Duck Hunting

4 more days….although I’ve done zero scouting this year, so not even sure if the weather has been cold enough to push the ducks in yet. 🤷🏻‍♂️
 
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Speaking of Duck season, I watched the movie today called The Blind. Story of Phil Robertson
 
Saturday morning is looking good. Supposed to be in the upper 20s in the Steinhatchee area in the morning. Bad for Florida, but good for duck hunting.
 
i had a hard time understanding what he was singing.... but i;m assuming his hunt
didn;t go well?..... ..hopefully you will have better luck than he had or the one
singing this song did..... just don;t go "drankin" before you go huntin'...;)

 
aleshanee said:
just don;t go "drankin" before you go huntin'
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Thank you…and don’t worry, I quit “drankin” quite a few years ago and glad I did. Now coffee on the other hand, I guzzle way too much of, especially when duck hunting while it’s cold.

I’m not exactly sure how it works in every state, but in Florida, we have three hunting seasons. The first is a short season in September for teal and wood ducks only, and I don’t ever participate in that season because it’s still too hot in Florida then, plus I don’t normally hunt in habitat that has those birds anyway. The second season is also a mini season and it starts in later November and only lasts about ten days or so, and it’s for basically all ducks. I did get to go out once for this, but saw very few ducks. The third and main season starts tomorrow and lasts through the end of January. I’m hoping to get out several times, but I’ll see how the calendar pans out.

Anyway, it looks like we’ll be doing an evening hunt instead of the morning, which works for me. Instead of being in the water while it’s in the upper 20s, it’ll be in the low 60s instead.
 
DrHuk&Duck said:
Thank you…and don’t worry, I quit “drankin” quite a few years ago and glad I did. Now coffee on the other hand, I guzzle way too much of, especially when duck hunting while it’s cold.

I’m not exactly sure how it works in every state, but in Florida, we have three hunting seasons. The first is a short season in September for teal and wood ducks only, and I don’t ever participate in that season because it’s still too hot in Florida then, plus I don’t normally hunt in habitat that has those birds anyway. The second season is also a mini season and it starts in later November and only lasts about ten days or so, and it’s for basically all ducks. I did get to go out once for this, but saw very few ducks. The third and main season starts tomorrow and lasts through the end of January. I’m hoping to get out several times, but I’ll see how the calendar pans out.

Anyway, it looks like we’ll be doing an evening hunt instead of the morning, which works for me. Instead of being in the water while it’s in the upper 20s, it’ll be in the low 60s instead.
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DrHuk&Duck said:
0 for 2 now. This season isn’t going very well so far. 🤷🏻‍♂️
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hopefully you will do better on your next try.... ....early mornings right at dawn... and late evenings.. are what works best in the pig hunting we do too... . problem is the places we go hunting in can;t be safely accessed or departed from in the dark.... .so we usually spend at least one night up there after getting there in daylight and coming back home in daylight too..... ...

but there have been many hunts where we had no luck and just spent several days in the rainforest until we ran out of food - and then came home empty handed.. ... ..it;s still worth the effort if we do come home with nothing... . just being up there away from the city is enough sometimes.... ..

do you use dogs or decoys on your hunts?...... ..what about blinds or artificial concealment?..... we have camo clothing that;s mostly military surplus.... . but i also wear a ghilly suit i made myself.. . but that depends on the terrain we are hunting in.... also kinds depends on the heat... if it;s too hot or no rain i take the chance i can conceal without it and just wear the camo stuff....
 
aleshanee said:
hopefully you will do better on your next try.... ....early mornings right at dawn... and late evenings.. are what works best in the pig hunting we do too... . problem is the places we go hunting in can;t be safely accessed or departed from in the dark.... .so we usually spend at least one night up there after getting there in daylight and coming back home in daylight too..... ...

but there have been many hunts where we had no luck and just spent several days in the rainforest until we ran out of food - and then came home empty handed.. ... ..it;s still worth the effort if we do come home with nothing... . just being up there away from the city is enough sometimes.... ..

do you use dogs or decoys on your hunts?...... ..what about blinds or artificial concealment?..... we have camo clothing that;s mostly military surplus.... . but i also wear a ghilly suit i made myself.. . but that depends on the terrain we are hunting in.... also kinds depends on the heat... if it;s too hot or no rain i take the chance i can conceal without it and just wear the camo stuff....
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It sounds like pig hunting has some similarities with duck hunting. I’ve only been wild boar hunting once in my life, and that was many years ago down near the Everglades.

Where and how I hunt ducks just depends on a lot of factors such as wind, tides, how much time I’ve got to hunt, bird migration, and whether I’m hunting solo or with a buddy.

When I was younger, I almost exclusively did sunrise hunting. Nowadays, I prefer sunset hunting because it’s not as cold and I don’t have as much competition from other hunters in the evenings. Oh, and my sleep schedule doesn’t get thrown out of kilter. I don’t like getting up at 3am nowadays! 😴

If I’m hunting saltwater, it has to be a day when there’s a light chop or calm, otherwise it just isn’t safe in the Gulf because of the waves. On those days, I will go lake hunting or I’ll do saltwater hunting in a tidal creek that’s mostly protected from the wind. If I’m in a tidal creek, then I’ve got to be careful about the tides, otherwise I can get stuck waiting for six hours waiting for the tide to bring in enough water that I can get out. Not fun!

