Right now I use a Stoeger Condor with same shell and modified and improved cylinder chokes. Decoying is also a good option if you can't arrange a shuttle or don't have time to do a full-length float. Woodies are very quick to learn and just very quick so they can be in range and out in a flash. SET A SPREADFew waterfowlers consider setting up decoys along creeks, but it can be fun and productive. This is a simple setup for a solo small-water hunter. Tip: Put together a team of reliable duck-watchers (rural mail carriers, milk truck or grain truck drivers, farmer friends and other landowners come to mind) who will let you know when ducks are flying. Gadwalls are another candidate. By continuing to browse our site you agree to our use of data and cookies. They are too noisy. If you're alone, leave your vehicle at the takeout and have someone drop you off. Call appropriately and all that’s left is the shooting.

Keep your gun handy. Small creeks hold ducks during the lull between flights and when stagnant waters have frozen. Hunters might overlook small water, but ducks sure don't. So in the morning you’re looking for birds coming from a favorite roost site to a feeding site. I like mine resting across the center yoke of my canoe on my right. Ten-yard shots don't result in good table fare. One last important jump-shooting consideration: how you'll do the float. Have some fun and consider shooting a 20 gauge. Most jump shooting, however, is done by boat. Duck blinds are no longer just a boys club - a good thing for all of us. Place three to four of them close to edges or right on the bank, and toss the other blocks randomly, leaving a landing hole in the middle. But mostly you’ll be dealing with wood ducks, teal (bluewings seem to like small water more than greenwings) and mallards. Jim Orth needed'a simple blind for hunting Lake St. Clair. For many duck hunters, classic water just doesn’t exist, especially if you’re looking for a quick morning or evening hunt close to home. Tip: Scout multiple likely spots before duck season so you don’t have to hunt the same hole two mornings in a row.

Where I grew up in southwestern Wisconsin, this was the case: The Mississippi River backwaters were a 60-mile drive, the Wisconsin River was 40.

Hide in an area where you can see and shoot a ways. Then make sure nothing super shiny is on the boat.

©2020 Outdoor Sportsman Group. Ducks — especially woodies — love the resulting habitat. Also this way decoys aren’t so close when birds fly buy they are looking right at you. First, always hug the inside bend as long as possible so you can get closer to birds. have seen the game, however, they'll often sit on straightaways where it becomes much harder to sneak up on them. Paddle strokes should be light. Decoying in creeks is also a great way to give youth hunters quality shot opportunities. I finally realized the ducks were eating snails. I slipped downstream deathly silent, hugging the inside of every turn as long as possible to screen my craft from alert eyes.

Tip: Scout multiple likely spots before duck season so you don’t have to hunt the same hole two mornings in a row.

Pass shooting birds in route can be the hardest of the three methods or the easiest if you have done your homework. Flooded timber itself could be your go-to dream spot, as could a field of flooded rice, corn or soybeans. Just pass shoot because the chances of decoying birds are slim to none. Once ducks. Small waters can attract pintails too, when hunting pressure on bigger water threatens their elegant feathers. If there's a long enough stretch of public land or private land you have permission to be on, you could walk the creek bank. HIGHWATER SPILLOVER You have to sport a take what you can get attitude.

My dad likes his pointing behind him. They also like eating zebra mussels just like every other duck. What do you see through the first shooting light of a new day? Terms and Conditions, Copyright 2020 Delta Waterfowl  |   All Rights Reserved, Delta Waterfowl’s Fall Issue Forecasts Fall Flight, Delivers Mentoring Advice, Delta Waterfowl Applauds House Passage of the ACE Act, Delaware Artist Wins Federal Duck Stamp Contest, Support Delta Waterfowl During the ‘Ducks Over Decoys’ Membership Drive. STREAM STRAIGHTAWAY The shallow, narrow nature of creeks makes them ideal for tip-up feeders. Put out two or three decoys near some blow downs  but where they can be seen. When autumn rains gush, streams and ditches overflow. He recently sat down with Will Brantley to share some of his secrets for hunting these beautiful and elusive birds. Ditches and creeks are an important component of my duck hunting. Would putting up wood duck houses by oak and acorn trees attract any ducks? My ideal shotgun would be a new Browning Citori Featherlight. Set a couple of sleepers on a sandbar, dump a feeder butt in the water and you have a simple yet realistic spread. Ducks are usually quite certain of exactly where they want to land, so they often come right in without circling. Privacy Policy To get started, click the link below to visit mymagnow.com and learn how to access your digital magazine. Plastic or Royalex canoes, on the contrary, bounce up and over rocks and do so with a lot less noise. Wildfowl contributor Mark Romanack shares advice about choosing your next retriever. The best creeks harbor duckweed, smartweed, wild rice or other ducky cuisine.

Bring with a mallard and wood duck call. I like to stash the boat and then hide in brush or grass. Your jump-shooting boat should also be maneuverable. Ditches and creeks — even when miles away from hard-hunted spots — offer seclusion and safety to ducks. If creeks are wide enough or have reasonably wide oxbows or back channels, birds might roost there. Leverage the opportunity of migrating birds coming through an area not otherwise known for its duck hunting. Ducks often visit creeks by day and roost on lakes or marshes by night. If you see birds coming through, visit local small waterways and hunt at either end of legal shooting hours. Hunting over decoys often means strictly morning and evening hunting, and when birds are pressured, sometimes just first light and last light. A shorter, keel-less canoe, say 14 feet or less, will handle much better than a longer, keeled model. 4 shot that pint-sized streams, little creeks, ordinary drainage ditches and similar ribbons of small water didn’t make many hunters’ visions.

