Tweet
me and my dad are planning a duck hunting trip to Overcup Bottoms, some WMA land in northeastern oklahoma this weekend, but have no decoys. we are sure to encounter other hunters because it is public land. can anyone give me any decoyless duck/goose hunting tips? thanks!
-
-
Hire a guide. -
I have duck hunted private land before. If it is crowded with other hunters I would find a small pond and stay put. The ducks tend to get pushed around and they will go from pond to pond. Just make sure your hid and stay put. If you find you have the place to yourself I like to pond-hop for them. Eiter way can be fun if the ducks are there. Good luckComment
-
If it is large body of water, find a point and sit on it. Hope for the best though I wouldn't be very optimistic. If you don't have a dog (and that would seem doubtful since you don't even have decoys), then take along a spinning rod with a good sized bass-o-reno plug and use that to retrieve your birds from water. Realize that if you go hunting and don't have the means to retrieve your birds, you may be charged if you leave them in the field. At least youy should be charged.
I'm not a technocrap advocate by any means but getting into basic waterfowl hunting probably requires the most equipment of any hunting sport. If you don't have it, you're liable to just piss off everyone else in the area who is trying to do it right. I am concerned that you don't know anything about the regulations, clothing, and range of your guns. Nothing chaps my butt more than to have some fool park himself in the neighborhood of my setup and start shooting at birds flying over a hundred yards in the air. Or shoot at snipes, coots, grebes, tweety birds or any other thing that happens to fly by. If you are hunting in a public area you need to know what you are doing or you may ruin it for others. You will wreck their day and they may very well be inclined to wreck yours as well. Everybody needs to be on the same page or it just doesn't work. RES was being realistic not sarcastic.Comment
-
Ontario Honker:
i am not stupid. i have hunted ducks before and my dad is one of the most knowlegeable people i know. i know all the regulations for hunting, but have suffered a minor setback and have no decoys. just because i ask for tips doesnt mean i dont know what im doing.Comment
-
Easy does it. I'm reading a REAL general question asking about someplace that you've never hunted and how to use techniques that are really unorthodox. Sorry if I read that the wrong way but put yourself in my position. I am glad you have read the regs. Many don't, including one game warden that I ran into when I was a young fella hunting ducks in high school.
Unless you can find some meandering creeks or brushy ponds to jump shoot you're going to have a tough time. Still hunting without decoys is a real crap shoot. Frankly, jump shooting ducks is my favorite way to hunt. Unfortunately most of the areas that were any good for this kind of hunting are leased up or have homes built all over them. Everyone wants a creek running through their back yard, right? I know nothing about the Bottoms you intend to hunt - wait, let me bring it up in another window ... here's a map (although it is a pain to navigate) http://fishlab.ou.edu/odwcims/. Looks like it is a pretty small area for hunting one side of the river. That might work for you. Again, try to get yourself on the point of a meander (although I expect these spots will be highly sought after). Wait for birds who shortcut across the point. Hopefully they'll fall on the land. Take the fishing pole in case they don't. I think you can expect a place like this to be congested with other hunters. Good luck.
I beleive I gave you some good tips ahead of the warnings. Again, don't forget the fishing pole.Comment
-
ive hunted ducks without decoys before, but i did it on a small private lake. i just stayed concealed in the cattails and shot them as they flew along the edge of the shore in the morning. i dont have a retrieve, which would have been helpful, so i just used a small boat to go out and grab the ducks and geese.Comment
-
Ontario Honker, omg, this isn't a place to rip someone you don't know (especially considering Bassblaster1 was acting responsibly by coming here for suggestions).
Bassblaster1 - another way to hunt ducks without decoys is to pass shooting them if you can locate a frequently used flyway between two bodies of water. It can be a load of fun and dropping them on dry land makes for easy retrieves.Comment
-
Poor wording, sorry. I should have said I was concerned that you MIGHT not know what's going on with the regs, clothing, shot range, etc. Again, very poor choice of words. Good luck. I think I have given you some good advice in spite of it all.Comment
Comment