doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com This past season......

Just a few pics from this past season to help pass the time till the next:



My own personal "Great Day in the Morning" while out with Kaas and McCormack. A clean double on black ducks, a clean double on mallard drakes (one banded), a clean double on geese, and a single snipe. Also two more mallard drakes to finish my Quebec limit. All shot with the big Parker 34 inch #3 frame 12 gauge.



McCormack on the same trip, in the middle of Lac St Pierre fishing for walleye.



Me out for walleye on the same trip, I'd managed to hook up a few despite also trying to smoke that giant cigar at the same time.



Lake St. Clair in Ontario, Canada rowing my sneak boat picking up decoys.



My father Dwight Hoffard a couple days after Christmas with a clean triple he shot on mallard drakes. This was classic, we had five drakes sneak right in on us low. It was about 20 degrees and blowing hard, we were huddled in the bottom of a pit trying not to freeze to death. Dad happened to just catch them as they were tipping into the decoys on the only open water anywhere nearby. He had three killed before our friend Russell and I could even get stood up. I managed to get two barrels in on what was left and missed clean, Russell never got off a shot as Dad had killed all three on that side of the pit. Dad looked at me and said "How many did you guys kill?" I replied that I'd missed, Russell showed him that his gun was still full of shells. Dad just smiled as he was reloading and never said a word. Yeah, the old man can still shoot.....



Week between Christmas and New Years down Mississippi way. The first specklebelly geese I've ever shot in my life. This was a strange limit, weren't many good ducks around so we sorta had to make do. That's a limit of six Hollywood mallards, and a pair of drake sawbills along with the geese. My big Parker 34 inch gun did the deed.



Another day in Mississippi, not a great pic but also showing a first for me. We finally managed to find some mallards and I killed my first ever Ross Geese.



My last hunt of the season, on the channel, St. Clair River, Ontario in mid January. It was 9 degrees when we slid the boat off the trailer, I believe that might have been my coldest duck hunt ever. Three of us killed 14 mallards, a redhead, a canvasback, and 7 geese. I'd have taken more pictures but my cheapo camera actually froze.

Thanks for sharing. Very entertaining pictures. I like the one of you Dad best. Kurt

great stuff. way to get it done!

Awesome!

I great mix of species. I've never heard of shoveller being called Hollywood mallard before. I thought that the other two were goldeneye but are hooded merganser; something we don't find in England, or if we did it would get the birdwatchers in a frenzy. I don't suppose you actually eat those do you? The canada geese we get were ones from the species imported about 300 years ago and they have done very well. Our type are the giant species; the B52 sort. I shall be fly fishing tomorrow and competing for space on the river with them. Last trip they were a real nuisance. My young cheasapeake found a nest and had scrambled egg for lunch. Great memories that you've shared with us. Lagopus.....

Down south they call them Hollywood Mallards cause they're like all those people in Hollywood, always smiling....

The Hooded Mergansers aren't bad at all if you just breast them out. The trick is to get all the skin and fat off the meat. We usually throw them into a stew or crock pot dish and you can't tell them from any other kind of duck. The other two kinds of mergansers we have here are very fishy and not really edible, even skinning them doesn't take off the fish oil.

I've shot some Canada Geese over your way and was amazed at how big they were. I'd killed a few what would be Branta Canadensis Maxima here but ours aren't quite as large anymore because they're all inbred with the next subspecies down the size ladder. Yours are the pure "Giants" so are somewhat larger than most of the ones we get here.


Destry

Great photos and thread.

Destry,
Neat memories, with your Pop and all. I've never been a water fowler but always admired the lore.

Good hunting
Chuck

Destry, you're the only guy I know who can write the duck-hunting book I'd want to read. Are you going to let me die withput it?

Destry, are those catfish ponds in the photo of you and the big Parker down heah in MS?

Only improvement I could see to the photos is I don't see any of you and the HE Fox.

Mike