Sunday, November 1, 2026

Welcome back to Issue #022. You voted, and the answer was loud and clear: more local hunting reports. So this week we're rolling out the first one, built on the honkers, specks, and local ducks working the north state and the public-area numbers from opening weekend. Clocks fell back overnight, the D zones close tonight, and scaup open Saturday. This issue we're turning the duck legs most of you toss into a slow-cooked confit, making the case for the cheapest piece of waterfowl gear you'll ever buy, showing off a Glenn County pit blind that is ready for water, and meeting Charlie, a duck dog out of Corning. Let's get into it.

You asked for it, so here's our first local report. Expect it to get sharper every week as more of you reply with what you're seeing.

Honkers: Canada geese are around the valley, but they didn't crack the top two species at any of the north valley public areas on opening weekend, so most of the goose action you'll see in the results is specks. If you're after honkers, scout where they're feeding, get on the X early, and hide well, because big birds that have already seen a week of decoys get wary fast.

Specks: White-fronts are the bird of the moment on the north end. On opening weekend they were the top species at Llano Seco both days and led the bag at Sutter on Sunday, where hunters averaged better than a goose apiece. Remember the three-per-day speck limit inside the Sacramento Valley Special Management Area.

Local ducks: Mallards were the top bird at Gray Lodge both days and led the bag at Sutter and Little Dry Creek on Saturday, with teal, shovelers, pintail, and wigeon filling in behind them. According to CDFW's opening weekend results (the most recent posted), Delevan led the north valley public areas on Saturday at 4.3 birds per hunter (pintail on top), Colusa came in at 3.4, Sacramento NWR at 2.8, and Gray Lodge at 2.0 with mallards leading. Every area dropped off on Sunday, which is typical once the opening morning pressure hits.

The big picture: not every field has water on it yet, and there's no real rain in the valley forecast this week. That means birds are stacking up on the spots that do. If you have access to a honey hole with water on it right now, hunt it hard. Once the rains come and more fields flood, these birds will spread out across the north state and those concentrated mornings won't last.

Plenty of hunters breast out their ducks and leave the legs behind. Don't. Wild duck legs are tough, sinewy, and full of flavor, which makes them perfect for a slow cook. Confit means cooking them low and slow while fully covered in fat, and it turns those little drumsticks into tender meat that pulls right off the bone. Save legs in the freezer through the season (vacuum sealed, like we covered in Issue #7) until you have a batch.

You will need: 12 to 16 duck legs (thigh and drumstick, skin on if you plucked), kosher salt, black pepper, four or five crushed garlic cloves, fresh thyme, two bay leaves, enough rendered duck fat, lard, or olive oil to cover the legs completely (a combination works fine), a small heavy baking dish or Dutch oven where the legs fit snugly, and an instant-read thermometer.

The method:

Doneness and safety note: unlike the rosy goose breast in Issue #21, confit legs are cooked well past USDA's 165-degree guidance for poultry, game birds included, so check the thickest leg with your thermometer and cook until the meat is fork-tender. Old-world confit was stored for months in its fat, but play it safe: refrigerate leftovers covered in fat and use them within about a week, or vacuum seal and freeze. Strain and save the fat for your next batch or for frying potatoes. Wear nitrile gloves when you clean birds, and get them into the cooler from Issue #15 quickly after the hunt.

Nothing ends a cold morning in the blind faster than icy water creeping down your leg. A barbed wire fence, a broken branch, a dog's toenail on the boat ramp, and that great pair of waders from Issue #16 has a pinhole leak. The fix costs about the same as a box of shells, so there's no reason not to have one in the truck.

Our value pick is the Gear Aid Aquaseal FD Repair Kit. You get a quarter-ounce tube of Aquaseal FD urethane adhesive, two Tenacious Tape patches (one clear, one black), and an applicator brush. It bonds to neoprene, rubber, nylon, and GORE-TEX fabric, so it covers neoprene and breathable waders alike. It runs about $10 to $12, so check current pricing.

