Gadwall

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Gadwall

Postby islandgoose » Wed Jun 17, 2015 5:38 pm

Been seeing more gadwall in my area(Md. ) each year . For people out there that target them what seems to work best like many vs few decoys or do they decoy to mojos better .? Do they readily come to the call or do they prefer open areas or fresh water vs brackish water? Any info would be helpful.
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Re: Gadwall

Postby Rick » Wed Jun 17, 2015 7:42 pm

We don't specifically "target" them, but do shoot 50 or 60 gadwall most years. I find them among the most susceptible to spinners, often touching their toes and dropping to them like kamikazes. As with other big ducks, I kill the spinner for those that don't kill themselves and usually work them with a mallard call, only resorting to the drake gadwall's beeps as a last resort for those that are particularly reluctant to commit.

Hopefully Darren will see your post, as gadwall are a primary target in his part of our state.
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Re: Gadwall

Postby The Duck Hammer » Wed Jun 17, 2015 8:29 pm

Gadwalls have been the easiest ducks for me to decoy with a call. They make up a good portion of what I bag normally.
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Re: Gadwall

Postby Goldfish » Thu Jun 18, 2015 1:35 am

The Duck Hammer wrote:Gadwalls have been the easiest ducks for me to decoy with a call. They make up a good portion of what I bag normally.

So, 3 of them?
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Re: Gadwall

Postby Deltaman » Thu Jun 18, 2015 7:26 am

Gadwalls now make up about 80% of what we kill here, and they are pressured beyond belief. Our duck species mix has drastically changed over the last 20 years, and if it wasn't for gadwalls, we would be screwed. I do make 2-3 trips a year down in Darren's territory in South Louisiana, and the numbers and behavior of them is totally different than what we have. The duck population in the areas South of Venice can be incredible, and Gadwalls and Widgeon will usually work to stool as they should. The duck population here is very small in comparison, and our birds raft up in the bigger waters and can aggravate even the most seasoned hunters. Our daylight flight is almost non-existent, as the birds are rafted up in the middle of the bays. Most of our success comes from hunting from midday to 3-4 p.m., but only when the South winds start kicking them up out of the bay, and into calmer waters. Rarely will you kill them from a bank here, and we build Roseau cane blinds in the open water. 6-7 dozen gadwall decoys work the best, sometimes adding a few dozen coots to the mix will enhance. As Rick said, they love spinners, unlike some of the other ducks like Mottles, that seem be very wary of them. Spend a few hours riding around your area with a pair of binocs, and see where the birds want to be, and plan from there. If you are lucky enough to find them in small waters, your hunts will be much more successful, and less need for a big raft of decoys.
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Re: Gadwall

Postby islandgoose » Thu Jun 18, 2015 1:53 pm

Do you guys seem to see them in the early season in sept. with the blue wing teal or later say in oct., nov. or after. I hunt a brackish creek about 50 yds. wide. It is in the middle of a flat open marsh about 400 yards wide so do the gadwalls like to raft on big open water or something less for the most part.
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Re: Gadwall

Postby Bad17 » Thu Jun 18, 2015 5:48 pm

The Duck Hammer wrote:Gadwalls have been the easiest ducks for me to decoy with a call. They make up a good portion of what I bag normally.

Wait you've killed ducks.
If it flies it dies. If it lands... It dies too.
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Re: Gadwall

Postby Weston81 » Thu Jun 18, 2015 6:48 pm

I hunt in southeast Missouri and they make up 50-60% of our yearly kills. They usually respond one of three ways to calling and mojo's. 1.They will commit to spreads like it's the only water for 100 miles , most times without any calling. 2.They will make 3-5 passes getting lower and closer each time and they are shootable on pass 1 or pass 5. If you are patient enough they will often commit to land by pass 3 or 4. And lastly, they will be about like any other duck and turn their nose up at you. Usually with fronts and early in the season they will drop right in, or make a pass and then commit. The rest of the year they will do the 3-5 pass thing and commit. Or some days they just aren't interested. It seems like most of the time we get the 3-5 passes. We change our spread throughout the year, getting smaller and going from rafts to small groups as the season wears on. We let the ducks reaction to the mojo's dictate what we do with them. If they are coming over for a look then flaring, we pull them. Often this is when we have stale ducks. When it comes to calling my theory is, if the ducks are doing what you want and you aren't calling don't start calling. If they respond to it, or a specific cadence, repeat.
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Re: Gadwall

Postby The Duck Hammer » Thu Jun 18, 2015 8:26 pm

Bad17 wrote:
The Duck Hammer wrote:Gadwalls have been the easiest ducks for me to decoy with a call. They make up a good portion of what I bag normally.

