Matki15
Well-Known Member
Little too early for many migrators down in south Louisiana but the woodies are thick as always if you know where to look
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2022-2023 Duck Thread
- Thread starter Nutterbuster
- Start date
Lessons learned today:
Ringnecks don't like spinners near as much as teal and woodies.
Ringnecks are practically immune to #4 steel.
I'm jealous, got in a few duck hunts, but by the time I got into it, my hunting partners switched to rifle deer. Now the season is over for ducks. Geese is still open til Xmas.
Sold the bow press I didn't use as much as I thought I would, and bought a kayak that was on clearance (who else would buy a kayak in November). Should let me get in some solo hunts when my hunting partners aren't available. I don't have a dog or boat, so I needed something I could manage. Next year I'll be able to hit the ducks
Sold the bow press I didn't use as much as I thought I would, and bought a kayak that was on clearance (who else would buy a kayak in November). Should let me get in some solo hunts when my hunting partners aren't available. I don't have a dog or boat, so I needed something I could manage. Next year I'll be able to hit the ducks
That's weird, ringers suck right into spinners around here. I remember getting into some bluebill years ago on a public marsh. Had 5 spinners running and 2 got knocked over from the bluebills hitting them mid air.
Matki15
Well-Known Member
You think those are bad, try buffleheads. Never seen such a little duck take so many pellets
Anyone on here duck hunt in the northeast? I'm looking for someone to bounce some things off of that can relate. I just picked up duck hunting for a couple hunts last season so I'm a novice. I have been able to get on ducks great in our early season in October up here (woodies and mallards) but once November hits I know the woodies leave and my mallard sightings are dropping fast as well. I did an early hunt on Saturday and then did some scouting to try to find ducks. I didn't see any on the sit, jumped one mallard float shooting on the river, saw 3 fly over in that spot and then found 4 on a pond on another property about 15 miles away. I've been focusing mostly on rivers which I most likely will continue to do because I noticed last weekend that the ponds are already starting to freeze. I know the mallard population is down so maybe that has something to do with my low sightings. I covered a lot of ground to see 8 ducks total that I couldn't get a shot at so it doesn't give me a lot of confidence to go sit somewhere to decoy them. Those 3 birds in the air were the only 3 ducks I've seen in the air the last 2 weekends. Thanks for any and all info.
Not close enough to duck hunt lol. Probably a minimum of an hour and a half to get to places where I could duck hunt. I'll drive that far during the summer to fish but I'm adding duck hunting in as something to do when I fill my buck tags.... so I don't want to burn up too much goodwill with the wife because I'm saving it for when I have a new tag
.With the knowledge I have now from my duck hunts this early season, if I went back and did them again I bet I could fill my wood duck limits and throw some mallards in there too. I was on them in the early season, I was just set up a little off and out of shooting practice. Last year I got a little discouraged cause I didn't see any ducks anywhere the couple times I went in november so I just turned to muzzleloader hunting. I'm kinda seeing the same thing this year. I've been doing a bunch of scouting and I'm not finding any ducks in numbers. I was thrilled to find 4 together the other day! Our season goes until January 12 so I'd love to figure something out. I keep my eyes on any river or pond I go by when driving to work or anywhere and I'm not seeing much. Geese are everywhere though!
Not close enough to duck hunt lol. Probably a minimum of an hour and a half to get to places where I could duck hunt. I'll drive that far during the summer to fish but I'm adding duck hunting in as something to do when I fill my buck tags.... so I don't want to burn up too much goodwill with the wife because I'm saving it for when I have a new tag
With the knowledge I have now from my duck hunts this early season, if I went back and did them again I bet I could fill my wood duck limits and throw some mallards in there too. I was on them in the early season, I was just set up a little off and out of shooting practice. Last year I got a little discouraged cause I didn't see any ducks anywhere the couple times I went in november so I just turned to muzzleloader hunting. I'm kinda seeing the same thing this year. I've been doing a bunch of scouting and I'm not finding any ducks in numbers. I was thrilled to find 4 together the other day! Our season goes until January 12 so I'd love to figure something out. I keep my eyes on any river or pond I go by when driving to work or anywhere and I'm not seeing much. Geese are everywhere though!
