2023 Waterfowl Thread

[Doug]

Went out for a quick hunt this morning.

No decoys, sitting on the bank of a creek feeding into a major lake.

I'm very amateur at duck hunting. I am quickly finding out that I am not very good at shooting while sitting down (maybe really not very, I'm not very good in general). I got a couple mallard hens and a teal. I expended an embarrassing amount of shells doing so. Could easily have limited out if I was a better shot

Loving my new franchi affinity, now I can shoot at the air around ducks much more efficiently.

Passed on a few flights because they would have landed on the far end of the creek which is slightly too deep to wade across if I had managed to hit them. Took some self control.

Unrelated but anyone in regina who owns a dog want to go duck hunting

Honesty is good.

Just out of idle curiosity, are you shooting HIGH SPEED shells? I switched to high speed at least three decades ago, and it made all the difference to my "kill" ratio. (On geese)

Doug

 

[medvedqc]

Went out for a quick hunt this morning.

No decoys, sitting on the bank of a creek feeding into a major lake.

I'm very amateur at duck hunting. I am quickly finding out that I am not very good at shooting while sitting down (maybe really not very, I'm not very good in general). I got a couple mallard hens and a teal. I expended an embarrassing amount of shells doing so. Could easily have limited out if I was a better shot

Loving my new franchi affinity, now I can shoot at the air around ducks much more efficiently.

Passed on a few flights because they would have landed on the far end of the creek which is slightly too deep to wade across if I had managed to hit them. Took some self control.

Unrelated but anyone in regina who owns a dog want to go duck hunting

you re not alone lol ... my first duck hunting as a new hunter was a disaster and the ducks were so happy ... the labrador dog that was with us was mad at the shots and no ducks down.
the next day was better when i used a benelli semi auto i used the previous day a miroku that was great on pheasant but no so on ducks ...

anyway you will have a great time trying to find your way.

 

[conor_90]

Weird thing is, sitting is my best shooting position with a rifle.

I nailed both mallards from standing at (relatively) long range. It's a good feeling when the duck folds and falls straight to the ground.

Funny thing is at one point I saw a nice mules buck ~150 metres across the creek and thought "I could hit that with a rifle any day, and I keep missing ducks at 25 yards"

Glad to have such good duck hunting. Not allowed to big game hunt as a nonresident so it's good to get out

Doug I was shooting some Rio no 3's from a half finished box and a few old no 2 Winchester I got from a guy who quit duck hunting when steel came out. I try to save those for cripples

I bought some no 4's, hoping they pattern better.

Duck meat may be the runner up.to Haida Gwaii blacktails as most expensive per lb

 

[track]

Had two great days with my son and two grandsons on the first two days of migratory. The first day was good and the second day was really hot. Had strings of Canada's coming in right over the decoys at 15 feet. The Italian guns were a blasting!
https://imgur.com/a/S4spxxp

 

[conor_90]

What is your son shooting?

 

[Doug]

Number 3 or 2 shot should be OK, 4 might be better for your situation. But it is the VELOCITY that I found makes all the difference. Kent Fasteel would be a good place to start. But the Winchester XPert Hi-Velocity Steel Waterfowl ammo has been very consistent for me, and it doesn't break the bank for a box of it.

Doug

 

[the spank]

I've been running Score brand ammo this year as Cabelas had it on sale all summer at pre-covid prices so I bought 10 cases. 5 of 2 3/4" 1 1/16oz #3 @1550fps and 3" 1 1/4oz #2 @1550fps. I was skeptical but the stuff is fantastic, absolutely equally on par with Kent Faststeel at almost half the price!
Conor90 shoot where they are going not where they have been. Keep your head on the stock and keep swinging after you pull the trigger or as I used to teach newbies on the skeet field "wood on wood and keep swinging". The other thing is being a rifle shooter you are most likely looking at your sights(bead) and not the bird. Your hard focus has to be on the duck. If in your mind thinking back after the shot if you can see the bead clearly in your sight picture memory you were looking at your barrel not your target. I removed the beads on my guns that way me eye is not drawn to it. Just a few tips that might help.
A few from this past weekend. Friday morning with my buddy, limit of ducks and 3 Specks and solo this morning. A duck limit in under 15 minutes and a bonus snow.
The new to me Maxus Sporting Clays I'm shooting this season fits me better than any gun I've owned since my custom fitted Model 12 years ago. I have some great footage on the Shotkam mounted to it to put together at seasons end.

 

[TTTimothy]

Went on my first waterfowl trip today, dropped the first and the only one. I'm very satisfied, though it took me 2hrs to clean everything up, the bird smell is strong!

 

[1963beretta]

Well done Spank. I really need to get one of those shot cams!

Sadly, my season likely came to an end just days before the goose opener. I was up at the lake on the 3rd and built a pretty snazzy blind just in time for the early goose opener on the 7th. Unfortunately just two days later, an unforeseen medical issue came up and I found myself in the hospital awaiting a surgery. Surgery was successful, but with a 6-12 week recovery, I fear my season may have come to an end before it had a chance to start. FACK!! With any luck, I may be able to catch the tail end of the season if my revocer is quicker than expected and the the weather holds out long enough

 

[conor_90]

Thanks for the advice spank. I have noticed my success seems to be higher if I am surprised by the duck and snap shoot it, I attributed this to lots of practice doing this with a rifle but I am thinking it has to do with less time to "aim".

