Hunting Ducks from Boats

My experience hunting ducks from boats has been limited, but significant.

If you’re a fisherman and a hunter, boats are a necessity. I’ve owned more than a half-dozen of them.

About thirteen years ago, I purchased a used Boston Whaler – 13 1/2 footer. Until recently, it has sat next to Mayberry Slough and served as a ride for an occasional fishing trip, but this year I began to think of it as a potential duck hunting platform.

About twenty-five years ago, I owned a similar Boston Whaler and somebody stole it from me. I was bummed out, so when I  spotted this similar boat sitting on the ground in a neighborhood yard, I stopped and asked if it was for sale. I was surprised when the owner said yes and accepted my offer of $350.

After thirteen years, I finally trailered the boat and brought it home for a repair and paint job. A search via the internet lead me to several possible blind options. After reading reviews and using gut instincts, I selected the Northern Flight Boat Blind and purchased the bare frame from Cabela’s for about $400. From a local supplier, I purchased some natural looking camo grass that blends in with the tules and cattail at Mayberry.

Yesterday, with the blind complete, I launched the boat at Mayberry and took the boat out for a test. I was impressed. The whaler, powered by a 9.9 hp mercury outboard, powered me and the boat accompanied by Lola and a half-dozen goose decoys into the Mayberry marsh. We didn’t shove off until about 9:30 AM and it was a clear day with not a great prospect for  bagging a duck, but I figured to take a few photos and maybe get lucky.

After setting up in an untested spot and putting out the decoys, I raised the two sides of the blind, opened my folding chair, loaded the shotgun and waited.

I could occasionally see mallards working in a nearby pond and called to them without success.

After a half hour or so, I heard geese honking and spotted five Canada geese heading in my direction. I called a couple times and it looked like we would have action, but they passed by just out of range. I don’t think they saw the boat, but I could be wrong.

I while later, I was beginning to become bored as none of the mallards were responding to my calling and nothing interesting, other than a family of five river otters, came close to the boat.

Then three mallards appeared to the south of me about 200 yards away. I called and they turned directly towards me. One of them zeroed in on the boat and soon after, I raised the twelve gauge and dropped him.

The retrieve was a bit of a fiasco, but Lola chased him out of the cattail and I finished him off. I’ve got to do some work on the retrieving process as getting Lola back into the boat was injury threatening to both Lola and I, but we got it done.

Fired up I hunted for another hour without success, but the ice has been broken and I’m ready for another adventure.

There were definite advantaged to hunting from the boat. It was comfortable for both Lola and I. Not standing in crotch deep water was much warmer and standing three feet taller made observation of nearby waterfowl much more effective.

Other advantages are that I can sit in a comfortable chair, take photographs without fearing for ruining my camera and I can take along a cooler and even a radio for boring moments.

Here are a few photos of the boat. I brought it home for a few tweaks, but generally I’m quite satisfied with the Northern Flight Boat Blind.

The blind matches some of the tules, but could use a touch-up. I can do that with paint and by collecting some nearby material.

Here’s photos of the construction process.

The frame takes a few hours to assemble, I worked slow and mostly by myself. With a partner it would go much faster.

Shooting Late Season Ducks and Geese

It’s presumptuous and risky handing out shooting tips. I’m not a particularly good shot, but I figure there’s somebody out there who can benefit from my experience, so here are some opinions that may help.

Especially with ducks, late season produces the toughest shots.

Last Wednesday, I joined my friend Tom Billingsley at Los Banos Wildlife Area for a refuge hunt – first of the year for me.

Tom had drawn a low number so we were third to choose a place to hunt. We took pond 1A near the closed zone. This pond allows the hunters to move around within the confines of the levees around the pond. In other words, you have your own protected zone.

In one sense this is good, but hunting near the closed zone also guarantees that you will have hunters next to you. Didn’t matter on this day as we had a good supply of targets once the fog thinned out.

I didn’t fire a shot until about 9 AM. Amazingly to me, the hunters in the next pond seemed to have fired almost a box of shells before I popped off my first. But, when I began to shoot, the ducks fell. I was mostly on target - had the feel of the lead.

Proud of our birds, Lola and I posed while Tom took our photo.

I’m not a great shot, but like most of us I have good days and bad  days. Wednesday was a good day. Some of the things that come to mind regarding refuge shooting on late season ducks.

1.) The birds do not often set their wings and slow down. They pass by at full speed and on the edge of range. Shots tend to be longer and leads longer. I was shooting very fast steel  – 1550 fps, yet most of my leads were in the three to five foot range.

2.) Preparing for the shot as the bird approaches is key. I shoot best when I can see the bird clearly for about 60 yards or more. Concentrating on the bird for a period of time before raising the shotgun helps me anticipate the lead, but it’s instinctive, not calculated.

3.) Foot position and balance is very important. I shoot best when my left foot is pointed at the bird (or slightly left of the bird) as it approaches.

