A quest for more birds on the ground.

[BiG Boar]

Hey guys,

I'm looking at a new idea for duckhunting. Well new to me. I have heard through some old time Duckhunter's that one should not set up or shoot at ducks at least 30 minutes after legal light or even longer.


The theory (which does make a lot of sense now) is that groups of ducks will send scouts out at first light. If those ducks don't return safely to the group, the more mature and smarter ducks won't go to eat at those same spots. That is why after about an hour or so the smarter ducks are coming in and always seem more wary. They tend to circle more and don't commit to the spread as well.

So, if you hold off setting up right at first light and have some patience, you're likely to get more ducks that day. I have heard this may also hold true for geese.


I have only been out 3 times this season. And I haven't been really successful. Any idea if this might help me get more limits? D

[bridger]

I have heard that about geese as well. Never attached that much intelligence to a bird.

[adriaticum]

Here is a great post by lorneparker1 about that topic

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?101038-Anyone-hunt-Canadas-over-water

[lorneparker1]

Not really the same topic Adriaticum. One thing I can say is we usually hunt afternoons, and never shoot the first birds in our spreads in the morning.

Lorne

[kyleklassen]

Adriaticum posted up something that is not really relevant to a thread just to keep posting....I DON'T BELIEVE IT!!!!

[adriaticum]

Adriaticum posted up something that is not really relevant to a thread just to keep posting....I DON'T BELIEVE IT!!!!

Kyle, you might want to bite something to ease the pain.
On second thought I am really pleased you learned to read dates.

On second reading the topic is not exactly what Big Boar was looking for but it is related and can be added to the memory bank.
It was far better writing than anything I've seen from you.
Ever.

[Ian F.]

We'll sort of BB, you need to set up early, but hold off the fireworks until after sun up and then only shooting if it's bright enough to distinguish their eyes and never shoot into big groups or you'll just be educating the whole flock

[f350ps]

Wow, I think you guys are giving birds with pea sized brains way to much credit!! Watch where yer birds come from and where they head to after you shoot at them. Geese coming off the roost in the morning are NOT going back there after being shot at, I can attest to that. K

[Sako 75]

Wow, I think you guys are giving birds with pea sized brains way to much credit!! Watch where yer birds come from and where they head to after you shoot at them. Geese coming off the roost in the morning are NOT going back there after being shot at, I can attest to that. K

So true....those ducks are not that smart but Canada geese well, that different story. Shoot them once they are not going to travel the same path again. That is why there is spit season on them.

[kyleklassen]

Kyle, you might want to bite something to ease the pain.
On second thought I am really pleased you learned to read dates.

On second reading the topic is not exactly what Big Boar was looking for but it is related and can be added to the memory bank.
It was far better writing than anything I've seen from you.
Ever.because all my hunting stories and duck reports pale in comparison to your non-exsistent ones?

[kyleklassen]

adriaticum...please post up a bunch more of your intensely informative and educational hunting posts...or just a bunch of shit like usual

[lorneparker1]

Lets get back on topic, scouts are a huge problem and we need answers!

[Beachcomber]

The theory (which does make a lot of sense now) is that groups of ducks will send scouts out at first light. If those ducks don't return safely to the group, the more mature and smarter ducks won't go to eat at those same spots. That is why after about an hour or so the smarter ducks are coming in and always seem more wary. They tend to circle more and don't commit to the spread as well. D

Ducks hold an Orders Group in the morning and send out a dawn patrol to Field A only to recalibrate their original flight plans if the 'scout ducks' fail to return? How do the veteran ducks know which field the sacrificial scout ducks went to and why would the scout ducks come back to the flock, wasting valuable energy doing so, once they have found a field teeming with corn and possibly hot hen mallards? If you hold your fire on the first birds in presumably they will flare, or land and take off again once they discover that they have been duped. They will then return to HQ imparting valuable intelligence to the wing commander and others not to go to your field because the ducks there are not very talkative. Isn't it better to kill these first ducks and keep the others that follow guessing? Or maybe just sleep in and set up later once the scouts have done their thing and others have scared them off.

