duck hunting

[RyeGuy74]

I've never been a waterfowl hunter but I thought it would be cool to get into duck hunting. Question is, is duck hunting easy for someone who has never done it before to do? Have any advice for someone trying to get into duck hunting?

 

[Deleted member 38069]

Easy, sorta

Advice, go do it. See what it's like for you. You will adjust your approach every year.

Focus on a good hidden blind and a few decoys. The rest will come with experience. Bottomline, it's an expensive sport but can be extremely gratifying. I'd find out if you like the taste of duck first!

 

[2ski]

If nothing else, find properties with irrigation ditches. Jump shooting ducks can be super fun.

 

[Nick87]

Easy, sorta

Advice, go do it. See what it's like for you. You will adjust your approach every year.

Focus on a good hidden blind and a few decoys. The rest will come with experience. Bottomline, it's an expensive sport but can be extremely gratifying. I'd find out if you like the taste of duck first!

What he said.

 

[D4570]

Where are you at?
IF there is some kind of waterfowl production area near you.
You can just go and find someplace to sit in the weeds well before sun up and wait for the action to begin. Most, all ducks and geese take off at first light and go feed. If the wind is blowing hard It keeps the ducks moving, try to let them get past you and shoot going away . It is a lot easier to penetrate their feathers.
12 gauge? You ave to use steel shot for ducks and geese, anything smaller than a 12 you almost always need to use other Nontox shot in order to get enough shot density to consistently kill ducks, 12 is the easiest and cheapest route to go.
2 3/4 inch "Duckloads" are usually anemic at best. Pass shooting I would use #2, 3" and a full choke. You have to practice and pattern your gun, 40 yards is about max. If you don't have a dog or boat or some other way to retrieve your ducks only shoot them so they land on the ground. Jump shooting is fun too if you have a creek or a canal that you can walk.

 

[Dougfirtree]

Alot depends on where you live. There are areas where it's easy to hunt ducks without a boat, dog, etc. There are places where it's difficult. Where I live, 90% of the migration follows Lake Champlain, which is a huge lake. So, you're pretty limited without a boat. When I lived in Montana, we hunted ducks mostly on small pot holes and on the river. A set of waders was all you really needed (along with a few decoys and a shotgun). Where are you? I do really enjoy duck hunting. Watching the swamp come alive in the morning is just cool!

 

[JShane]

what Nick said

 

[cwitherow]

I jumped in with both feet this year. Decoys, waders, and calls (on a limited budget). I did as much internet reading as I could, asked questions here (very helpful by the way), and scouted like crazy. I "theoretically" knew how to duck hunt. We went out opening morning and got 7 between the three of us in a few hours. All pass shooting, but we learned a lot.

 

[mtmiller]

Find out where the birds want to be. It is easy after that.

Nothing like having birds locked up and dropping into the decoys. If it is just about killing, jumping works too.

 

[MarvB]

^^^^Yes! Watching birds work your dekes or responding to a come-back, dropping the landing gear, a good dog doing a tough retrieve, all that!!!
Lots of enjoyment in waterfowl hunting (Did I mention freezing your ass off??)

 

[OntarioHunter]

Very hard to give you advice without knowing your situation. I consider myself an accomplished waterfowl hunter and don't have a lot of money tied up in guns and gear. Proper clothing is perhaps tops for me because of the way I hunt which is somewhat unique due to the environment. If you decide to stay in this game you should get a dog. A Lab. I cannot imagine my life without one even if I had to stop hunting tomorrow. A dog makes it so much more enjoyable and I'm not just talking about retreiving.

I am definately not into the social thing when hunting (I simply enjoy the outdoors more when I'm alone), but I might suggest checking out some of the organizations to meet others who hunt in your area. After what happened to that Montana writer I am disinclined to send anyone to Ducks Unlimited (aka Gamehogs Unlimited) but if that's all there is for you, maybe give them a shot (pun intended). Or ask around at the local gun shop (you can usually forget about asking for advice at the big box stores - they're not fussy about who gets behind the counter).

 

[Nick87]

Find out where the birds want to be. It is easy after that.

Nothing like having birds locked up and dropping into the decoys. If it is just about killing, jumping works too.

Yup if your where they want to be you dont need many decoys either just blend in and shut up.

Not many ducks but I went up to my cousins last weekend for there opener setup only about a dozen decoys and hardly picked up the call we had a great place to hide right in a grassy lane splitting the field. Furthest shot was 30 yards at most. Most of ours were 15 to 20 yards.

 

[huronmtns]

Where are you at?
IF there is some kind of waterfowl production area near you.
You can just go and find someplace to sit in the weeds well before sun up and wait for the action to begin. Most, all ducks and geese take off at first light and go feed. If the wind is blowing hard It keeps the ducks moving, try to let them get past you and shoot going away . It is a lot easier to penetrate their feathers.
12 gauge? You ave to use steel shot for ducks and geese, anything smaller than a 12 you almost always need to use other Nontox shot in order to get enough shot density to consistently kill ducks, 12 is the easiest and cheapest route to go.
2 3/4 inch "Duckloads" are usually anemic at best. Pass shooting I would use #2, 3" and a full choke. You have to practice and pattern your gun, 40 yards is about max. If you don't have a dog or boat or some other way to retrieve your ducks only shoot them so they land on the ground. Jump shooting is fun too if you have a creek or a canal that you can walk.

Your post was packed with great information and I agree with you on all except what is bolded above. That text I am uncertain about with my experience hunting waterfowl.

I always did better at killing birds when they are shot coming in rather then going away. Your feather penetration theory made me think about this a little for the first time and I'm not sure it means much. The only reason I am bringing my thoughts into this is it may not be helping a new hunter.

