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I have gone back and forth on this question. I have killed them in both kinds of days.

Myself, I prefer gray days, but I think I have probably shot more ducks on bluebird days.

What says you?

Barometric pressure dropping days with wind

MuddyWaterWarlock wrote:Barometric pressure dropping days with wind

come on Warlock, vote for me bud. Pretend I have a gun at your head and you have to decide....

Tomkat wrote:

MuddyWaterWarlock wrote:Barometric pressure dropping days with wind

come on Warlock, vote for me bud. Pretend I have a gun at your head and you have to decide....

Sunny all the way! I don't like getting wet

I could post a hundred pictures of limits of mallards on blue-sky days.
The cloudy day pics...not so many. Actually quite few.

I used to believe that I would do better in poor weather. (wrong)

Hunted with pro-guides an entire season. The thing one said that stuck in my head is:

Ducks can see you better on a cloudy day because the lack of glare and shadows.
On a sunny day the water is glittery with tons of glare. The shadows help to hide you.

The guy who told me this is named Kenny.
Thanks for sharing that with me Kenny! I had no clue until you taught me.

Windy n sunny is the ticket in the woods guys.

I didn't vote because I don't feel my opinion is valid. I only hunt mallards in timber. Wouldn't know about the rest.

aunt betty wrote:I could post a hundred pictures of limits of mallards on blue-sky days.
The cloudy day pics...not so many. Actually quite few.

I used to believe that I would do better in poor weather. (wrong)

Hunted with pro-guides an entire season. The thing one said that stuck in my head is:

Ducks can see you better on a cloudy day because the lack of glare and shadows.
On a sunny day the water is glittery with tons of glare. The shadows help to hide you.

The guy who told me this is named Kenny.
Thanks for sharing that with me Kenny! I had no clue until you taught me.

Windy n sunny is the ticket in the woods guys.

Has been my thoughts also.

Sent from a gnarly phone with a kickstand

The main reason I voted for cloudy days was because I think I am associating it with cold fronts. I went back and started to look over pictures and some notes taken and I think you are right; I’ve killed more ducks on sunny days.

My favorite conditions are some wind and snow

Wind

Weston81 wrote:The main reason I voted for cloudy days was because I think I am associating it with cold fronts. I went back and started to look over pictures and some notes taken and I think you are right; I’ve killed more ducks on sunny days.

I know I'm right. (when it comes to mallards)

And every day in Humboldt is overcast

Redbeard wrote:And every day in Humboldt is overcast

One year it rained every single day in November. Naturally I was excited because it was long before I met Kenny.
I thought that ducks moved around more during fowl weather which is false.

Here is what I have observed. Will use two scenarios. Human and Duck.
Start with the human scenario.

The weatherman announces something like, "WINTER STORM WARNING".
Before the storm: The wife and I go to the grocery store to stock up and I'll be damned...everybody in town is there.
During the storm: Nothing moves. Everyone is at home watching an "everybody loves raymond" marathon or something like that.
After the storm: Everyone comes out and starts going around re-stocking etc. Store's crowded again.

Lets pause a minute and reflect. If you were hunting humans, in the grocery store parking lot, when do you think the easiest time to rack up as many kills as possible would be? Ducks do the same thing only their grocery store is a rice field.

Do I even need to do the duck scenario?
I think y'all can figure out why sunny days after the storm are THE BEST.

Betty, you mainly hunt timber. Cloudy days are usually not as good in the timber. Cloudy and rainy days are for the open areas. Cloudy and rainy days can be just as productive as sunny days depending on where you are hunting and the time of day. If you learn to watch the barometric pressure you will find that when it starts to drop, ducks are going to feed, no matter what the sky looks like. Wind is usually present as well during these times. In the timber on a cloudy day as you said your kenny said the ducks can see better which means you need to hide better and quit doing the Kirk McCulough timber dance out in the open. Calling acoustics are changing on different days also, which means on some days shut the hell up or call into your coat. Too loud on close, humid, cloudy, foggy days will kill you faster than anything else. The bottom line is being where the ducks want to be under the conditions given and ducks can be killed on any day.

MuddyWaterWarlock wrote:Betty, you mainly hunt timber. Cloudy days are usually not as good in the timber. Cloudy and rainy days are for the open areas. Cloudy and rainy days can be just as productive as sunny days depending on where you are hunting and the time of day. If you learn to watch the barometric pressure you will find that when it starts to drop, ducks are going to feed, no matter what the sky looks like. Wind is usually present as well during these times. In the timber on a cloudy day as you said your kenny said the ducks can see better which means you need to hide better and quit doing the Kirk McCulough timber dance out in the open. Calling acoustics are changing on different days also, which means on some days shut the hell up or call into your coat. Too loud on close, humid, cloudy, foggy days will kill you faster than anything else. The bottom line is being where the ducks want to be under the conditions given and ducks can be killed on any day.

