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2023-2024 Waterfowl Thread
- Thread starter Nutterbuster
- Start date
No real secrets. If you've got then in your area, and you scout for then, you'll find them and be able to shoot them.
Open chokes, good hides, and shooting their beaks off is the rest.
Ole Amos did me proud today. Fetched all the birds, never whined, never ran around like a maniac, and never knocked anything over or jumped on anybody like an a-hole.
I'm so freakin' ready to hunt with him this year. May not even bother with deer. It's a pile of fun to watch a dog you trained fetch birds.
There's nothing like it.
I'm learning to duck hunt on my own up here so I'm gonna throw out some questions to you guys as they come up.
I hunted Friday morning in an area I had seen birds on Wednesday. Basically nothing was flying Friday morning. I know there were some ducks around because I could hear them quacking across the pond from me. All morning I saw one single cross the pond, 2 ducks fly away from where I could hear them and 1 splash down where I could hear them. A whole bunch of geese flew away from that area but not really any ducks. Later in the morning there was a set of shots a ways away and a whole flock of what I believe teal (probably 25-30 birds) got up on the corner of the pond across from me that I couldn't see and flew away. They never flew in so they had to be roosted there.
So with not really any birds flying and birds in the area have you seen where they will loaf around where they roosted? I'm going out scouting today to try and understand this spot better. All of the spots I hunted early in the season have dried up with birds and we're quickly approaching where all my ponds are going to freeze over.
I hunted Friday morning in an area I had seen birds on Wednesday. Basically nothing was flying Friday morning. I know there were some ducks around because I could hear them quacking across the pond from me. All morning I saw one single cross the pond, 2 ducks fly away from where I could hear them and 1 splash down where I could hear them. A whole bunch of geese flew away from that area but not really any ducks. Later in the morning there was a set of shots a ways away and a whole flock of what I believe teal (probably 25-30 birds) got up on the corner of the pond across from me that I couldn't see and flew away. They never flew in so they had to be roosted there.
So with not really any birds flying and birds in the area have you seen where they will loaf around where they roosted? I'm going out scouting today to try and understand this spot better. All of the spots I hunted early in the season have dried up with birds and we're quickly approaching where all my ponds are going to freeze over.
The frustration of migrating birds....here one day, gone the next.
Gotta learn the fronts like with deer. The northern blow for us on Saturday, with a bright moon, indicated it should be pretty decent. Other guys on the marsh helped to.
Loafing birds won't fly much in calm conditions. Give them a breeze and they'll occasionally stretch their wings. Yesterday was new birds. You could tell by the #'s and how they reacted to the call. As it freezes, find yourself a couple little spots with running water. This time of year can be magic as 20 birds will try to pitch on a pie plate of open water.
We saw very few big ducks until after 9. Killed the mallards in bright sun with feet down at 10. Big ducks like late mornings when it's cold.
Gotta learn the fronts like with deer. The northern blow for us on Saturday, with a bright moon, indicated it should be pretty decent. Other guys on the marsh helped to.
Loafing birds won't fly much in calm conditions. Give them a breeze and they'll occasionally stretch their wings. Yesterday was new birds. You could tell by the #'s and how they reacted to the call. As it freezes, find yourself a couple little spots with running water. This time of year can be magic as 20 birds will try to pitch on a pie plate of open water.
We saw very few big ducks until after 9. Killed the mallards in bright sun with feet down at 10. Big ducks like late mornings when it's cold.
100% correct.
We hunted a public wetland unit yesterday. 800 acres of flooded green timber and a section of marsh/flooded buckbrush/flooded softwood.
Saw over 200 mallards alone along with wood ducks, spoonies, and teal at first light. Didn't turn a mallard with the call until 9. Wind kicked up at 930, and we watched two different pair work us but want to land somewhere ~100 yards away. Picked up and moved that way and jumped a half dozen out of the brush next to a tiny 10x15 yard hole in the buckbrush. Set up and proceeded to finish a flock of 30 at 1015.
Don't discount learning to call. It's the one thing that I can do better than most and it makes a difference. You don't need to be a pro. Learn basic sounds like the 4 note, simple quacks, etc. Don't be afraid to use subtle noises like mallard drake calls, pintail whistles, gadwall quacks, and teal....teal are noisy.
I'm a Duck Commander call guy. I just ordered new guts for my two originals. I also use a DC Mule, Duck Picker, teal, and gadwall call. No $150 acrylics. If you have a DC Brown Sugar, I'll give you $20 for it.
I'm a Duck Commander call guy. I just ordered new guts for my two originals. I also use a DC Mule, Duck Picker, teal, and gadwall call. No $150 acrylics. If you have a DC Brown Sugar, I'll give you $20 for it.
What in blue hell makes a brown sugar worth this price?
