Will There Be Ducks After The Thaw

[HydeMarsh]

I have stayed inside for the past couple of days, old age slows me down. However I am going to hit it hard for the next few days. Do you guys think there will be ducks in eastern NC?

I will report back in a few days - really curious to see what are on the MI's once things thaws.

bet there are a lot of sound blinds that have been rearranged by ice.

[EastBound&Down]

No
I killed the last few remaining ducks yesterday.

Yesterday was good. Had 8 different species in the decoys during the hunt.
I think a lot of the ducks have pushed south, but what are remaining are gonna be hungry. Impoundments should be on fire after the thaw for the first couple of days.

[Shurshot]

Agree. They will be dam good Go check out MI 11 once it thaws and let us know what you saw.

[CatFan]

I think they'll all be in Key West. At least those that didn't push on to Cuba. LOL

[jeffrey.sm21]

Supposed to hunt the Currituck Sound out of Whalehead Wednesday--Not expecting much.. have things started to thaw at all?

[echoduck]

No, areas frozen yesterday still frozen this morning. There are adults walking across the large creeks. You are dealing with ice 3-4 inches thick in alot of locations. Its going to take more than a few hours of sunlight of fix that. Most of the ducks packed up their stuff and left.

[CatFan]

Supposed to be in the 50s and 60s with rain here mid week so I am hoping that opens something up. I'm going Saturday regardless.

[jeffrey.sm21]

How frozen are things further south around pintail point out of Oregon inlet?

[merg]

How frozen are things further south around pintail point out of Oregon inlet?

Solid ice this morning.

[Paul26]

Experience tells me no. As mentioned previously my observation over the years has been when the freeze is this deep/long, and this one is deeper/longer than any I have seen since my arrival in '01, they just kept going past us.

With that said: I have seen quite a few pics and have heard from reliable sources of a lot of birds being shot in the marshes as the freeze locked up all land-based water. Woodies, teal, wigeon, and black duck. Will they just head back to the freshwater when its 70 degrees on Friday?

So in short: I don't know.

Getting dragged to the mtn's this weekend so I will miss my favorite weekend of the year to hunt locally----MLK Sat & Monday. PM me with what you see, pls.

[CatFan]

Drove over Falls Lake today and it is still almost completely locked up as far is I can see. I did, however, see about a dozen Mallards flying over me on my commute down HWY 70 in Durham.

[visco]

they're still here... actually I believe this is going to be a blessing in disguise for us over this way. Cannot wait for Friday to come... day off, and will be on the water.

to those who lost their blinds due to the ice... sorry to hear that brothers, as I know what it takes to build one. before the Marine Corps, I use to spend days in the Louisiana marsh building blind and cutting ditches to access other areas.

If you need help, let me know, I am always willing to help out a fellow waterfowler.

[DOT3]

Mixed flock of about 40 mallards and gadwall tried to land on my head this morning while I was chopping a hole in the river. On my way out about 8 wigeon pitched into the hole. I was there from 11 am until 12 pm. I hope tomorrow morning is a boon because my mediocre ducking abilities are starting to get to me.

[valeflyfish47]

I drive up 321 through Hickory everyday and there still ice in the coves and maybe about 20 to 30 feet from the shoreline however I took an alternate road home yesterday and went down to a boat dock and there was maybe 200 yards out and to the side of ice free water the rest as far as I could see was iced up and the seagulls are standing on it must have been about 30 or 40 of them. The next couple days I'm going to take a couple different bridges over Lake Hickory in Lake rhodhiss see what I can see hopefully it be thawed out enough for Saturday morning hunt

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

[HydeMarsh]

I am back from hunting and my experience was interesting. Mid week last week if you could get to open water the hunting was really good, lots of birds, both divers and puddle ducks. Found a flock of Red Heads that just hug around. I am not sure it was the cause but I had a MS episode after putting my old body out in such cold weather. so I did not hunt Friday and Saturday. Hit again Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

I saw a lot of puddle ducks standing on the ice. they flew into the impoundments and ate corn. most had three inches of ice. ice was covered in corn. from birds ripping it off cobs. Most of this happened at night so impoundment hunting was not that good.
However, I had a deep pothole in the marsh kept producing divers and widgeon. I found a SAV that would grow there and planted it last spring. birds seemed to like it. all perfectly legal.

Hunting was poor for me yesterday, I heard shooting all around so so guys had the key to success.

got black ducks, widgeon, teal, red heads, gadwall and teal.

birds did not seem to leave the area I hunt. however, talked with several people along the Pamlico river that said the complete lockup there cause the divers on the river to relocate.

[HydeMarsh]

I know Pics or it did not happen

[HydeMarsh]

My son with Widgeon Last Tuesday

[G3duck]

Hydemarsh
What's SAV?

[Willie]

Still some blue wings around

[creekcaptain]

Hydemarsh
What's SAV?

Submerged Aquatic Vegetation aka duck food

[HydeMarsh]

Hydemarsh
What's SAV?

Sub Aquatic Vegetation. Things like widgeon grass, water celery, ell grass, sago pond weed, duck weed, red head grass.
Divers and most puddle ducks really like this stuff. You can buy it on line or get it naturally.

[NCGWP]

Hydemarsh
What's SAV?

Sub Aquatic Vegetation. Things like widgeon grass, water celery, ell grass, sago pond weed, duck weed, red head grass.
Divers and most puddle ducks really like this stuff. You can buy it on line or get it naturally.

Will they eat almost any plant life that grows and gets flooded over?

[HydeMarsh]

I think that is the basis of moist soil impoundments. I do not know about any plant that is flooded but there are probably enough seed producing plants to get some attention from ducks. the plants I mentioned before (SAV) are usually in places that are in year round water.

[KAhunter]

Hydemarsh
What's SAV?

Sub Aquatic Vegetation. Things like widgeon grass, water celery, ell grass, sago pond weed, duck weed, red head grass.
Divers and most puddle ducks really like this stuff. You can buy it on line or get it naturally.

Will they eat almost any plant life that grows and gets flooded over?

No they wont. They will eat some things like rye or wheat when flooded but for the most part they dont eat the stems/leaves/stalks of plants grown on dry ground then flooded at all.
A Moist soil impoundments draw comes froms 1. seeds produced by plants and 2. invertebrates. Very little of the actual plant (other than the seeds) is usually eaten.

[Shurshot]

Two entirely different things when comparing a moist soil unit to a SAV unit. KA is correct in his accessment, ms produces seeds as it’s primary food source. Certain plants are more desirable than others. Invertebrates eventually come to life (with the right plant substrate) and provide much needed nutrients, especially for the migration back and egg production later on.

SAV’s units produce plants that grow/ exist under water. Depending on the plant, all or some of the plants parts are eaten, along with some of the “fruits” it produces. Need clear water and sunlight to establish. Sago pond weed is probably the most desirable for the majority of birds but others are very good too.