Then again I may be totally wrong and ducks may have more in common with honey bees that return to the hive doing a waggle dance directing their fellow bees to rich sources of pollen.

[Beachcomber]

See Pages 84-86 of this study. Not exactly 'scout ducks' but some interesting stuff on how waterfowl determine where they go to feed and how they signal this: http://www.humboldt.edu/wildlife/faculty/black/pdf/O&B90CH4.pdf

[MB_Boy]

Ducks hold an Orders Group in the morning and send out a dawn patrol to Field A only to recalibrate their original flight plans if the 'scout ducks' fail to return? How do the veteran ducks know which field the sacrificial scout ducks went to and why would the scout ducks come back to the flock, wasting valuable energy doing so, once they have found a field teeming with corn and possibly hot hen mallards? If you hold your fire on the first birds in presumably they will flare, or land and take off again once they discover that they have been duped. They will then return to HQ imparting valuable intelligence to the wing commander and others not to go to your field because the ducks there are not very talkative. Isn't it better to kill these first ducks and keep the others that follow guessing? Or maybe just sleep in and set up later once the scouts have done their thing and others have scared them off.

Then again I may be totally wrong and ducks may have more in common with honey bees that return to the hive doing a waggle dance directing their fellow bees to rich sources of pollen.


:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

[BuckNaked]

adriaticum...please post up a bunch more of your intensely informative and educational hunting posts...or just a bunch of shit like usual

Wow this post just reeks of hypocrisy, maybe you should take your own advice. You must have some kind of a man crush on Adriaticum, because for your little blast you add nothing to the thread. Just a trolling post, good job.

Maybe you could actually add something based on your self-described 30 years of experience, or do you only have vitriol and insults to offer? Maybe you need to use the ignore function if you are bothered that much by some folks posts instead of acting like a troll.

I am interested in topics like this as deer season winds down, and my thoughts turn to the fowl. I had no idea waterfowl employed scouts.

[BuckNaked]

Ducks hold an Orders Group in the morning and send out a dawn patrol to Field A only to recalibrate their original flight plans if the 'scout ducks' fail to return? How do the veteran ducks know which field the sacrificial scout ducks went to and why would the scout ducks come back to the flock, wasting valuable energy doing so, once they have found a field teeming with corn and possibly hot hen mallards? If you hold your fire on the first birds in presumably they will flare, or land and take off again once they discover that they have been duped. They will then return to HQ imparting valuable intelligence to the wing commander and others not to go to your field because the ducks there are not very talkative. Isn't it better to kill these first ducks and keep the others that follow guessing? Or maybe just sleep in and set up later once the scouts have done their thing and others have scared them off.

Then again I may be totally wrong and ducks may have more in common with honey bees that return to the hive doing a waggle dance directing their fellow bees to rich sources of pollen.

Just the thought of ducks doing the waggle dance to tell the others where the food is at, hilarious. Yet if someone told me that this is what actually happens I'd probably be apt to believe them!

[Beachcomber]

This is interesting too: http://www.denverpost.com/charlie/ci_11600086

I followed the link he mentions to the thesis referenced and you come up with a 146 page monster. Worth investigating if you want more on this issue

[835]

Wow this post just reeks of hypocrisy, maybe you should take your own advice. You must have some kind of a man crush on Adriaticum, because for your little blast you add nothing to the thread. Just a trolling post, good job.

Maybe you could actually add something based on your self-described 30 years of experience, or do you only have vitriol and insults to offer? Maybe you need to use the ignore function if you are bothered that much by some folks posts instead of acting like a troll.

I am interested in topics like this as deer season winds down, and my thoughts turn to the fowl. I had no idea waterfowl employed scouts.

All you gotta do is look at Klassens "Forum posts" and you can see this.

[field marshal]

GEEEEZUSSS you guys what next????? Maybe some duck spies outside your house in the morning checking to see if your truck, punt and dog are home or heading for the marsh??? The first legal flight gets WHACKED in the morning and just keep shooting until it's all over!! What a crock of profound nonsense!! I dunno, Kelly some guys have strange ways of looking for the ultimate edge???:confused:---Cheers---Field Marshal.