Decoys…depends again. If we’re out in the open ocean, more is better. If I’m in a small pocket of water, sometimes just a couple decoys will do. We don’t really do blinds per se. If we’re on a boat, we do a modified boat blind, but no blinds that are constructed on land. I think those are pretty much outlawed now unless it’s on private property.

Location depends on all of the factors previously mentioned. I hunt anywhere from Steinhatchee in the north to Tampa Bay in the south, and the lakes near the Orlando area in the east.

Boat type is also dependent on previous factors mentioned, but that probably deserves its own separate post, and I’ve already written way too much lol!
 
DrHuk&Duck said:
It sounds like pig hunting has some similarities with duck hunting. I’ve only been wild boar hunting once in my life, and that was many years ago down near the Everglades.

Where and how I hunt ducks just depends on a lot of factors such as wind, tides, how much time I’ve got to hunt, bird migration, and whether I’m hunting solo or with a buddy.

When I was younger, I almost exclusively did sunrise hunting. Nowadays, I prefer sunset hunting because it’s not as cold and I don’t have as much competition from other hunters in the evenings. Oh, and my sleep schedule doesn’t get thrown out of kilter. I don’t like getting up at 3am nowadays! 😴

If I’m hunting saltwater, it has to be a day when there’s a light chop or calm, otherwise it just isn’t safe in the Gulf because of the waves. On those days, I will go lake hunting or I’ll do saltwater hunting in a tidal creek that’s mostly protected from the wind. If I’m in a tidal creek, then I’ve got to be careful about the tides, otherwise I can get stuck waiting for six hours waiting for the tide to bring in enough water that I can get out. Not fun!

Decoys…depends again. If we’re out in the open ocean, more is better. If I’m in a small pocket of water, sometimes just a couple decoys will do. We don’t really do blinds per se. If we’re on a boat, we do a modified boat blind, but no blinds that are constructed on land. I think those are pretty much outlawed now unless it’s on private property.

Location depends on all of the factors previously mentioned. I hunt anywhere from Steinhatchee in the north to Tampa Bay in the south, and the lakes near the Orlando area in the east.

Boat type is also dependent on previous factors mentioned, but that probably deserves its own separate post, and I’ve already written way too much lol!
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it sounds really interesting.... a lot more complicated to gear up for and get into than what we do.... ...i am guessing with duck hunting you don;t have to worry much about the ducks turning on you and attacking you.... or having something else out there hunting you at the same time.... ..except maybe the game warden.... :sneaky:

being attacked by the same pigs we hunt is always a danger.... . plus with spear fishing we always have to look around us for sharks..... also known as the "tax collectors"... as they go after our stringer ...... but that;s why we always have it attached to a float and tied to us by a really long line... that;s to keep a safe distance between ourselves and whatever might be attracted to the fish and octopus on the stringer....

i didn;t think about tides messing up a duch hunt..... but it makes sense if you are in remote areas of marsh and back waters... the spear fishing we do is a kind of hunting - in fact we are referred to as hunters of the reef sometimes....and tide and wave actions can make or break it easily..... ... ..calm still water is always best but it also makes you more visible to your prey.... .... especially when hunting octopus... . and rough water can make spear fishing for anything above the reef dangerous... ..i;ve been in calm water snorkelling around 6 to 8 feet above the reef scanning for the color changes that indicate an octopus trying to hide - when a sudden swell came in... . one second i;m looking down at the reef a few feet below then suddenly get lifted up and dropped back down putting the reef right in my face... .. i;ve even bottomed out on the reef before when in shallow water and the swells had us being tossed up and down ... ... that can hurt ..plus cut you to pieces......

i;m not sure how long it will be before we go pig hunting again... .. i can;t go by myself... . in fact it;s totally inadvisable for even the best hunters to go alone.... . i know it won;t be before the end of the year..... right now we don;t have any hunted pork left in the freezer coz it;s been a while since we have been..... mostly nowdays we wait until someone calls us and tells us about a problem pig raiding their property they want to hunt down and get rid of for them -
 
aleshanee said:
or having something else out there hunting you at the same time
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We have alligators and water moccasins to worry about in the freshwater. In the saltwater, we have bull sharks. In the boat it’s not as much concern, but we do sometimes wade in the water and set up tittle temporary blinds. This video went viral a few years ago and features a buddy of mine in it:

I can definitely see pig hunting and spear fishing being dangerous. I remember the explicit directions from the one time I went pig hunting about what to do if it charges, but I had people with me, so I wasn’t too worried about it. I’ve never done spearfishing, but know people who do, and have heard plenty of bull shark stories. It’s not for the faint of heart. I’m not the world’s strongest swimmer, so I’ve shied away from some of those activities. I can swim okay, but just not well enough to really start going down more than snorkeling level.

Speaking of swimming, the most dangerous aspect of duck hunting is drowning. If a person falls overboard with waders on, they’re probably dead without a life jacket on. Sadly, I have seen very few duck hunters wearing a jacket. I invested in a camo jacket a few years ago but sometimes forget to wear it. That actually happened yesterday, and about halfway down the river, I suddenly realized I didn’t have it on and was in trouble if I fell overboard with waders on! https://www.ducks.org/hunting/waterfowl-hunting-tips/dont-take-the-plunge
 
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