DuckSausage

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I will say, with kids it's not always a bad thing to have some rough hunts. I believe it helps them develop a real love for the good days.

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Agree with this and Im still on the same lease I grew up hunting and there were plenty of days like that. I do think you need a little action to keep them interested long term. Doesn't have to be limits but a few birds a hunt and birds to see in general.

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I am of the opine that whatever strain of rice they are growing now - the ducks don't like it like they used too

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I just heard of this recently and surprised this is isnt talked about more. A guy on the Mickey Eastmans 610 outdoor show in Houston talked about this. Said they did a study on geese in SETX and they will not eat a certainstrain of rice that is largely being grown now.

Have a buddy that family owns abunch of rice fields in central LA and never understood why they dont have a ton of ducks and geese but they dont.

On the topic of Duck counts -- I do believe theyre off because you talk to anyone across the flyway and other flyways, no one outside of maybe the really big hunting clubs - Places like White Oak duck woods or Habitat Flats come to mind, but they could just be great at marketing and social media - are doing better than they were 5, 10, 15 years ago.

Was at the OU LSU game in November and talked to a guy, he said Arkansas is stealing all of their ducks. You talk to guys in Arkansas they say the flyway shifted west and Oklahoma has all of their ducks. Everyone blaming everyone else and IMO there just aren't as many ducks as there used to be.

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Shimano tranx 150

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I have one that's ~3 years old and bought another last year to put on a rod I won.

Tranx is reasonably priced as well compared to a lot of others.

Never used them but check out Donkey Bay swimbaits on facebook. Guy by the name of Mike Herrmann makes them in SELA for Fresh and inshore. He has an episode on the Speckled Truth Podcast that maybe worth a listen.

As far as simplifying your game and not worrying as much about mechanics, look up Tropicana golf or golf sidekick on youtube. More course managment focused with a few subtle tips to simplify the swing. Alot of it is take more club, shorten the swing and swing easy... Now if I could take my ego out and put those things into practice.

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I have the custom fit Tetras. I love them

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I got these a couple years back after wearing foam ear plugs for years while duck hunting. I got tired of not being able to hear others talking or birds. Pricey but I really enjoy them.

I would think the best bet would be neighborhood ponds. There are some signs posted but with all the ponds around I hardly ever see anyone fishing so I do wonder if they run people off.

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I could see the bull red population getting extremely out of hand without even legally being allowed to keep 1

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This is an interesting topic. I listen to Capt Mickey Eastmans radio show a good bit out of Houston. They have stocked reds in the Galveston bay area for awhile and says they have a bull red problem and a lack of slot reds. Bull reds eating small trout off their lines, etc. The theory is they were hatchery raised and don't know to migrate to the gulf when they reach maturity.

Don't know if I necessarily believe that theory b/c I've noticed the same thing in Big Lake where you're way more likely to catch a bullred than slot red, and they havent stocked any as of yet. But I do find it interesting and could be some truth to it.

The Navionics Boating app (Garmin recently bought out Navionics) is pretty handy and has a satellite view. I think its $50/year to get the full features where you can lay down tracks and way points. You can mark a waypoint and it'll lay down a track for you to follow and flag any hazards along the way.

Idk if I would use that feature blindly but its really helpful at times.

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Project Farm guy did a video about this.

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I bought the highlighter yellow twisted Max power based on that video. Idk if its the best but its a lot better than the generic orange string that came with mine.