Bayou Bottoms DOES NOT HAVE A TIMBER BLIND.
The guides there are who taught me about the sunny-cloudy thing.
They kill more ducks on sunny days too. ???
Sorry about yelling it.
They kill + or - 3000 ducks/season out of two blinds.
Do the math.

Warlock has a point. I have never, ever hunted a timber hunt. In our world, I have seen ducks out several miles on blue days setting up on the decoys.

On a day like that, you better be well hidden and mind the shadows.

Some of the places we hunt have NO trees for miles.

Weak correlation between weather and getting them in the decoys.

Number of ducks in the area is probably a better metric.

bill herian wrote:Weak correlation between weather and getting them in the decoys.

Number of ducks in the area is probably a better metric.

It has a 50/50 chance of being correct....ask Assateague.

One of the reasons some of y'all kill more on sunny days is due to the light reflecting off of the water and other things, it somewhat blinds the birds. That's why they tend to fly higher on blue bird days vs cloudy days. On a sunny day you can get away with more than you can on a cloudy day.

I vote for wind though.

Where I hunt weather isn't nearly the factor that availability of water is.
If you aint got water, it don't matter what weather you get. I know other areas are different.
Another huge factor is "the weather in the states to the north and east".
If it don't freeze-up in Illinois and Missouri...they stay there.
Illinois has grain, free duck food, for miles and miles as long as it don't snow.
Snowy Illinois and Missouri is what I pray for.

A Cajun friend's grandpa, who'd lived his life in the marsh, once told him, "I been studying dem ducks sixty-some years, an' finally figured out I ain't gonna figure dem out." Didn't take me anywhere near that long, but I chose blue skies, if for no better reason than they work prettier.

But if I had to bet on when ducks will fly best during legal hours in our part of the country, my money is on rain. We're on the edge of the Coastal marsh, and significant rain at any time of day pulls ducks from the deep marsh to the rice to feed as though it were night. Wait the rain out and head to the blind when it stops, and you'll probably wish you'd stayed at the house - or got wet. Been many a funky, pregnant with impending weather feeling morning in the marsh when we prayed for the rain to start soon enough before our 9:30 curfew to make a good shoot because the ducks seemed to be waiting for something to happen, too. "Text book waterfowl weather" if the little bastages had only read the book.

Rub with rain being that the birds are more apt to fly crazy and blow off a call, particularly if its not in the rice. It doesn't often make for pretty hunts, just full straps.

Now, if I hunted the deep, brackish marsh or most timber, I might well stay out of the rain, because my birds would be out to lunch.

Windy, rain and snow squalls with sun here and there, the more wind the better.

The nastier the weather the better. Especially when diver hunting. And yes AB I read everything you wrote, just dont think it applies up here to on the move migrants.

Not here. They stay tucked back in all the guts in the marsh, not flying. If you can get there right as it's quitting, then you're in business though. But given only the two choices, I'd take a blue bird day every time.

We need wind where we hunt.
Hunted in a snow storm two seasons ago and it was some live action.

assateague wrote:Not here. They stay tucked back in all the guts in the marsh, not flying. If you can get there right as it's quitting, then you're in business though. But given only the two choices, I'd take a blue bird day every time.

Let's just say this about blacks then; If youre on their x and they want in their they will try harder in the nastier weather. And others will go to prime time x in nastier weather as well. This gives you more shooting as well. PLease say you agree.

and in the nastiest of weather I think they are compelled to move around to shake off water and/or generate a bit of heat.

Around these parts, when we use the term "bluebird day" it refers to full sun no wind.
The reason some guys think sunny fair weather is better is because that is all they hunt.
Anyone that thinks bluebird weather is better, feel free to hunt an equal amount of BB days to darkened days here in Oregon or Washington. I assure you will have more birds in your log in poor weather or weather leading into the poor weather.
It's like Mountainman says the barometric drop always causes extra feeding activity, just like big game. they feed up.

Early in the year, bad weather days can be a good thing. Once the birds arrive I will take bluebird every time, especially when it comes to mallards. When, where, and what species will decide on what conditions are the best. If I can shoot birds and be comfy, I'm all for it. The most important thing is water not freezing.

Sent from a gnarly phone with a kickstand

My best hunts are in the wind and rain. My favorite days to hunt. Love being out on really nasty days, the birds seem to work better. A good North wind day is my second favorite. If it is going to be a blue bird day, I usually think about not even going out.

It's all based on where you hunt as usual there is no right answer.