Late fall gunning great Cold weather has ducks eating more, moving less

During late November and early December, Maine waterfowl hunters can enjoy some of the most productive outings of the entire season for big puddle ducks. Most regional sportsmen are combing the woods in search of deer, and the number of duck hunters dwindles considerably. Devoted waterfowlers couldn’t be happier, since minimal hunting pressure makes the ducks less wary and more predictable in their feeding, flying, and roosting routines.

Cold weather is also a considerable benefit to local duck hunters as it forces the birds to feed more and move around less. Once a good food source is located, the ducks will return day after day and spend hours eating to help withstand the colder weather and prepare for their long trek south. During the early season, ducks don’t need to eat as heavily, and their feeding and flying routines vary daily, often making them difficult to locate and hunt.

An early spring with warm weather and very little rain offered perfect nesting, hatching, and growing conditions for ducklings throughout the Northeast and Canadian wetlands and brood areas. Early-season gunning was very good and late-season action will get better and better over the next few weeks. From farm ponds to large lakes, and on every creek, brook, stream, and river, ducks are present in growing numbers.

Maine is in the upper portion of the Atlantic flyway, as well as holding many native birds. The area serves as a stopover and feeding area for ducks migrating from Canada to winter in warmer climes. Late fall is prime time for migrating mallards and big red-leg black ducks to visit our region and provide great gunning opportunities late in our season.

Blue and green-winged teal and wood ducks are notoriously warm-blooded and will have departed northern and central Maine after the first few consecutive nights of near freezing temperatures. Ring-necked ducks, common goldeneye, buffleheads, mallards, and black ducks make up the bulk of late fall flyers, but just for variety, a few scaup, widgeon, gadwall, and even a rare pintail may add to a gunner’s bounty.

Novice and part-time duck hunters can enjoy waterfowling with a minimal amount of gear, but it’s easy to become a fanatic for the sport, and then extravagant amounts of gear and equipment come into play. Ducks are extremely wary, with sharp eyesight and acute hearing, which help them avoid predators and hunters. They fly off rapidly and erratically at the slightest suspicion of danger, and refuse to land or fly near spots where anything seems the least bit out of place. Ducks are a great sporting challenge for area outdoorsmen and often overlooked in favor of deer, moose, and grouse.

Jump shooting is the most uncomplicated method of duck hunting. The sport simply sneaks through the brush to the edge of a stream or small pothole hoping to surprise ducks resting or feeding in a certain spot and get a shot when they take off. Bogans, backwaters, eddies, and beaver swales are plentiful along local streams, and small farm ponds are abundant as well, and all attract and hold ducks this late in the season.

Make sure the water you sneak in on is shallow enough that downed birds can be reached by wearing chest waders, unless a canoe or bird dog is at hand to aid retrieval. During deer season, duck hunters must wear two items of hunter orange clothing unless they are using decoys or hunting from a boat or blind. Jump shooting offers plenty of fast and furious wing shooting, and since outings require little gear and no setup time, it’s the perfect idea for a prework hunt or whenever time is limited.

Setting out two or three dozen mixed decoys on water or in a feeding field and hiding in an adjacent blind is the most popular way to bring ducks within shotgun range. In most water locations, a canoe or small boat will be needed to put out and pick up decoys and to retrieve downed ducks.

Some hunters hide near decoys by dressing from head to toe in camouflage clothing, wearing gloves and a face mask, and lying in field drainage ditches or hunkering down in a hedgerow. Waterway shooters blend into shoreline brush or beside large rocks or hunks of deadwood. A few build elaborate blinds from available natural brush, reeds, shrubs, and deadwood and fill in the holes with strips of camouflage cloth.

Such natural blinds are near duck hunting spots that will be visited frequently throughout the season and provide the amenities of a windbreak, comfortable seating, and protection from the elements. Devout duck hunters who enjoy gunning from various locations each week own portable blinds or boats with attached blinds, which can be easily transported and quickly set up and taken down. Late-season ducks will only stand so much shooting in one spot before they relocate, and this is where a portable blind pays dividends.

Another favorite and productive style of season-end duck gunning, and the most picturesque, tranquil, and natural, is floating a favorite waterway at dawn or dusk in a canoe. A solo hunter can manage, but a duo with a shooter in the front and a paddler in the stern will assure better opportunities.

The paddler keeps the boat near shore, hugging corners and steering clear of rocks and obstacles while sneaking the canoe within shooting range of ducks. Close watch must be kept on eddies, bogans, and backwaters as the boat slides by, for ducks are often jumped from these quiet spots. When a bird is downed, the pair of hunters switch locations in the boat and continue downstream. This technique works along lake shores, ponds, and thoroughfares as well, and don’t forget to wear a flotation vest for this style of waterfowling.

Regular duck season ends on Dec. 8 in the north zone and is open until Dec. 22 in the south zone. Even if certain waters freeze over, birds can still be found along streams and rivers. Gunning becomes more predictable and consistent when only a few areas of open water are available to the remaining ducks.

Newcomers to the sport need to purchase a $15 federal duck stamp at the local post office and a state stamp for $2.50 at the town office or city hall. Shells loaded with steel shot or any acceptable non-toxic shot are required for duck hunting, and although a 3-inch, 20-gauge shotgun will do the job, a 3- or 31/2-inch 12 gauge will assure quick, clean kills at reasonable ranges. Lots of camouflage outerwear over layered warm clothes and hip or chest waders assure comfort and dryness. Pick up a set of rules, regulations, and legal hunting times with your license, and learn what various species look like, or go with a knowledgeable and experienced waterfowler the first couple of trips.

Late-season duck hunting will offer fun, excitement, and good gunning for several more weeks. Wild duck is a dry, delicious dark meat that makes excellent tablefare. Once you bag the next mallard or black duck, try a recipe for duck l’orange, and you’ll soon have another good reason to go waterfowl gunning again real soon.

Outdoor sports writer Bill Graves lives in Presque Isle. He can be reached at graves@polaris.umpi.maine.edu