The challenge of duck hunting comes from learning all one can about the feeding and flight habits of these highly intelligent birds, then trying to out-think and deceive them. A second challenge is trying to hit them.
Here are a few things to remember all all species of ducks:
Ducks have excellent eyesight. If you can see them, chances are they can see you.
High-flying ducks have a special advantage in seeing you or anything unnatural about your decoys or blind.
Never look up at ducks flying over or circling; human faces are especially visible.
Ducks are attracted to decoys by their color as well as their shape and formation.
Select camouflage clothing appropriate to the setting: green for early fall and browns for late fall.
Ducks are mostly concerned with moving objects. Even if you are caught in the open, remain motioneless and the birds may still come within range.
Ducks have excellent hearing; sneaking within range is difficult to do. If possible, work into the wind.
Ducks rarely decoy or come into the same spot two days in a row, especially if there has been heavy shooting.
Ducks are enormous eaters and will sometimes forget about danger if good food is available. This can be seen in city parks where even wild ducks throw caution to the wind and risk everything for a free handout of corn or bread. Learn where the food is and chances are you will find good hunting.
Ducks trust other ducks and they like companionship. This is particularly true of the "divers". That is why decoys work well in attracting ducks within range.
Ducks are sociable. They talk to each other. This is why calling skills are important for successful duck hunting.
The feeding habits of ducks are somewhat like those of fish. There are certain times of day when they are likely to feed. Ducks of all species have three primary feeding periods: early morning, midday, and evening. The noon period is not as good as the other two except on dark stormy days. Puddle ducks tend to feed at the crack of dawn. Divers are a little later. Ducks in migration however, may be stocking up for the long flight in from the north. In this case they may eat anytime of the day or night. Nevertheless, mid-morning and mid-afternoon are usually the slow periods for duck hunting.
Ducks do feed every day. Just because you don't see any where you are, don't assume there are none in the area. Move and keep moving until you find them
Ducks fly lower and move around more on cloudy, windy days. Warm, still sunny days are usually poor days for hunting, except during peak periods of migration.
Ducks migrate by the calendar as much as by the weather. Early to late freeze-ups may affect the migration, but the major movement of each species will usually come within the same week or ten day period.
Some ducks are smarter than others. Among the puddle ducks; mallards, blackducks, and pintails are thought to be the more intelligent. Teal and wood ducks are considered among the less wary. Of the diving ducks, greater scaup, canvassbacks, ringbills, and goldeneyes are harder to deceive, while redheads and lesser scaup decoy more easily.
Published in Hunting and Trapping Secrets by Dr. Duane R. Lund
DID YOU KNOW
In 1990, overshooting by market hunters had reduced the continental population of greater snow geese to fewer than 3,000 birds.
During fall migration, scaup typically fly long distances between migration stops on large bodies of water. Many of these nonstop flights range from 500 to 1000 miles.
More than 5 million waterfowl, as well as even greater numbers of other migratory birds, pass through the Great Lakes region in the fall and spring.
The Mexican Duck is considered a subspecies of the mallard. Both sexes resemble small female mallards. It ranges from central Mexico northward into southern Arizona, New Mexico, and southwestern Texas.