If you live where it freezes.....wait it out. There will be honey holes that stay open. Duck hunting is more cyclic and more unpredictable than deer hunting.l to me. Shoot two one day, come back the next to the same hole and can't keep them off you.
That's what makes waterfowling.
So here's a question.
I want to build a small, 2-3 man natural brush blind on a sand bar that grows rice in teal season and nothing at all during big duck season. It's too shallow and sandy for most mud motors, and it seems to hold ducks. Folks don't want to walk at all in this area, but I've had luck walking out and hiding in the rice during teal season. My boat is small enough that I can trim the motor all the way up and pole or drag it, using it as a jumbo jet sled to tote decoys. Once I'm done I can then drag it back to the edge of the bar, anchor it, and walk back to hunt.
Let's say I was to load up a boat full of brush during high tide and pole out there with it. Most folks down here make really crappy blinds by sticking phrag or bamboo in the mud and then try to hide a boat full of people in it. It looks pathetic. I want something that will hold up for the season and hide 2-3 guys sans boat. I think if I built something like that it probably wouldn't get used by other hunters that much, and the birds would get used to it.
What brush should I use? Willow? Green oak limbs?
I want to build a small, 2-3 man natural brush blind on a sand bar that grows rice in teal season and nothing at all during big duck season. It's too shallow and sandy for most mud motors, and it seems to hold ducks. Folks don't want to walk at all in this area, but I've had luck walking out and hiding in the rice during teal season. My boat is small enough that I can trim the motor all the way up and pole or drag it, using it as a jumbo jet sled to tote decoys. Once I'm done I can then drag it back to the edge of the bar, anchor it, and walk back to hunt.
Let's say I was to load up a boat full of brush during high tide and pole out there with it. Most folks down here make really crappy blinds by sticking phrag or bamboo in the mud and then try to hide a boat full of people in it. It looks pathetic. I want something that will hold up for the season and hide 2-3 guys sans boat. I think if I built something like that it probably wouldn't get used by other hunters that much, and the birds would get used to it.
What brush should I use? Willow? Green oak limbs?
Matki15
Well-Known Member
Use enough Willow and a fair amount of the cut limbs are bound to take root and once they start growing, just go in and trim just enough to give y’all room to stand and shoot. The first year I’d definitely throw in some oak or cedar limbs to fill out some spaces. Around here people use pine limbs. Needles turn brown quick but they’ll hold all duck season
Thanks for the advice! I'll hang in there and keep at it. Basically my Saturdays right now have been hunt the first couple hours with the decoys then scout for spots that are holding birds. It's good to hear what you are saying because that seems to be what I've been noticing. I'll see all sorts of ducks around and then everything goes completely dead for a while. I have been focusing on river hunting for starters because 1. that is where I have found some ducks consistently, 2. I figured smaller river spots were likely to have less competition than ponds where I've found people leaving canoes and blinds and 3. I know they would keep open water as the season progressed. I'm happy if I learn something new every time I go out cause I know I'm a novice, sometimes it's nice to bounce things off people that have similar areas. @Nutterbuster has taken me on and tried to help me but sometimes it feels like we live on opposite sides of the planet lol.
Also, think rutting buck. 10-2 in the winter. Sleep in, get your coffee and be set up around 8. Lots of mid day ducks that 90% of guys don't even know exist.
Thank you! I'll give that a shot one day as well.
If I haven't mentioned it, I should have. Getting set up as people are leaving to go scout and eat lunch can be awesome. They bump up ducks and they have to settle back down.
You can also bump up a flock, hide, throw out a few decoys, and give it an hour. We did that this past weekend
Mengle
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2017
- Messages
- 619
I love it when a fisherman blows up the raft of ducks in the middle of a lake. Goes from 0 to 90 real quick.
So here is the thing I've found. There are not many people duck hunting around me at this time of year. Maybe I'm just not in the right spots and that's why I'm not seeing a ton of ducks. But last Saturday I didn't hear a shot anywhere. The Saturday before I heard one shot and I shot once. I only even saw one group of guys getting out of their trucks when I was out on opening day when I was in the ducks.