Duck Commander Duck Call Brown Sugar Vintage Rare DC-2000 | eBay
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Article I wrote recently about some new waders. I'm eyeballing a pair of heated, zippered waders.
greatdaysoutdoors.com
Choosing The Best Duck Hunting Waders | Great Days Outdoors
Duck hunting waders can make or break a hunt. Next to a dependable shotgun, for most hunters they are the #1 piece of must-have duck hunting gear.
greatdaysoutdoors.com
What in blue hell makes a brown sugar worth this price?
Duck Commander Duck Call Brown Sugar Vintage Rare DC-2000 | eBay
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Duck Commander Duck Call Brown Sugar Vintage Rare DC-2000 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!www.ebay.com
The sound/tone and the fact they don't make them anymore. Whatever plastic they used eliminated the ring or echo you get with most calls. It had a "flat" sound that was just perfect mallard hen.
I just ordered the "new" version. We will see.
Thanks!
So I scouted yesterday and I think all the birds within 45 minutes of my house were in the spot I saw them Friday. There were about 35 mallards. I scouted the other spot that I saw them wednesday as well and while it looked ducky there were no birds there. As I'm getting more experience seeing birds I am also starting to be able to pick out where the ducks would like to be even if there aren't any there which is good.
A couple more questions:
How late are usually hunting until?
I hunted a couple spots with running water late season last year. I didn't have any luck but maybe there just weren't any ducks around. I have scouted out a bunch of river spots for this year when everything freezes up. I have an area that I deer hunt that I saw a ton of ducks in after the season closed on a river last winter. Unfortunately I can't hunt it because it's within a safety zone for gun but I got some good intel out of it to see why the ducks wanted to be there. I have a few spots that I've found to replicate those conditions that I was going to try late season (even though there weren't ducks when I scouted it). Thoughts on hunting smaller 30-90 foot width rivers??
Sounds like you get a lot of frozen water...wish we got more. When it's cold like that and high pressure, bright sun...we may not go till 8. The tendency is to want to be there first thing and sometimes you do but not always necessary.
We left at 10 the other day. Sometimes we'll cook and hangout if the birds are flying. Sometimes we leave and tend to honey do lists.
Any water works. We've busted many a hole on frozen marsh when others wouldn't. If you've got a little river with current, the ice should move off in chunks.
TNbowhunter
Well-Known Member
I'm no old-hat duck hunter with 50 years of experience, so others feel free to correct me here, but I'd say it depends on what the ducks are using that particular area for. For example, if it's a big, deep body of water (e.g., a lake or huge river), the ducks may just be loafing around during the middle part of the day, so they often won't even arrive until after they've finished feeding for the morning. Conversely, if it's a feeding field or stretch of river/lake, they might be in there earlier for their morning feeding, and there's not much sense in sticking around after they've departed to their daytime loafing spot. If you're hunting more of a roosting/overnight spot, then you may only have a few minutes of intense action right at first light or last legal shooting light in the evening, and much of the middle part of the day will be dead.
All that to say, my suggestion would be to let the ducks (and your non-hunting obligations) tell you when to quit hunting. If I'm in a spot I expect to be busy and it sits idle for 1.5-2 hours, that's about the outer limit I'm willing to stay put.
We get a ton of frozen water. There were already some spots that were freezing up as of yesterday. The bigger water will stay open for a while longer but at some point it will likely freeze up too. At that point I'll focus on the rivers because I really don't want to wake up at 3:30 am to get to a spot I can't hunt lol. I'm really enjoying the learning process so I'm just rolling with it. I'm trying to make sure I learn at least 1 good piece of intel per trip to make it worth it.
Lots of scouting and a jerk string will kill more ducks than anything else you can do. Being where the ducks want to be makes success much easier. But if you are going to be a duck hunter, you need to learn to blow a call first, then learn how to work ducks with the call. They are not the same thing.
Being on the X makes for very fun and easy hunts, but I really like running traffic and pulling birds into the decoys. Actually calling at birds being the reason they landed in my decoys brings me as much (probably more) joy as killing a 6 man limit being on the X.
@dalton916 and other shooters of timber ducks, got a question.
Loving the new Beretta, but hate hunting a modified choke. I've always wanted a 12/26 autoloader in something like a cylinder/skeet/imp cylinder. Most of my shots are at 20-30 yards, with more at 20-25 than 30. I can't shot much further than that, but luckily I'm a better scout and hunter than a wingshot.
How crazy am I to look for a good smith to chop 2" off the barrel and finish it up and reinstall the bead? I've looked for a 26" improved cylinder barrel til I'm blue in the face.
Loving the new Beretta, but hate hunting a modified choke. I've always wanted a 12/26 autoloader in something like a cylinder/skeet/imp cylinder. Most of my shots are at 20-30 yards, with more at 20-25 than 30. I can't shot much further than that, but luckily I'm a better scout and hunter than a wingshot.
How crazy am I to look for a good smith to chop 2" off the barrel and finish it up and reinstall the bead? I've looked for a 26" improved cylinder barrel til I'm blue in the face.