Duck Hunting, Scouting Reports

Choke Canyon Lake
Click below for season of your choice;
2008/2009      2009/2010            2010/2011          2011/2012
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2011/2012 Season
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September 14 hunting report! First actual teal hunt of the year for me, and even on this one, I had a fishing rod in my hand more than a shotgun. A limit of teal went home with me though, and I caught a good mess of fish. Supposed to get a cold front in. Can't wait!
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September 22 hunting report! My last chance to shoot teal this year. I have to guide dove hunters this weekend. I shot another limit of teal and caught another good mess of fish. I guess all the doom and gloom reports of Choke being down so much and the hydrilla all dead kept hunters from calling because I didn't book one trip this teal season, but I shot limits both times I went, AND got a bunch of fish doing it. Ain't nothing doom and gloom about that to me.
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November 10 hunting report! First regular duck season hunt of the year due to guiding deer hunters the first 4 days. Had to limp out to the closest hole instead of the preferred hole due to motor not acting right. Shot my limit anyway.
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November 12 hunting report! The motor is about right, but still going to fine tune it some more. I and my one hunter shot limits. It was slow, I will admit, but we finished up about 10:30 and I went scouting. Saw quite a few ducks but no big concentrations. I'll look more in a few days.
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November 14 hunting report! Boat and motor are ready for the season now, let's hunt! Had the entire portion of the lake to ourselves. There were no other hunters and no fishermen. The weather was a balmy 70 degrees. Those are all bad things. The birds did not fly well at all, but we still shot a good variety of birds; mallard, mottles, pintails, canvasbacks, ringnecks and widgeon. When scouting afterward, we saw over 1000 birds, including a couple of real good looking holes for the next hunt.
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November 16 hunting report! WHAT A HUNT! 18 birds on the water in the first hour, then finished up a four man limit and was home about noon. Limited on pintails early, then watched them pass through the dekes, time after time while waiting on other ducks. It was FUN!
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November 17 hunting report! The wind switched to the north last night and was blowing hard this morning. That is not normally a good thing for me at Choke, but today was a real decent hunt. The action wasn't hot and heavy, but pretty steady, and my three hunters all took limits. We were packed, stacked, boat put in storage and on the way to an early lunch before 11:00 am.
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November 19 hunting report! Tried a spot that I thought might be good on a SSE wind, and boy, was it! Three of us limited on canvasbacks and pintails, then watched can after can go through the dekes while we waited on other ducks. We finished out with a few of this and a few of that, including one beautiful drake mallard. Congrats on that one, Mark! Heading to the house well before lunch - I luv it when my plans actually work!

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November 21 hunting report! My hunters showed up late this morning, without one stitch of camouflage (except they did have facemasks), and no waders, not even hip boots, and carrying some real pretty, SHINY guns. Then things went downhill from there. Plan A was not huntable without waders. Plan B was already taken. Plan C was littered with shell casings, feathers and fresh boot prints from the day before. We had to settle with Plan D. Being 77 degrees at daybreak didn't help, either. Then, the hunters were continually moving instead of  "Stay absolutely rock still", and standing a few feet from or in front of the hiding tree, instead of  "Become one with the backside of that tree". That caused many birds to bust off before getting in good range. Despite the chellenges, we still shot our canvasbacks and mottled ducks, plus a few other ducks, and there was a few misses along the way, too. All in all, I think I did my job as well as I could under the circumstances.

NOTE: Boys and girls, if you want to maximize your chances of having a limits kind of hunt, read your confirmation letter and follow that pre-hunt advise, then listen carefully to your guide in the field and do exactly what they say. I want you to have a great hunt, but you need to help me. I and my guide partners are not miracle workers. We can't make the ducks blind and stupid to compensate for your lack of preparation and/or cooperation.

November 26 hunting report! My deer hunters got what they wanted yesterday, so I got to sneak in one last hunt this split with my son-in-law, Jake, today. It was 72 degrees and not a breath of wind. That usually makes for a pretty slow morning, and it was, but the ones we got to look at us almost all worked perfectly, and we shot well. We were limited shortly after 9 am. Canvasbacks, spoonies, bluewings, pintails and a gorgeous drake mallard! Love them old greenheads! See ya after the split. Book your hunt NOW for then (210-872-2771). Dates are getting pretty booked up.