Wait you've killed ducks.


1 more time
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Re: Gadwall

Postby Bad17 » Thu Jun 18, 2015 8:27 pm

The Duck Hammer wrote:
Bad17 wrote:
The Duck Hammer wrote:Gadwalls have been the easiest ducks for me to decoy with a call. They make up a good portion of what I bag normally.

Wait you've killed ducks.


1 more time

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Re: Gadwall

Postby islandgoose » Thu Jun 18, 2015 9:35 pm

Thanks everyone . The info you gave me will greatly help. One more question . Do the gadwall tend to migrate to your areas down south with the bluewing teal or do you see them in numbers in what month?
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Re: Gadwall

Postby Rick » Fri Jun 19, 2015 5:12 am

Depends on which bluewings. We're not likely to see them with the September teal here in SW Louisiana, but it's common to have quite a few around before our regular season in November. Couldn't say when most show are apt to show with any authority.
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Re: Gadwall

Postby Darren » Fri Jun 19, 2015 7:42 am

As Rick mentioned, the gadwall or "grays" on my end of the state are our bread and butter, they really like the coastal marshes. Though many have noted the birds' affinity for spinners, think I've seen just as many bump off of them as try to land on top of them, it's usually one or the other but after some tinkering and trials I've largely gone to a no-spinner approach. That said, I hunt mostly public land and they do see plenty of spinning/flashing gadgetry so that can certainly play into it as well.

My suggestion on decoys would be to try to scout them and then do your best to match what you're seeing on the water. Big groups? Smaller wads of "families"? We usually go with 3-4 dozen dekes of primarily grays, but have killed a pile over dekes in the 70-90 count range as well, especially late last season. One thing I always noted from scouting was the flashing white butts of the birds feeding. I've matched that look with mixing in G&H pintail feeder butts (where I've clipped off the sprig tail) and the white butts look exactly like tipping grays or wigeon, mixed in with the regular blocks. The G&H's are nice but very expensive, think there are some more reasonable alternatives offered now. Some have mentioned coots and that's usually a good idea as well if you typically have coots in your area. Often times we'll see throngs of grays falling out of the sky into a raft of coots.

Calling: with a few guys in the blind it's usually a mix of usual mallard calling mixed in with one or more of the commercially made gadwall calls from Haydels and/or DC, I also make a similar sound using my Haydel's MP-90 whistle mixing kind of a drake mallard grunt with some whistle sounds, just as I hear from them when I scout. good luck up there with them!
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Re: Gadwall

Postby islandgoose » Fri Jun 19, 2015 1:52 pm

I never thought that so many gadwalls were shot down south and Missouri . It amazes me how the duck industry talks almost exclusively about mallards . I know the mallard is the number 1 duck shot and the greys are like the 4th most bagged duck but there is almost nothing written on them. I went and bought a half dozen gadwalls for my rig but after talking to you guys that probably won't be enough . I think I will need like 6 dozen plus some coots and pintail butts . I painted a mojo baby mallard spinner into a gadwall but will see if that might work this season . I'm on the fence to buy coots because I haven't ever seen a coot in 40 years of hunting in my spot . The reason I was wondering what month when you guys saw most of the greys was to gauge when most would pass by my area. In my area the most plentiful duck is the greenwing teal . I see a few black ducks but I can only shoot 1 a day in our season starting in our nov. . Since I am at the top of the greys range on the east coast and they are suppose to migrate like in october I would of thought you guys would see them in numbers then. Well I am glad to see them showing up more and more in my area.
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Re: Gadwall

Postby Rick » Fri Jun 19, 2015 2:57 pm

islandgoose wrote:I'm on the fence to buy coots because I haven't ever seen a coot in 40 years of hunting in my spot .


Lord knows I'm a coot raft believer, but there are scads of them wintering here. I don't think I'd fool with them if not in an area where ducks are accustomed to falling in with them. Might be missing something but doubt it...
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Re: Gadwall

Postby Deltaman » Fri Jun 19, 2015 3:25 pm

Good call on the duck butts, and I have about 8-10 of them I use as well. When viewing feeding gadwalls, the white/black colors are what you see the most of when watching. I rattle can painted several different species of duck butts to black/white on the bottom, and they look good in the spread. Also, as Rick said, if you don't normally have coots where you hunt, don't bother with coot decoys.
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Re: Gadwall

