It’s late November and we’re back in the blind for another Road Hunter Podcast hunt. The ducks were slow, but the coots kept things interesting: we ended the morning with 3 coot, 2 ducks, and plenty of laughs.

Related: duck blind talk.

While we wait on birds, we break down the final days of elk season: what went right, what went sideways, and what we learned as we close the book on another year in the mountains.

If you like duck hunting, real talk, and end-of-season storytelling, you’re in the right place.

If you’ve never hunted Oregon coot, here’s the deal: when the ducks go quiet, the coot flotillas don’t. They sit out in the open like they’re daring you to shoot, and Oregon lets you take 25 a day, on top of your regular duck limit since coot don’t count against it. So when the action slows, we water swat a few just to keep the morning interesting. Logan even shot one with no bullets in the chamber on his first try: failed outdoors, folks. That’s the brand.

Logan water-swatted his first duck of the season, a hen mallard, the only legal bird that day, and we’re counting it. First duck’s a first duck, no matter how it gets in the bag. We’ll admit we stole a couple of his earlier opportunities too. When they’re landing right in the spread, instinct takes over before manners do.

Eastern Oregon elk season was tough: lots of hiking, almost no sightings. The coastal side wasn’t much better; we busted a herd in heavy fog and never got a shot lined up. The one bright spot: Logan capped off the season with his second blacktail buck in two years, a fork-and-spike (a “spork,” if you’re keeping track of our nicknames). There’s guys who can’t say they’ve shot two bucks in ten years, let alone two seasons.

• Coot don’t count against your duck limit in Oregon: 25 a day, separate bag
• Public-land duck blinds mean you’ll lose some birds to the blind next door, that’s just the game
• A legal buck is a legal buck: a spike punches the same tag as a 6×6

No. Oregon allows up to 25 coot per day as a separate limit from ducks, making them a good option to keep busy when duck action is slow.

Crowded blinds mean birds get flared by neighboring hunters before they reach your decoys. It’s part of public-land hunting: spreading out and being patient helps, but you can’t control everyone else.

Absolutely. A legal spike fills the freezer and the tag exactly like a trophy buck does. Trophy hunting is fun, but meat in the freezer is the real win.

Catch us in the next episode: we’re heading into duck season hard and chasing crab and steelhead before the year’s out. Thanks for listening, and get outside even if you come home with tag soup.

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