Just for this discussion an example of 40 mph flight speed. An incoming (+ speed) bird is moving 40 mph. An outgoing (- speed) bird is going 40 mph. There is a difference of 80 mph (117.3 fps) between incoming and out going. An incoming (+ fps)bird will get hit harder with the shot than the bird outgoing (- fps). I do recognize there are probably better protective properties for the feathers if they are impacted in the streamline direction vs not. But is it enough to change the difference at 117.3 fps? I not sure that the feathered armor has enough in it to fully absorb the projectile doing 117 fps.

Shooting at an incoming bird also gives you the time it takes for them to become out going birds for shot opportunity.

Those are my (2 fps) thoughts.

 

[TexAg09]

Unpopular opinion, but it works for me: Less is more when it comes to calling and decoys. I'd rather have fewer decoys (or sometimes none at all) if conditions are bad and they can possibly flare birds. I rarely throw out more than 18 decoys. Also, just get the basics down on calling, and just call when they are turning or going away. Never when when they are coming in. Just my strategies...

 

[mtmiller]

Unpopular opinion, but it works for me: Less is more when it comes to calling and decoys. I'd rather have fewer decoys (or sometimes none at all) if conditions are bad and they can possibly flare birds. I rarely throw out more than 18 decoys. Also, just get the basics down on calling, and just call when they are turning or going away. Never when when they are coming in. Just my strategies...

Great advice IMO. I just cleaned up 10 decoys last night and should be good. That being said, Slash's first hunt, so we will be hunting easy in the morning and I won't be afraid to take a wigeon or gadwall. I promise he will never have to bring back a spoonie.

 

[OntarioHunter]

Unpopular opinion, but it works for me: Less is more when it comes to calling and decoys. I'd rather have fewer decoys (or sometimes none at all) if conditions are bad and they can possibly flare birds. I rarely throw out more than 18 decoys. Also, just get the basics down raseon calling, and just call when they are turning or going away. Never when when they are co eming in. Just my strategies...

For waterfowl the "going away" shots are usually after the bird has flared and changed directions. It won't be up to top speed yet. For pass shooting I find best penetration is just after the bird has passed overhead. For crossers it's a crap shoot, especially for honkers. Wings are set and if landing in deeks, they are down and covering the sides of torso. After flaring the wings are up and grabbing air but those big feathers on the sides are good protection, especially for honkers. If the shot gets through them it's a short trip to vitals. I find incoming birds dropping into decoys are the hardest to hit. The profile is smaller target and judging the rate of drop is difficult. Too often I shoot under them. Also some birds can be quite acrobatic as they approach the deeks, especially teal and cackling geese. I have seen the latter actually flip over in midair as they drop down (look for videos on the net). The highest probability shots over decoys are actually second and third after the birds have flared. Moral of that story is always be a gentleman and let the other guys shoot first. At the end of the day you will have the most birds in the bag. Also, the second and especially third shots are more "rushed," allowing no time to "overthink" the shot. Instinctive shooting is much more productive. My scores at skeet jumped almost five targets after I switched to low gun. No time to think or look at the bead instead of the target. Keep the gun down until the moment of shooting and then make it all one motion up and mounting and firing. Down comes the bird.

 

[OntarioHunter]

Unpopular opinion, but it works for me: Less is more when it comes to calling and decoys. I'd rather have fewer decoys (or sometimes none at all) if conditions are bad and they can possibly flare birds. I rarely throw out more than 18 decoys. Also, just get the basics down on calling, and just call when they are turning or going away. Never when when they are coming in. Just my strategies...

Very good advice. I have two dozen honker shells and don't do any better than when I just had one dozen. Actually, a whole lot of decoys can be counterproductive as birds will land on the outside out of range. Of course with snow geese there's nothing to be done because bringing them down requires at least a hundred decoys. But for honkers and most ducks a dozen or at most two dozen is fine. Any more is a waste of time and money. Also good advice about conservative calling. Get their attention and shut up.

A final bit of advice and one of my best tips. In the field especially, don't set the decoys too far apart. Inclination is to stretch the distance between them to make the spread look like it has more birds. DOES NOT WORK! I set my honker decoys about 3-4 feet apart ... except one pair. Put those two about ten yards from the rest exactly where you want birds to land. Spacing is very important. Much more important than the shape of the spread. This is a lesson I learned the hard way. I prefer a diamond shaped semi wedge shape with the outliers on point. There I've gone and told you everything. Blabbermouth!

 

[Runnin_Chupacabra]

I would echo all the posts above in saying the more time you spend in the field the more you'll learn. This is my second year hunting the refuges and each time I go out I learn something new!

 

[Zootownelk]

I love waterfowl hunting. Like others asked, where are you located? That will determine a lot of the type of hunting you can do.

 

[RyeGuy74]

Very hard to give you advice without knowing your situation. I consider myself an accomplished waterfowl hunter and don't have a lot of money tied up in guns and gear. Proper clothing is perhaps tops for me because of the way I hunt which is somewhat unique due to the environment. If you decide to stay in this game you should get a dog. A Lab. I cannot imagine my life without one even if I had to stop hunting tomorrow. A dog makes it so much more enjoyable and I'm not just talking about retreiving.

I am definately not into the social thing when hunting (I simply enjoy the outdoors more when I'm alone), but I might suggest checking out some of the organizations to meet others who hunt in your area. After what happened to that Montana writer I am disinclined to send anyone to Ducks Unlimited (aka Gamehogs Unlimited) but if that's all there is for you, maybe give them a shot (pun intended). Or ask around at the local gun shop (you can usually forget about asking for advice at the big box stores - they're not fussy about who gets behind the counter).

What happened to the Montana writer?