I love a dry field mallard hunt just as much as the next guy, but growing up, I was used to hunting the Pamlico Sound, and water is what I’m used to. I like to duck hunt all over the country, getting to see different areas and see how other people hunt and what works for them. As Ramsey Russell always says, “My favorite duck to shoot is the next one.” 

Many people grew up with a grandpa, uncle, or dad who duck hunts and taught them their ways. I am self-taught, so a lot of trial and error went into being successful and learning what worked for me. 

With duck season quickly approaching, let’s talk about some different things you can do to have better luck duck hunting over water!

Good Blind Placement For Duck Hunting

The most important thing on any duck hunt is to have a good hide. You need to make sure your blind is properly brushed in. I carry around an electric hedge trimmer to use brush nearby where I’m hunting that’ll blend into my surroundings. I like to “overbrush” my blinds so if ducks are flaring or aren’t finishing like they should, I know the blind isn’t the issue. 

Look at your blinds from a distance and see how they blend into the environment when brushed in. Make sure you don’t see anything that might spook ducks. Remember, ducks have incredible vision. They have an extra set of cones, which allows them to see ultraviolet light, therefore you want to get rid of shine and glare.

We hunt out of layout blinds, A-frames, trailer blinds, etc, which have lots of metal on them so it’s important to make sure all that metal is covered up by brush. You also don’t want any 90-degree angles showing as those aren’t natural, so double-check that those edges of your blinds are brushed in and covered up.

Think About Decoy Spread

Make sure to have some motion in your decoy spread. This isn’t as much of a problem on a windy day, but on those calm days, you need to add something to get some ripples on the water. A jerk cord is your best friend on days like this. There are also a ton of different motion decoys to choose from these days such as pulsators, swimmers, etc. You can have the fanciest floating decoys in the world, but it will hurt your hunt if you don’t have motion and ripples on that water. 

When hunting water, make sure you give the ducks a spot to land in the “kill hole”. Don’t just put a blob of decoys out there as the ducks may be landing outside the decoys, leaving you with a far shot. 

There are many ways you can set your decoys to create a landing zone for the ducks. I like to have my landing zone centered up with the blind so that when the ducks are decoying, everyone in the blind gets to shoot. The “J” formation has worked well for me, especially If I’m hunting a crosswind. I put my spinning wing decoy in the landing zone right in front of where I want the ducks to decoy or land. This helps to draw them into the landing zone or kill hole.

Consider Wind Direction and Duck Species When Scouting

Remember that ducks are typically going to be landing or decoying into the wind, so you never want to hunt with the wind blowing in your face. If you hunt with the wind at your back, the ducks are going to decoy straight towards you. If you hunt a crosswind, they are going to be decoying from the left or right. 

I love to hunt a crosswind because when the ducks are decoying, they aren’t looking straight at your blind. Also, you get better follow-up shots on a crosswind. If you’re hunting with the wind at your back, the ducks flare after the first shot and you’re typically shooting at their tailfeathers as they fly away causing more cripples.

Another thing to remember is, if possible, hunt with the sun rising somewhere behind you. It’s never fun to have the sun in front of you blinding you as you’re trying to shoot. I’d rather the ducks be blinded as they’re decoying instead of the hunters. 

When scouting for ducks, see what species of ducks you are seeing, take note of how many there are, how they are set up, which direction they’re flying in from, etc. That way when you set your decoys in that spot the next morning you can match the way they looked. If I see a bunch of gadwalls and wigeon, I’ll bring gadwall and wigeon decoys. I’ll bring a few of some other species as well. I like to have a few drake pintail decoys out there as that bright white on the pintails really draws attention to flying ducks. I also like to have a few Canada goose decoys set off to the side of my spread as “confidence decoys.” Plus, if you have some Canada geese flying over, it’ll give them something to look at.

Learning When to Call Ducks

It is very important to learn when to call ducks and how to read them. Don’t call ducks as they are flying right towards your blind as it allows them to pinpoint where the sound is coming from. I like to call them on the swing as they are flying away from the blind and swinging back around. 

It takes a lot of time duck hunting to figure out how to read ducks, but I’ve always found that less is more when calling. This is probably not true for all situations, but it is true for me and where I typically hunt in the prairie pothole region of South Dakota and the potholes of Kansas. If you’re hunting the “X”, then no calling is really needed as the ducks are coming to that spot regardless. 

Things that work in one state might not work in another. You must remember that if you’re hunting far south such as Texas or Louisiana, these ducks have migrated from Canada and have seen thousands of spreads by the time they get that far south. They have probably seen a mojo in every spread and been called at by many hunters. 

I have found that when hunting in the far South, a jerk cord is a lot more effective than a mojo or spinning wing decoy. These ducks that have migrated that far south are very educated and sometimes a mojo can be your enemy as these ducks associate that mojo with danger.

When hunting highly pressured ducks it is important to be where they want to be. Show them something different, show them a decoy spread that they haven’t seen every few miles on their migration south. I also like to call very lightly and infrequently at these highly pressured ducks.

Tips For Duck Hunting With a Group

If you get invited to go duck hunting with a group of people and want to get invited back, there are a few things you need to remember. Don’t “pie face” the ducks when they’re working. Nobody wants to hunt with the guy who is popping his face out of the blind and moving around all over the place. Stay low and move your eyes to watch the ducks work, not your head. 

Don’t shoot until whoever invited you on the hunt calls the shot. That’s a quick way to never get invited back. Also, do not do any calling unless you are asked to. Everyone has that friend that thinks he sounds like Butch Richenback but sounds like someone’s blowing a kazoo… don’t be that guy! If you get invited on a hunt, don’t bring your dog unless they ask you to. 

Also, if you get invited to go duck hunting with someone on public land, don’t go back to that public land spot without them. I promise you’ll never get invited to hunt with them again. If you want to get that invite to hunt with them again, bring everyone a biscuit and coffee to the blind. That’s a quick way to make some new friends. 

Get out there with some friends and a good dog this season and shoot some ducks! If you’ve got more questions about duck hunting or finding the perfect place to hunt this season, get in touch with me here or shoot me an email at Theithold@NationalLand.com.