[pnbrock]

boy am i glad field marshal thinks this is rediculas aswel i thought there was something wrong with me!!!

[Dutch]

Cmon PN you really don't want an answer to that do you....

[BiG Boar]

I've heard it from several reliable sources who have hunted ducks for many many years. To just totally write off the idea isn't always the best. Darwin was laughed at when he said the world was flat. Now we know that we live on a globe.

[bogman]

Cmon PN you really don't want an answer to that do you....


Hey Cuz what do you think the Bogfather would have to say about this thread? OMG

[B-rad]

As a rule of thumb,,I always let the first few groups be on their way,,,,even if they commit to the decoys I'll let then sit in the spread,,,this usually insures me the rest of birds will be coming shortly afterwards,,,,,I would MUCH rather have a continuous flow of single,,doubles or even triples coming in instead of 15-25 birds at a time,,,,as far as geese pretty much same idea,,,I try to let them mill around as long as possible to get the attention of wayyyy off distant birds before I start to harvest my birds,,,,,,,and on a side note,,,in the years of hunting birds,,more decoys does not always mean u are gonna bring in more birds,,placement and location are #1 keys to a good hunt,,many times on the south Thompson river I will only use 6 mallard and 6 goose shells,,,,and have limited out in little over an hour,,compared to using 45-55 goose decoys on a field and limiting out in early afternoon

[pnbrock]

well the way i see it the first birds usually come before legal shooting,they usually try to land as I'm setting up.so i guess i do practise leaving the first birds safe passage.

[labguy]

So true....those ducks are not that smart but Canada geese well, that different story. Shoot them once they are not going to travel the same path again. That is why there is spit season on them.

Not exactly correct. The split season is because of a North American treaty on migratory bird that allows for a specific maximum number of hunting days per year.

BC has the split season to be able to open at certain times of the year, to encourage geese to migrate south so they don't crap all over public beaches, golf courses and parks. Obviously that, like many other great ideas put forth by the people who manage game, doesn't work so well.

As for ducks, anyone who says these birds don't become educated to certain negative stimuli, hasn't had a lot of experience hunting educated ducks.:-D

Sixty years experience regards,:-D:)

[Foxton Gundogs]

GEEEEZUSSS you guys what next????? Maybe some duck spies outside your house in the morning checking to see if your truck, punt and dog are home or heading for the marsh??? The first legal flight gets WHACKED in the morning and just keep shooting until it's all over!! What a crock of profound nonsense!! I dunno, Kelly some guys have strange ways of looking for the ultimate edge???:confused:---Cheers---Field Marshal.

Tony, you pretend to post in jest but a number of times I have returned home from a poor shoot only to find mallards happily swimming in the creek not 100 ft from the house and dog runs. I think you your devious mind may be on to something :shock:

[Kudu]

Duck hunters know that ducks are one of natures smartest animals, and that's why most of us hunt them.

The ancestors of the ducks flying today have evolved over centuries, and they have learned all about dangerous situations, this information is now hard-wired into the brains of the modern day duck.

The hunter (me and you) may be armed with the latest hightech shotguns, life-like decoys, mojo ducks, calls and whatever your fancy picks - yet even the most skilled of us all will be lucky to get his daily bag limit - that's just the way nature planned it.

In my experiance (not the sixty years of the veterans) I have realized that a lot of things can happen in one single day that will effect the flight patterns of ducks - the weather may turn cold, wind could shift or strengthen, a deluge of rain could hit, Or, for what ever nonsensical, weird reason, the ducks that were buzzing you like spitfires an half hour ago, could simply ignore your spread for the rest of the day - it happens.

One thing I'm fairly certain about though, if you really just want to spend the day near the water, without having a crack at the birds - just pitch up, and randomly toss your decoys into the water - when it gets light, and the birds just keep on flying overhead - without swinging back to have a second look, get of your butt and change up your deeks.

My rules are simple for the deek spread "segregation"

Mallards go in the "u" of the "J" - Teal near the banks (away from the lards top of "J" and the Pin tails / Widgeon away from both groups, near the centre of the spread, may not be perfect for most - but it works for me.

As for shooting / time? - feet down guns up - we keep it simple in our blind.