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Does any one else hunt down in the Deep South of ga? If so how do y'all hunt your wood ducks, and how do you feel on calling in wood ducks?? Decoys? Mojos? Pass shooting? Hunting the roost? On some websites, people believe you can call them in, and then others are saying you can't turn them from off there path. I want to hunt over decoys, but is it even possible? Ive posted a few times and I've got mixed answers. So y'all let me know!

likely you will get the same mixed milage here as well......

my experience leads me to beleive that the only thing that turns a wooduck is a killing one out the flight.

I've decoyed and/or called them off their courses and to the guns from one end of the US portion of Mississippi Flyway to the other, but I doubt you'll ever do so if you don't try. Like every other species of waterfowl, there's no easier place to kill them than where they want to, but unless you can always hunt that "X," it behooves you to learn to influence them.

Oh I hear ya Rick........I am just long on effort and short on success

They will decoy around here, but usually they either dive right in and land before you know it, or they'll make one or two quick passes and leave. Occasionally they will work to the mallard call. I have a wood duck call and make all sorts of crazy jungle noises with that when things are slow. Sometimes it seems to bring curious birds around, and not just wood ducks. Five Canada geese tried to land on me a couple weeks ago after blowing that thing! Last week a drake woody landed outside the decoys just before LST and I was actually able to talk him in to about 25 yds so my buddy could jump shoot him. Maybe it would have swum in anyway, but it didn't seem to mind the chatter.

Me and my buddy decoy woodies all the time here in northern indiana. We hunt a pond with heavy woods all around it. They appear out of no where and try to land in our spread all the time. My favorite bird to hunt

Kicking the water drives them crazy.

They come early; be there early.

The male whine may be a distress call.

They will come to a hen mallard call a lot of times.

There are no absolutes when it comes to talking with ducks. I don't think a hen mallard says to herself: " Oh, he's blowing a come back call or that a Drake says: " Oh, he just blew a lonesome hen call " but could be wrong.

Cox Cypress wrote:Kicking the water drives them crazy.

They come early; be there early.

The male whine may be a distress call.

They will come to a hen mallard call a lot of times.

There are no absolutes when it comes to talking with ducks. I don't think a hen mallard says to herself: " Oh, he's blowing a come back call or that a Drake says: " Oh, he just blew a lonesome hen call " but could be wrong.

Agree

Sometime in the '70s, a woodie dropped into my mallard rig at the junction of Ohio's Little Muskingum and Rainbow Creek before shooting time and swam from decoy to decoy whistling slow, drawn out "sweeeeeeeet"s to them. Been tolling them to that ever since. NOT the rapid "sweeet, sweeet, sweeet"s flying wood ducks make, just intermittent drawn out "sweeeeeeet"s. Has worked with dog whistles, 6-in1 whistles and wood duck calls, but in recent seasons I've been squeezing them out of my speck calls. Certainly hasn't turned them all, but has tolled an awful lot of them to places I know they weren't headed.

I agree Rick for what it's worth. It's like the fine line we walk with the hen mallard distress call. I hear tons of hens coming in give three quacks back to back. The Woodie BREET spaced out is something I see them do when they are tooling around peaceably. Whoever said calling ducks is easy was trying to sell you a duck call.

My best luck is just being ready and shot fast when they come by at mock 3, but I'm going to give some of the advice here a try. I see a lot of them most years, but they nearly all seem to just do what the hell ever they want. Sometimes that is plop in and most times it is go screaming by just above the brush and are gone before you can blink. Damn, there just has to be something that will up the odds in my favor.

This guy and a bunch of his friends decoyed as nice as could be to my hen mallard call. Hit 'em with a greeting call and they swung around and came in as nice as you would ever want.

Not sure but I think a couple wood duck decoys is more attractive to them than calling.
They'll land right next to woodie dekes and that's how I kill most of the woodies I get.

Sometimes they're actually flying when I shoot one.

Woodrow can be finicky for sure! Their flight pattern can change from day to day, and shooting them passing at treetop level is a fast action proposition, and sometimes the only one. Other than catching them in a flight pattern passing over, they love to fly up and down creeks, both big and small. Having a few decoys out, especially Wood Duck decoys, will stop a few, but not all. Most of the time, you will hear them before you see them, either their fast wing beats, or their vocal squealing. If you choose a spot along a creek, try to find a straight away with an open patch of skyline, as they will sometimes cut curves short. Look for oak trees lining the banks. Where Mallards will usually light in the head of a creek and swim out feeding during the day, Wood Ducks will usually light somewhere in the middle of a creek, and feed towards the head. If you have a secluded pond, good chance they will dive bomb your decoys. When the weather gets cold enough for backwaters to freeze over, the moving (open) water of the creeks will be holding all of the birds, and the action will be fast.

