Duck hunting help

[chrisgunguy]

I've duck hunted exactly one time. It was on a hunt for mulies in Montana. Killed early and hunted waterfowl and upland birds the remainder of the trip. I enjoyed the duck hunting, but was guided. I am now on a lease with two large ponds that the land owner says are great duck ponds. The problem is, that I dont know a dang thing about duck hunting, and what birds I can or can not shoot. Its very intimidating/confusing. Any ideas on a how to, or helpful beginners guide, or duck hunting for dummies maybe......

[DapperDan]

Best way is to hunt with someone that knows how and can teach you all the rules, info, how to call, decoy placement, etc... With that being said, me and the lab hunt for free!!!

[chrisgunguy]

Best way is to hunt with someone that knows how and can teach you all the rules, info, how to call, decoy placement, etc... With that being said, me and the lab hunt for free!!!

Sounds like the right way to do it. Let me see how it is before wasting your time. When would you expect it to start getting good?

[knighttime]

Assuming you are on a central texas lease odds are you'll be seeing a wide variety of ducks. DU has a great waterfowl identification app, however, knowing what birds may be in the air early morning takes a lot of time; calls, flight patterns, wing beats, wing patches, etc etc. There are "on the wing" identification charts as well. Read the waterfowl hand book and know the species that are restricted.

I doubt you even have to call on those ponds but it wouldn't hurt and a whistle is easy to accomplish.

A few decoys and a couple mojos/jerk strings and I bet you would have ducks in your face. Make sure you are very well concealed and your face is covered (paint or mask) and keep your dang head down!

[chrisgunguy]

Assuming you are on a central texas lease odds are you'll be seeing a wide variety of ducks. DU has a great waterfowl identification app, however, knowing what birds may be in the air early morning takes a lot of time; calls, flight patterns, wing beats, wing patches, etc etc. There are "on the wing" identification charts as well. Read the waterfowl hand book and know the species that are restricted.

I doubt you even have to call on those ponds but it wouldn't hurt and a whistle is easy to accomplish.

A few decoys and a couple mojos/jerk strings and I bet you would have ducks in your face. Make sure you are very well concealed and your face is covered (paint or mask) and keep your dang head down!

We are in central Texas. Near Rogers Texas.

[mix]

I love hunting ponds. Get there before daylight. Figure out where they want to land and hide! I like a few decoys with something to create movement. They usually pour into small ponds the first 30 minutes and it's a ton of fun. Most places I've hunted it slows quite a bit after that. But there are ducks in and out all day for the most part. You can also sneak over the dam and jump shoot em but that is over pretty quick. You never know what's gonna show up.

[RockTippedStick]

I hunt near Rogers a couple times a year. Mostly near the river on some flooded farm land. We shoot all kinds of ducks. Can be really good hunting sometimes. Don't need many decoys because the ducks usually know where they are going there. Don't call too much.

[chrisgunguy]

Decoy recommendations.....

[knighttime]

Decoy recommendations.....

Avian X is what I'm transitioning to.

[Hawkpuppy 1]

For the Rogers area, I do a mix of Gadwall, widgeon and maybe just a few mallards. Gads, widge and spoons gonna be thick around there....

[Bill]

One item to point out. Federal laws for either baiting migratory , hunting over bait or reasonably knowing/ or should have known there was bait are extremely severe with large dollar penalties. If there are corn feeders anywhere that a GW could potentially say are baiting migratory waterfowl, watch out. Don't try to apply logic or common sense here, it's the way the law is written and how the courts have interpreted it. I can't answer "what if it's x yards away...." questions.

I know a guy who planted a feed grass in some of his ponds, and a GW told him as long as the seeds fell naturally, no problem. If he visited and found evidence that somebody had stomped through the grass to knock the seeds off, he'd cite under the baiting regulations.

My intent is to give you a heads-up on a potential problem. Hunt hard!
For decoys, find what types of ducks there are in the pond, and get a 1/2 dozen Avian-X decoys, plus lines and weights.

[hopedale]

Decoy recommendations.....

G&H or Avian-X are solid brands.

Shot you a PM

[Hawkpuppy 1]

Rogers area I would go with Gadwall and Widgeon. Maybe a few mallards or teal also.

[simek]

If you need decoys, I would be willing to part with some, so you can get started. No charge.

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[Razrbk89]

I'm of the thought that any old decoy will work if you have motion on the water. I keep cheap-os usually because I usually just leave my decoys out.

Shooting ducks on a pond seems like a shooting fish in a barrel type situation. I'd just go out there and shoot! Wouldn't worry about calling.