#25

[murraywader]

Very cool, congrats!!

[Highstrung]

cool RH.

[SwampDecoy]

This is amazing dedication! Congratulations to all of you.

[PharmHunter]

Too cool Rubberhead! I’ve enjoyed following the journey on here.

[GMAC]

Tell us about the brant.

[gooseaholic]

Congratulations!

[Rubberhead*]

Tell us about the brant.

Thanks for asking - I have very fond memories of my South Carolina brant. If you read the the thread below you'll see that the story involves Rhett. There's obvious sarcasm in his post and a little bit of a cover-up because he was making it seem like I thought the limit was one. The whole reason I called Trad was because I didn't know if brant were even legal and I certainly didn't know the limit. If I was going to get a ticket I wanted it to be from him and not the jokers at the landing. He didn't know, of the top of his head either, so he had to call me back. When he called is said he had good news and bad news. The good news was that brant were legal and the bad news was that I could have shot the other two. As you can tell from the thread, Rhett showed up where I was hunting. He mentioned bringing me a copy of the waterfowl regulation booklet what he didn't say was that he threw it at me. He said I deserved to have the book thrown at me for shooting something without knowing whether it was legal or not...thanks for reminding me of a story that still puts a smile on my face.

https://scducks.com/forum/showthread...orseshoe-up-my

[Catdaddy]

I thought there were a bunch of Common Mergansers in Murrell's inlet


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[Maggie Glover]

Great read. I journaled for many years then, for no real reason, stopped. As for the whistlers, I turned the corner several years ago o the Santee Delta whilst chasing the lizard only to see a hen black-bellied whistler with a very large brood in tow. I thought, "Wow" that is exciting then "Wow" this is really late for her to have such a fresh brood. I have also seen fulvous there as well. I am sure that is not news to you or most but if they are present in September, it certainly gives hope for warm Novembers. MG

[Rubberhead*]

I thought there were a bunch of Common Mergansers in Murrell's inlet

Most of the "big mergansers" people see are red-breasted mergansers. Common mergansers, as it turns out in SC, are very, very uncommon. The guys that runs the rare bird reporting system for SC even told "bird watchers" to quit reporting common mergansers because he was tired of chasing red-breasted mergansers and common loons. I have seen one common merganser in SC in all my time hunting and birding in SC and know of one killed, by Timberman22, in SC.

If anyone wants to understand how big a common merganser is look at this thread and compare the common merganser to the greenhead...

https://scducks.com/forum/showthread.php?169459-1-17-17

[GMAC]

I shot one at North Inlet around 1977 or 78. Big white bird with a green head. Really striking. We would see them from time to time. I woulda mounted it if I'd known what a big deal it was.

[Catdaddy]

Most of the "big mergansers" people see are red-breasted mergansers. Common mergansers, as it turns out in SC, are very, very uncommon. The guys that runs the rare bird reporting system for SC even told "bird watchers" to quit reporting common mergansers because he was tired of chasing red-breasted mergansers and common loons. I have seen one common merganser in SC in all my time hunting and birding in SC and know of one killed, by Timberman22, in SC.

If anyone wants to understand how big a common merganser is look at this thread and compare the common merganser to the greenhead...

https://scducks.com/forum/showthread.php?169459-1-17-17

Thanks for the clarification. They are all meganeezers to me.

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[Strick9]

Spectacular brother!!! Last year I whiffed a fully plumed drake OS in the S bay, Hambone winged him and we then proceeded to dump a box of shells attempting to water swat for finality. Unfortunately and without a feather missing he jumped up and flew off into the horizon as if he was never scathed. Ironically I killed an OS immature drake in S Tx several years back.

Keep up the grind my friend.

[lil 2 sleepy]

There was a pair of Whistling Ducks playing the links in Colleton in July. Haven’t been looking but they may still be in the area.

[Rubberhead*]

Have King Eiders been killed in SC before?

I’ve never hunted the coast much, less than 20 times. I didn’t think they made it over here at all.

I know of three - helped the one guy with a drake get his recorded with the state records committee. The other two were hens killed on the same day. I've even photographed a hen King Eider in SC...

[huntinghagen#12]

I know of three - helped the one guy with a drake get his recorded with the state records committee. The other two were hens killed on the same day. I've even photographed a hen King Eider in SC...

Cool, didn’t know they were over here at all.

[WNM]

Bird watchers report one or two king eiders per year here, and I have seen two in the last 3 years in pile pics on Facebook, both unbeknownst to the poster. Short of Rubberheads shot at a long tailed long tail, why are the rare divers always immature drakes or hens?

I was plasti-dipping decoy weights the other day, and it made me hope for another thread like this.

[Rubberhead*]

...why are the rare divers always immature drakes or hens?

I was plasti-dipping decoy weights the other day, and it made me hope for another thread like this.

I notice that too. I'm in the USFWS wing survey so I get information back on the birds I've been submitting. The eider was an immature hen and I know this long-tail is a juvenile. I suspect a drake only because the scapular feathers were outlined with rust edges. The goldeneye had very sharp, clean plumage and was identified by the USFWS as an adult hen. As I focus, now, almost entirely on finding and killing a BBWD I find myself almost melancholy about not needing to hunt a few of the "old squaw" places that I have been hunting over the past several years. My quest doesn't say that I can't try to upgrade my photo with a nice adult drake so I'm sure I'll be back.

I totally understand if you were serious about plasti-dipping your decoy weights. If you were just making fun of me, I understand that too...

[youngjedi]

Very nice! Congrats

[GobblerHntr]

Cool, didn’t know they were over here at all.

If you think they are only in Alaska then I can understand your statement. However, to be clear a very small number of King Eider do tend to take a flight path down the east coast each year. An even smaller number, like pretty rare number (rarer than a Common Merganser) make it to SC coastal waters.

Eider guides from Maine down to Mass. usually see/bag a few each season. This season hunters have a better chance of killing one on the East coast than they do making the homage to “Island X” and killing them since the natives shut down the season there due to Covid