Plan C is get a small watercraft I prefer a 14 to 16 foot flat bottom boat for use of two people. Maybe your good gun dog could be great. Peer into these areas and try to spot ducks early so you don't have to try a tough shot. Shots are usually close -- sometimes too close. The way I approach this is to look for your feeding site to be on the creek, where oak trees and beech trees are abundant. Deadly shallow-water hunters show you how to kill more greenheads and geese. The pass shooting spectrum of this is once you have used up your few first couple days decoying card up. Camouflage the paddles hop in and start floating and jump shooting. You’re lucky you have found three big food sources in one stretch of creek. Also make a stop or two during midday because this could tell you the amount of birds that have piled in to feed and loaf. Using decoys, however, usually seals the deal and can attract fresh migrants that haven't yet learned the creek's best feeding areas. Financial Information Subscriber Services.

These spots really come in to their own after shooting light is well established and ducks have had a chance to retreat.

These out-of-the-way haunts harbor ducks all season and often receive little hunting pressure. More often, however, ducks roost on adjacent marshes or lakes and fly to creeks to feed and loaf by day. Not so on small, flowing waters. Put some thought into your jump-shooting boat. Each morning, I watched helplessly from my concealed position as every single bird left the lake before legal shooting time, not to return until nightfall, when they swarmed back in to roost. Check back bays and oxbows as you float past. The standard method is jump shooting. Paddling upstream against the current is no picnic. If oak trees line the banks, wood ducks might be present to feed on fallen acorns. Make subtle paddle strokes. Creeks often become prime duck hotspots when nearby marshes and lakes freeze. In a large wetland or lowland crop complex, there’s usually more than one ditch. Cold-weather hunting is usually great for mallards, but you never know what you'll find in small creeks after lakes and ponds freeze. After all the information is taken in from scouting and noticing were birds are landing.

Place yourself on the outside of the bend so you can see down both those stretches. Sometimes you'll add geese and even divers such as buffleheads and ringnecks to the bag. Get a craft suited to stealth hunting. Tell us what you're thinking... and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar! Ready to grill up some delicious, juicy waterfowl burgers? How Hunters Help the Harvest Information Program, Early Canada Goose Season Opens Aug. 15 in North Dakota, Duck Numbers Down Slightly in North Dakota, Numbers Up For California Waterfowl Breeding Population. Many times creeks and rivers become the only open water available, and birds concentrate in them, making for great hunting.

Sit back for a moment, close your eyes, and picture the most classic piece of duck hunting water your mind’s eye can produce. The type of spread I like to set is a tight spread across the creek from me so the birds will land on my side. Tags: Duck Hunting, Duck Hunting Story, Duck Hunting Tips. The new steel loads are great to because they cut the lead down to nothing. The first major wood duck hunting tip you need to know is that they’re not a very decoy friendly bird. No matter where you live, migrating ducks can pop in for a few sleepovers and feeding sessions at any time of fall. Shy away from aluminum canoes. Like when hunting flooded timber, a duck call can announce your presence. They will be at the beginning of the season, but after that different measures need to be taken. Creeks with grassy or brushy banks give ducks more sense of security from avian predators than bare-dirt ditches. This means you have the option to read your magazine on most popular phones and tablets. Although creeks hold birds all season long, in northern areas, they really excel when stagnant waters freeze. A Georgia native, he grew up hunting woodies in southern swamps, and his company, Kritter Getter Game Calls, makes one of the most popular wood duck calls on the market. They will be at the beginning of the season, but after that different measures need to be taken. Give a Gift   Place a small pod of four to five decoys right in the eddy, and put a couple attractor blocks out on the stream for more visibility. Keep them coming. Migration Stopover Once you swing around the corner and reveal yourself, ducks will bust out. Some streams and ditches, for that matter, don’t have much curve or variation to them. Joe Shead can be found paddling for ducks in his home waters of Wisconsin. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. They really are an all-season hunting destination. If you'd like to add more birds to your bag this season, duck the crowds and hit the skinny water. Always anticipate the hardest-possible shot. Board of Directors

These out-of-the-way haunts harbor ducks all season and often receive little hunting pressure. Creek bends give you the ability to watch a couple stretches of water. We offer half day wood duck hunts over decoys for normal duck rates, and we also offer a decoying/float combo for single gunners for $180/day. Ditches and creeks are the realm of puddle ducks. All Rights Reserved. Another big plus of hunting creeks is you can have shooting all day long. Smart and spooky, it takes every trick in the decoy trailer to fool late-season honkers. Craig Boddington and Eric Poole take a look at the new modern Franchi Affinity shotgun.

HUNTER APPEALOne of the best features of creeks is they are often overlooked. If you can find a shallow creek that provides good cover and a ready food source, you'll almost certainly find ducks. Pivot your hips slightly to the hardest side at all times so you'll be ready.

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