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Ducks coming in too early

1K views 21 replies 12 participants last post by  Rangerbob 
#1 ·
Subject says it. Our shooing light here for the past couple weeks I feel is too late. Plenty of daylight and ducks are flying early. Should I still be putting my decoys out right before shooting light to keep ducks from coming in too early. Will they come back? Just curious. I've heard of this before but what to do to prevent this situation would help
 
#2 ·
it doesnt matter if you put them out before or after shooting light. the birds are still gonna fly at what ever time they want. the only difference of having the decoys up before light, is that the birds will be more likely to land in front of you and swim in your spread until shooting time, other than land somewhere else away from you and do the same thing. if you're there in your spot knowing thats where you'll be for the day, set up. that way when it is shooting time, you're not messing around with the decoys possibly flaring birds when you can be shooting.

we've had the same issues here a couple of the days. fly early, land in the dekes, and do their thing. if they stay, great. jump 'em and shoot 'em when its time. if they leave, who cares. its the way she goes sometimes.

be ready before the birds are.

thats my 2 cents :thumbsup:
 
#3 ·
Listen to Rendy, he's given you good advice.

Actual light conditions at 1/2 hour before sunrise can vary greatly day-to-day. I've hunted when it's almost too dark for effective shooting AT sunrise....and I can remember days when there was sufficient light to readily distinguish between drake and hens a full 50 minutes before sunrise.
This is one of those things we have absolutely no control over, so worrying about it is pointless. Just enjoy they ducks when they do come in. Duck that land in my spread before legal shoot time are a good omen to me and put big smiles on my face.
 
#4 ·
We have a swamp we hunt that is like that. Most of the ducks stack in there 5-10 min before legal shooting. Once we shoot swamp empties out. Never fails. Main reason I don't hunt it much anymore. We have waited and waited for them to come back. Sometimes they trickle back in. Most of the times they don't. Gets frustrating.
 
#6 ·
Put your decoys in the cover right now versus out in the open. If you hunt green timber, put the decoys in the timber. If you hunt buck brush, put them in it. Ducks are wary right now. They get nervous seeing other ducks ergo decoys out in the open. It's not normal to them. It may buy you extra time when they do come in early and it will pay off when you can see to shoot. Chuckles and quacks only right now. Let the nimrods blow em out of the hole, they'll come right to you.
 
#7 ·
I cant believe nobody is ecstatic to have legal live decoys in their spread. Enjoy watching them. If things are slow after a while well then take a couple. Or if it looks like the jig is up and they are getting suspicious again take the shot. Ive had upwards of 20 ducks crash into the spread a few minutes before daylight. Talk about adding motion to your spread. :thumbsup: ...To me they are dead ducks whether I shoot or not. I like to wait it out as long as possible for more birds to arrive. Now, of course the mother lode comes on the days Im hunting alone. Never happens when with a full crew. :lol3:
 
#8 ·
I'm with you jeffro. In a way it does suck to not be able to shoot but at the same time you cannot beat having those live dekes in the spread, not only to attract more ducks but it is also s great way to learn from the ducks up close and in the wild vs park ducks. And like you said they are as good as dead. My philosophy is that if they jump we shoot or I'll call it if the jig is obviously up
 
#9 ·
jeffro9023 said:
Now, of course the mother lode comes on the days Im hunting alone. Never happens when with a full crew. :lol3:
I hear ya....
Which means it doesn't matter if we have three ducks in front of us or 300, the results will be the same. Always nice to have the cloud, though, gives us something to talk about.
 
#13 ·
I don't hunt just for the purpose of killing ducks. When I kill ducks it's a plus for me. If I have them land in my spread I'm happy just to have fooled them that's why I like duck hunting. A good duck hunter is an artist. I'm far from the Michael Angelo of duck hunting but since I've started I've had a lot more ducks decoy in and I've noticed a lot more success with a duck call. This season I hunted a local spot a few days in a row because everything else was frozen I had a Beautiful bull Buffle head land in my spread three mornings in a row he would stay for a few hours and leave. Even though it was legal shooting hours I never took a shot at him. If It was a better eating duck I might have but a live moving decoy is better than any motion decoy you could ever buy.
 
