05-21-2026

OK, OK. Finally getting around to a 2025-26 gunning update. TBH. Last year was tough. Our total harvest was way down.

True. I cut back on the number of guides in the service to 5 full timers and a few backups.

And I didn’t go out of my way to employ any ‘dipper’ (Bufflehead Head) slayers. In my mind. Clients don’t really want to travel to only have a chance at harvesting just Buffleheads.

Don’t get me wrong. When nothing else is going on, a good dipper shoot is very entertaining. And I’ll usually always take a whack at a fat male buff cutting across the dekes or pop a few hens on a slow day, (for the dog to get some work). And. Around here they eat good grasses and are tasty. But.

If buffs are all a guide has to offer, clients are going to be disappointed if a day’s weather is going to be nasty enough to get the big ducks moving.

And the dipper guide can make a service look bad after he’s pounded a blind for a couple weeks straight… Much less 2 months.

So. Last year was off. Considerably. I was thinking that it was just eastern NC. But. Since the season ended I’ve had a chance to speak with hardcore gunners while at decoy shows from up and down the Eastern Seaboard. It wasn’t just us. I’ve talked to guys from New England, De, NJ, Va, all of NC, SC, Tn and Ga.

Some of the guys took it a bit personal. “Unless they were baiting or shooting after hours, they were lying” was the usual response.

Not that we didn’t have some bright spots. Along with getting 22 species, we downed several hundreds of ducks. Early Nov season had some smokin good shoots. And. We did some respectable poundage off and on the rest of the year too

It was just that a lot of the species hardly migrated at all. And. The few species that did push down to us arrived in huge numbers. Then, never broke up into smaller groups and moved around the way they were supposed to. Good examples were the Pintails and Red Heads.

They all showed up here just before Christmas. Right on schedule. And stayed past the end of the season. But, the weather was so mild, and our bad drought had the tides going unusually low. That had all the refuge’s grass flats exposed. That allowed huge numbers of fowl to feast in no threat areas for a month and a half.

I literally had 18,000 Red Heads (aerial survey official count), within 5 miles of my marsh for a month and a half!! And only shot 4. 😵‍💫!! And the Pintail did us almost as bad.

Oh,well. Should be a real good breeding season, what with all the ducks that didn’t get shot.

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Now. Having said all that. I do have days starting to book up(Especially weekends). So if you need specific days or have large groups you should call your buddies, pick some dates and give me a call. Sooner than later is my advice.

Some sad news. One of our longest tenured guides, Justin Bleischer, passed away from a sudden heart attack this past Feb. Just went to his service on Jeanette’s Pier last week. Very nice.

   Justin’s dad has asked me to help him liquidate a lot of his son’s hunting gear. Especially his used working decoys. Most are various brands of plastics, weighted and lined with crimped 100 pound mono.  Most all of the decoy weights are substantial (12 to 16 ounces each). All decoys

are waterproof, touched up and in just right condition. There’s 400 to 500 of them.

   The better of them, I’ll sell for 100.00 a dozen, each decoy lined and with a substantial weight. The rest I’ll sell for less than that. Decoys with or without lines but no weight, I’ll sell for 40.00 to 60.00 bucks a dozen. Numerous species available. Call for specifics. 252 202-7842

Vic Berg