You may not have heard of this call company before, but that doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been in existence for quite some time.  The “Bays Call” was developed by Lewis Bays – a waterfowl biologist in Mississippi.  Crafted in the 1960’s, he recognized there was no call specifically to lure in wood ducks.  After some handcrafting, he made a call and the results were impressive.  Mixing a wood duck call into the standard mallard mix seemed to draw a lot of call-shy birds into decoy spreads.  From then on, the Bays Call grew in popularity, but never to the same degree as other big-name call manufacturers.  Lewis’ son and grandson now handcraft each Bays Call according to the original design. 

If you would like to know more about the Bays Call and its history, click here.

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission has made the 2008 regular waterfowl seasons available on their website.

The Regulations call for an early season of October 1-October 4, a middle season of November 8-29, and a late season of December 13-January 24.  The most notable changes in bag limits for inland North Carolina duck hunters is the increase from 2 to 3 wood ducks in the allowable daily harvest of 6 overall ducks.

Check out the regulations, so you know the rules and make sure you play within the sunrise/sunset rules, nobody likes you shooting before and after the times that the law allows, it makes my skin crawl, and I hope you flat out get stomped by the game warden if you try to get away with it.

Shoot straight this year in the swamps and best of luck to everyone!

Photo courtesy of National Wildlife Refuge Foundation

Under the umbrella of President Bush’s proposed budget, there is a bill that would boost the Federal Duck Stamp price from $15 to $25.  The price hike would align the stamp’s price closer with the inflation that has occurred since the last price increase over 15 years ago.  Now, before you throw a fit and complain about more dollars coming out of your pocket, you should know where conservation organizations like Ducks Unlimited and Pheasants Forever stand.  They state that the price increase is long overdue and that sportsmen will benefit from the increased funds available for wetland habitat restoration and conservation.  They have encouraged their members and other sportsmen to embrace the price hike.  Think about it this way.  If you use some of the new waterfowl ammunition, you might shoot $10 worth of shells at one passing flock of teal.  So, please don’t raise cain and do your part to conserve the future of wetlands and waterfowl hunting.