Great Shoots on Small Ducks

The weather was not cooperating, and then it took a turn in our favor.  A front moved out of the southwest bringing a lot of moisture.  The wind moved to the north to northeast.  On Monday morning the order of business was north to Tekamah.  There were only two other hunters besides myself and the wind changed from strong to light and variable.

As we walked into the blind, ducks and canadas that had been spending the night jumped up and took off.  We are never able to make it to the blind with the birds on the water.  They always are spooked whenever we get to within 50 yards of them.  It was a good sign and meant that some fresh meat had moved into the area.

After getting the wing ducks set and moving some decoys, we were ready to hunt.  The flocks were small, anywhere from five to fifteen birds per flock.  Even though it was slowly lightening up before sunrise, the silhouettes were easy to make out. The ducks locked up in front of the blind and glided into land.  It was not shooting time and we had to wait. 

As the time approached, off they went.  I can say that I have never seen ducks come into land, and be taken  when shooting time arrives as they come off the water.  The ducks taking off right before shooting time is the norm, in my experience.

After a short pause, shooting time was here. We had ducks everywhere.  At times there were eight to ten different flocks working the blind.  The one person calling was getting exhaused.  Our blind faces straight east on a peninsula.  With the northeast wind they were hooking right over the top of us.  These were not good shots.  We paused several times waiting to fire, only to have them leave the area. 

High up in the sky we could see that migration was taking place, as big flocks of snows moved south.  Our spread is set up for ducks and canadas. Snows in big flocks rarely decoy.  We do get some stragglers periodically.

Good shots came and birds were harvested, but no mallards.  The entire bag for the day was mixed with gadwall and widgeon.  Early, we had several flocks of teal sweep in and fly by us, but not a shot was taken.  They were on us quick and in the dim light were hard to see.  Then they were gone.

We left early, but planned to be in the blind the next day as the frontal weather was moving in.

The following day we had a really good northeast blow, and the forecast was for rain turning to snow.  The morning started off like the previous day, but with a lot more birds in the sky and a lot more hunters.  When it was over by 1 PM, thirty-one ducks had been harvested with 15 shooters in two different pits. 

Each one of these outdoor suppliers are having great sales.  This is a good time to go Christmas shopping and cash in on all the great buys.  You cannot own enough gear.
It will just get better the later it gets.

Good hunting, good fishing and good luck.   Hank

http://www.outdoorswithhank.com/

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