Know the trade-off: Aquaseal FD cures in 8 to 12 hours, and it wants temperatures between 60 and 100 degrees to do it. That makes it a fix you make at home the night after you find the leak, not in a 38-degree pit blind. Clean the spot with rubbing alcohol first, and let it cure fully before you hit the water again.

Step up: Gear Aid sells a Cure Accelerator that cuts the cure to about two hours. For pinholes in the field, Aquaseal UV runs around $9 to $12 and cures in about 30 seconds in sunlight, though Gear Aid recommends the FD for permanent repairs.

Finding the leak: turn your waders inside out, fill them with water, and look for the drip. Or, for breathable waders, spray the suspect area with rubbing alcohol from the outside and watch for a dark spot on the inside. Circle it with a marker before it dries. Toss the kit in the blind bag from Issue #17 and you'll never lose a morning to a leak again.

This week's Showcase is all about the work that comes before the birds. A NorCalHunt subscriber from Glenn County sent in the result of a lot of hard work: a pit blind that is dug, concealed, and ready for waterfowl harvest. All it needs now is water. When the water floods up, no bird will be safe. Nice work, and we hope to see the first strap out of it soon. Check out the full shot on our Showcase page.

The Showcase is exclusive to subscribers, so the folks on this list see it first. Next week it could be yours: your first strap of the season, a speck spread at sunrise, your own blind build, or a dog mid-retrieve. Hit reply with your photo or clip and a sentence about it, and tell us how you want to be credited (we run first name, last initial, and town). The best one each week runs up top and earns a permanent spot on our subscribers-only Showcase page.

Meet "Charlie" (Submitted by Ryan G., Corning)

Charlie is a duck dog out of Corning, and with the valley season just getting rolling, his busy season is officially here. Every limit of birds starts with a dog willing to hit cold water at first light, and from where we sit, Charlie looks ready for whatever the season throws at him. Here's to a winter full of long retrieves, Charlie.

Want your dog featured? Hit reply, send us a clean photo of your hunting partner, and give us a quick 2 to 3 sentence blurb on what they hunt and where they earn their kibble. Pointers, flushers, retrievers, and the occasional very good mutt all qualify. Missed a week? Catch up on every dog we've featured on our past Dogs of the Week page.

No field story this week, which means the spot is wide open for yours. The first week of the valley season has already handed a lot of you something worth telling: the honker that set its wings over the spread, the dog that found the cripple everyone gave up on, or the blind partner who forgot the shells.

Got a hunt that turned into a story? A first bird, a near miss, a morning that went sideways and turned out better for it? Hit reply and tell it the way you would at the tailgate, and we'll clean it up. Catch up on the ones we've already run on our field stories page.

This briefing gets sharper when we hear from you, and now that we're running local reports, your replies matter more than ever. Drop us a quick reply and tell us:

Last week's poll: what do you want to see more of in NorCalHunt? The majority answered local hunting reports. You asked, and you'll find the first one up top. Keep the intel coming and we'll keep building it out.

This week's poll: Do you have water to hunt?

Got a hunting partner in the foothills, the rice, or along the riverbanks? Forward this briefing and point them to norcalhunt.com. Word of mouth from real hunters is how we grow.

Steel shot for scaup opener, a wader repair kit, a pump to get water on your spot, or a shop that can help you finish your blind before the water comes up: somebody close to you has it. Our local services page keeps the NorCal businesses that treat hunters right all in one place. Check it out at norcalhunt.com/localboys, and if your shop belongs on it, hit reply.

This weekend's storm mostly stayed in the mountains. The National Weather Service in Sacramento had a Winter Weather Advisory for the Sierra above 7,000 feet through 7 a.m. today, while the valley floor was only in line for a slight chance of light showers Saturday night. The week ahead looks mostly sunny and dry, with valley highs in the mid 60s, lows in the mid to upper 40s, and only slight chances of rain Tuesday and Thursday. Don't count on any real water from the sky this week.

Before you load the truck:

Stay safe out there, get your gear cleaned, and we'll see you in the field.

The NorCal Hunt Team

#022

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