Wax ducks

It was reported a couple days ago that the ducks had really slacked in the wax. Has anyone had a chance to hunt or get a report from the area for the last couple of days hopefully indicating improved numbers?

I hunted it on wednesday and thursday and we really struggled to kill birds. on the first day we killed 4 and on the second day we killed 6.

dmbbowhunt, you hunting the bays or inland ponds?

i was hunting in the ponds in some of the restricted areas

Seen this report and I am in awe....hunted the wax 3 times and have pulled out two 4 man limits and one 3 man limit.

castandblasts2121 looks like your hunting in the bay, how far out are you going? The only place we saw decent activity was out in the bays last few times we went. I'm trying to get set up to hunt out in the bay but for now I am limited to the ponds just at the edge of the bay with a pirouge or small flat bottom boat.

Not much happening further out. I hunted Friday and Saturday. The birds arent there like they were before the split. The high water has them spread all over the basin.

Those pics couldn't have come from the wax. 'THERE ARE NO DUCKS DOWN THERE.'

Tealtamer, those ducks ARE from out there lol....take your time, scout it and watch where they are passing and luck up and not run up on a sand bar and get in a blind....100 decoys, 2 mojos at times work. We are a good ways offshore where the wind is houling and the tide is crazy. Safe huntin'

Drop 'Em like Rain

CastNBlast,
yeap that's the way to do it go out ride around, find somebody elses blind and get in it! Why bother doing any work yourself......?

Its not someone else's blind. If it on PUBLIC land, its everyones blind. Good hunt Castnblast!

it might be public land!! when your showing an 8 yr old how to work for what he wants in life and not be a lazy !!!!! but it show you live ur life wanting other to do your work LOL i bet u voted for obama , let everone else work for it sit home get everthing given to ya WoW Ive met a lot of hunter out there an so for they all were ethical hunter

Have you guys ever just rode around and looked at the number of blinds on that place. Blinds are every 300-400 yards apart. I have been there before where a whole bay didnt have a hunter in a blind. There are too many blinds to build another. Sounds like acres of public land is unusable to me and others.

yea i hear what ur saying , and if no one id hunting a blind o well. i have a friend that has had several people in the blind he build , they were polite an left to find a blind no one was hunting, its just being a man about it and having morals

Yes, it may be public land, but what happened to respenct and SPORTSMANship......Go ahead, hunt my blind if I am not there, no big deal but DO NOT DESTROY IT!!!!...I have had to rebuild my blind THREE (3) times this year!! The day before the first split opener someone chopped it down and built theirs 200 yards away...My buddy witnessed this....I rebuild, couple days after 2nd opener someone barges their way in it and mauls it over with the boat...I go rebuild last monday, my buddy witnessed someone barging their way in it again thursday...and to top it off, today after i brush again, the same guys who split it open thursday tried to come back today.....The fact that you will purposely destroy and damage another mans blind is what gets my nerves!!! Just hunt the dam blind and stop pulling it down!!! I've hunted this area for several years with no one else around so its not like I intruded on anyone! Sorry had to vent! Hate seeing my hard work destroyed every week!

Letum lite, Its people like you that make this AN UNSPORTSMAN'S PARADISE, get off your rear and build your own blind, then show up the next morning to some other lazy huter in it.... BULL!!

For the record when I said 'get into a blind' I didn't necessarily mean 'steal' someone's blind. We go some advice from a friend who has a blind and and seen a blind Ppl hadn't been hunting. It was run down and we have busted ass cutting brush and fixing it up. But w/ the whole 'public land' debate; the same argument arises every year...ppl will do what people do; but It is nice that there are a few Ppl out there who are respectful.