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December 15, 2011 scouting report. First chance to get out since the split. NOT a good day! Lost my wallet at the boat ramp with all my Christmas shopping money in it, damned few ducks flying, I was shooting pitifully, dog wouldn't work right, and I couldn't find much that looked good for the next couple of hunts. I e-mailed hunters to let them know it didn't look good now, and to ask if they still wanted to try since a cold front was due in on the 16th. Sometimes that helps.

December 17, 2011 hunting report. Despite the doom and gloom report I gave him, my one hunter decided to try it anyway. I'm glad he did. It wasn't hot and heavy shooting, but it wasn't bad at all. The ducks that came around worked perfectly and we shot well. We both limited and I had the boat on the trailer by 9:30 in the morning. Thanks Ryan for your patronage and the compliments!

December 18, 2011 hunting report. Well, not so very good today. The spot I scouted out the morning before got hunted by someone else that afternoon (welcome to public water hunting). That always changes things, and never for the better. The boot prints, shot shells and feathers, that weren't there when I scouted, let me know after daybreak that I'd been buggered. Despite that problem, we still did get ducks in shooting range 10 times, mostly flocks of  4 to 9 birds, a couple pairs and a couple singles. That's not a really horrible hunt, but it isn't too good either.

I'm stuck guiding hog and deer hunters, and getting through the holiday for the next two weeks or so. Good luck to you that try it in the mean time. If you can find any hydrilla, you'll find some ducks. Find hydrilla right next to a good hidey spot and you'll actually get to shoot at some. The hydrilla is getting real thin though. If you don't hear from me before then, Merry Christmas everyone!

January 04, 2012 hunting/scouting report. The reports I've gotten the last two weeks from friends about Choke have not been good. They said the hydrilla is GONE, and the ducks must have gone off looking for food somewhere else. Today's hunt confirmed that. My 2 hunters shot just 6 ducks between them, and they only got that many because they could shoot pretty good. Just three ducks got past the spread without staying. I also scouted many miles of shoreline hoping to find something decent looking for my next couple of hunts booked, but nothing, and I do mean nothing, looked very promising. I'll be calling the hunters booked and offering the chance to move the deposits to next season, or try diver duck hunting out on the main part of the lake. There is still a fair number of those hanging around.

January 11, 2012 hunting report. Hunting divers on a miniature mud island, out on the main lake, from layout blinds. It was a helluva lot of work dragging all that extra gear out there and mudding up those blinds to blend in, but it worked fairly well. The three of us got our canvasbacks, and one redhead, plus a couple bluebills, one bufflehead, a trio of pinners and a trio of gadwall; 13 ducks total. Also missed more than we should, but the wind switched on me and the birds wouldn't work quite right after that. Had to stretch some shots farther than I like.

January 27, 2012 hunting report. Hadn't been duck hunting here for a couple weeks now. Been hammering a private pond near Dilley instead and guiding a lot of pig hunts. It was SLOW at Choke today, but I came away with a limit of ducks in a bit over an hour. That's because I only missed once, and had to shoot one duck a second time, so 8 shells for my 6 birds. Nothing looked better while scouting. Cold front is due in tonight. Hope that makes it better tomorrow.

January 28, 2012 hunting report. The cold front did NOT make it better. My client didn't show, but he didn't miss anything. I hunted an hour and a half and never even saw a duck. Talked to a few other hunters and between all of them, they shot one duck; the only one they shot at. I told everyone to hunt early this year because late season would suck with no food or water in the flats for the birds. Sometimes, I hate it when I'm right, especially when hunters don't listen to what the guide tells them. Late season is when you have to hunt if you want good mounter birds, but for numbers, the last part of the first split has almost always been best. Keep that in mind when booking your hunts for next year.

 

