splash but the bottom is made up of very fine silt and i reckon the grain would disappear. The photo was taken last year on a welcome beautiful day IG, MM's suggestion of sitting or kneeling and keeping still will work, either that or you could consider a layout blind 'a la muricans'. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LAYOUT-BLIND-WILDFOWLING-DECOYING-REALTREE-TRUETIMBER-DURHAM-DECOYS/401782366655?hash=item5d8c1861bf:m:m6RaBHsF5hzB2pqsIrSACiQ Feed with barley, the duck will find it. Edited October 31, 2019 by Penelope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted October 31, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2019 12 hours ago, islandgun said: Cheers MM, excellent response. Im guessing your duck are roosting on the estuary mud and coming to the splash at sunset to feed, my situation is slightly different. my estuary is almost pure sand and of little interest to ducks, apart from a salt water lagoon which they sometimes roost on during the day. i have lots of permanent splashes about 1ft deep, which they roost and/or feed on, day or night, I usually try and get under them between the lagoon and the splashes. Very random and dependant on luck. consequently im lucky to get more than a couple of shots. Greylags are much more predictable, [which is obviously why i spend so much time after duck,] I get mallard and Teal. Below is a picture of the area showing some of the splashes. have you or anyone else any ideas about how to tackle it, I would feed a splash but the bottom is made up of very fine silt and i reckon the grain would disappear. The photo was taken last year on a welcome beautiful day Look like an incredible place , apart from the mountains in the back ground it look very much like the salt marshes around Cley / Blakeney in N / Norfolk , when the N W T at Cley bought the marshes next door to the ones they already owned , the marshes were then in private hands and were used for wild fowling , in the paper at the time they showed you an old advert from the time when they were last up for sale , in the advert it was stated they were possibly the best marshes in the whole of the U K to shoot wildfowl on , a very brave statement as no doubt there are and were some very good land to shoot fowl over . The big difference with these marshes and yours are the location , down here is like a five star restaurant for fowl both in habitat , food and the climate , we already have a fairly big local population around the coastal and Broadland areas which are then increased with the large amount of migrants that leave the colder climates and come down this way where the weather is normally less harsh . Up your way you are most likely relying on your local population with a few migrants that drop in for a few days before they carry on going on there way South , I think I would check the depth of your lagoons to see if they are suitable for Teal ect and then look around the edge to see if there are any feathers left from preening duck , finding where the fowl are would be my main priority and when found start enjoying ways to out smart them and put a few in the bag , with you having a limited amount of duck you would need to be careful about over shooting , once a fortnight would be about right , GOOD LUCK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted October 31, 2019 Report Share Posted October 31, 2019 Cheers Penelope and MM, given me food for thought, When we get heavy rain 😉 the grassland does flood in places, and i have had limited numbers come into these "proper" splashes, the water might not be there long because its over sand but following both your suggestions, a plan would be get some feed onto these splashes as soon as possible. I do have other places i might try if it doesnt rain !. MM your right it is a lot like N Norfolk but without the mud and food to hold them. Home bred ducks also struggle to raise a brood due to Otters, Blackbacks, Ravens and hoodie crows Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Mat Posted October 31, 2019 Report Share Posted October 31, 2019 8 hours ago, islandgun said: Cheers Penelope and MM, given me food for thought, When we get heavy rain 😉 the grassland does flood in places, and i have had limited numbers come into these "proper" splashes, the water might not be there long because its over sand but following both your suggestions, a plan would be get some feed onto these splashes as soon as possible. I do have other places i might try if it doesnt rain !. MM your right it is a lot like N Norfolk but without the mud and food to hold them. Home bred ducks also struggle to raise a brood due to Otters, Blackbacks, Ravens and hoodie crows I'm not sure about the best way to attract the ducks, but it does look like a lovely spot! I'm up your way of the world ( well just across the water) at the end of the year, what time do I need to be round for evening flight? 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted October 31, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2019 28 minutes ago, Big Mat said: I'm not sure about the best way to attract the ducks, but it does look like a lovely spot! I'm up your way of the world ( well just across the water) at the end of the year, what time do I need to be round for evening flight? 😂 Long ole way to go for a Norfolk boy , oh I forgot you are now a Lincolnshire poacher so you haven't now got that far to go Evening flight that far north is just before dinner , and an early one at that , Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted October 31, 2019 Report Share Posted October 31, 2019 1 hour ago, Big Mat said: I'm not sure about the best way to attract the ducks, but it does look like a lovely spot! I'm up your way of the world ( well just across the water) at the end of the year, what time do I need to be round for evening flight? 😂 Where are you going ? 1 hour ago, marsh man said: Long ole way to go for a Norfolk boy , oh I forgot you are now a Lincolnshire poacher so you haven't now got that far to go Evening flight that far north is just before dinner , and an early one at that , Quite right, I usually go about four and dark by five.. unless its heavy rain then it starts to get dark at three..😕 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Boggy Posted November 3, 2019 Report Share Posted November 3, 2019 On 29 October 2019 at 20:02, Ttfjlc said: Great write up yet again Marsh man, I'll be blunt, please write a book. Totally agree, you really should write a book Marshman. If not, perhaps a weekly report on here during the wildfowl season and then a series of anecdotes of Norfolk life. Your posts are always a joy to read. Keep them coming. OB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishop Posted November 9, 2019 Report Share Posted November 9, 2019 On 30/10/2019 at 21:30, wigeon jim said: Yeah that`s it. I was fortunate to meet and chat with Clarissa Dixon-Wright and she said that leaving them immersed in milk overnight removes the flavour, yet I still could not bring myself to do it just in case I still didn`t like them. I also stopped eating goldies and tufties for similar reasons too. needs to be full fat milk,. Jim. Agreed Jim wigeon local to use taste like a camels anus(not that i have personal experience in eating camel anus(es) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigeon jim Posted November 9, 2019 Report Share Posted November 9, 2019 No used the milk trick myself but must have eaten many hundreds of coastal wigeon over the years ,skinned ,crowned, and strait in the pot, Mmmmmmm. 😋 Jim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greylag Posted November 12, 2019 Report Share Posted November 12, 2019 Milk trick does work,even works on shoveler believe it or not.I admit they were used in sausages with a bit of chorizo but perfectly edible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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