Anyone been duck hunting yet?

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Anyone been duck hunting yet?

Posted: 11/6/2015 5:01:57 PM EDT

Went out and did a little duck hunting this morning in the Red Rock area on the east side of I-10. Jumped at least 15 ponds and only saw and shot one bird, a hen wood duck. I talked to some other hunters I ran into and they said they hadn't seen anything. Any other Arfcommers been out chasing waterfowl yet? If so, what are you seeing and what part of the state are you in? I think we need another 2-4 weeks and some colder weather up North for the action to pickup. Last year during the December archery deer season I was seeing flocks of 40-50 birds on some ponds.

Posted: 11/8/2015 12:15:20 AM EDT

[#1]

No other duck hunters in the AZHTF?

Posted: 11/8/2015 11:00:16 PM EDT

[#2]

Usually around dec or jan I go. When the ponds up north freeze

Posted: 11/11/2015 5:35:36 PM EDT

[#3]

Ran another 10 or so ponds in 36C this morning for the hell of it. Didn't see shit. I need to go do some predator calling or something to keep me busy until the ducks show up.

Posted: 11/13/2015 10:18:53 PM EDT

[#4]

I am jealous. I would like to try duck hunting. I have done dove, quail, turkey, but never duck.

Posted: 11/14/2015 7:35:16 PM EDT

[#5]

They're getting here in Southwestern AZ. I had a few flocks fly over here in the Kofa NWR and over the I-8 to Yuma.

Posted: 11/14/2015 8:42:41 PM EDT

[#6]

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They're getting here in Southwestern AZ. I had a few flocks fly over here in the Kofa NWR and over the I-8 to Yuma.

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Today?

Posted: 11/16/2015 4:28:16 PM EDT

[#7]

I went out on opening morning and bagged 4. I went out two weeks ago and bagged 3. Cochise County.

Posted: 11/18/2015 11:20:57 PM EDT

[#8]

I love to duck hunt but this year I haven't seen anything yet. Even the local ponds don't really have any ducks.

Posted: 11/18/2015 11:22:18 PM EDT

[#9]

I love to duck hunt but this year I haven't seen anything yet. Even the local ponds don't really have any ducks.

Posted: 11/19/2015 5:24:36 PM EDT

[#10]

We used to puddle jump ducks along the Florence Hwy when out quail hunting back in the 70's. I've had duck stamps for years but never actually went duck hunting on purpose. I may have to this year though, for grins.

Posted: 11/19/2015 5:30:01 PM EDT

[#11]

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We used to puddle jump ducks along the Florence Hwy when out quail hunting back in the 70's. I've had duck stamps for years but never actually went duck hunting on purpose. I may have to this year though, for grins.

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I'll be heading out there again tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed we see more activity this time.

Posted: 11/21/2015 12:23:11 AM EDT

[#12]

Jumped a bunch of ponds today and no luck. We saw one drake ruddy duck on the last pond of the day but neither my friend nor I wanted him so we let him live.

We did get into a huge covey of quail that we ended up chasing for about two hours. I got nine.

Posted: 11/30/2015 2:13:02 AM EDT

[#13]

Well, the ducks finally made it down to my AO. I went out late this afternoon on a whim. We hit about 10-15 ponds and 7 had ducks. We saw pintails, mallards, ruddy ducks, and some teal. I killed a Northern pin tail, two mallards and a teal (blue winged I think). All the ones I killed were hens. I shot a ruddy by mistake but couldn't recover him because he crashed in the water, dove, and didn't come back up.

Posted: 12/3/2015 8:36:52 PM EDT

[#14]

I just started duck hunting but I limited out this last weds. 2 gadwells, 1 teal, 2 scaup, 1 ringed and 1 bufflehead. Got 3 shots off on a goose but couldn't bring the beast are down :-/. No mallards were coming within shooting range either by stand or stalk. I really want a drake mallard.

This duck hunting is freaking awesome!

Posted: 12/3/2015 9:04:22 PM EDT

[#15]

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Quoted:
I just started duck hunting but I limited out this last weds. 2 gadwells, 1 teal, 2 scaup, 1 ringed and 1 bufflehead. Got 3 shots off on a goose but couldn't bring the beast are down :-/. No mallards were coming within shooting range either by stand or stalk. I really want a drake mallard.

This duck hunting is freaking awesome!

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Congrats. Duck hunting is awesome. I'm going out again tomorrow. Were you pond jumping, on a lake or what? Using decoys, calling or...?

I'm making duck and quail soup right now.

Posted: 12/4/2015 1:06:18 AM EDT

[#16]

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Quoted:

Congrats. Duck hunting is awesome. I'm going out again tomorrow. Were you pond jumping, on a lake or what? Using decoys, calling or...?

I'm making duck and quail soup right now.

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Quoted:

Quoted:
I just started duck hunting but I limited out this last weds. 2 gadwells, 1 teal, 2 scaup, 1 ringed and 1 bufflehead. Got 3 shots off on a goose but couldn't bring the beast are down :-/. No mallards were coming within shooting range either by stand or stalk. I really want a drake mallard.

