No Dog, No Boat Duck Hunting

[KurtR]

first dont shoot the roost and if pass shooting dont sky bust. Get a pair of waders and a dozen decoys and hunt small water and you can kill alot of ducks. Hunting in the field is great but you will need decoys and unless you are on the x you need alot of them to traffic geese. You get bit by the waterfowl bug and simple and cheap dont describe it haha. it makes backcountry hunting look cheap

 

[WestKyHunt]

I agree with everything that has been said and do not want to keep beating a dead horse.

If your area is like mine, kayaks were impossible to find this year new (I havent looked lately).
I'd say this year or maybe next there will be a large sell off of barely used kayaks. Wait til then and find a killer deal?
I prefer a sit on top or a hybrid sit in. If it rolls you dont want to be trapped inside

 

[cmankingsley]

A kayak with a jet sled behind it can get you into a lot of places.

 

[T28w]

Just a comment on hunting with dogs. A good dog is an awesome thing to have but is def not necessary as others have alluded to.

I’d rather hunt without a dog than hunt with a poorly trained dog, even an average dog in most situations. It can get very expensive to get a dog with good pedigree and then get them trained. It’s a lot of work, time, and knowledge needed to get a Dog where they need to be.

 

[Wetwork]

Well just get a scull-boat and find someone to teach you how to use it. You can pick up a used one for $500 if you know where to look. There is no one more pirate or secretive or possessive than sculler's. Little known much feared. You don't need a dog, or decoys, or calls. Just water and binos and spotting scope on your pickup window.-WW

 

[Brendan]

Have to admit, any boat for retrieval is sketchy in these conditions. Wadeable at low tide or fishing rod works. (Taken a couple days ago here in the Northeast)

 

[TheGDog]

Perspective from a n00b at hunting ducks. Wading into the muck is some seriously sketchy isht! (At least it is at Wister) Even if it's all wadable height. I learned to take my trekking pole with me to cut down some distance, and have something I can possibly jab down for some help. Take short choppy steps that are more rapid in alternation than you'd think, so your footsteps don't have time to sink in very far.

Plan your walk out to there... try to connect-the-dots by travelling towards the submerged bushes. Their roots make the dirt around them not want to sink in so fast and bad.

This could just be a problem from being a heavy stocky individual. I don't know if lighter dudes don't have the sink-in problem or not. But yeah... wading in is serious. DON'T have your cellphone or car keys or wallet on you when you wade out there. That would be my advice. I fell to me knees once trying to unstick the other foot. I got lucky no water taken on. But still felt happy I elected to not have those things on my person just in case.

 

[Warmsy]

I use waders now in the Pacific flyway refuges/ rice fields. My buddy bought me a pair because he didn't want to be embarrassed by being seen with me bay watching out to retrieve ducks in my boxers!

 

[KurtR]

Don’t need a dog but damn I don’t know if I would hunt with out one. 9 months old here 24 ducks and 4 geese he struggled with the geese but got them back. Hopefully have an hr title by next season and a hrch by season 3.

 

[hobbes]

I've hunted waterfowl in the past with both, but I also hunted for years without either. Just hunt small water where waders will get the job done. If it's moving water, seems like you may need a kayak to catch up to drifters. If it's very late in the season in Colorado, the lakes start to get awfully frozen and moving water or fields are your only option anyway.

 

[LongWayAround]

If you're in Fort Collins, most of your duck hunting opportunity is going to be easy along the Platte River (I walked across it in muck boots this spring without getting wet). It's rarely waist deep, except some of the backwater sloughs are dangerously deep. It's always advisable to leave gear on the bank and take a walking stick to test the waters before you go slogging in or chucking decoys out. Also, it's not always the depth of the water but of the silt muck on the bottom that can be hazardous.

Where the dog really shines is recovering downed birds from cover and keeping you company while you wonder why you're sitting there freezing.

 

[Rich M]

Jump shoot creeks and small rivers and ponds. Bring fish pole with a couple lures to snag ducks - smaller hooks catch em better.

Waders are great for the small waters.

Best is to spot em from a distance and then plan your approach/attack. They'll tolerate some noise but will swim away if you make too much noise.

If you find the ducks in one area all the time, that's where you want to go sit. maybe thro out a decoy or two. Not sure what you'd be hunting. I used to hunt black ducks a lot as a youth - 1 or 3 decoys. single w a pair 20 or 30 yards away. Pulled em all the time - to areas they wanted to be. Soak in that - where they want to be.

You can sneak hunt on larger waters too if you have shoreline access. Worst thing is wounding em and watching them swim off or die out of casting range.

An 8 ft boat (look for Hybrid prototype online), 12 ft canoe, or even a large inner tube with a board tide across it w waders and a paddle will work for retrieval.

Belly boats suck in the cold water - the air shrinks and you end up getting water down yer back. Bleh.

I spent most of my duck hunting career just shooting ducks - the big water and lotsa decoys thing came later cause the small waters weren't available where I moved to. Plenty of ducks on small waters.

 

[CAB]

If you're in Fort Collins, most of your duck hunting opportunity is going to be easy along the Platte River (I walked across it in muck boots this spring without getting wet). It's rarely waist deep, except some of the backwater sloughs are dangerously deep. It's always advisable to leave gear on the bank and take a walking stick to test the waters before you go slogging in or chucking decoys out. Also, it's not always the depth of the water but of the silt muck on the bottom that can be hazardous.

Where the dog really shines is recovering downed birds from cover and keeping you company while you wonder why you're sitting there freezing.

I've mostly started scouting and found a few areas I'm looking to mule deer hunt west of FOCO. I just happened to notice there where some areas that looked like it could hold ducks and of course I went down the rabbit hole of how I could duck hunt the area.

 

[pk_]

Just look for places that have to be hiked into and can’t be reached by boat or kayak. I don’t duck hunt because it’s during deer season, but I know of a ton of honey holes i have found while deer hunting, where I could hike back into and never have competition and be covered up in birds. Might need a tube or pack raft if it’s deep but most the places I found you could just use waders or even rubber boots for some of them...

 

[pk_]

Also. You can hunt the downwind edges of a lot of bigger water bodies with just waders. Just use your head there is a lot of opportunity.

 

[RyanCmns]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[David Gough]

I've used a spinning rod with a treble hook to retrieve ducks out of rivers and deep ponds. I prefer to hunt puddle ducks and where I live they are in shallow water anyways most of the time.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

My vote is to grab 1/2 dozen decoys and have at it. Despite not having a boat nor a dog that likes cold water, we still give it a go. We get ducks on most occasions though never have gotten a limit.

We use a fishing pole and a top water lure to retrieve any duck that we cannot get to. You do need a valid fishing license with this method.

If had waited for a boat, or a dog that likes cold water, I'd still have never gone waterfowl hunting. This would have a been a huge loss as it is something that really enjoy.

 

[andrew j]

Never tried hunting a duck with my dog

 

[ScottR_EHJ]

I tried for several years to hunt without a dog. Life is a lot easier with one, even though it’s been a challenge to get Ace to this point. It is really rewarding to be at this point with him, if you can get a dog I would.