re: Duck not floating

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Ok well I've been five times total and four by myself, so please excuse my lack of etiquette.

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Don't pay attention to them. A year as crappy as this, I'd shoot a limit of hens in a heartbeat and so would most anyone else....and then brag about it.

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die while holding onto some vegetation or something like that.

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I've heard that, used to believe it but after chasing ducks for a number of years now think it's bullshite. All wounded ducks can hide like hell if they're able, can flatten their bodies just underwater and motivate with nothing but the nostrils, top of their head and eyes above water. I did shoot a greenhead one morning, dead, had hell finding him, he'd fallen and did get caught in some submerged brush. Luckily the water was clear and we got him, he was about 6" under water. To OP, she's there not too far from where you shot her, walk the banks of the "tank", I've had them hit the ground running, too. They're sneaky evasive frickers. Of course if you could shoot worth a shite you wouldn't have these problems.

And frick these hen-loving uppity facebook greenhead limit pic fricks. Hen's shoot just as good as any other duck. The trick is to let 4-6 bunch up and pop them on the water - efficiency.

Gator? Seahawk?

unfortunately i've lost hundreds of ducks in my 41 years of hunting quacks. and each one irks me to no end.

the issue here isn't just losing the duck...though that's a big one. it's also shooting a hen and fair chase.

hen's lay eggs...and a clutch of eggs mean more ducks in the future. besides being prettier, it's good conservation to shoot drakes.

second, it's poor form to shoot a bird on the water unless you're a small kid. there's nothing sporting about a skillet shot unless it's to dispatch a cripple. and you spare no expense to dispatch the crip.

duck hunting is not about killing...it's very much an acquired skill, an "art" as it were, that is sharpened through practice and good ethics. And ethics here are far more than legalities and not exceeding bag limits...it's learning how to shoot on the wing amongst many, many other aspects. and the fact that you apparently didn't get in the water and wade around to make a concerted effort to find the bird is also troublesome. it's part of the reason why dogs matter, but short of that you should be wading in circles, kicking at the grass underneath your feet in effort to get the bird to "alligator" and show itself.

so your combined acts and the end result of losing a cripple opens you up to ridicule. rightfully so, i might add.

you'd never live this down at my camp.

WTF?

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Kyrie Eleison

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You just sound like a hoot to be around. Clearly you take yourself way too seriously.

To the OP: Don't sweat this clown. Skillet shots are fine and losing birds happens - no one likes it, but it happens.

I hunt with lots of guys who have duck hunted a long time who have no qualms with skillet shots and who definitely wouldn't ridicule you for losing a bird that dove. There's nothing unethical about shooting within your limit of birds. The regulatory entities dictate what amount of hens is safe to kill without hurting the population.

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shooting ducks on the water is bad form

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Or it's a good way to get the most meat from the duck. Which is more ethical in some respects.

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shooting hens is frowned upon by many

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Which is akin to people thinking that no one should shoot does. If the duck population is healthy it doesn't really matter.

yeah that's a little over the top brah
at my place we'd have given him shite for not getting the bird up before shooting, as men do

that would be the end of it

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at my place we'd have given him shite for not getting the bird up before shooting, as men do

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Yeah we'd give someone some hell about it for a minute and have a laugh and then get on with our hunt. Half of duck hunting is talking shite with your buddies.

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Kyrie Eleison

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Your type frick up the world.