Goose Duck Hunting Creston

[nelsonob1]

Never goose/duck hunted before but was thinking of taking my kids over to the Creston area for a day hunt (we live in Nelson). Would appreciate any advice on suitable areas to try for beginners that would be kid friendly - we don't have much gear - just shotguns. I am not expecting it to be productive but if it was a nice walk and sit down and the kids get to shoot in the general direction of a bird that would be considered a success.

Thx in advance for any advice.

[huntinnut]

You could hide on the dyke at the south end of Duck lake and pass shoot. Be there at legal shooting light in the morning or don't bother. Make sure you're in a spot with water on both sides so you can find them. The geese sometimes fly low off the lake on their way south for the morning. You'll need waders and probably a small boat or canoe of some kind. There are a few channels and pot-holes around there to jump shoot too. If you have a boat you could paddle around the big marsh on the south side of the dyke, after you're done sitting, and have the person in the front shoot as you scare them around corners of cattails. It's pretty weedy in there though. Check it out on google earth. The whole area is in the CVWMA and you'll need a hunting permit from them too to hunt it.

[rogerb]

huntinnut has given you some very good advice. was just there & the widgeon have arrived in good numbers - tons of them out in Duck Lake itself along with masses of coots. not that many big mallards/pintails yet from what I saw. most of the geese seem to be holding on the bays & grass flats around kootenay lake itself.

another spot you could try to jump shoot a few ducks is the very north end of duck lake by the outlet. there were a number of widgeon & mallards in the bays up there this morning. you'll need a boat of some sort to collect them though as the channels leading to the outlet are too deep to wade. in the morning & again in the evening you might also be able to pass shoot some overhead as they cross the dike about there. huntinnut's comment about water on each side is important to remember as the cattail swamps are dense, wide & very difficult to find a downed duck in even with a dog.

another spot to consider is the old kootenay channel which parallels the dike road as it runs all the way up the west side & northern end of duck lake. scaup, widgeon, a few mallards & in early season, even a few wood ducks fly up & down this channel throughout the day. there are a few spots you can walk down from the road to sit down by waters edge. again though, you'll need a boat to retrieve any you drop. probably not the best for beginning shooters as the birds tend to fly the channel at high speed & are hard to drop cleanly (at least for me!)

if you can borrow a shallow draft boat then you have many more options throughout the area's many marshes & diked cells though the cvwma doesn't make access for hunters all that easy anywhere save for duck lake itself. a half dozen decoys can make all the difference in bringing at least a few birds your way - I think CT in trail & castlegar has stock if you don't know anyone you could borrow a few from. hope your kids have a great time!

[nelsonob1]

Thank you both for this helpful info. We will give it a try this weekend - the kids are already excited!

[Tylerfortin14]

Hey there, sorry to bring up an old thread but was just wondering how your experience was around creston for waterfowl? This is my second hunting season in BC as I'm originally from Manitoba, and we didn't get a chance to go out for waterfowl last fall. I live in Fernie and haven't heard to much about ducks and geese around here ; but would definitely be willing to take a trip out to creston area. Have had a fair bit of experience shooting waterfowl back in MB , but mostly in fields with a lot of decoys, so it's a little different out here . Have a few floating duck decoys so ideally would like to set up in a marsh in the canoe with a few decoys out . Sounds like this may be possible in the creston area ...anyways , just figured I'd ask how you made out , and if this Area sees much for hunting pressure that you noticed . Would appreciate any other knowledge you've attained since then too! :) but this thread has given me some good ideas on where to start at least !
Thanks
tyler

[Rhyno]

Hey there, sorry to bring up an old thread but was just wondering how your experience was around creston for waterfowl? This is my second hunting season in BC as I'm originally from Manitoba, and we didn't get a chance to go out for waterfowl last fall. I live in Fernie and haven't heard to much about ducks and geese around here ; but would definitely be willing to take a trip out to creston area. Have had a fair bit of experience shooting waterfowl back in MB , but mostly in fields with a lot of decoys, so it's a little different out here . Have a few floating duck decoys so ideally would like to set up in a marsh in the canoe with a few decoys out . Sounds like this may be possible in the creston area ...anyways , just figured I'd ask how you made out , and if this Area sees much for hunting pressure that you noticed . Would appreciate any other knowledge you've attained since then too! :) but this thread has given me some good ideas on where to start at least !
Thanks
tyler

I have been wanting to try since I moved to Cranbrook 3 years ago, but been too busy chasing the big stuff! Hope to make some time this Nov. I have done a fair bit of duck hunting and have a few dekes. If you want some company on a duck mission send me a pm.

cheers,

Ryan