[zz3l4b]

Yesterday my son and I were pass shooting some hooded mergansers and dropped 3 out of a group. They dropped as to be stone dead. By the time we got out to pick them up they vanished and never surfaced again. Any thoughts?

 

[NHDuck8003]

Sounds about right, divers will do that to you. You're going to have to contend with cripples when shooting divers. If I even suspect there is some life in them when I drop them I'll send a cripple shot out.

Other than that, play around with your chokes and shot size to find what works best for the distance you're shooting birds. I use IC with 3" 3's but most of my birds are well inside 30 yards. Also, it helps to only shoot one bird out of a flock and follow it all the way to the water and prepare for a cripple shot. Many times I've tried for a double only to find the first bird has already swam well out of range (and now the chase is on) or dove and is nowhere to be found.

 

[Dep6]

Definitely got to eye ball a diver down to the water and like he said be ready for a cripple shot if you catch any kind of movement.

 

[zz3l4b]

Good feedback, thanks.

 

[Stetsonb]

We find with eiders that if you shoot at them a little far or it's really windy the shot just bruise the birds and don't go in them....got to hope you break a wing or shot hits there head or neck hard

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[BigBlondeBirdDog]

If it was an ethical hunter, and it sounds like you were (Going out, attempting to retrieve, solid effort) then that's the best you can do. Even the best of "us" true diver hunters loose a bird or two here and there. Just try your best, all any of us can do.

May wanna look into bumping up a shot size or two, seems to help. Maybe go with a full choke, or extra full depending on shot or yardage. Concentrate your pellets. Of course, and no bad talk on this one ... a dog works great.

I lost a GE today, 20yrd shot, felt I put a good move on him ... but looking back in my mind ... the wave may have caught some of the shot also ... bird hit the water hard ... came up about 50yrds away with current, jumped up and flew away. I ran outta my bird with the dog, shouldered the shotty, and waded out looking for the pop up ... I felt I did everything I could to retrieve the downed bird, but may have not hit him as hard as I thought.

It happens, don't beat yourself up ... They are hardy birds ... pure and simple.

Good luck!

 

[rikasam]

I usually shoot 1 1/8 oz #2 at ducks the first 2 months of the season. When the weather turns in Dec, the ducks get heavy feathers and the divers come, I switch to #1 or BB 1 1/4 oz. If I know I will be be in one of my favorite diver spots, I will take the 10 ga 1 1/2 oz #1 or BB. These are mainly goldeneyes with scaup and ringers thrown in sometimes.

 

[Phytoplankton]

This applies to most ducks, but sometimes a cripple will dive, grab onto something on the bottom, hang on and die! Shot a Goldeneye once in a clear coastal stream, he dove and never came back up. Looked for him for several minutes and finally saw him several feet underwater hanging onto a tree root. Found a long stick and knocked him loose, he floated to the surface, dead as a door nail!

 

[flyndutchman]

Divers are the toughest ducks that fly in my opinion. If you can concentrate on hitting them in the front end it works better. As fast as they are, you are usually behind though. I have seen them hit and fall out of the sky looking stone dead only to have them dive upon hitting the water. Those are the frustrating ones as they don't give you a chance for a swatter shot. I have also seen them fly 200 yards and crash dead on the water with no apparent hits. Tighter chokes and bigger payloads are a good suggestion. A dog can help but I have seen only too many times that as the dog got close the bird dives and keeps leading the dog farther and farther out. Have had to rescue my Britt a few times when she gave chase a little too far. Hunting the Columbia river.

 

[Major Woods]

This applies to most ducks, but sometimes a cripple will dive, grab onto something on the bottom, hang on and die! Shot a Goldeneye once in a clear coastal stream, he dove and never came back up. Looked for him for several minutes and finally saw him several feet underwater hanging onto a tree root. Found a long stick and knocked him loose, he floated to the surface, dead as a door nail!

Same thing here, in super clear water saw the bird hanging on to some seaweed on the bottom. Had to use a boat pole to break him loose. Came to the surface totally dead.

 

[scrub hunter]

Divers are tough, keep the shots as close as possible/ in good killing range to hit them hard. Don't stretch the yardage. use bigger shot that patterns good for your gun. We go no smaller then #2 and normally shoot BB . Some days it seems that we shoot more rounds trying to kill a cripple on a chase then we actually do when there buzzing in or over the deks. It is what it is just gotta do your best and trying to recover um!! :thumbsup:

 

[flyndutchman]

We found you can go too big in shot size and loose the pattern density needed for multiple hits. We crippled more with BB than smaller shot sizes. I personally do very well with fast #3's out of my 20ga. I shoot that gun very well so it is a win/win situation. Divers, unless you are shooting all Cans, are not particularly big ducks and #2's and #3's will penetrate all the way through at distances under 35yd. Practicing crossing shots in the off season is the other key. You have to be ahead of them to hit them in the front end, that ensures a better DRT kill.

 

[JRS]

3 INCH #4'S, miss out front, you will pick up many blind, very dead divers.

 

[Heronk]

I have hunted GE's for years over about 30 hand carved GE decoys. When I target GE's I never put out any other decoys and most days they decoy in tight. On several occasions I have had GE's gliding a foot or two above the decoys only to have them dive out of the air as I rose to shoot. Then they popped up out of range and flew off. I have never seen another diver do that and wonder if maybe the GE you fired at pulled that trick?

 

[jeffro9023]

Sounds like they did you a favor, the fish thank you as well.

 

[boatguy]

Toughest of all the ducks