Klamath Basin opener slim pickings for most hunters
by Bill Mays
Wing and Clay Editor

KLAMATH REFUGE—Well, it’s been over 30 years since I have been drawn for the opening weekend on Lower Klamath Refuge and you might know it was the worst opener in 20 years. Lack of water was probably the main reason for the poor hunter harvest.

If you were a mud boat hunter with a gas powered motor, there were only 2 units that would float a boat, unit 4c and unit 6a. This piled all the hunters on top on each other and the reservations were not cut back like last year.
After scouting for 2 days before the opener, I knew 6a was going to be the hot unit, but I also knew anybody who knew anything about duck hunting would be hunting that unit. I had my 10-year-old grandson with me for his first duck hunting experience and I didn’t want a bunch of guys yelling at each other for hunting too close to each other. I knew I could kill limits in 4c and still be able to have some hunting room to work the birds.

When the shooting started the birds were circling like bees around a bee hive. When we scouted the unit, we knew we were not going to shoot a lot of mallards, but we still held off in high hopes of mallards coming in from other units. We kept passing on gadwall and teal for the first 20 minutes and it hurt us for limiting out. We still ended up with 15 ducks and 1 speck for the opening shoot with all big birds, unfortunately only gadwall and widgeon.

My grandson Travis called in his first duck, a widgeon that circled the boat 3 times talking all the way to the gun. Yes, there were a few widgeon whistling this early in the season and that bird whistling and circling made Travis a duck hunter for life. I started his dad out the same way with a whistle and making him part of the hunt from day one. Most kids you can teach to blow a widgeon whistle in 5-10 minutes and if they hit some bad notes, I have never seen it make a difference.

    A FAMILY AFFAIR—left to right, son Brian
    Mays of Fair Oaks, grandson Travis Mays, Bill
    Mays and brother-in-law Jeff O’Donnell of
    Folsom.

The hunters that braved the middle of the field in unit 6a, most had a great hunt with a few hunters harvesting mallards and specks. But for the most part, hunters that I talked to were very disappointed with the way the opener panned out.

Field hunters also complained of over crowed conditions and high shooting, no one would let the birds work with hunters on top of each other. I have never seen opening weekend birds so educated no matter where I have hunted. The birds were acting like January birds, call shy, decoy shy, and even tule shy. Most of the birds were landing in the big open water with big rafts of coots.

On the Tule Lake side of the basin, it was even worse. Field and wet lands units had a poor harvest with some hunters not even firing a shot.

The key to all of this is water, no water, no birds, no success. Hopefully the water situation will get straightened out for next year, if not, don’t waste the gas to drive to the Klamath Basin opener next year.

Field Report

Opening Day Delevan refuge hot for early hunters
BY DERRICK BAKER
Wing & Clay Field Reporter

MAXWELL—With all the Central Valley refuges flooded except for Yolo, no ducks or geese at Tule Lake and hunters are able to shoot specs on the opener for the first time in at least 3 years; it looked like the opener should be pretty good, regardless of the 80 plus degree blue bird weather.

That might have been true if this anxious hunter would have been lucky enough to get a good draw. The truth of it all is there is more and more people hunting and less land to hunt. Like heroin addicts waiting for a methadone clinic to open,  Friday nights lottery at Delevan, located in Maxwell, had my buddy and I, and over 300 other quack heads  waiting for a good number. My lucky number was 66, which in turn was not so lucky. This put me in the 199th place out of 300 plus people wanting to get on the refuge that day.

With only around 30 people on the lottery list able to hunt first thing in the morning, I knew it would be a long wait. At least I would be able to enjoy the great spectacle of birds and other people enjoying their love for duck hunting from the parking lot. This also meant that I was able to sleep in until 6:00 am, eat a good warm breakfast, all while having an amazing view of the refuge.

The quick barrage of gun fire at the very second of legal shooting time was amazing. Once again, ducks and geese were surprised and confused by another opening season. The whole valley simultaneously came alive with ducks and geese flying in every direction looking for a safe place to land and seek shelter.

During my morning and afternoon observing, I was able to see a lot of good bags of ducks and geese come by the check station. Many hunters observed a lot of teal, ring necks, and most hunters had limits of mixed ducks with an occasional young goose or two.

A friend of mine was able to get onto Delevan with reservation number 24. They picked blind #14 to avoid the hassle and pass shooters in grand central. Being selective with their ducks, they were able to limit out with 21 puddle ducks and a couple of specs by around 1:00 pm. Another group of my friends were able to get on around 12:30pm in the free roam area. They ended the day with a mixed bag of 8 ducks.

As for my buddy and I, we were not as lucky. We didn’t get onto the refuge until 2:00pm.  By this time, the ducks were educated on what not to do and they were not budging from their safe havens...it was slow. However, the few birds that came in did not leave; we ended our day bringing home 5 ducks and some good memories of a few specs taunting us just out of range. My shooting was a little rusty, or as I tell everyone else, I was slowing them down for my friend to shoot them. With all this said, leaving the refuge late Saturday evening with only a few birds was still enough to settle my 9 month fix for ducks, and rekindle my love for the hunt.

Field Report
Private pond opener
BY STEVEN EVANS
Wing & Clay Field Reporter


2009-2010 OPENING DAY—waterfowl season was a big success for hunters left to right , Bob Liebig Jr. of Galt, Jake Liebig of Galt, Larry Liebig of Woodbridge, Bob Nelson of Pioneer, Bob Liebig Sr. of Galt, Billy Evans Jr. of  Galt, Steven Evans of Galt, and Bill Evans Sr. of Galt. The hunting party hunted a private pond with 4 two man blinds. The hot blind was the young gun blind of the Evans Brothers. They shot 8 mallards, 1 widgeon, 4 teal, and a shoveler.