Another Mud-Chicken Thread

**winyah-jay** · 11-01-2011, 01:31 PM

Here's a pretty cool sequence of a friend flushing and busting a marsh hen last week...

**Quackhead22** · 11-01-2011, 01:37 PM

Good Stuff Jay!!

**triton1756** · 11-01-2011, 01:38 PM

Nice, that is a damn good sequence

**SCduckman** · 11-01-2011, 02:14 PM

That's cool. Great shots

**Whaler_Dave** · 11-01-2011, 02:32 PM

Sporty!

**Capt. Tom** · 11-01-2011, 02:55 PM

Neat!

**BigBrother** · 11-01-2011, 03:04 PM

You mean you flush em?

Good shots, both ways.

**jon428** · 11-01-2011, 03:20 PM

Now that's cool.

**Capt. Tom** · 11-01-2011, 03:22 PM

I am seriously thinking they can be killed with a sling-shot! I am taking one next time.

**turbo** · 11-01-2011, 03:31 PM

Originally Posted by Capt. Tom

I am seriously thinking they can be killed with a sling-shot! I am taking one next time.

You said "neat" earlier.

I have lost a lot of faith in you.

**Capt. Tom** · 11-01-2011, 03:39 PM

Originally Posted by turbo

You said "neat" earlier.

I have lost a lot of faith in you.

Suck my ass!!!

**turbo** · 11-01-2011, 03:40 PM

Ewe...

**Capt. Tom** · 11-01-2011, 03:45 PM

I have a special fishing spot that just came to mind for you and your pops.

bwahahahahah

**Salt Marsh** · 11-01-2011, 04:21 PM

Years ago I was out marsh hen hunting on an extremely high tide. It was one of the highest tides I have ever seen. We were hunting a creek that ran off of Calibogue Sound. The tide was so high, about all you saw was just the top inch or two of the longest marsh grass. The hens were all wadded up on mats of floating dead marsh grass. We would pole up the mat and shoot one or two from each mat when they flew off. Sometimes we had reach into the rock bucket and get a rock to throw at them to make them fly. When the tide is that high, they can be reluctant to leave the mat. I expect they are worried about finding another place to land.

We were just about done, when I looked over towards the sound and saw another boat with three people in it. It was an aluminum john boat, which was kind of unusual. We never saw too many of those on salt water in those days. The fellows in the boat were all standing up and two of them had long poles in their hands. One pole would not have gotten me curious, as that is what we had to push our boat. But, I did not understand two poles. Plus, we did not hear any shooting coming from them.

I motored over to them. As I got closer, I recognized them. They were a father, son and the father's nephew. I had known all three of them for most of my life. They hunted and fished a lot and were known in the community as being skillful in the marsh and swamp.

As I got closer, I realized what they were doing. The two poles were gig poles and were using them to pole up the grass mats. When they got to the mat, the hens that did not fly off were getting stuck with the gigs. The third fellow was busy pulling the hens off the gig poles so they did not have to slow down and choke up the pole to get the hen off. When I pulled up they had the whole floor of the boat covered in hens. We talked a bit about how high the tide was and the fact the place was just covered in marsh hens. When I asked them why they were gigging the hens instead of shooting them, they allowed how since the hens were not flying off like normal, they saved on shells by using the gig pole.

I have killed marsh hens with a rock. I have shot them with just about every gauge of shotgun. I once bought a box of 12 gauge #12 shot and used it on hens. I have shot them with a .410 pistol. I have killed them with rat shot from a 22. I have dipped them up with crab net and wrung their necks. But, that was the first and last time I ever saw anyone gigging marsh hens.

**Capt. Tom** · 11-01-2011, 04:30 PM

Cool story, thanks for sharing

**Phone Man** · 11-01-2011, 04:38 PM

i have always wanted to go. Take the 410, shoot a limit and catch some reds. Maybe next year.

**Goin Coastal** · 11-01-2011, 05:04 PM

Phoneman, I'll get ya on a trip next year.
The bad thing is where we hunt you have to use steel or if you can afford it some other non-toxic shot. The good thing is there is not alot of hunting preasure there. I would love to use a .410 but finding that required shot is not easy. If other methods of taking them are not listed in the rulebook, are they legal? You can definitely make it as sporty as you want. I'm thinking kayaks next time, or maybe paddle boards.