4.) Stand up to shoot, but do it at the right time. Assuming the bird is coming straight at me, I would estimate that the right time to stand is when the bird is at approximately a 35- 45 degree angle (the pond being zero and straight up 90 degrees).

5.) Raise the gun smoothly, swing past the bird and pull the trigger when the lead feels right. I don’t follow the bird or look  at the barrel. If I do either of these, I will miss. (Point don’t aim.)

6.) Your first shot is your best shot, so make the most of it. But, if you miss, a second shot often brings the bird down as sometimes you figure something out with the miss. (Sometimes I make the mistake of aiming on the first shot, but seldom make that mistake on the second shot.)

7.) When selecting a place to hide, pick out cover that is tall enough to cover your body, but make sure your eyes are clear of obstructions. Obstructions will hinder your vision and your shooting, even if they are only partial. (A good face mask is important. It allows you to look directly at the bird without being detected.)

8.) Periodically pick up your shotgun to clear it of the tules or cattails that can interfere with your swing.

Geese are an entirely different topic. I hunted Webb Tract on Friday and killed four specs, but it was frustrating. With geese you need to follow the bird and swing way out in front. If you double your normal duck lead, you’ll be in the ball park for hitting them.

Geese look closer than they are and they fly faster than they look. Nothing can take the place of experience with this type of shooting.

Lola had a great time chasing down my geese which seemed to always be hit with my third shot.

Saturday was the season finale for me and we hunted Mayberry. My cousin Wes and I shot almost all our shells and came in at noon with a mixed bag of spoonies, widgeon, gadwall and one pintail.

We also missed a spec and some close-range pintail shots.

I didn’t shoot as well on Friday and Saturday. With the geese I struggled with getting the lead right and I was a little too jumpy with the ducks. About 9 AM a slight breeze came up and we put out the wind-wacker (spinning wing). The birds began to make more consistent passes and we shot a little better.

Wes and I were not picky about the ducks we shot and had plenty of action.

Although we didn’t hunt from the Final Approach duck boat, it was a valuable tool, allowing us to reach a hunting spot and carry the gear we needed. 

All in all it was a very good week.

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Final Verdict on the Final Approach Duck Boat

I bagged more ducks when I left the boat for Lola and hid in the tules, but having the boat allowed me to stay out all day and hunt from locations I couldn’t reach on foot.

After nearly a full season of evaluation, I’ve got a pretty good handle on the Final Approach Duck Boat.

I took my evaluation seriously and conducted all my duck hunting from the Final Approach to date. I even hunted from the boat all of the time – until this last weekend. In fact, I’d say my approach to using the boat was a bit dogmatic.

This past Saturday, I spent the entire day in the marsh, working at bagging some ducks. There were plenty around, but during the early morning fog, they didn’t fly much. Later in the day the action was better and steady.

Late season ducks are tough to decoy and I found that the ducks responded best to just a pair of mallards. The early set of eight mallard decoys didn’t work as well. They just sat there and looked lifeless.

These late season birds also picked up the boat well, no matter how hard I attempted to camo it out. The flaring birds caused me to shoot a low percentage and my shooting got worse as the day progressed and became frustrated.

The deep water of the new Mayberry made it tough on Lola and she stayed high on her dog stand, but also kept our hunting profile high, also affecting the birds.

Finally I shifted my setup, moved the boat away from the decoys and hid in the tules. Lola was happy with her perch and I was better hidden. A few ducks fell as I began to hit them. As my frustration lessened, my accuracy improved.

Unfortunately, my early poor shooting led the sailing two pintails that could not be recovered. One landed so far away that it was not practical to go after it and the other came down about 250 yards away in waist-deep water. I went after that one, but gave up as Lola was too bogged down in the cold, deep and brushy waters.

The other four ducks I bagged were all spoonies. I shot at a variety of ducks, but only one was a mallard. Another mallard almost came within range, but I moved too soon and it flared off.

It was a fun day of duck hunting, much like hunting the refuges.

Final verdict. The duck boat improved my chances by allowing me to cross deep water and hunt from locations not available otherwise.

Hunting from the boat works, but is limited. The better you hide the boat the better your shots. Hiding the dog is sometimes tough, and the boat is not big enough for both of us.

Hunting away from the boat, while using the boat as a home base, as a resting spot and a place for the dog to stand works well.

For traveling a long distance, towing the boat on foot works best as paddling is slow. I paddled the boat long distance a couple of times when I wasn’t in a hurry.

In general this is a fun way to hunt and a necessity when hunting deep water, but in shallow water walking is more efficient and productive.

(Note: After a couple years of calling this boat the Final Approach Duck Boat, I came to realize that I’d created a new name for it. Why fix it now? The manufacturer’s name is the Final Attack Duck Boat.)

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Opening Day, Ducks and Baseball

It was a different kind of opening day at Mayberry this year. Arriving on Friday, I cleaned and vacuumed, toured the property and hauled the final approach duck boat out and into the pond. I used the Honda Rancher to tow the boat, which worked well. After the launch, I found the small craft to be quite seaworthy and stable.

