Well, i figured this week i would take a break from telling stories and give my viewers an idea of how we set things up! As you know if you read any of my other blog posts me and my friends usually hunt shallow swamps and holes off main lakes to catch ducks retreating from open water pressure and some places where ducks are not pressured at all. We like this method of hunting for close encounters with wood ducks and the all famous mallard ducks, but will occasionally shoot ringneck ducks, teal, buffleheads, and even geese coming in for an easy meal.
As season starts off we throw out a wide spread of decoys including a few mojo’s and a hefty flock of warn out mallards. This is because in early season ducks flock together to find mates and love the company of fellow friends. We have had good success with this in the past and will continue to use lots of decoys early season.
As the season winds down and temperatures drop below freezing we only carry one or two spinning wing decoys and a few pairs of mallards (hens and drakes) that are a little nicer in color/ larger and easier to see. Late season ducks have paired up and we have better luck with a few scattered pairs of ducks.
Calling the swamps of North Carolina is how i grew up hunting and it still continues to surprise and amaze me when we get ducks to circle our decoys and come in just right. It is a learned combination of placing the decoys just right to fool the ducks into thinking you are real and calling just soft enough to make them think your a duck. Still cannot wait for season to roll around again next year!
Ducks and bucks 