#14 ·
stevetags said:
I don't hunt just for the purpose of killing ducks. When I kill ducks it's a plus for me. If I have them land in my spread I'm happy just to have fooled them that's why I like duck hunting. A good duck hunter is an artist. I'm far from the Michael Angelo of duck hunting but since I've started I've had a lot more ducks decoy in and I've noticed a lot more success with a duck call. This season I hunted a local spot a few days in a row because everything else was frozen I had a Beautiful bull Buffle head land in my spread three mornings in a row he would stay for a few hours and leave. Even though it was legal shooting hours I never took a shot at him. If It was a better eating duck I might have but a live moving decoy is better than any motion decoy you could ever buy.
Drake buffleheads arent that tough to decoy...And how is that an example of how your calling was the deal breaker? Or was it the Drake buffleheads motion that made the difference? :huh:
 
#15 ·
stevetags said:
I had a Beautiful bull Buffle head land in my spread three mornings in a row he would stay for a few hours and leave. Even though it was legal shooting hours I never took a shot at him.
I'm the same way; once a duck lands and stays in the decoys for more than about five minutes, I tend to become attached to it...and I am loathe to kill it. Very cool, 'tags.
 
#16 ·
I've experienced this over the years, but certainly never viewed it as a PROBLEM. We should all have such problems! Ducks in the blocks is a blessing, no matter when they show up. Years back, in the time of short seasons and low limits, Arkansas tried (one season) legal shooting at sunrise. You think THAT didn't require some patience? They scrapped the idea.
 
#17 ·
jeffro9023 said:
stevetags said:
I don't hunt just for the purpose of killing ducks. When I kill ducks it's a plus for me. If I have them land in my spread I'm happy just to have fooled them that's why I like duck hunting. A good duck hunter is an artist. I'm far from the Michael Angelo of duck hunting but since I've started I've had a lot more ducks decoy in and I've noticed a lot more success with a duck call. This season I hunted a local spot a few days in a row because everything else was frozen I had a Beautiful bull Buffle head land in my spread three mornings in a row he would stay for a few hours and leave. Even though it was legal shooting hours I never took a shot at him. If It was a better eating duck I might have but a live moving decoy is better than any motion decoy you could ever buy.
Drake buffleheads arent that tough to decoy...And how is that an example of how your calling was the deal breaker? Or was it the Drake buffleheads motion that made the difference? :huh:
I hunt a lot more than a few times a year pal, didn't state I called that buffle head in and if he showed up three days in a row do you think he's decoying in or he just wants to feed and be in that area? I think the latter. My point that I'm trying to get across is, for me every duck doesn't need to be killed especially if it's one that isn't known to be good table fare. I get more enjoyment of putting it all together and having it work than killing a duck.
 
#19 ·
jeffro9023 said:
You still havnt explained how your calling made the difference ....
Made the difference when? Maybe it made a difference when I turned a drake mallard around this year and had him set in for a kid that never killed a duck before then or countless other ducks. If calling doesn't make a difference I wonder why duck calls are used by almost every duck hunter?

Jeffro, does duck calling make a difference for you?
 
#21 ·
stevetags said:
jeffro9023 said:
stevetags said:
I don't hunt just for the purpose of killing ducks. When I kill ducks it's a plus for me. If I have them land in my spread I'm happy just to have fooled them that's why I like duck hunting. A good duck hunter is an artist. I'm far from the Michael Angelo of duck hunting but since I've started I've had a lot more ducks decoy in and I've noticed a lot more success with a duck call. This season I hunted a local spot a few days in a row because everything else was frozen I had a Beautiful bull Buffle head land in my spread three mornings in a row he would stay for a few hours and leave. Even though it was legal shooting hours I never took a shot at him. If It was a better eating duck I might have but a live moving decoy is better than any motion decoy you could ever buy.
Drake buffleheads arent that tough to decoy...And how is that an example of how your calling was the deal breaker? Or was it the Drake buffleheads motion that made the difference? :huh:
I hunt a lot more than a few times a year pal, didn't state I called that buffle head in and if he showed up three days in a row do you think he's decoying in or he just wants to feed and be in that area? I think the latter. My point that I'm trying to get across is, for me every duck doesn't need to be killed especially if it's one that isn't known to be good table fare. I get more enjoyment of putting it all together and having it work than killing a duck.
Read the red highlighted part....
 
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