Ducks in small places

Don’t overlook little bodies of water when duck hunting

The love of duck hunting, for the vast majority of waterfowlers in the Carolinas, is about the love of the game, not necessarily the number of birds on the strap at the end of the hunt. The Eastern flyway is as fraught with bird shortages as any other flyway, maybe more so. It seems that as bird numbers decline, the number of hunters increases. And hunting pressure becomes a real factor. 

Obviously, the coastal impoundments in both states see the lion’s share of ducks, and the largest number of duck hunters. However, sometimes thinking like a duck can help you score in hunting locations that see very little pressure, or maybe even none at all. That’s the way Josh Watkins from Walterboro, SC likes to look at things. Watkins got his taste for duck hunting while a student at Clemson University and has turned it into an obsession while working as a freelance arborist, which affords him the opportunity to travel and set his own schedule.

It’s a passion

Watkins said he’s spent time in an eight-man pit blind as well as sleeping in one of his buddies camouflaged duck rigs, sitting on a hole in some public backwaters waiting for the sun to come up. 

“I love duck hunting, but I grew to hate the thought of either having to be at the local honey hole before someone else, or having to outshoot the guy beside me,” he said. “That’s what got me to thinking about hunting ducks in small places.”

Watkins said the list of places that can hold ducks is mind boggling, once you get out of the typical duck hunting mindset. When asked to expand, he quickly rattled off several spots he looks to each season for hunting ducks off the beaten path.

Creeks 

Watkins points out that every region of the Carolinas has creeks flowing across them, from the mountains to the coast. He adds that not all creeks are created equal. And he also adds that not every part of every creek can, or will, hold ducks.

“I look for flat spots, the widest spots on a creek that I can gain access to,” he said. “I don’t get hung up on water depth because for puddle ducks, there is no minimum depth.”

Next, he looks for available duck food sources. Ducks will eat a wide variety of aquatic vegetation – submerged and emergent, native and invasive. Another favorite is hard mast like acorns and seeds that have washed into eddies in the creek.

Ideally, the area will be partially open to the sky to see incoming birds, but with some cover nearby to conceal the hunter.

Swamps

At first blush, there may not seem to be much difference between a swamp and a wide spot in a creek. Both come and go with the amount of local rainfall. But Watkins said swampy areas tend to generate different types of food based on how long the water has been in place. Swamps thrive when area creeks and rivers overflow from rainstorms, and that water may sit in a swamp for several months afterwards. Because of this, Watkins said it’s possible to do some throw-and-go type plantings of grasses and seed-bearing plants like Japanese millet for ducks to feed on during the season.

“Timing planting for ducks without manipulating the soil is hit-or-miss,” he said. “The millets and wild rice most commonly associated with ducks takes 90 or more days to mature. And a lot can change in that three-month period. I’ve had better success using the products designed for deer and turkey.”

Ponds

Watkins said when he’s talking about ponds, he’s referring to farm ponds, cattle watering holes and other manmade small impoundments to control water. He said migrating ducks favor ponds as a place to rest and loaf. And most ponds hold a number of resident ducks and geese as well.

“You can visit a good duck-holding pond around lunchtime and you’ll see birds on it, usually back in one corner,” he said. “As tempting as it is to try to sneak up on these birds right when you see them, you’re better off to back away un-noticed and get there before they do the next day.”

A final note about duck hunting ponds is having some way to get on the water to put out and collect decoys and retrieve downed birds. Unlike the other locations mentioned, pond water is usually too deep to wade across or even very far into.

“I don’t have a dog. I spend too much time on the road to care for one properly,” he said. “What I do find being out and about so much is a lot of old worn-out kayaks and leaky john boats that people no longer want or use. So I buy these cheap or sometimes free if I’m willing to cart it off. I can patch these up to last me long enough to stay afloat for 20 minutes while I do what I need to do in deep water. I always carry my own paddle in and out because paddles seem to get lost. But an old boat laying upside down near the entrance to a farm pond rarely gets bothered.”

Oxbows/Cutoffs

By looking on any number of satellite imagery sites, you can find half-moon shaped bodies of water adjacent to most decent sized rivers. These bodies of water were the old river channel that was cut off by either erosion or maybe a beaver dam that diverted the flow of water, allowing the current to cut a different channel.

Most oxbows are swampy in nature, but may be accessible from the river or land passage on the far side of the oxbow. 

Flooded fields

Watkins mentions flooded fields because he had one of his most memorable hunts on one. While out scouting a piece of property he had permission to hunt after a particularly rainy week, he noticed water standing in a field. The water couldn’t have been more than 6 to 8 inches deep. But what caught his attention was the two dozen ducks that blew up when he turned onto the dirt road adjacent to the field.

“I never made it down to the real water,” he said. “I called the landowner, told him what I’d seen. He was fine with me hunting the field. And the next morning, I was laying on my back in a layout blind covered in grass. It was one of the best, spur of the moment duck hunts I’ve ever had.” 

Getting permission

Given all the various locations that Josh Watkins likes to hunt, 95 percent of them are on private land. Other than a 1300-acre deer club he’s part of, and about 40 acres that belongs to his grandmother, he has had to approach land owners and secure permission to access and hunt the remaining properties.

“One of the many benefits of my job is that it puts me in contact with a lot of people who own land,” said Watkins. “They contact my company to look at some trees and the first thing I do is ask how many acres they own and what the property consists of, and usually do a tour of the property. It’s not long before the conversation turns to hunting. And when the owner finds out all I want to do is hunt ducks, and especially geese, and not deer or turkey, they usually don’t mind.”

For those who don’t have the benefit of a foot in the door via their job, Watkins said it helps to know who owns some land and be straight forward and ask them. Of the two dozen or so places he has permission to hunt, five of them he gained entry to by just asking people he already knew, or at least knew of.

“All the things you read about getting permission to hunt – taking care of the property, being a responsible hunter, willing to return a favor, all of that goes without saying,” said Watkins. “I think a lot of it is that hunters are just scared to ask permission. They’d rather battle it out on public water than do some homework and some legwork to find their own places to hunt.”