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Name: Robert Vellucci
Date: Jan. 16, 2018
Location: Clinton, New Jersey
Weather: Cold. Still.
Snow Cover: Snowing right now. Three to 6 inches on the way.
Water Conditions: Most rivers were blown out and cleared of ice last week. Non-moving water remains frozen.
Feeding Conditions: OK. Little snow leaves fields available.
Species and Numbers: Some ducks and geese have returned with the opening of the rivers.
Migrations: None.
Season Stage: Duck season is over.
Hunting Report: No hunting for me this week.
Name: Dave Weidner
Date: Jan. 15, 2018
Location: Hamilton Square, New Jersey
Weather: COLD.
Snow Cover: Gone.
Water Conditions: High.
Feeding Conditions: Poor.
Species and Numbers: Puddle ducks.
Migrations: None observed.
Season Stage: Late.
Hunting Report: One day of 60 degrees and rain wiped out snow cover. Had two great coastal hunts including gadwalls, mallards, teal and black ducks. All about the ice!
Name: Marshall Starkey
Date: Jan. 15, 2018
Location: Essex, Maryland
Weather: Colder weather has returned.
Snow Cover: Very little if any. Possible snow event on Wednesday.
Water Conditions: Probably about average for the year but most small water is frozen solid.
Feeding Conditions: Cut agricultural fields.
Species and Numbers: Canada goose numbers seem average for this time of year. More divers around than in the past few years.
Migrations: The bulk of our birds are here...just shuffling around looking for open water and food.
Season Stage: Duck season and goose season remain open. sea duck season is now closed.
Hunting Report: Goose hunting has been very good the past week as well as diver hunting.
Gossip: Some of the ice has broken but there are big flows of ice on open water. Be careful!
Name: John Taylor
Date: Jan. 15, 2018
Location: Quantico, Maryland
Weather: Went from extremely cold and snow to unseasonably warm and now back to cold again.
Snow Cover: None right now but we had a lot for our area the last week and a half. It's all gone now.
Water Conditions: Just had a thaw from extremely thick ice conditions but is now starting to freeze back up again.
Feeding Conditions: Survival mode last week but going back to their normal feeding patterns this week.
Species and Numbers: Canada geese by the thousands.
Migrations: Still getting new birds due to the extreme cold conditions.
Season Stage: Late season.
Hunting Report: Goose hunting has been exceptional. Last week with the cold snowy conditions the geese were only flying out in the early afternoons. It warmed up and the snow was gone and they were flying out in early morning and staying out all day. It has gotten cold again and they are feeding twice a day. Going out in the mornings and returning to water and then coming back out in early afternoon and feeding until dark.
Gossip: A lot of geese around this year due to the extreme weather in states above us. We are certainly picking up a lot more geese than normal due to the weather. It's been a great goose season. A lot of geese around and it's been pretty easy this season. Ducks in our area, we have had a lot of ice and not been able to get out to them in the area that I hunt so we have stayed on the geese. I have heard of a lot of divers around, especially canvasbacks. Hopefully will be able to give you some duck reports this week.
Name: Kenny Gray
Date: Jan. 15, 2018
Location: Chestertown, Maryland
Weather: If you don’t like Maryland weather, wait a day. High today in the 20s, could be 55 by the weekend.
Snow Cover: None at this time, but a snow storm scheduled for later in the week.
Water Conditions: Ponds and river opened up at the end of last week with a warm spell, but are quickly freezing back over today.
Feeding Conditions: Birds have been moving almost all day. Good early morning flight, with a mid-day flight and evening flight.
Species and Numbers: All species are up across the board. Dark goose numbers are good, duck numbers are great if you have open water and light geese numbers continue to grow.
Migrations: No new migrations this week.
Season Stage: Everything is currently open for a final split of the season. Season runs until end of January/ first part of February.
Hunting Report: Both goose and duck hunting has been great.
Name: Jeff Kreit
Date: Jan. 16, 2018
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Weather: Cold. Highs in the teens.
Snow Cover: One to 3 inches.
Water Conditions: Almost all lakes and ponds frozen, the bay is also frozen over 80 percent.
Feeding Conditions: Geese are feeding hard.
Species and Numbers: Geese.
Migrations: Some new birds on the last front.
Season Stage: Last split.
Hunting Report: Killing limits every time we hunt. Birds are hungry!
Name: Bryn Witmier
Date: Jan. 16, 2018
Location: Strausstown, Pennsylvania
Weather: After a 2 day warm up late last week we are back to arctic conditions.
Snow Cover: None. Three to 6 inches on the way today.
Water Conditions: Rivers and streams are back ice free after 2 inches of rain. Non-moving water remains frozen.
Feeding Conditions: Still not terrible.
Species and Numbers: Birds got shuffled around last week as some things opened back up. Still not many birds in my area.
Migrations: None.
Season Stage: Late. Last week of ducks.
Hunting Report: No hunting for me. Ice fishing was good.
Name: Matthew Fields
Date: Jan. 16, 2018
Location: Chapin, South Carolina
Weather: Cold and clear with north winds.
Snow Cover: None.
Water Conditions: Freezing in the mornings.
Feeding Conditions: Looking for open water.
Species and Numbers: Twenty to 40 mallards, some ring-necks, lots of woodies.
Migrations: Some nice groups of birds have been seen migrating. Only a few actually staying.
Season Stage: Last leg.
Hunting Report: Killed three woodies, four mallards.
Gossip: Hear they are killing lots of canvasbacks and redheads out on the coast in South Carolina.
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