I hunt big water in Illinois and timber in Arkansas. Different venues. Wood ducks are sort of a "hope I get one" thing while hunting mallards and puddle ducks. Alabama is different. The huntable creeks like you describe are locked in private deer lease limbo so there is no doing what you do there...here.

aunt betty wrote:I hunt big water in Illinois and timber in Arkansas. Different venues. Wood ducks are sort of a "hope I get one" thing while hunting mallards and puddle ducks. Alabama is different. The huntable creeks like you describe are locked in private deer lease limbo so there is no doing what you do there...here.

WOW, guess we are lucky to have such a large public Game Management area to hunt. There are many creeks locked away on private land as you mention AB, but you are correct in the fact that we have a delta system that is public and no shortage of huntable creeks. Wood Ducks will sometimes save my bacon during the season, and I always make a few creek hunts, as it is how I started duck hunting. Sitting in a creek at LST, listening to the owls hooting, and waiting to hear the wing beats and squeals from Woodrow, brings back a lifetime of memories for me.

The best wood duck call is a couple wood duck decoys where I've spent my time.
They tend to land right next them so I always try to put out a few of them in a little bunch by a log or some feature they get cozy with.

aunt betty wrote:The best wood duck call is a couple wood duck decoys where I've spent my time.
They tend to land right next them so I always try to put out a few of them in a little bunch by a log or some feature they get cozy with.

I see a lot of wood ducks most years where I hunt. I went out and got some nice wood duck decoys. I think I have only ever had one wood duck land near them. One of the best weeks I had for wood ducks, we had a pretty good spread of mallards out and then I had my wood ducks off basically as you describe. A lot of wood ducks came into our spread that week. None landed near the wood duck decoys. They landed everywhere else, but.

Ended up with my first duck band that week as well Knocked 2 down out of the flock. When the dog brought the first one back with a shiny brand new band, I was very excited. Could not find the other one, but spent a huge amount of time looking because I'll bet her brood mates were also banded. I hate when I lose a duck, but this one doubly. I think that might be the only day I ended with my 3 woodies.

Here in Northern WI we shoot pretty much nothing but woodies for the first month of season... I've found that a small spread of 4-6 decoys with 2-3 on a jerk rig works the best.

I'm not sold on spinners for them and calling in my opinion doesn't help.

Wood ducks over a spinner:


and under one:


Those were shot in teal season, when the woodies still come well to them here. During big duck season, I kill the spinner for everything but teal and toll our woodies with long drawn out woody "sweeeeet"s through a speck call. Never owned a wood duck decoy.

Rick wrote: Never owned a wood duck decoy.

I have some I'll sell cheap.

I am going to try calling this year. Clearly I was imitating the flying birds and not the birds on the water.

Man I wish we had an early wood duck season like some states. I've had more wood ducks decoy to my goose decoys. One day I had 25+ on the water that I could see with a lot more behind me and on the other side of some little islands. What was really cool is they came in with no more than 5 in a flock and probably average of 2 at a time. The best wood duck show I've got.

One cold snap before opening day, we have no split which would be great, and they all adios before the season. Other years we are still seeing them a month into. Opening week I have a great blind for wood ducks, actually for all ducks, so with a little luck I'll get to try calling the right way.

SpinnerMan wrote:

Rick wrote: Never owned a wood duck decoy.

I have some I'll sell cheap.

No thanks, they suck wind. Well, maybe not exactly, but those I've hunted over sure sucked in wind with their big old top-heavy sail heads.

The old Carrylite wood duck decoys with water keels don't blow over.

I have 6 wood duck decoys that I put out every hunt. I also have a wood duck call. I find better success in the peep peep peep than the long drawn out wheet. I have called them back when they swim away by doing this. Motion is the other key. Use a jerk string and it will help

My advice to the young wood duck hunter is to learn the difference between advise and advice.
Don't take advices from strangers. (advice plural) LOL
Once you understand that we can have a long talk about wood versus acrylic.

aunt betty wrote:Once you understand that we can have a long talk about wood versus acrylic.

I'm wondering why polycarb didn't even get a mention?

DukMan wrote:

aunt betty wrote:Once you understand that we can have a long talk about wood versus acrylic.

I'm wondering why polycarb didn't even get a mention?

Same reason delrin didn't.
The delrin call I have is unique.

johnc wrote:I see duck commander calls listed---I have never gotten one of their mallard calls to remotely sound worth a damn---

While I, on the other hand, couldn't get happy with the DR-85 that's likely the most popular call ever but felt I'd hit the jackpot with Duck Commander's first edition of Cut-Down Reacher. Yet, when I couldn't find a second and went to the source, Robertson told me they didn't sell, so he was still only making a few "for me, thee and what few others can run them".

Many years later, I dug out a circa '80s original wood Duck Commander for a very young grandson to play with, and "POOF": he was duckier than an awful lot of adult hunters. Haven't, however, heard anything I'd get exited about from their more recent output, and their wood duck call is the only one I remain comfortable recommending.

Different strokes...