Maurepas Swamp Duck Hunting

Shame to say but I hope the ducks never come back to maurepas. It'd be a fricking nightmare

That was back when there were only about 7 or 8 duck calls on the market

Now everybody makes calls

And there weren't any bright colored ones either

Canals and roads everywhere.

Wish I had some pictures...

Hunted with my Step-Dad's hunting club in 80's, even early 90s was decent if you put in the work. The amount of ducks at first light were like mosquitoes, they were everywhere. Low, high, heading every direction. Tons of mallards, constantly missing wood ducks buzzing by the blind because we would have multiple groups circling. Calling wasn't necessary most days, decoys would bring in batches by surprise. It was loud, not from all the shotguns going off, but because birds were everywhere. After about an hour things would cool off, if you waited awhile someone would be moving their airboat off a pipeline and that would get a big batch of birds up again, but most times we already had our limit and that would start back up in the evening. This was when there was a point system of birds, I can't remember it, but god damn you didn't want to shoot a mallard hen! I remember scouting a ridge for deer with my brother deep in the swamp one evening and at sunset ducks started raining down on us knocking down rotten tree limbs and debris, it was incredible. If you have never been near a duck roost before, HOLY COW, they didn't care. We shot a few but ducks just kept pouring in off the backside of this ridge. Loud Loud Loud with all those ducks and water splashing. I used to love to get back to the camp and read through the "log book" with other hunters duck numbers. We always smoked em lol, eat a good breakfast and then start pluckin. Maybe it was because its just a great memory from my childhood, but that is the best hunting and most fun I've had outdoors. Still hunt that F-ing swamp, not anywhere close to what it used to be. Can still get some woodies, maybe some teal if lucky. Good times!

never walked in regular boots, always waders where we were at, but I do remember 1 winter when the swamp froze over and we could walk on top in places. You bet your arse my stepdad had us breaking ice in the duck whole. not sure how we didnt die from hypothermia. getting goosebumps, hell yea!

Just curious, what do the mud boats do that is detrimental?

I use a go-devil long-tail, always have, even back in the 80s. we walked the swamp a good bit but some places were just too far to access without a go-devil.

It's the traffic more than the boat really, but they tear some shite up.

None of those factors come close to the scale of damage that the levee is doing to the swamps though. It'll never get back right with the levee there. I'd say logging and salvania are the next biggest factors. There's no duck seed anywhere in that swamp anymore and it used to be full of it. It's all palmettos on the high ground and salvania in the water.

quote:

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quite a bit of cypress trees out there

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Im in 99% cypress. Cant get mudboats in here. Its pirogue or walk. Id sink to my knees at minimum right here. Couldnt float/push in this shite. Its a dying vegetation soup/muck. Smells like it too.

Back when it started getting bad everyone blamed salvinia. It certainly choked up the swamp, but flight patterns changed also.

I've run across several BIG cypress , likely left behind bc of some imperfection, but most is newer growth. You will run across some cypress ridges, walking is much easier among the knees. I have an old cypress stump that I hollowed out and made a bench about 6 feet long inside. Still hunt deer from this location off a ridge. I bring a large folded umbrella that almost fits over the top when it rains. I've taken some nice naps in that stump...

I don't know about Maurepas, but in my part of the state raising river levels with locks for navigational purposes ruined many a thousand acre of prime waterfowl habitat. Could that be the case at Maurepas?

Once the river levels are raised permanently, timber dies out and invasive aquatics then move in to what was previously seasonally flooded wetlands. Along with weeds come beavers, nutria etc.