Postby Weston81 » Fri Jun 19, 2015 4:08 pm

One thing I did want to clarify on my statement about Gadwall and the 3-5 pass thing is they will almost commit each pass and they suck right back up. Frustrating as can be, as you are almost ready to call the shot and they pull back up. We run 6-12 dozen decoy spreads and I don't think we have but maybe a half dozen gadwall in our spread. We do use roughly a dozen duck butts, and other decoys with white in them such as pintails. I feel it helps to grab their attention as it's sharp contrast in the flooded rice. I've seen one coot in our field where we hunt, so I don't use them
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Re: Gadwall

Postby islandgoose » Fri Jun 19, 2015 9:14 pm

It seems like the butts are the way to go for me . I have shot a few pintails and widgeon so it will be the easiest and cheapest fix for me. I won't use coot decoys. All this detailed info is again a big help . It will definitely steer me in the right direction and save me money from buying the wrong gear. Thanks for the clarification on the way the greys decoy when they pass too. Thanks again to all you duckers.
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Re: Gadwall

Postby Darren » Sat Jun 20, 2015 4:30 pm

I'd likewise leave the coots out if you're not seeing them. My migration clock is typically kicked off with the arrival of throngs of coots in mid to later October with grays and wigeon showing with them. We're at the end of the Miss Flyway so really the only stop south of me for them is Venice, La at the mouth of the Miss. River where the birds pile up to winter. While we've killed grays over small spreads, we had great luck late last season with bigger rafts of 70-90 decoys of almost exclusively grays (mine plus my buddy's combined), in attempt to replicate the rafts we were seeing on scouting trips. Most importantly, I find, is being where they want to be if at all possible, though. On previous occasions where we had to make a move mid-hunt to get on the X, we hammered them out with decoys that were thrown out haphazardly and some even upside down....didn't matter.


Scouting
image.jpg


Stacking
image.jpg


If it only worked out that way every time........
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Re: Gadwall

Postby islandgoose » Sun Jun 21, 2015 2:24 pm

Thanks Darren
I am definitely getting a sense on how they act. In my hunting area I don't have an option to scout because I am restricted to a certain spot . All the land around me is either private , other hunting leases, or wildlife refuges but you are giving me options to improve and try different methods to attract them . If you say the greys are in your area in october then I will target them more starting in our early oct. season . I have seen a few here in Nov . . I didn't realize the extent of them being in my area in oct .. I would assume if they have arrived in your area in oct. then some have to be in my area at least in our early oct. season . Like I said before I never see coots so I dont have them as an indicator of gadwall in the area .If you guys never mentioned coots I would'nt of known how much gadwalls hang with them . I will be more vigillant this year . This is the beginning of a learning curve on this subject for me . I have talked to a few other hunters in the area and they don't have a clue about the gadwall.
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Re: Gadwall

Postby islandgoose » Sun Jun 21, 2015 2:32 pm

$HIT ! Thats a ton of fun. I would have a big smile on my face too if I shot all those birds. Congrates and hope this year is just as good ! Your making me JEALOUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS !!!!!!!!!!!!
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Re: Gadwall

Postby Darren » Mon Jun 22, 2015 8:36 am

We don't have much of the "pretty" birds like greenheads and pins on my end of the state but grays and GW teal we normally see our share of. My log is posted on here so feel free to check through it for references to tactics and results, good and bad, from last season. I plan to keep it going this season as well. Lots to learn from the various logs kept on this site. Good luck out there
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Re: Gadwall

Postby SpinnerMan » Mon Jun 22, 2015 9:25 am

Darren wrote:We don't have much of the "pretty" birds like greenheads and pins on my end of the state but grays and GW teal we normally see our share of. My log is posted on here so feel free to check through it for references to tactics and results, good and bad, from last season. I plan to keep it going this season as well. Lots to learn from the various logs kept on this site. Good luck out there

Mature drake gadwalls are very pretty birds :thumbsup:

One of the prettiest birds that I've ever gotten.

GadBand.jpg


OK, the jewelry didn't hurt, but they are a beautiful bird like this 5.5 year old drake. This is not a great picture. My buddy has one like this mounted and it is one of the prettiest mounts I've seen.
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Re: Gadwall

Postby Goldfish » Mon Jun 22, 2015 10:06 am

I agree. They may not be as flamboyant as say wood ducks, but they are a very good looking bird
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Re: Gadwall

Postby Darren » Mon Jun 22, 2015 12:10 pm

the later season ones can surely hold their share of beauty. Plenty thought I was nuts for putting one on the wall a few years back

these are from last season:

IMG_0830.JPG


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Re: Gadwall

Postby islandgoose » Mon Jun 22, 2015 9:50 pm

They look great . Thanks again for the info.
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