WaterfowlForum.Net

How's everyone doing? I'm new to duck hunting and I live in south ga, I posted earlier in another category wandering if anyone had any advice on hunting, calling, and decoying wood ducks. I have scouted and from what I've seen they fly very early and late. I've got 12 wood duck decoys, a mojo, and a few woody calls. We can't pin point where they are flying, I can only
Figure out where they are roosting. When they fly out in the mornings sometimes they fly right over our sets and
Don't even slow down, and same in the afternoon. We set up in a pond that's down there flight path. Does any one
Have any advice for me? This is my first season
And it is tough to find any advice, so if anyone has anything on calling, decoying, or just wood duck hunting in general please let me know! I've killed a few on just standing on the tracks and shooting them
AS they pass, but I wanna do it the right way!

Woodies don't decoy very well, pass shoot them.

Welcome!
Are woodys the only ducks you see where your at? If your Mojo is a mallard, whether or not it is or is'nt I would mix a dozen or so mallard deaks in and learn how to blow a mallard call. Where I'm at in the midwest we get into some woodys early season with just mallard deaks and calling.

Flyway Stalker wrote:Welcome!
Are woodys the only ducks you see where your at? If your Mojo is a mallard, whether or not it is or is'nt I would mix a dozen or so mallard deaks in and learn how to blow a mallard call. Where I'm at in the midwest we get into some woodys early season with just mallard deaks and calling.

I have never seen a wild mallard in person... So I'm not sure if we have them or not. I have heard people say we do.

I'm sure you do, but I've never been to that side of the earth much less ever hunted it. I knows theres some knowledgable guys on here from those parts who can help you better than I can with specie types and techniques for that part of the country. Regardless, I dont know any duck hunters that have no mallard deaks and or calls. If that sounded like I'm busting your balls, I can assure you thats not my intent, I'm just saying that everyone I know in this sport got started on a mallard call over mallard deaks, at least where I'm from.
I love to see knew guys get involved with this sport and as everyone else on here, I will try to pass on as much experiance as I can to anyone thats interested.

Flyway Stalker wrote:I'm sure you do, but I've never been to that side of the earth much less ever hunted it. I knows theres some knowledgable guys on here from those parts who can help you better than I can with specie types and techniques for that part of the country. Regardless, I dont know any duck hunters that have no mallard deaks and or calls. If that sounded like I'm busting your balls, I can assure you thats not my intent, I'm just saying that everyone I know in this sport got started on a mallard call over mallard deaks, at least where I'm from.
I love to see knew guys get involved with this sport and as everyone else on here, I will try to pass on as much experiance as I can to anyone thats interested.

No, you aren't busting my balls. My ears are wide open. I have a mallard call by Hayes I believe called lil bad azz, it's a double Reed call. Can you give me a little information on mallards? Do they roost and stay around the same area? Or do they just migrate through and are gone after a couple of weeks? The reason I'm so stuck on wood duck hunting is simply because I know there's a ton of them, and I know a little about them, such as not many of them ever migrate.. But please, let me know everything about mallards, I know they have the quack, and comeback calls, but I'm
Honestly as new as they come, I'm only 18, and there is no guidance for duck hunting,

Kerrywhite30 wrote:

Flyway Stalker wrote:I'm sure you do, but I've never been to that side of the earth much less ever hunted it. I knows theres some knowledgable guys on here from those parts who can help you better than I can with specie types and techniques for that part of the country. Regardless, I dont know any duck hunters that have no mallard deaks and or calls. If that sounded like I'm busting your balls, I can assure you thats not my intent, I'm just saying that everyone I know in this sport got started on a mallard call over mallard deaks, at least where I'm from.
I love to see knew guys get involved with this sport and as everyone else on here, I will try to pass on as much experiance as I can to anyone thats interested.

No, you aren't busting my balls. My ears are wide open. I have a mallard call by Hayes I believe called lil bad azz, it's a double Reed call. Can you give me a little information on mallards? Do they roost and stay around the same area? Or do they just migrate through and are gone after a couple of weeks? The reason I'm so stuck on wood duck hunting is simply because I know there's a ton of them, and I know a little about them, such as not many of them ever migrate.. But please, let me know everything about mallards, I know they have the quack, and comeback calls, but I'm
Honestly as new as they come, I'm only 18, and there is no guidance for duck hunting,

Yes they are migrators and yes they do roost, but not in trees like woodys, they always roost on open water. This is where they feel most secure and protected from preditors at night. You will see them loafing and resting during the day in feeding fields or banks next to water, but only when they have others awake and on lookout.
As far as migrating, most only go as far south as they need to. Cold doesn't really bother them as much as some people think, snow cover that prevents them from finding food and ice covererd water ways that prevent them from a safe roosting area is what makes them move. Here in Nebraska we had consistant temps last season below 10 degrees and no snow with some areas of open water around working sand pits that held huge groups of birds for quite awile, but once they froze up they were gone.

