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Message
Duck identification while hunting...
Posted on 11/24/10 at 12:27 pm
Posted on 11/24/10 at 12:27 pm
I have to admit that I am terrible at id'ing ducks while hunting. What does everybody look for while hunting (wood ducks, mallards, spoonies, grey ducks, teal)
7
Posted on 11/24/10 at 12:34 pm to fishbig
Size
The way they fly
Colors
Types of flocks they fly in
experience
The way they fly
Colors
Types of flocks they fly in
experience
Posted on 11/24/10 at 12:37 pm to mylsuhat
DU's website has a quiz section and one is called like zoom in I think. That'll help you
Posted on 11/24/10 at 12:38 pm to fishbig
Spoonies are easy. They crook in the wing and the unmistakable bill.
Gadwalls/Greys chatter (nick,nick)...when they come in....flock is all bunched up like teal..but they are bigger.
Mallards...if you're not looking into the sun..you'll see those big orange feet and those greenheads.
Teal come in about Mach 1 it seems...bunched up and unorganized. My experience: Two teal flying over the water straight at Mach 1 aren't teal: They're mergansers! Best double I ever pulled...for fish eaters.
Gadwalls/Greys chatter (nick,nick)...when they come in....flock is all bunched up like teal..but they are bigger.
Mallards...if you're not looking into the sun..you'll see those big orange feet and those greenheads.
Teal come in about Mach 1 it seems...bunched up and unorganized. My experience: Two teal flying over the water straight at Mach 1 aren't teal: They're mergansers! Best double I ever pulled...for fish eaters.
Posted on 11/24/10 at 12:43 pm to fishbig
Where I hunt, in beaver ponds, we only have three possibilities: Wood ducks, Mallards, hooded merganzers. Those are pretty easy to distinguish based upon the way they fly, the sound of their wings and the way they appear (high, low, etc)
When I've hunted in rice fields, I am beyond horrible in I.d.ing ducks.
When I've hunted in rice fields, I am beyond horrible in I.d.ing ducks.
Posted on 11/24/10 at 1:13 pm to fishbig
Im with ya, we got two spoonies, two wooddies, and 3 teal this am and Ill be damned if I knew what any of them were until they were at my feet.
I was pass shooting as they flew over a dam though so I didnt get long to look.
I was pass shooting as they flew over a dam though so I didnt get long to look.
Posted on 11/24/10 at 1:49 pm to NASA_ISS_Tiger
quote:
Gadwalls/Greys chatter (nick,nick)...
I would describe it more as a (rerp,rerp) ..
The way they fly and the noise they make helps a feller to distinguish between ducks. And obviously experience afield is a huge plus. But eyesight is probably the main thing. My boss, who is blind as a bat, has done a lot of duck hunting in some of the better places around and he can't identify a duck in flight for shite.
This post was edited on 11/24/10 at 1:50 pm
Posted on 11/24/10 at 2:06 pm to fishbig
Posted on 11/24/10 at 2:41 pm to mylsuhat
87 on first attmept but that is some fantastic lighting for a duck hunt. Wehn we hunt I usually have mere silouettes to look at. Im going to have to spend some time learning flight and flock trends to help key me in.
Posted on 11/24/10 at 3:07 pm to Bleeding purple
I have always said that woddies look like they have a square or box shaped tail when flying.
Posted on 11/24/10 at 4:50 pm to Boudreaux35
Woodies look like they have a lot of body back of wings,
A single blue wing and a hen spoon can be tough on profile. I know folks will laugh, but the guys that have seen a bunch will agree.
Mergansers fly like a merganser, not even like duck.
Scaup and ringnecks are almost impossible in the cloudy days.
Hen pin and a hen grey can be tricky sometimes, more so
than a hen widgeon.
Overall though it is just wingbeat, silhouette, pattern, size.
I have never identified a mallard drake by his orange feet, that was a first when I read it in this thread.
A single blue wing and a hen spoon can be tough on profile. I know folks will laugh, but the guys that have seen a bunch will agree.
Mergansers fly like a merganser, not even like duck.
Scaup and ringnecks are almost impossible in the cloudy days.
Hen pin and a hen grey can be tricky sometimes, more so
than a hen widgeon.
Overall though it is just wingbeat, silhouette, pattern, size.
I have never identified a mallard drake by his orange feet, that was a first when I read it in this thread.
Posted on 11/24/10 at 6:48 pm to tigerfoot
Is there any better sound than the sound of a dozen green wing teal divebombing on your spread out of nowhere. They sound like little F-16's cutting through the air. It gets my adrenaline flowing just thinking about it...
Posted on 11/24/10 at 8:08 pm to Griffmanjoe
dont take this the wrong way but if you cant sex a duck dont hunt them.
Posted on 11/24/10 at 8:37 pm to Cracker
I usually tell more from their sound than by the way the look in flight.
Posted on 11/24/10 at 11:26 pm to fishbig
SOOOOO many factors. Experience is the word that sums it up the best...
Posted on 11/25/10 at 7:56 am to hehatedrew
You have to get used to body profile while they are flying. Unless you learn this you will have a hard time when it's early or misty/rainy/foggy. Anybody can see ducks in the brilliant sunshine. I consider myself extremely experienced and still couldn't identify the mallard hen we shot last saturday by accident. It was paired up with a gadwall drake and was undersized and we assumed both birds were gadwall when they came in early, especially when we heard nothing but gadwall sounds. When the species intermingle it can be interesting.
Posted on 11/26/10 at 6:35 am to TigerDog83
Pintails have longer necks, and of course lots of white on the drakes. They fly "elegantly" if that make any sense. I can tell them working just by the way they do it, every motion they take normally seems effortless and perfectly coordinated. Don't know if that helps but that's what I picture when I think pintail.
Canvasbacks big ducks white and VERY VERY stupid. If you have a flock of 50 big ducks that come in fast with their paddles out to slow down you shoot kill some and they come right back almost assuredly cans.
Canvasbacks big ducks white and VERY VERY stupid. If you have a flock of 50 big ducks that come in fast with their paddles out to slow down you shoot kill some and they come right back almost assuredly cans.
Posted on 11/26/10 at 6:53 am to LSUballs
quote:nick nick = greyduck
Gadwalls/Greys chatter (nick,nick)...
I would describe it more as a (rerp,rerp) ..
rerp rerp = drake mallard
Posted on 11/26/10 at 2:24 pm to fishbig
just shoot it and id later. if you already have your limit on that type of bird, mud stomp it
Posted on 11/26/10 at 5:53 pm to CurDog
Shoot em all....let the good lord sort em out
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