Couple questions on tidal duck hunting strategies

[TheCoachZed]

Hey guys,

I do almost all my duck hunting on tidal marshes, and rarely bother setting decoys unless I get rising tide and sunrise lined up where I want them. I find you just don't see a good flight otherwise.

But what about lining up a rising tide with sunset? I've never tried this, but does anyone know if it works? I know some people don't like hunting evenings over water, saying it ruins the roost, but in tidal areas, is that different?

And, I know a lot of guys throw goose decoys out as confidence decoys. There are plenty of geese in the area where I hunt blacks, but rarely/never in the area where I put my blind. Would I be wasting my time using a few Canadas as confidence birds? I'm hunting blacks, so I really don't like to use many decoys at all, let alone species they might not expect to see there.

 

[Redsoilreaper]

PM sent.

 

[Jim870]

Now I don't hunt the coast much but goose decoys in an area that geese are common even if your not where geese frequent in that area has been generally successful for duping black ducks for me. I usually set them distinctly separate from any duck decoys I have out, but still in shotgun range because sometimes a few singles or pairs of geese flying by may choose to join them.

 

[TheCoachZed]

Now I don't hunt the coast much but goose decoys in an area that geese are common even if your not where geese frequent in that area has been generally successful for duping black ducks for me. I usually set them distinctly separate from any duck decoys I have out, but still in shotgun range because sometimes a few singles or pairs of geese flying by may choose to join them.

Yeah, where you are up in Hampton, you see more goose action I think. I'm right down by the Westfield ferry -- lots of geese here in early season, but everything gets shot up pretty quickly around here. I'm usually super busy in early October on the boat, so I don't do much duck hunting til late Oct or November, depending what happens in deer season. Thankfully, that usually coincides perfectly with the arrival of the redlegs from up north. But by then, you don't see many ducks on the river, and you almost never see them in the Leprea/Chance Harbour/Dipper Harbour area, which is where I mostly hunt, since I'm already there for work.