Live from the duck blind..
- Thread starter dogdoc
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PoplarCreek
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Islandguy85
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Islandguy85
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Heck of a shoot for sure but for pete's sake go get by some water or flooded timber to take the pics. Dry field mallards to me would be like putting ketchup on a Hershey bar. A shoot like that might change that thinking a little though.
dogdoc
Well-Known Member
That field hunting geese can be hit and miss and I don't enjoy field hunting as much as hunting on water. But nothing like a tornado of Mallards coming down in the field. Laying in those layout blinds on hard frozen ground wears me out and hauling in a hundred full bodies/shells. Field hunting is a lot of work. I would hate to be Goose/duck guide hunting fields!
Yes it's definitely a lot of work. We were running a7 doz full body goose and 2 dozen ducks. To be honest I feel to pull the big flocks I need another 3-5 dozen full bodies. But we made do and was a great time.
Funny how we're all different. I've hunted water and green timber in arkansas. While it's all great, field hunting is my favorite.
Funny how we're all different. I've hunted water and green timber in arkansas. While it's all great, field hunting is my favorite.
I have hunted ducks about every way there is except dry fields. Only remember a couple times ever anyone hunting that way around here. My guess is because of the farming practices here there is very seldom any cover left in the fields for the most part. What type of field was that y'all hunted?
Turkey Creek
Well-Known Member
I used to hunt exclusively over water and now it is the opposite. We rarely hunt water anymore. We have permission to drive into the cornfields we hunt so setup is much quicker with a large spread of decoys. I admit laying in a layout blind for a couple of hours on a COLD morning is not easy on a body as you get older.
It was soybean stubble. Very hard to hide in. Either rake the stubble out of the way, and dig out an area for the blinds then cover back, or try to use water way grass as cover.
dogdoc
Well-Known Member
I don't know if it is possible to have too many decoys out when you are field hunting. Security in numbers--especially in the field.
You would need a rake to find any stubble in our bean fields after harvest. A field with a ditch bank would be an option some places. I might need to cut the bottoms off of 6-7 dozen duck decoys and make a field set to give it a whirl down here. Might even make finding some private land easier and cheaper when there is no water or blind needed. A field with 15-20 acres of water and a 4 man pit will lease anywhere from $2500-$10,000 here for a 60 day season.
catscratch
Well-Known Member
Hunted both fields and water... A LOT in the past. Water is my favorite but I'll hunt wherever the birds are. I don't like lugging around decoys so I spend time scouting and knocking on doors. Once you have the spot they want to be it doesn't take many or any dekes to get them in. Got to be well hidden for field hunts!
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I agree if you can get on the x you can get by with few decoys. At home I only run 2-3 dozen. But at home wherever the birds are one day they return the next. In kansas where we were, there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to what the birds did. They were constantly hopping from field to field. We had best success settin up a big spread in a fly way and basically just running traffic. I ripped my hair out for two days trying to figure out a pattern. It was a waste of time.
Only time and place I've ever hunted where scouting didn't really pay off. Just get in a high traffic area and let your calling and decoys do the work. Those geese were very susceptible to flagging. Most responsive I've ever seen.