This duck hunting is freaking awesome!

Congrats. Duck hunting is awesome. I'm going out again tomorrow. Were you pond jumping, on a lake or what? Using decoys, calling or...?

I'm making duck and quail soup right now.

The first day (I only got 3 my first time) I went out, we were pong hoping.

This past weds we had decoys up in the morning, but the water was so low in the ponds, there was no cover within 40yds. We had a good number of ducks and one goose come to our decoys but nothing within killing range, so we pond hoped and I got my limit by around noon doing so. Basically I did what i do with deer hunting. Spot and stalk, ha.

Posted: 12/4/2015 1:28:50 AM EDT

[#17]

I don't have any decoys (and I'm too impatient to sit in a blind all day) so pond hopping is how I hunt them. One time I took a jon boat out on a lake and used that to sneak into the coves and marshy areas where the ducks were hiding. That was pretty fun.

I'm really hoping I will get a shot at some geese this season but they aren't as common on ponds and when they are on a pond it's usually only one or two stragglers.

Posted: 12/5/2015 7:15:30 PM EDT

[#18]

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I don't have any decoys (and I'm too impatient to sit in a blind all day) so pond hopping is how I hunt them. One time I took a jon boat out on a lake and used that to sneak into the coves and marshy areas where the ducks were hiding. That was pretty fun.

I'm really hoping I will get a shot at some geese this season but they aren't as common on ponds and when they are on a pond it's usually only one or two stragglers.

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Yeah the goose I shot at was alone. Really bummed I didn't drop him

Posted: 12/5/2015 11:54:50 PM EDT

[#19]

I went out yesterday and I got 3 wigeons and and 2 mallards. I should have limited but I was shooting like shit. Saw tons of ducks.

Posted: 12/12/2015 10:25:19 PM EDT

[#20]

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I went out yesterday and I got 3 wigeons and and 2 mallards. I should have limited but I was shooting like shit. Saw tons of ducks.

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This cold windy front coming thru should push more ducks around. I can't wait till Tuesday. I am going out again and then again on Weds

Posted: 12/13/2015 12:57:14 PM EDT

[#21]

I hope too be an Arizona resident by next year. I currently live right next to the Great Lakes and we have tons of ducks. I would appreciate info on when your season runs and how easy is it to find places to hunt ducks in the southwest ?!
I suspect the California drought has affected the populations you folks see

Posted: 12/13/2015 10:30:33 PM EDT

[#22]

The mountain regions run from early October to early January. The desert regions are from mid October to late January. I hunt in the desert region and this year the ducks showed up in late November. I should get plenty of activity through the end of the season.

I hunt them by pond hopping, but we have some large reservoirs and smaller lakes that people duck hunt on. If you have decoys and boat, that would be a good way to go.

If you want to pond hop, you will need to get out in your AO and find where the ponds are. You want an area with a lot of stock tanks so you aren't spending all of your time driving from one to the next and also so you can push the ducks from pond to pond. The harder the area is to access, the better. Nothing worse than being right behind another hunter that just checked the pond you are at.

Posted: 12/17/2015 10:53:13 AM EDT

[#23]

I limited out again on ducks yesterday. Got 2 canvasbacks, 2 teal, 1 ring, 1 ruddy, and 1 gadwell. I'm getting the teal and canvasbacks mounted. I have really nice drakes and hens :-)

Posted: 12/17/2015 11:51:40 PM EDT

[#24]

I went out today to explore the Winchester and Galiuro Mountains to see if I want to hunt deer there come January. Of course I checked the ponds I came across. Most were frozen over and only two of the larger ponds had any ducks on them. I got three green-winged teal (2 drakes and a hen).

Posted: 12/17/2015 11:52:42 PM EDT

[#25]

Quote History

Quoted:
I limited out again on ducks yesterday. Got 2 canvasbacks, 2 teal, 1 ring, 1 ruddy, and 1 gadwell. I'm getting the teal and canvasbacks mounted. I have really nice drakes and hens :-)

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Out of curiosity, how much does it cost to have a duck mounted? Do you skin them or just bring them to the taxidermist whole?

Posted: 12/19/2015 12:01:32 AM EDT

[#26]

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Out of curiosity, how much does it cost to have a duck mounted? Do you skin them or just bring them to the taxidermist whole?

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Quoted:

Quoted:
I limited out again on ducks yesterday. Got 2 canvasbacks, 2 teal, 1 ring, 1 ruddy, and 1 gadwell. I'm getting the teal and canvasbacks mounted. I have really nice drakes and hens :-)

Out of curiosity, how much does it cost to have a duck mounted? Do you skin them or just bring them to the taxidermist whole?

This is my first time getting a duck mounted. I have done turkey's where you skin them out and then give it to the taxidermist. As for the ducks, I am going just give them the entire duck. I have no idea on how to properly skin a duck without destroying the breast feathers.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Anyone been duck hunting yet?

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