Shooting ducks on the water? :)

the spank said:
What I have generally found over the years is that some hunters cannot seem to accept that another hunter or hunters may have had success in acquiring game so they cast the "I would never do it that way" argument as a way of compensating or justifying their lack of success. It seems like if they cast doubt upon the successful their lack of success is somehow elevated by a better standard of ethic. I have always shook my head at these folks because they are acting on nothing more than greed and jealousy. I have hunted with many types of people over the years whose ideas on ethics and fair chase were far ranging. I feel the experiences I have had have brought me to my current beliefs I carry today. Basically I feel a harvested animal is a harvested animal regardless of method or choice of weapon and I really couldn't care about anyones particular method of hunting. I hunt the way I enjoy hunting and I don't step on others toes for their choices. I also feel alot of the hunting laws are absolutely useless and question their validity? Sometimes I am reading the regs to familiarize myself and I will come across something and think who decided this should be law? Sounds ridiculous to me! But hey I could go on for days here. OP go out and shoot yourself a bunch of ducks in whatever method you choose and enjoy the rewards of your hunt. That is the bottom line and what it is truly all about anways.
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Totally on the same page.... When inclined, I bait whitetails.... You wouldn't believe the flack I get on that from hunters and non hunters... There is some illusion out there that you dump a bag of corn or set up a feeder and they flock like seagulls.....

Similar to the illusion that a shotgun shoots a giant cone of death.....

I own a small tract of land that borders on 400 acres.... 3 years ago, we had a harsh winter.... I feed all year round and my record was 27 deer at one time, and that's what I could count reliably..... And doesn't account for any others that were not lsewher on the land.....

I had a great whitetail season this year and took two nice bucks..... Black powder season came and I passed on a doe as it had fawns (fawns are capable of survival now, but my freezer is full and I didn't need a harvest anyways).....

Those were my decisions... But I can honestly say that if a guy in my position shot that doe I would not look down my nose at him on bit......
 
TheCoachZed said:
So I'm curious -- who here shoots ducks on the water?

I know a lot of guys find it un-sporting. I personally have no problem with it, particularly because I do a lot of walking and stalking on the coast here. If I walk a half mile of bog to sneak up on a black duck, you'd better believe I'll shoot it, whether it sees me or not. Everybody I hunt with is the same here, although we generally prefer to get them feet down in dekes. But that isn't always possible, especially if you're walking. Or, right after liftoff works pretty well too.
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Im out to fill my bag and get meat. If i get ones that swim into the decoys and can be hit without damaging the decoys, theybare toast.
 
the spank said:
What I have generally found over the years is that some hunters cannot seem to accept that another hunter or hunters may have had success in acquiring game so they cast the "I would never do it that way" argument as a way of compensating or justifying their lack of success. It seems like if they cast doubt upon the successful their lack of success is somehow elevated by a better standard of ethic. I have always shook my head at these folks because they are acting on nothing more than greed and jealousy. I have hunted with many types of people over the years whose ideas on ethics and fair chase were far ranging. I feel the experiences I have had have brought me to my current beliefs I carry today. Basically I feel a harvested animal is a harvested animal regardless of method or choice of weapon and I really couldn't care about anyones particular method of hunting. I hunt the way I enjoy hunting and I don't step on others toes for their choices. I also feel alot of the hunting laws are absolutely useless and question their validity? Sometimes I am reading the regs to familiarize myself and I will come across something and think who decided this should be law? Sounds ridiculous to me! But hey I could go on for days here. OP go out and shoot yourself a bunch of ducks in whatever method you choose and enjoy the rewards of your hunt. That is the bottom line and what it is truly all about anways.
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;) That was the plan all along. Honestly, I was just curious to see what people thought.

Some people might not think it sporty to shoot ducks on the water, and as I said already, I prefer to flush 'em because they die easier, but either way, if I crawl across a slimy tidal flat or walk across a marsh for an hour to get a shot, I really don't care if the duck is in the air or water. I earn whatever shots I get the hard way. If other people don't want to shoot them, more power to them.
 
Superbrad said:
...Similar to the illusion that a shotgun shoots a giant cone of death.....
...
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I had to chuckle...because a couple of days ago I missed an easy shot on my last possible grouse of the season. I had been out walking in the cold rain for about 3 hours when I finally saw a bird strutting through the bush like he owned the place. I lined that peacock up and fired. Twigs and leaves went flying in all directions and the bird took off unscathed (confirmed) for parts unknown. So much for the Death Star effect! Oh, and did I mention, he was walking?
 
Chuckbuster said:
I had to chuckle...because a couple of days ago I missed an easy shot on my last possible grouse of the season. I had been out walking in the cold rain for about 3 hours when I finally saw a bird strutting through the bush like he owned the place. I lined that peacock up and fired. Twigs and leaves went flying in all directions and the bird took off unscathed (confirmed) for parts unknown. So much for the Death Star effect! Oh, and did I mention, he was walking?
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Welcome to shotgunning 101.....Laugh2
 
Chuckbuster said:
I had to chuckle...because a couple of days ago I missed an easy shot on my last possible grouse of the season. I had been out walking in the cold rain for about 3 hours when I finally saw a bird strutting through the bush like he owned the place. I lined that peacock up and fired. Twigs and leaves went flying in all directions and the bird took off unscathed (confirmed) for parts unknown. So much for the Death Star effect! Oh, and did I mention, he was walking?
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Lol .... When i was a young lad chasing my first I saw two 30 yards away..... All I had to hunt with was single Cooey 84 full choke... I wanted one of those birds so bad (likely 100 hours put in by then)..... I pointed and fired..... No bird..... An I searched for 20 minutes..... They can make you scratch your head.....

