How many duck hunters remember this

[gonehuntin68]

I am pretty sure that you still have to ID your ducks on the fly, there might not be points but you are still limited on how many of each species you can take. Take last year for example you could have 6 total with any combination of 5 mallards, 2 pintails, 2 redheads, 1 canvasback, 3 woodies, or 6 of any other species. So you still have to pay attention to what you are shooting, and if you can not ID the birds in flight then you do not need to be hunting ducks.

I completely disagree with you on the part highlighted in red. I have yet to see a new duck hunter that can identify a duck in flight worth a darn. If you can't identify ducks on the fly, go ahead and hunt but you should only be duck hunting with someone that can.

I wasn't living in Texas when the point system was in place but I don't see it being much of a problem.

[1369]

I remember them well. There was even a small folding one to go in you wallet.

I want to say I still have one in my ammo can.

[bboswell]

I want to say I still have one in my ammo can.

I still have mine, or what's left of it. Going to have to dig it out now!

[SaltwaterSlick]

please do me a favor and copy and post the regs for henderson cty. i think that was one of the years when there was no bag limited or closed season on bears when hunting with a bow. i think the javelina and chachalaca seasons were pretty liberal too, considering the closest of either was 200 miles away.

Yep, and there was a bear season in Angelina county too. When I was a kid, a guy killed one and they brought to Crystal Ice Co. in Lufkin and hung it in their cooler. people came from miles around to look at it. prior to that, there were no regulations on bears in Angelina county and nothing illegal about what the guy did... go figure!

[SaltwaterSlick]

I actually loved the point system. Heck, back then, you could shoot lead shot and kill 10 pintails! Better yet, you could shoot 9 pintails and a Canvasback as long as you did it in the right order...

I have to agree that anyone that is out duck hunting should either be able to identify their ducks on the wing or have a guide or other experienced hunter that can help with the identification. Heck, you can only have 2 bluebills now (Scaup, lesser or greater)... what's up with that?!! Remember the 100 point red heads...

[1369]

The pain was having to identify fast flying birds, differentiating between hens & drakes and then keep track of points as opposed to simply counting birds.

I liked that back then. Made me a much better hunter with my father at the Port Bay Hunting and Fishing Club outside of Rockport. I'd gotten away from duck hunting for some years (college/Marine Corps) and was embarrassed at how I couldn't ID birds on the wing. Made you learn their flight manners, how they waffled into landing and profiles at a distance.