I will reply to this thread one last time as I have just ignored the 'PUBLIC LAND' debates for the past couple of years. While it is public land and first come first serve and all that blah,blah,blah, like one poster stated it's about respect and sportsmanship. I was brought up hunting public land and I had to help grand-paw and my step dad build the blinds and prepare everything prior to opening day if I wanted to go hunting.The thing is that you didn't dare get in someone else's blind that they worked so hard to prepared to be able to hunt on the days that they could, it was out of respect for the other hunter and there are still some places out there if you dare get in another mans blind and he shows up and you refuse to leave your name will probably be on the evening news as a missing person.
CastNBlast, if you have done all the hard work then I appologize and good job on your part. The whole thing is this, while reading some of the comments the attitude is there are enough blinds why should I bother finding my own spot and doing the work when it appears someone else has done it for me! REALLY????, and then the it's PUBLIC LAND card is played, SORRY DON'T AGREE! While I do abide by the law and will not get into a confrontation with anyone it doesn't change the fact that IT'S JUST NOT RIGHT! I have kids that I am trying to rise like I was, a little hard work won't kill you, and now everytime we go hunting they are both concerned that we won't be able to hunt cause somebody gonna be there before us, it has happened three times this year and all three times they have packed up and moved on and to these people I say: 'WAY TO GO AND THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME TO MAKE MEMORIES WITH MY KIDS', these were true sportsman and did show some respect for another mans hard work! Hope everyone has a good remainder of the season and I hope maybe some of the points I tried to get across make sense to some and give them something to think about.

I hunt during the week a lot, so there are several blinds that I hunt. I've built 2 this year, and I've marked every blind down the pass I hunt on my GPS.

I was setting up in a blind a little further North than mine mid day on a Friday when the guy that built it showed up. He was a nice guy and I didn't mind picking up and moving since it was only lunch time. He said he would hunt somewhere else, but he didn't really know of any other decent blinds.

I built a new blind for the second split. Finished it the wednesday before it opened. Sat morning at 4:30 I was running to it, and there was a guy 50 yds away idling to it with his spotlight on it. I ran past him and pulled into it. I felt bad doing it because I didn't know if he had anywhere else to go, but I had put a lot of work into it just for that weekend. I would have stopped and talked to him and suggested a few other areas, but I didn't want to get into an argument if he was that kind of guy.

I built one blind for high water, and someone thought it was too tall, so they broke everything off, now its only about 5 ft high.

Someone set up a boat blind 200 yds from me opening morning. I could see the colors of their decoys. They shot almost every time we had ducks circling. I didn't notice they were doing it until I started watching them at around 9:00. Sure as hell, 3 shots every time ducks were coming in, and they wouldn't get out to pick anything up, or send their dog after anything.

I could go on, but thats enough venting.

Most people that hunt the wax are decent people that are just happy to be able to hunt. There are a few that give everyone a bad name. Its public land and all blinds are open. Get in the one you want early, and if you didn't build it be prepared to shift locations, or be a jackass and ruin someones hunt.

You have to scout to hunt the wax, and have more than one option of where to hunt. Know the are you are hunting, mark the channels on GPS and know how the water and the lillies flow. Go the the NOAA site, and watch the real time tide data so you don't get stuck or loose all your decoys.

Enjoy.

I'm probely gonna get some heat for saying this , but here it goes. The way everybody makes it sound like If you don't build a blind or hunt buy a blind they built your a lazy sob, but who's to say I haven't been hunting that spot for years and never built a blind and now I'm not supposed to hunt it because somebody put a pile of sticks there! What you are pretty much doing is reserving a spot on public land which is totally wrong in it self and if you read the rule book is illegal. I wish all wma's would go the rout of the nwr's and just say no blinds what so ever and just make it a level playing field for everybody you bring your trash in your should hafta take it out with you.

GreenHeadKiller,
I am going to ask you the same question I asked the WLF commissioner a few years ago: Let's say you go out in the moring with materials for a blind ride around find you a spot, set up your blind and hunt that spot, aren't you claiming that spot for the day????? The answer to me from the commissioner was yes, my next question was 'What's the difference?', to which he had no answer! Just think about that for a minute.