It made me lose sleep, but the next day I was out with dad..... And I took my first bird, a woodcock on the flush.... Have been hooked ever since.....
 
Chuckbuster said:
I had to chuckle...because a couple of days ago I missed an easy shot on my last possible grouse of the season. I had been out walking in the cold rain for about 3 hours when I finally saw a bird strutting through the bush like he owned the place. I lined that peacock up and fired. Twigs and leaves went flying in all directions and the bird took off unscathed (confirmed) for parts unknown. So much for the Death Star effect! Oh, and did I mention, he was walking?
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Haha...that was funny
 
Yeah, sometimes funny sh!t happens! I know that some people would not have fired on that walking bird, and that's okay. I'm not the greatest of wing shots for flushing grouse (I'm okay with flying ducks), but then most birds around here either try to hide or skulk away versus flushing explosively, and so, the norm is to take them as they come; whether on the wing or on the ground.
 
Chuckbuster said:
Yeah, sometimes funny sh!t happens! I know that some people would not have fired on that walking bird, and that's okay. I'm not the greatest of wing shots for flushing grouse (I'm okay with flying ducks), but then most birds around here either try to hide or skulk away versus flushing explosively, and so, the norm is to take them as they come; whether on the wing or on the ground.
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I do all I can to take every grouse I see.... Plentiful and so tasty!

When situation dictates, I carry my 410/22..... Makes for a nice shot both ways..... But if I have my o/u I never hesitate on a shot...
 
Superbrad said:
I do all I can to take every grouse I see.... Plentiful and so tasty!

When situation dictates, I carry my 410/22..... Makes for a nice shot both ways..... But if I have my o/u I never hesitate on a shot...
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I wholeheartedly agree. And since grouse have been fairly low in number here the last couple of years, most if not all will not hesitate to take a shot (a safe one, that is)...and that was probably my undoing on Sunday...I was too quick whereas if I had waited just another second or two he would have been in the open and in the frying pan that night.
 
1963beretta said:
Well said. I once knew an older duck hunter who was a terrible wing-shot. He only shot at ducks in water and would pass up every shot in the air, regardless of how close the bird was. Although I would personally find this method boring, I appreciated the fact that he knew his restrictions and only hunted within them. I had way more respect for him then many of the idiots who pulled the trigger on everything regardless of how far the birds were. All those guys do is wound birds and retreive nothing. In this case, i would say that the older hunter is the more ethical hunter
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So it's okay to shoot within your limits. Hmm, interesting
 
Northman999 said:
I guess I'm just tired of hunters picking fights with each other, mostly.

And for me, "fair chase" and "sporting", just don't exist, period. I have a hard time even relating to the idea, honestly, when it comes to a human being with a firearm going after a bird or a bunny. But each to his own...
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As far as picking fights with each other, what do you think would have happened around the popbellied stove in the general store 100 years ago? Think they would have been holding hands and singing ' Kumbaya'?
And I spent many a winter day as a youth following jackrabbits around with a Cooey model 60. Notice I said ' Following'? And truck or a sled would have gotten them right now, or a spotlight after dark. But Dad wouldn't have allowed that; it wasn't fair to the animal. Hence fair chase. In that theme a semi-automatic or a shotgun would have made short work of them as well. Which would likey have been ' Less Sporting ' IMO. Refering to a 13 year old walking in a snowsuit behind Jackrabbits through the snow; hey it would have been 1979 or 1980, there wasn't much to do as a prairie boy...that was sport!
Figuring it out, friend?
 
Gatehouse said:
So it's okay to shoot within your limits. Hmm, interesting
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I think you meant within your limitations? And absolutely yes to that, if the fellow as stated had difficulty killing a bird on the wing but not so much on water then he was far better serving the animal in that capacity by using his personal ability to produce a clean kll vs a greater chance of wounding it or for that matter maybe it was his only ability to harvest one period. It is called hunting not proving your marksmanship.
But if you did mean within your limits well thats a legal issue because if you are implying shooting outside of your limits then you take your chances on getting caught!
 
Not to mention it can be as hard as hell on your decoys depending who is doing the shooting. I remember one guy in a blind one time when guiding jumped up and never even looked at the birds in the air in front of us but proceeded to blow the f'k out of one poor plastic floater with three shots
I think he killed it :(
Cheers
 
the spank said:
I think you meant within your limitations? And absolutely yes to that, if the fellow as stated had difficulty killing a bird on the wing but not so much on water then he was far better serving the animal in that capacity by using his personal ability to produce a clean kll vs a greater chance of wounding it or for that matter maybe it was his only ability to harvest one period. It is called hunting not proving your marksmanship.
But if you did mean within your limits well thats a legal issue because if you are implying shooting outside of your limits then you take your chances on getting caught!
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Thank you Spank. Im glad someone understood the point of my post
 
3macs1 said:
Not to mention it can be as hard as hell on your decoys depending who is doing the shooting. I remember one guy in a blind one time when guiding jumped up and never even looked at the birds in the air in front of us but proceeded to blow the f'k out of one poor plastic floater with three shots
I think he killed it :(
Cheers
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yup, happened to me too. Needless to say, I no longer hunt with that individual
 
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