Oh Yah, as far as calling, there are a ton of instructional DVD's you can get that will help you with learning the calls, the trick is learning when and where to use them, that comes with experiance and hunting with a seasoned hunter.

That's great info on the mallards.. So during the migrationn they'd be in my neck of the woods later in the season? And hunting them I should probably take to a lot bigger waters, not small rivers?

Kerrywhite30 wrote:That's great info on the mallards.. So during the migrationn they'd be in my neck of the woods later in the season? And hunting them I should probably take to a lot bigger waters, not small rivers?

I'm not sure what time of the year you could expect a mallard migration where you're at or what flavor of bird you will see the most of in that flyway. Hopefully some of the other guys on here that hunt that neck of the woods will chime in and give you a better idea for what kind of birds you can expect to see the most of.
However, dont ignor the small rivers, we kill a lot of birds on them around hear. The key to becoming a good waterfowler is learning to be a good scouter, scouting take's a lot of time, miles and patiants, you need to find areas where the birds are holding, whether that be on big water or rivers. Once you know where they are roosting for the night and feeding or loafing during the day you can position yourself to be in the right place at the right time. Preferably you want to be on what some call the X, this would be the spot in a field that you witnessed them feeding in a day or 2 before, or a spot on water they like to just loaf around in after feeding. The only spot I try to stay away from is an area they consistantly roost in, if you go blasting into this area you have more than likly just changed whatever patern you have figured out through the scouting you did because they will no longer feel safe at that location and will move to a new one.
All sounds pretty systematic and easy, well it's not, because once you think you have them figured out, they change.

How do you go about scouting? I've went a few times on th river, and what I did was just get to a bend I could see alongway, and see where they were flying too. But I also did this in the afternoon, so, of course all the birds were flying to roost, but I seen over 30 woodies flying to roost, so I know there's a ton on the river, but how do the seasoned duck hunters go about scouting? Do y'all search for food sources like you would a deer? Certain aquatic life maybe? And when you do get a idea of where there going, should you set up in the middle, like of where there going, and where there roosting? Or set up exactly where they are going? Lol, I'm getting some pretty good questions in! This website has helped a lot, before this website I thought every duck just roosted in the trees like woodies!!

I like to run the rivers mid morning to see where the good groups are laid up. Go back the next day and duplicate what you see

Flightstopper wrote:I like to run the rivers mid morning to see where the good groups are laid up. Go back the next day and duplicate what you see

Going out about sunrise wouldn't be good?

Definitely will to see the morning traffic. I like seeing where they eventually like to get comfortable then go hit them on those spots.

Kerrywhite30 wrote:How do you go about scouting? I've went a few times on th river, and what I did was just get to a bend I could see alongway, and see where they were flying too. But I also did this in the afternoon, so, of course all the birds were flying to roost, but I seen over 30 woodies flying to roost, so I know there's a ton on the river, but how do the seasoned duck hunters go about scouting? Do y'all search for food sources like you would a deer? Certain aquatic life maybe? And when you do get a idea of where there going, should you set up in the middle, like of where there going, and where there roosting? Or set up exactly where they are going? Lol, I'm getting some pretty good questions in! This website has helped a lot, before this website I thought every duck just roosted in the trees like woodies!!

This would be the X spot I was talking about.

Flyway Stalker wrote:

Kerrywhite30 wrote:How do you go about scouting? I've went a few times on th river, and what I did was just get to a bend I could see alongway, and see where they were flying too. But I also did this in the afternoon, so, of course all the birds were flying to roost, but I seen over 30 woodies flying to roost, so I know there's a ton on the river, but how do the seasoned duck hunters go about scouting? Do y'all search for food sources like you would a deer? Certain aquatic life maybe? And when you do get a idea of where there going, should you set up in the middle, like of where there going, and where there roosting? Or set up exactly where they are going? Lol, I'm getting some pretty good questions in! This website has helped a lot, before this website I thought every duck just roosted in the trees like woodies!!

This would be the X spot I was talking about.

Sorry, I forgot to high light your quote.

Definitely pass shoot

sounds like the spot you are hunting the woodies are only using for a roosting area. the lake I hunt is the same way. holds a few hundred woodies every night. early season might get lucky and get a few to decoy right at first shooting time. after the first couple weeks they buzz out about 15 min before shooting time and don't come back until after dark.