2015-16 Proof of the “Reverse Migrating Duck” Come on Bees!
Remember when you looked forward to 30 degrees, cold north wind, snowing just north of you? Well these days it seems all the talk in the blind. Come on, come on, bees! Why do I say come on bees? I haven’t quite figured that one out. I just know when we starting seeing bees in the duck blind, get ready, you are about to shoot your weapon! I look forward to a warm day with a south wind more than I do a cold front. I know this to be true because we take careful notes as to how many we harvest per day, wind direction, and temperature.
Why was this not the case 10 years ago and prior? Maybe because we didn’t have as many extremes weather patterns throughout the season? If I remember correctly it steadily continued to cool off and then froze up and maybe warmed up to 40. It never snowed then 3 days later 60 degrees and rain like this past season. I am not trying to talk about global warming or cooling or whatever you want to believe. I am just focusing on how duck movements have changed. We are hunting a different duck these days. A duck that can move from Canada, Montana, Kansas, Illinois, Missouri, Louisiana, then back up to Tennessee. They “Reverse Migrate” it has been recorded by fish and wildlife with gps devices on ducks.
What makes the “Reverse Migrating” duck different than other ducks. Well for one it has travelled the entire migration path. It has seen hundreds of miles more set ups then ducks that didn’t reverse migrate. How can we continue to have success in the field? Come hunt with me and I will show you!
Tennessee Opening Weekend 2014
This years opening day was really good for us. We had several birds in our area. According to the TN Waterfowl counts we kinda expected a good opener. If you are not familiar with these counts you should be. The state of Tennessee performs bi-weekly waterfowl counts from all of our refuges in the area. https://www.tn.gov/twra/pdfs/wfbimonthly.pdf
The second ingredient in the areas success is the availability of “hot food” for ducks in the weeks prior to season. We had unseasonal cold weather and when it gets really cold the ducks love corn. Corn is considered to be a “hot food”. I recently ran accross some great info on duck food. “Hot Food crops such as corn, millet, buckwheat, and milo can provide this niche habitat during cold periods.” http://5oakswildlifeservices.com/?page_id=2#waterfowl
The third ingredient is the plethora of duck weed. Most of the wetlands in West TN that have water year round have a ton of duck weed. Check this little interest fact out. “Duckweed is an important high-protein food source for waterfowl and also is eaten by humans in some parts of Southeast Asia. As it contains more protein than soybeans, ” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemnoideae
***We still have Dec 20-21 and Dec 27-28 available.
JJ Lares Reed Size Demystified
If you are anything like me when you get a new hunting toy you want to know everything about it right away. I was really exited about all the different reeds you can buy for the JJ Lares calls when I first purchased mine. Next was how to figure out why they provide us with so many options. I was told by many that the number on the reed was the thickness then it was the length then it was this and that. Seriously, there must be a answer for all this.
First thing is I have a JJ Lares Hybrid with the standard bore that comes from the factory. This call comes standard with a 1.350 inch reed. That 1.350 marking on the reed is the Length of the reed in inches. The kind folks at Final Flight actually right on the reed with a marker the length. Next purchase was every reed length they had in stock. The Hybrid typically uses reed lengths from 1.335 up to 1.380. The reeds are separated by .005 inches. The JJ Lares Timber call typically uses reed lengths from 1.315 to 1.325. The timber reeds are completely square at a 90 degree angles on the ends with no dog ears.
Now finding a reed that suits your #1 air pressure capacity and #2 style of calling. This is my theory of how to find the right reed length for you. I said #1 air pressure capacity. Let me explain my self. Have you ever “squealed out” on a duck call before? It usually happens when you are really trying hard on a come back call and the call just squeaks out loud like a goose call. That squeal happens on a JJ Lares call if your reed length is to short. That simple, just go up a .005 inch to the next size and try that one out. Make sure you give the new longer length reed a chance by using it more than just a few cadences. There are also certain times that you can go with a shorter reed if you know how to control your air pressure every time. The shorter reeds definitely require less air pressure. The #2 style of calling is whether or not you like a raspy sound or more of a clean sound. The timber reeds which I mentioned earlier have a completely square end on them. These reeds are more raspy and especially easy to use. You can interchange Timber reeds with the Hybrid call and vice versa.
I hunt with guys that use the 1.370 and love em. I use a Timber reed that is 1.315 inches long. The reason I chose this one is because we hunt exclusively in really tight timber. I don’t like to get that loud on my call and I really enjoy the raspy nature of the Timber reeds. The shortest of all the reeds makes it easy to use all day without getting winded. I hope this helps you in your search for that perfect call. Cheers, Ryan