Ducks Archives - Page 8 of 9 - Carolina Sportsman

June 3, 2026

Wood ducks are among primary species taken by hunters at Holly Shelter; the habitat is the kind they like, and it has improved since a 2011 wildfire.

Fire is friend and foe

The 2011 Juniper Road Fire burned holes in Holly Shelter’s Lodge Road Impoundment dikes; however, it did more good for ducks than bad. […]

Woodies are South Carolina’s No. 1 small-water ducks, available throughout the state in all kinds of bodies of water, big and small.

Go small for South Carolina ducks

Brian Cope

Ethan Amerson of Timmonsville trudged through knee-deep water, protected by a pair of waders but still feeling enough of the chill to keep him fully in touch with his surroundings. […]

Cut down the size of your decoy spread late in the season and don’t call as much, guide Josh Roberson suggests.

Late-season ducks have advanced degrees

Jeff Burleson

From the beginning to the close of North Carolina’s 60-day season, ducks become increasingly cautious of the common tricks and techniques practiced by most hunters. […]

Crops left through the early fall will be dove magnets when the second and third segments of the season arrive.

Manipulate crops for late doves

Jeff Burleson

Dove hunting captures almost every hunter in the Carolinas around Labor Day weekend, but the later seasons attract the true dove enthusiasts. […]

Wood duck boxes are a common sight across North Carolina, thanks in part to the efforts of a high-school shop teacher from Alamance County.

High-school teacher increased wood ducks

Craig Holt

In the mid-1970s, North Carolina was home to relatively few native wood ducks. That began to change when a “shop” teacher at Western Alamance High School put his students to work building and selling wood duck boxes. […]

Not all the ducks killed in South Carolina are killed in coastal marshes and impoundments. Lots of ducks hit the water for the last time in big Upstate rivers and reservoirs.

Public Affairs

Phillip Gentry

No question, there are easier things to do than hunt public land across the sprawling metropolis of South Carolina’s Upstate, which doesn’t boast of any rice fields or vast acres of marsh grass. […]

Tommy Price uses a kayak to float local rivers when drought conditions dry up other duck holes.

Hunting drought ducks

Phillip Gentry

Sitting down to write after pushing back from the Thanksgiving table, I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news for all you duck hunters out there. […]

After a hunt, Austin anchors the wing away from the curtain blind. If left in place, waves would bump the wing against the curtain.

Curtains for Ducks

Mike Marsh

Leggett Lump is hardly even that. While nobody really knows where the name originated, the “lump” is a slight rise in the bottom of a couple of inches in height above the surrounding expanse of Pamlico Sound. […]

The Reedy and Saluda rivers, which feed Lake Greenwood, offer ducks with plenty of food, cover and still water.

Greenwood’s Greenheads

Pete Rogers

The predawn cold rattled my bones as I pulled my neoprene waders up over many layers of insulation. Sunrise was still a couple of hours away, and the anticipation of big ducks swooping into our decoys helped me stave off the cold as I pulled the waders up as far as they would reach. […]

Plan ahead to take full advantage of your public duck hunting opportunity.

Draw Down on Ducks

Phillip Gentry

Back in October, you and a group of your duck hunting buddies — or maybe it was a couple of family members — obtained an application from the S.C. Department of Natural Resources for one of their annual draw duck hunts. […]