Waterfowl ID: The Redhead

What Is a Redhead Duck?

“Wait – they come in RED?” Such is the response from many first-time waterfowlers when they see a photo of the redhead duck in the state hunting regulations. Conditioned to the ubiquitous mallard, the ginger flare of the drake redhead stands out like a punk rock cousin to the ducks eating breadcrumbs in the park, or perhaps like a juvenile greenhead who studied abroad and came back with ox-wool moccasins and a mustache. “I want one,” the young hunter will declare, and suddenly a bucket-list quest is born.

Experienced waterfowlers know, however, that there’s more that sets the rockin’ redhead apart in addition to its namesake top. And to put this coveted bird in the freezer, you’ll need a whole different set of skills. Below is your guide to identify, scout, decoy, call, and cook your first redhead duck.

How Do You Identify a Redhead Duck?

First, find a flock. Redheads are highly social (hence the nickname “the rafting duck”), so you’ll only rarely spot the bird in singles and pairs. The exception, of course, is during breeding season, when males and females will begin to isolate. But for most of the hunting season, your first clue that you’re looking at a redhead will be spotting a wad of 20-50 football sized ducks bobbling on waves.

Once you get your glass on them, the giveaway will be the color of the mature drake’s noggin. You’ve got to be a bit careful to distinguish these birds from the male canvasback, but the deeper cinnamon color and sloping forehead of King Can are distinct from the almost baseball-like profile of the redhead (“apple heads,” one experienced diver calls them, explaining how the drakes seem to hold their round heads aloft like golf balls on a tee when they’re working the dekes).

In flight, the redhead can appear like the greater scaup due to the similar size and wing rhythm. But the grey speculum on the redhead will be your clue to shoulder your shotgun (vs. the stark white wing patches on both greater and lesser scaup). If you’re targeting redheads, remember the adage: “grey is ok” – then punch the trigger.

How Do You Hunt Redheads?

Time to summon the expert: Joel Meeteer of Wenatchee, WA. A lifelong big-water hunter who cut his teeth on Pools 7, 8, and 9 of the Mississippi, Joel is a devoted conservationist and member of Washington State’s Waterfowl Advisory Group who currently spends 63 days per year chasing redheads and other divers on the upper Columbia. “Our crew harvested 88 redheads in the 2021-22 season,” Joel responded when asked if he knew anything about hunting the redhead. Below, Joel shares that wisdom with the WILDFOWL masses.

How Do You Scout for Redhead Ducks?

Redheads, like most divers, are a big water duck. They’re also unashamed vegetarians, seeking out submerged plants like wild celery, shoal grass, sago pondweed, and delta duck potato. A phone call to your regional waterfowl biologist could point you to some areas where these foods are common, but there’s no substitution for time on the water. Another shortcut: find the coots. “Redheads are kind of like wigeon in that they are happy to let coots do the dirty work of rooting out food, then steal what they can,” Joel explains. “I will sometimes drive my boat up and down the river until I find a mass of coots. And when I do, I’ve usually found the redheads, too.”

Redhead Scouting Hack: Find the annual hangouts. “Redheads tend to come back to the same spots year after year,” Joel notes, “And usually around the same time.” So if you find a redhead pool party this November, mark the location on your mapping app and set a calendar appointment in your phone for November next. If you keep the date, the faithful redheads probably will, too.

How Do I Set Up for Redhead Ducks?

“You can often decoy redheads right back from where you scared them,” Joel advises. In fact, one of Joel’s favorite tactics for hunting redheads and other divers is to cruise the river in his boat until he kicks up a mass of birds. “If possible, set up right on the X. As fast as you can, too, because they might return faster than you think.” Shore blinds are ideal, especially if you can get out on a point that juts into the big water. “But don’t skimp on the cover,” Joel notes. Redheads will decoy, but they have a low tolerance for anything out of place. “Keep your facemask on and your head below the lip of the blind,” Joel tells first timers, “Or we’re not killing redheads.”

Redhead Setup Hack: Watch the wind. “Divers must take off into the wind,” Joel notes. “Almost always, when you kick up a raft of redheads, they’ll end up flying upwind of their last location.” So if you can’t set up right on the X, set up upwind of the X and you’ll probably still get some good gunning when the birds return. Another pro tip from Joel: hunt the crosswind. “I like to hunt a back-quartering or even straight-up crosswind for divers because it keeps their eyes off the blinds and on the decoys.” For new diver hunters, especially, this provides plenty of time to rise slowly, set your feet, and prepare to send three magnum loads several feet behind the gorgeous drake redhead of your dreams as it skitters unharmed to the horizon.

How Do You Decoy Redhead Ducks?

“Like with canvasbacks, you’re going to want to buy some species-specific decoys,” Joel advises. Joel sets at least 6-9 realistic redhead decoys in every diver spread, alongside 2-3 dozen coots (“just like you’ll see when you’re scouting”). But if he’s targeting redheads exclusively, Joel will quadruple the number of redhead blocks in his spread. “You’ll get the odd flock to give you a look if you’re using half a dozen redhead decoys,” Joel says. “But if you up that to three dozen, you’ll have flocks working right into the pocket.” Time to get out the credit card.

Redhead Decoy Hack: Bring your goose flag. “Redheads respond well to motion in the spread,” Joel observes. “But if you can’t get a spinner out on the water, flagging from a layout boat or even from the shore can work great to get their attention.”  And believe it or not, the same small-sized goose flag you waved from the pit in September will do the trick just fine for cruising flocks of divers (“it’s the white/black contrast,” Joel says). Just make sure to drop the flag and hold still as the birds approach shooting range.

How Do You Shoot Redhead Ducks?

Redheads are bigger than you think. And tough. “Twelve gauge ounce-and-a-quarter #3’s are good canvasback medicine,” Joel notes. “I wouldn’t go smaller than that.” If you can afford it, bismuth or TSS in the #2 - #4 range can also work. “But the main thing is getting a load that patterns well out of a gun you can shoot comfortably.”

Redhead Hack: “Take your usual lead and double it,” Joel advises. “That’s what I say to all new diver hunters.” In fact, this is exactly what Joel said to me after I whiffed on the afore-mentioned redhead drake on a mid-January hunt with Joel last season. So when the next group of redheads skirted the spread, I picked out a young drake, pulled my bead away the length of a school bus, and sent the juvenile tumbling to the water and onto the strap.

How Do You Cook a Redhead Duck?

Oh baby. Now we’re getting to the good part. Redhead ducks taste even better on the plate than they look on the wing, due both to their vegetarian diet and their tendency to run fat. “I’ll pluck every redhead that I can,” Joel notes. “It’s worth it.” If you’re new to the plucking game, you can start by just plucking the breast, but once you taste a medium-rare roasted canvasback filet, crackling and dripping with wild river fat... you’re going to be plucking every inch of that precious bird with a grin on your face.

Redhead cooking hack: Grill some poppers. “My go-to redhead dish is the jalepeno popper,” Joel says. “Cut your redhead into strips, wrap it around some cream cheese, pin some bacon around that with a toothpick, throw it on the grill – you’ll be the hit of the party.” Our mouths are watering already, Joel. So get out there and find your redhead.

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