(Photo credit: MD Johnson.)
October 09, 2024
By MD Johnson
I’m not going to ruffle any feathers and say early-season ducks are dumb or that anyone with a shotgun, a pocket full of shells, and 8 Carry-Lite mallards from 1977 can go out and, within minutes, put a limit of brown ducks on the strap. Yes, it can be done. However, not always, and not all the time.
True, there are places where these so-called early ducks pose less of a challenge. Alberta comes to mind. Saskatchewan as well. Not always, but often enough. The fact is, though, these “easy” Canadian birds eventually make it down to the states, and they’ve seen a thing or two by the time they do. Lots of calling. Bad noises coming out of the willow clumps. Thirty-six stationary mallard ducks. And boxes of Tim Horton’s donuts. They aren’t wise yet, but they’re getting there.
Early ducks are situational. My tidal ducks in early October haven’t been through the wringer, Whereas Tony Vandemore’s ducks, come his Missouri opener in early November…well, they are pretty smart by the time season opens. So, it depends, obviously, on where you are and what you’re dealing with.
Here, though, we will focus primarily on the first-of-the-season birds. How do you handle these ducks? Read on and we’ll discuss how one finds and fools these first chance ‘fowl.
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Early Season – Early Scouting I enjoy scouting. I take my 10’ Aquapod, slip it into a mid-flood tide, and visit my old haunts. Or I take the same skiff, drop it into a nearby tributary, and paddle around. What I’m looking for, aside from birds themselves, is change. Have the winter tides breached this levee? Has my favorite little sitting hummock been ruined? Do I need a plan B? I’m digging for information to be used in the present and the future parts of the season.
(Photo credit: MD Johnson.) By the time the opener rolls around, I’ve done my driving and handshaking. Honestly, I’m not deadly serious about scouting these early ducks. For me, it’s more of a chance to get out, get away, and see what I might be getting myself into during those first couple weeks. Do I need to change this? Do I need that? I’m more concerned with finding the changes to where I will be hunting. Those changes will dictate how and where I plan to hunt birds as the season goes on.
Opening bell decoys Some guys will tell you they don’t run their very best decoys during the early season. “No need to,” they’ll say. “Early ducks don’t know the difference.” Well, maybe they do, and maybe they don’t. I’m of a mind, then, why risk it?
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(Photo credit: MD Johnson.) I guess you could call me a minimalist when it comes to decoys and decoys spreads. My waters are small. Shallow river eddies. Timber-lined creeks. Beaver ponds. Living room-sized puddles hidden in a tidal marsh. I’m packing a dozen, 18 at most, of the mixed dabbler spread I use throughout the season, start to finish. Mostly mallards, with a couple drake pintails for color, a couple widgeon, and my “Good Luck” drake shoveler. It’s the Carnival Spread, as a friend in Iowa called it. The spread is anchored with Rig‘Em Right’s Texas Rigs, so I can pick up and move with speed if needed. Early ducks are often fickle; here, there, up, down, moving around. Via the Aquapod, I move with them.
That call around your neck This won’t make me any friends, but if you’re bound and determined to blow that duck call around your neck go ahead and do that during these first couple of weeks. After that, you’ll either have (1) gotten better, both at calling and at reading birds and knowing to call or when not to call, or (2) been told to put the call away by your hunting partner, whose patience has grown razor thin.
Calling in the early season is very unneeded. The birds haven’t been pressured, and the confidence provided by a call isn’t yet warranted. Much like the late season, you can let the decoys do the work. Once the birds get a bit more wary, a call can become a valuable tool. During the early season, a few simple quacks is more than enough.
(Photo credit: MD Johnson.) I understand there are places and situations, e.g., pressured green timber hunts, where being a maestro with a duck call and putting out a lot of sound means the difference between shooting ducks and simply watching them fly over the treetops. And I admire and respect those with those abilities. I don’t call much in my world, and when I do, it’s a very basic language. Short five- to seven-note greetings. Calm contented quacks. A whistle—always, always a whistle—for dweeking like that old greenhead or throwing out a short series of wigeon or sprig trills. Then I watch how the birds react. That’s how you learn.
Successful duck hunting is all about forming good habits and then building upon that foundation as you progress throughout your season. Scouting. Decoy maintenance, rigging, and placement. Calling. The shotgun you shoot and the ammunition you feed it. The early season is a great time to learn and become a better hunter. Learning things like not pressuring that little wood duck hole you found and having it all to yourself so you can shoot it for a couple weeks before the birds leave or start coming back after LST (legal shooting time.) It’s not rocket science, but sometimes we make it more complicated than it needs to be.