This was a welcome find, as at my age, it’s not easy getting in and out of a tipsy boat.

I used some of the aster and cocklebur plants to help hide the boat, using the bungee cord to hold it in place. Here’s what it looked like on Friday afternoon after set up.

The boat hid pretty well, and the cloudy weather didn't hurt.

 I used only seven decoys, four stand up mallards and three floaters.

I placed the decoys along the edge of the shallow water. The open water was about waste deep, just deep enough that my waders leaked when I walked across.

After finding out that I had holes in my waders, I elected to travel in the boat. During the morning shoot, I moved the boat three times for a total distance of about forty yards to get to where the birds wanted to land. Bagging only one bird in the first couple hours, I elected to head in to camp for some coffee and dry clothes.

About 2:00 PM, I headed out for the afternoon shoot and moved the boat to the opposite shore where I figured I’d get better shots if the birds continued to approach as they had in the morning.

I had several good chances and bagged two greenheads while listening to the Giants pregame show. I also missed three others.

As Roy Oswald started his windup in preparation to pitch to Andres Torres, a mallard set his wings and passed on my left. With one shot the bird dropped to the water. As Lola swam after the greenhead,  Torres lined a single into the outfield and my duck hunt was over. I headed back to camp for more dry clothes, a bottle of wine and a Giant’s pennant.

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Final Approach Duck Boat Launches Tomorrow

Here’s the boat as it looks in my garage.

Decided against the fabric blind and decided to paint it and use bungee cord to hold natural material. I'll cut the material tomorrow and see if the bungee works.

 

I could probably get along without it for the opener, but I’m interested in testing it out. If I get frustrated, I’ll just hide in the cattails. It will look beter in the water than in my garage. I’ll  use my gillie suit to cover my body.

The other issue is transportation. I’m towing a trailer with my ATV and will put the boat in the back of my clunker F150. Hope I get there. It’s definitely a lot of trouble, but I’ve set asside time tomorrow.

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Progress with the Final Approach Duck Boat

The Final Approach duck boat has been in my garage now for two months or more. Its sitting on two saw horses and I’ve purposefully left it there so I can check it out and think it over each time I pass by. I assembled the blind for the boat about a month ago and was immediately unimpressed.

The blind did not fit the boat well and the “doors” that are designed to open up before shooting are impractical. This weekend, while listening to the Giants win the Western Division, I disassembled the blind and put it away. Maybe some day I’ll resurrect it, but for now I’m going with a paint job and natural cover.

With the blind issue resolved, I’m more comfortable about hunting from the boat. The blind was going to be in the way. I purchased some eye bolts at the local hardware store today and with them and some bungee cords, I’m going to attach natural cover. I also added some paint to create a base layer of camo.

I’ll have to get the boat out into the water soon to test its seaworthiness. Next comes a large kyack paddle from the local boat shop. Duck season is only three weeks away and I’ve got work to do.

I’ve got some concerns about my ability to get in and out of the boat while hunting, but those will be addressed soon.

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Just Ordered a Duck Boat

What limited experience I have related to hunting ducks from boats is that it doesn’t work very well.

A friend of mine once owned a boat called “The Duck Boat.” It was a 17 foot boat designed specifically for duck hunting. It looked great, stayed afloat in terrific storms and was very comfortable. Cost? About $7,000.

After hunting Ryer Island in the Susuin Bay, we returned to port in four-foot seas. My friend powered that boat into the waves while I prayed. We made it.

On another occasion we drug the boat through the marsh at Lower Klamath. Not so good.

We hunted the slough at Mendota. Never fired a shot.

On the other hand I once owned a Boston Whaler that made a pretty good platform for duck hunting. We built various types of blinds to put over it and killed a few ducks on Frank’s Tract. It was fun when I was young and had more energy, but now days it wouldn’t be worth the effort. Not to mention that the agencies have created a web of regulations that nearly shuts down duck hunting in the Delta waterways. 

When Webb Tract was flooded, Rob and I drug out 14 foot aluminum boat over the levee and hunted ducks from it inside the island. A mallard flew directly over and we stood up at the same time, coming very close to fipping the boat. So much for that.

I once directed a boat builder to build me a layout boat. Thought I knew what I was doing, but the boat didn’t work. It finally rotted away at our duck club.

However I still have a desire to find a boat that will work and today I broke down and decided to give it one more try. Our duck club is being reworked this summer and we’ll have a lot more deep water when the work is complete. And, there will be no blinds to hunt from. Hence, a new duck boat. Here’s a link to what I decided upon.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat20712-cat601995&id=0014257014070a&navCount=4&podId=0014257&parentId=cat601995&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=QL&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat601995&hasJS=true

If anybody has experience with this Final Attach Duck Boat, let me know. I also purchased a camo cover for it and a back rest to make it easy to lay back and wait. Hopefully it will work better than the boats of my past experiences.

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