I'm looking to expand my hunting (and freezer content) with some waterfowl this year, neither me or my main hunting buddy have done waterfowl before and have no waterfowl gear other than guns and I can get calls too. Has anyone hunted without decoys/blinds/dogs? Hunting over water is not possible that I can see without a dog and we are pretty much just looking for strategies on hunting them with none of the gear.
Waterfowl Hunting Without Decoys/Blinds/Dog
- Thread starter Smithwess
- Start date
Didn't even know that technique and it didn't pop up when I was researching either, thanks I'll have to give it a go.
DragonFire
CGN Regular
- Location
- mid Canada
Try pass shooting. Find a spot were birds are coming off a lake or going back and get underneath them. Just find a bit of public land or get permission from a land owner and have at er. Not much gear needed at all.
DF
DF
JDMLandscaping
CGN Regular
- Location
- Lower Mainland BC
I have had luck with jump shooting as stated above. Where I am there is lots of drainages ditches and sloughs all around. Find where they like to hang out and sneak up on them. Talk to farmers who have standing water and get land permission if you see an area that looks like you could stalk in on them. Other then that keep an eye out for sales on decoys, I bought mine just prior to my first season of waterfowl hunting up near St. Paul AB (2 and change hours from you) and with those 12 decoys I shot birds every time I went out. Sat on a tripod stool in the reeds and stuck some foliage in my tally hat and watched them come in. You will never regret the small investment as waterfowl hunting is addicting, I get more excited for it then deer season.
I'm often in the same situation as my dog mostly retrieves the decoys.
There are lots of tips at Duck Unlimited.
https://www.ducks.org/hunting/waterfowl-hunting-tips/ten-super-scouting-tips
I waterfowl in more rural forested areas in Eastern Ontario, tactics may be different in your area. Basically you can track ducks to a small night pond. Go out at dusk and dawn and track where the ducks are flying to at night and flying from in the morning. Then use a map to triangulate the location of a small pond. Basically the ducks move out to different areas to eat during the day but bunch together at night for safety. If you find such a night pond. It will give you the best ops. Bring hip waders and a long stick to retrieve your catch. This method is basically an hour of quiet and 10 minutes of pure carnage. It is massively addictive.
I've had no luck at all for goose without decoys and a field setup. My tactic there has been to negotiate a deal with a couple of guides where they call me last second if they get a cancellation. I fill the seat at half the price. They call, I run. Sometimes I'm out there 3 Saturdays in a row and sometimes not called at all in a season. Overall much cheaper than buying a large set and the guides have the permissions established and conduct scouting all week before. There is always action.
When hunting with a bunch of guys we circle a small lake or large pond containing lots of feeding migratory birds and the shooting makes them swirl around the lake. Using that method two or three hunters have a chance of a flyby from the same ducks. I retrieve those with a small kayak.
Good Luck!
GJG
There are lots of tips at Duck Unlimited.
https://www.ducks.org/hunting/waterfowl-hunting-tips/ten-super-scouting-tips
I waterfowl in more rural forested areas in Eastern Ontario, tactics may be different in your area. Basically you can track ducks to a small night pond. Go out at dusk and dawn and track where the ducks are flying to at night and flying from in the morning. Then use a map to triangulate the location of a small pond. Basically the ducks move out to different areas to eat during the day but bunch together at night for safety. If you find such a night pond. It will give you the best ops. Bring hip waders and a long stick to retrieve your catch. This method is basically an hour of quiet and 10 minutes of pure carnage. It is massively addictive.
I've had no luck at all for goose without decoys and a field setup. My tactic there has been to negotiate a deal with a couple of guides where they call me last second if they get a cancellation. I fill the seat at half the price. They call, I run. Sometimes I'm out there 3 Saturdays in a row and sometimes not called at all in a season. Overall much cheaper than buying a large set and the guides have the permissions established and conduct scouting all week before. There is always action.
When hunting with a bunch of guys we circle a small lake or large pond containing lots of feeding migratory birds and the shooting makes them swirl around the lake. Using that method two or three hunters have a chance of a flyby from the same ducks. I retrieve those with a small kayak.
Good Luck!
GJG
I hunt ducks without decoys, usually limit out opening AM on the lake. We don't use retrievers, but a small canoe. Snapping turtles are a problem on occasion, if we wait for the birds to be done flying before we retrieve.
After opener, I prefer hunting the evening on creeks which are flyways to the night rest. The last 10 minutes of legal are fast and furious. A beaver dam is helpful to collect the ducks after the hunt. Waders for the retrieve.
Geese, always use decoys on the fields
After opener, I prefer hunting the evening on creeks which are flyways to the night rest. The last 10 minutes of legal are fast and furious. A beaver dam is helpful to collect the ducks after the hunt. Waders for the retrieve.
Geese, always use decoys on the fields
Find a spot with several sloughs in a small area, watch the ducks and where they fly (hint, ducks fly into the wind often), get yourself under that flight path. Stand fricken still! Did I mention stand still? When the ducks are within range shoot them.
Don’t forget stand still
Don’t forget stand still
This is what I do, shot a lot of geese last year doing this. Only cost me some cammo clothing and a gun. I love waterfowl hunting.
I've had great luck hunting duck with no gear. but we had sloughs, we'd sneak in, they'd pickup, shoot a few, they'd usually circle a few times, then they'd bugger off to the next pond, just watch where they go, usually only a little ways away. We wore waders to retrieve birds, (never had an issue) then we'd drive to where they landed and go again.
Now I have all the gear and field hunter mainly geese but lots of ducks too. either way is fun but we usually produce more birds with the decoys and blinds
Now I have all the gear and field hunter mainly geese but lots of ducks too. either way is fun but we usually produce more birds with the decoys and blinds
- Location
- Saskatchewan
Buy yourself some chest waders to start. i began my waterfowl hunting career as a retriever for my grandpa. We drove back roads, shot ducks out the ditches, and I was the "dog". Still a fun way to hunt, but now you need permission from local landowners.