I am still working on how much to lead the ducks. It's shocking how fast they can move move sometimes. I have actually watched a bit of your shot cam footage and found it helpful, I am glad I don't have one

 

[cosmic]

Thanks for the advice spank. I have noticed my success seems to be higher if I am surprised by the duck and snap shoot it, I attributed this to lots of practice doing this with a rifle but I am thinking it has to do with less time to "aim".

I am still working on how much to lead the ducks. It's shocking how fast they can move move sometimes. I have actually watched a bit of your shot cam footage and found it helpful, I am glad I don't have one

Well - You can be pretty well assured you:

1) Aren't leading them enough, particularly geese which are farther away, and faster than you think.
2) Are shooting at birds that are essentially out of range.

Here's a duck hunting story (?). Our deer camp will try their hand at duck hunting once a year, as a warm up for deer season. None of the 5 or 6 participants are accomplished shotgunners - to them, hunting is deer hunting with a rifle. They set up on a flyway at dusk and wait. The flyway narrows between two ridges, and tends to channel the ducks. The ducks can be spotted several hundred yards away, in theory this should lead to some lucrative shooting.
However, the boys get excited and start shooting their semis when the ducks are about 100 yards away, and empty their guns by the time the ducks are about 60 yards away. Last shoot, they managed to harvest one duck, at which point they retired back to the camp to celebrate their success with various beverages.
Anyway, I leave you to ascertain the point to this story.

 

[track]

What is your son shooting?

The shotgun is a side by side 12 gauge Fabarm Beta IV with 30" barrels. For migratory, he shoots only bismuth and tungston. For upland, lead shot. Here is a close-up photgraph of the shotgun.
https://imgur.com/a/C6ArLP6
https://youtu.be/zdr0JTgka88

 

[conor_90]

Thanks tracking, nice gun

Definitely not shooting at ducks too far away, I wait till they are crossing basically over head or directly in front of me. Learned that lesson on geese last year

 

[medvedqc]

Well done Spank. I really need to get one of those shot cams!

Sadly, my season likely came to an end just days before the goose opener. I was up at the lake on the 3rd and built a pretty snazzy blind just in time for the early goose opener on the 7th. Unfortunately just two days later, an unforeseen medical issue came up and I found myself in the hospital awaiting a surgery. Surgery was successful, but with a 6-12 week recovery, I fear my season may have come to an end before it had a chance to start. FACK!! With any luck, I may be able to catch the tail end of the season if my revocer is quicker than expected and the the weather holds out long enough

wish you a safe and fast recovery.

 

[stubblejumper]

We were off to a late start, due to my hunting partner being sick for the opener, but we got out Saturday. A bright sunny morning,with no wind, but we still did okay. The specs were very skiddish, only a pair came in, and they did two passes at 60 yards before committing to land and offering easy shots. It was nice for two of us to triple on the same flock of ducks.

 

[medvedqc]

mostly a question for the spank and stubblejumper but of course any can answer as well lol ... are the birds you are hunting resident ones or the migration already started? because up here we did not saw or heard any flocks leaving the north and i can see some ducks that now are residents here? ...

 

[DFarmer]

Here in southern BC, there is nothing migrating in yet. I think it is still too warm in the north.

 

[1963beretta]

wish you a safe and fast recovery.

Thank you my friend!!

 

[the spank]

Well done Spank. I really need to get one of those shot cams!

Sadly, my season likely came to an end just days before the goose opener. I was up at the lake on the 3rd and built a pretty snazzy blind just in time for the early goose opener on the 7th. Unfortunately just two days later, an unforeseen medical issue came up and I found myself in the hospital awaiting a surgery. Surgery was successful, but with a 6-12 week recovery, I fear my season may have come to an end before it had a chance to start. FACK!! With any luck, I may be able to catch the tail end of the season if my revocer is quicker than expected and the the weather holds out long enough

Oh no! I can feel your pain and not surgical but the pain of missing a season. I wish you a speedy full recovery.

Thanks for the advice spank. I have noticed my success seems to be higher if I am surprised by the duck and snap shoot it, I attributed this to lots of practice doing this with a rifle but I am thinking it has to do with less time to "aim".
I am still working on how much to lead the ducks. It's shocking how fast they can move move sometimes. I have actually watched a bit of your shot cam footage and found it helpful, I am glad I don't have one

Thanks tracking, nice gun

Yes you do not want to "aim" your shotgun. Get out in front, pull the trigger and remain in front.

Definitely not shooting at ducks too far away, I wait till they are crossing basically over head or directly in front of me. Learned that lesson on geese last year

Overhead shots are going to be your hardest generally. Try to punch them out in front of you. The only overhead shots I generally take are the equivalent of standing on stations 1 and 8 on the skeet field and shooting the high house bird. Watch some shotkam footage on youtube of skeet shooting and duplicate those leads.

mostly a question for the spank and stubblejumper but of course any can answer as well lol ... are the birds you are hunting resident ones or the migration already started? because up here we did not saw or heard any flocks leaving the north and i can see some ducks that now are residents here? ...

Mix of both. Specks & Snows are definitely migrators as are many of the ducks. Here are a few more from this morning.

 

[track]

mostly a question for the spank and stubblejumper but of course any can answer as well lol ... are the birds you are hunting resident ones or the migration already started? because up here we did not saw or heard any flocks leaving the north and i can see some ducks that now are residents here? ...

Here in Southern Alberta there are only local migratory birds. It's the cold temperatures and snow which make them migrate, we've been having a hellava hot September to date. Usually the northern flocks commence the 2nd and 3rd week of October, weather pending.