2010/2011 Season
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September 11, 2010 hunting report! Teal opener. We shot a few, missed a few, and let a few get through that should have been shot at, but we were too slow. Dang them things are QUICK! Saw a surprising number of big ducks. Blackbellied Whistlers tried to land on the tree against which we were leaning. Others flew close enough we could have shot easily, if in season. Also had Fulvous Whistlers come by, several Mottle Ducks, several Shovelers, even a couple of pintails. Lake looks GREAT for the regular season. The prime dates are filling up fast. Book your hunt now to make sure you can go.
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September 14, 2010 hunting report! After teal again. About the same results as opening day on the teal part of the hunt. Not so many other ducks today, but did have a few Shovelers and Mottle Ducks through the decoys. One Mottle sat there quacking for several minutes. One Black Belly came back over and over and over. Saw Wood Ducks and Fulvous Whistlers, but at a distance.
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September 16, 2010 hunting report! Teal chasing again. CLEAR morning, so teal flew real early, before we could identify what kind of duck it was over the dekes for sure, so we let four flocks get through without a shot before popping a cap. First flock we knew were teal was about a dozen birds. Everyone shot the same one, then I shot a second one as they left. Next flock was 4, and 3 stayed behind. A single slipped through without a shot, then we busted a 6 pack up. Only 2 left. One more single completed our morning. Whistlers were CLOSE, like maybe 5 yards, a few times. It was cool! 5 Mottle Duck gave us the once over, too, and a flock of wood ducks. Come on October 30, opening day of the regular season.
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September 22, 2010 hunting report! My last chance to hunt teal this special season. I am booked up with dove hunts through the remainder. I'm so glad it went well. I saw more teal than I have all season, and several small flocks worked us perfectly. Me and my one hunter both got limits. Other ducks worked us many times as well, and the Blackbelly Whistlers would have gotten hammered, then hammered again, then hammered some more!
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October 30, 2010 hunting report! WHAT A ZOO!!!!!! I really hate hunting public water on opening weekend, or most weekends for that matter. The idiots were out in force, shooting at ducks they had absolutely no chance of ever killing they were so high, setting up way too close to other hunters, shooting ducks that weren't in season yet (mottles), and sometimes shooting birds that weren't even ducks. There were a lot of ducks around though. We saw probably over 2000, and managed to get ducks close enough to ethically throw pellets at them on 12 occasions. That's not such a bad duck hunt, considering!
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November 04, 2010 hunting report! Not so many hunters today, but not so many ducks, either, maybe 800 or so total! We still had ducks in or right over the decoys an even dozen times though. Another decent hunt!
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November 05, 2010 hunting report! O.K. I'm stuck on a dozen. Again this morning we got 12 good shooting opportunities. We saw a bit over 1000 birds total; far, close, high, low, everywhere altogether. The shots we got were really good ones, but I'd like to get more of them. Still, another decent hunt.
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November 08, 2010 hunting report! I guess I shouldn't have ever complained about having ducks in or over the decoys a dozen times. Those seemed like great hunts compared to this morning. We saw MAYBE 150 ducks total, but at least they were fairly willing to work. I called the shot 7 different times, and they were all real good opportunities. First ducks in were 16 Blackbelly Whistlers, straight through the middle of the dekes, 20 yards high. No called shots were over 35 yards out.
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November 12, 2010 hunting report! Finally, a really good shoot! It started out real slow hunting, and scary foggy, but the birds flew better as the morning wore on and the fog lifted. I wound up getting to yell, "Bust them ducks!" 26 different times. It was several nice flocks of ducks, too, not just singles or pairs. That's FUN!
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September 19, 2008 teal hunting report! Well, it really slowed down from the opener. It took me and my one hunter a whole 40 minutes to knock down a limit yesterday. If this had been my first hunt of the year, I'd be really excited. It was a GREAT HUNT! It just wasn't like the opener.

September 22, 2008 teal hunting report! O.K., it really did slow down now, but I still can NOT call it a bad hunt. I had a total of 4 hunters and myself shooting and we knocked down a full limit. Because of lost birds in THICK cover though, we hit the boat ramp two birds shy. Fog seemed to keep the birds down for a long time. At 8:00 a.m., we had ZERO birds and only two shots fired. At 9:00 a.m., we were up to a whopping three birds in hand and about a dozen empty hulls, yippee! Then the fog lifted. We were shot out at 11:00 a.m., but again, we couldn't find two birds. Teal were still trickling in as we were leaving.

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January 26, 2009. Well, it's all over for another year. I was afraid that my unbroken streak of limit hunts was not going to hold up, but I got down to the last few days before it fell apart. Wednesday, I shot a limit of all drakes and all different species, then went scouting for the upcoming three days. Thursday started out slow but a move put us right in a couple thousand birds and limits came pretty quick after that, except for the last bird, which took about an hour to get. Friday, in the same spot we limited out the day before, 4 gunners shot just 4 birds, and they didn't really miss all that much. The birds had just disappeared. I scouted all afternoon and found very few birds. My hopes for Saturday were pretty low, but, Saturday yielded a real good amount of shooting; just not that much hitting. Still, 17 of the allowed 20 birds found their way to the bag. All in all, just a couple days in the whole season without sending people home with a limit; that ain't bad! Book your hunt for next year NOW! I had to turn away over a dozen groups this year because we were already booked up on the days that they wanted. Don't let that happen to you!