I hunt in the central valley of California in what is referred to as the grasslands. This area consists of close to 200,000 acres of marsh that is primarily duck clubs, with some refuges and private reserves as well.
Teal are our staple bird, but we kill a lot of pintail, widgeon, spoonies, gadwall, and in recent years we kill a lot of canvasbacks as well as redheads. Mallards are not rare, but a mallard in the bag is always a prize as they are far less common than any of the birds mentioned above.
This past year was the worst duck season I can ever remember, probably in large part due to a lack of weather, and thus a lack of migration (we only had about 1/3 to 1/2 of our normal amount of migrating birds this season). Below are some hunts from this past season:
Typical grasslands teal shoot (14 teal):
Pheasant opener at my duck club with a 2 bird limit of pheasant, and the only duck of the day (we call this the November doldrums):
Christmas morning hunt with my father (2 cans, 2 redheads, 4 sprig, 6 gw teal and a bonus snow goose):
Last day of the season 4 mallards, 3 widgeon, 3 honkers (I do not kill many mallards, and honkers are a rare treat for me):
That last picture is not in the grasslands, and is in fact where I did a considerable amount of my turkey hunting this past season... Hunted that pond for ducks on 2 other occasions without firing a shell... Third time was a charm.
