Pothole Mallards and Gadwall

**David Rearick** · #1 11-05-2007, 02:49 PM

DATE: October 22nd, 2007

LOCATION: Bottineau ND

WEATHER: Clear and Sun

TEMPERATURE: 30’s-40’s

WIND: Mild

EQUIPMENT USED: Avery® Floating Gun Case, Avery® Finisher Blind Bag, Avery® Sportsman’s Camera Bag, Avery® Skull Cap, Avery® DIY Lanyard, GHG® OS Mallards, GHG® LS Pintails, GHG® Mallard No Head Feeders and Butts

HUNTERS: Frank Clifton, Dan Barney, Avery® Pro-Staffers Rick MacFarlane & David Rearick

JOURNAL NOTES:
After a good scouting run into the mountains with a buddy from ND, we found a little pond tucked back out of the way holding a few mallards and gadwall. With the weather of late, it was better than most of the potholes we had found, so we gave it a shot in the AM. With cooler temps overnight, in the Turtle Mountains, we had high hopes for the morning’s hunt.

As daylight approached, we made our way to the pond, and as we got close enough, birds lifted from the pond, as well as, our expectations for the morning. We made quick work of setting out the decoys and breaking the first ND ice we had seen on our trip, along the edge of the small pond. As LST approached, birds continued to come back to the pond and a minute before shooting time; I walked out to get them moving.

It wasn’t long until the birds came back and started working the pothole. We looked for drakes and let multiple unidentified birds pass over the decoys without a shot. When positive ID’s could be made, we started working on the birds that gave us good opportunities. Utilizing a jerk cord and teo GHG No Head Mallard Feeders and two GHG Mallard Butts, we kept the water churning even with little to no wind. The birds definitely loved the added touch of realism and in many cases it helped pull them in, just enough to get them in range. With the coolest temps of the trip, the water at the edge continued to freeze throughout the day and we continually had to break skim ice. Even with the continual work to keep it from being solid, the clear open water just out of range proved to be where the birds wanted to land before they fed towards the edges of the pond. We made some adjustments and continued to work on the birds, as they came to the hole, from their morning feed. As luck would have it, not all of the birds returned and we called it a day at 11 AM, in order to allow the remaining birds to filter back throughout the day, saving the spot for a future hunt. After a quick pick up, we headed out, to scout a few other ponds, only to find the reason many birds had not returned. Just over the hill on a posted piece of ground, a pond held a large numbers of ducks, swans, and geese, proving to be a great resting spot within earshot and sight for the birds flying in the area of the pothole we had hunted. With birds in the area, we new we could head back and give this spot another go later in the week.

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