It all boils down to respect for another human being.
If you think it's ok to use or abuse something that someone else worked hard for without respect for that individual regardless if you know him or not, shame on you! For these individuals that hold this attitude I would like to remind you of a law that applies regardless of whether you believe it or not, YOU WILL REAP WHAT YOU SOW! And if you use someones blind for whatever reason leave it as good or better than you took it, and God help you if you refuse to move if the owner asks or comes to use HIS blind. The blind may be on public land but it is the blood and sweat of a man and his family or friends that put that thing together and like one poster said, you may end up missing or taught a lesson on respect which you need to be taught.

For those individuals like Fishingbud that passes down the teachings of those before us like how to hunt which includes building a good blind after scouting, calling, and when to shoot. God bless you! Many of the problems we experience in hunting situations is because people have not been taught how to hunt and to respect others.

Looks like from reading these comments on this posts that most are good ethical hunters. But some need to think about how what they do affects others.

Hope everyone enjoys a safe and plentiful duck hunting season. And I will see you on the Wax!

FBud I read a lot of post and rarely comment. I love good debate. But your last comment is a little ridiculous. I understand that after doing all that work on public land that you feel that you have squatter’s rights. The fact that the Commissioner didn’t give you an answer doesn’t make your point right. I think that he is probably tired of trying to explain the definition of PUBLIC to people that want ownership. We have no OWNERSHIP of PUBLIC. The fact that you are able to leave your Debris (blind) does not give anyone squatter’s rights. The Commissioner expects us to leave the area as it was and remove our debris. But let me try to explain it in simpler terms. Let’s say you stop at a PUBLIC rest stop every week and leave your waste. The Commissioner expects you to flush. But you don’t, sure the next guy will probably pass that stall up. And for a while you may feel ownership. But you don’t own the PUBLIC stall just the debris, and some other guy will have to deal with it. I’m sorry FBud. We all get mad when it doesn’t go our way and that the lazy keep reaping the benefits. That’s one of the con’s to freedom. Now before you attack me just let me say that I don't hunt public land. LOL Doug

GHK your 100% right on the public land issue it is what it is cant change that. But like the other guy said if u hunt a spot ur claiming it, know matter how you look at it. what im agreeing with is the un sportsmanship of squating with no work or expence put into it. Not looking at the legel aspect cuz you Win!!! that one. You dont have to build a blind to hunt some areas if u scout do the leg work a pop up blinds will works. I guess what the issue at hand is sportsmanship? people who do not scout , just go ride around find the blind thats brushed to the maxs and hunt that one and not the blind that would require 100$ worth of fuel an a weekends worth of time it would takes to transport the brush back and fourth thats the issue.

little of the subject but u can relate this to the issue at hand

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, 'OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan'.
All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade, so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset, and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too, so they studied little.

The second test average was a D! No one was happy.
When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings, and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.
Could not be any simpler than that.

Ok fishinbud my take on your question is its not the same thing the question was taken out of context to support the blind argument by reversing the argument the other way. Lets say you get to your blind at 430 you entered the wma at legal time got to your blind first thats totally fine I think nobody would argue that. Blind or not you got there first same as if a guy with a boat blind and brush sets up in a spot first that is the same thing you are both occupying that area for the remainder of the time you are there. Now the difference is when lets say you were running late and didnt get to your blind till 600 ,but somebody's already been there since 5 you pull up in a polite way or not ask them to leave because this is a blind you built. Now at that point in time you are indeed reserving a spot on public land and is illegal that is where the difference is for the most part nobody is gonna just ride up on a guy sitting in a bush and say hey thats my bush even though you go here first. I have built blinds for years I dont anymore the reason most people do it is to indeed reserve that location for them self and deter other hunters it gives you a since of entitlement to that spot thats the reason I did it im not even gonna sit hear and lye about that part that is the only reason to build one.