huntnteen

is it common for a male pintail to have the same exact coloring as a hen in the early season? I shot two bulls, both of them were singles, brown, and i picked them up as hens, took them to the check station and they told me they were bulls, ive never seen one before, ill post pics in the morning

CAelknuts

It is very common for pintails to be difficult to distinguish drakes from hens in the early season. Most of the young birds of the year all look pretty much alike until about early to mid November.

huntnteen

one of them wasnt even young, it was an adult bull, it through me, my dad, and a ex-game warden for a loop cause none of us have seen them before

Chris_H

Maybe he's still in eclipse??? He would be pretty late, but its possible.

huntnteen

there they are, ive never seen them like this before, so i find it odd, i also normally dont hunt early-season so you guys can tell me if its common

Chris_H

That just looks like a pintail eclipsed to me.

CAelknuts

It is very common for drake pintails to look like that at this time of year, at least out here in the Sacramento Valley. That is exactly what 90%+ of the bull sprig look like right now.

huntnteen

really? most of the ones i saw in the air looked like normal to me, ah well, this is why im a late-season hunter lol

kwacksmacker

wouldn't know, only see them high and haulin past this part of the country.