Duck Hunting Trips

Duck is the common name for a number of species in the Anatidae bird family. The ducks are divided between several different subfamilies listed in full in the Anatidae article. Ducks are mostly aquatic birds, mostly smaller than their relatives the swans and geese, and may be found in both fresh and salt water.

Ducks exploit a variety of food sources such as grasses, grains and aquatic plants, fish, insects, and the like. The sound made by some female ducks is called a "quack"; a common (and false) urban legend is that quacks do not produce an echo.

The males (drakes) of northern species often have showy plumage, but this is moulted in summer to give a more female-like appearance, the "eclipse" plumage. In many species, moulting birds are temporarily flightless; they seek out protected habitat with good food supplies during this period. This moult typically precedes migration.

Some duck species, mainly those breeding in the temperate and arctic northern hemisphere, are migratory, but others are not. Some, particularly in Australia where rainfall is patchy and erratic, are nomadic, seeking out the temporary lakes and pools that form after localised heavy rain.

In many areas, wild ducks of various species are hunted for food or sport, by shooting, or formerly by decoys. From this came the expression "sitting duck" to mean "an easy target".

Ducks have many economic uses, being farmed for their meat, eggs, feathers and down feathers. Most domestic ducks were bred from the wild Mallard, Anas platyrhyncha, but many breeds have become much larger than their wild ancestor, with a "hull length" (from base of neck to base of tail) of 12 inches or more and routinely able to swallow an adult British Common Frog, Rana temporaria, whole.

Ducks are sometimes confused with several types of unrelated water birds with similar forms, such as loons or divers, grebes, gallinules, and coots.

Duck Hunting Tips

• Use the sun, wind, and other natural features of the landscape to your benefit when setting up. Set up in short timber and shallow water whenever possible. Short timber because the ducks will come in lower and shallow water because that's where they want to feed.
  
• Take time to not only practice your calling but to learn how ducks actually use different sounds. Then go back and practice.
  
• Use effective camouflage that matches the terrain you hunt. We have many hunts where the ducks simply don't want to work to the decoys around the blind, so we get out of the blind and are able to set up where they naturally want to go. With good camouflage you can do it and still be successful.
  
• Use a variety of duck species in your decoy spread and group those into family groups so that they are more recognizable from the air. Also set one group of ducks close to the blind.
  
• Ducks can pinpoint where a call is coming from and will get suspicious if they don't see the ducks making the sound.
  
• On public ground work ducks hard, tight and fast. By working them tighter you can get them to commit quicker and stand less chance of losing them to other hunters.
  
• Use a jerk cord on your decoys to add life to your spread. You don't have to connect but a few to create a wave action among your entire spread.
  
• Wax the reeds on your calls. It will help the call repel moisture and keep the call from sticking. Also learn to blow from your throat and not our mouth. Not only will this give you a deeper, more realistic sound, but help you to not spit as much into the call and it won't stick as badly.
  
• Place decoys so that the ducks last pass before landing places them where you want to shoot. You don't want the decoys to be placed so that circling ducks are looking down into your blind.
  
• When giving a dog hand signals try wearing a white glove or sock on your hand so that he can see the signals clearly. Remember that they are color blind and a camo hand against a wooded background is very difficult for them to see.
  
• Remember to respect ducks eye sight. In addition to wearing full camouflage, stay close to a tree or clump of grass. Also let one man lead the hunt and call the shots. Then he will be the only one looking up and moving. Everyone else should keep their heads down and stay still. Also never forget the importance of gloves and a headnet.
  
• When working ducks to decoys, don't call while the ducks are coming. Instead let them look at the decoys and call as they pass to bring them back.
  
• When hunting pintails use a strong decoy spread that features a lot of pintail drakes as well as mallards, widgeon, black ducks or any other ducks that are popular in your area. Also try working in your mallard call with your pintail whistle. But most importantly remember to be patient. They like to circle and come in slow. Give them time and don't try to rush them down and you will be successful.
  
• If you have enough property, give your ducks a rest area or sanctuary from hunting. Pick out one or two of you prime feeding or roosting areas and simply don't allow any hunting in those areas. You will be amazed at how many ducks you will draw and hold in these areas and how much it will help the hunting on the rest of your property.
  
• Keep decoys clean and in good working condition. Goose decoys often become dirty and loose their effectiveness. Also take the time to repaint old decoys to keep them realistic looking. They will be much more effective.
  
• Often ducks can see ripples on the water better than they can see decoys. In addition to using jerk cords and motion decoys, try kicking and churning the water to bring in more ducks to your spread.
  
• All ducks don't sound the same and neither should your duck calls. Vary the type of calls you carry from high to low pitch and raspy to smooth. Then if a particular call isn't working you can throw something different their direction. It just might make the difference in whether or not you limit out on those tough mornings.
  
• One effective tip practiced by veteran shallow-water hunters is to keep the water muddy. These hunters wade around in their decoys and kick up mud to appear as though ducks have been feeding. A muddy zone in an area of clear water is easy for ducks flying overhead to spot, and it acts as a natural magnet to pull them down for a meal.
  
• One good way to impart movement to a lifeless decoy spread is to rig a "shake line". Take a 6-foot bungee cord, and tie one end at the waterline to a stationary object on the far side of your decoy spread (tree, bush, stake driven into the mud, etc.) Next, tie a heavy nylon string (brown or black) to the other end of the bungee cord, and run it back to the blind. Then, attach several decoys at intervals along the line. When ducks are working, pull and release the line from inside the blind to make the decoys shake and turn like real ducks on the water. On calm days, this movement may mean the difference between having good shooting and getting no shots at all.
  

Call one of our Upland Bird Hunting Specialists to arrange your Duck Hunting trip today at
1-800-615-9086. We can assist you with any questions you may have about your hunt and help ensure that this is one adventure you'll remember!