Home Forums Birds & Dogs Waterfowl Rookie duck season: first time hunting over ice.

I joined up with my friend Greg to go for ducks and/or geese this morning at our regular place in southwest Iowa. The waterfowl season has gotten slow around these parts as all of the small marshes are frozen solid and the birds know it. We have a big slough to hunt that still has some open water pockets, but with 16-20 mph winds out the south we weren't expecting much. It took a good bit of effort open up the small patch of open water to hold the 38 duck and 12 goose decoys we brought. The nice things about the wind was that it gave the decoys excellent, very realistic movement. Add in the mojo duck I staked in 20 yards from the main group of decoys and it would've been a real shame if no birds were flying by today.

While the birds weren't committing very low at first, and they showed up rather late (around 8AM), they did show up. The first group that showed up circled our spread many times, but this was 30+ mallards and I think the hole we broke open was not big enough for their liking given the number of decoys sitting in it. They stayed a hair too high and we never shot at them. The second group came in and circled a bucn has well, but this time they gave us a beautful, cupped-wing pass as they went to land that we couldn't resist. We each took a mallard drake out of that bunch. Greg's was a beautiful old drake that was massive in the body. Mine was a nice old drake as well, but his was just huge. About 30 minutes later, Greg got a lone mallard drake that got so close, I thought he didn't see it coming. He shot it at the last moment and busted it up pretty good. That was it for the day, but it was great to actually get some action on a strong south wind day. Normally, we won't be so lucky.

This was a cool hunt for us because it was the first time either of us shot over ice. We learned very quickly that when you hit a duck over 1"+ thick ice, if it's not dead from the shot, it will be from the impact. Here are some pics from the hunt:

The decoy spread in the open water hole that we opened up a bit and hunted:

My bird after he came face-to-face with the ice:

The same bird next to the crack in the ice he made upon impact:

Greg making the slow, ice-busting wade to get his first bird. The buttstock of his shotgun came in handy here. You can see the duck on the ice to the far left:

By the time I got over to where he had been, Greg had already retrieved his duck, but the 3-foot wide spider web it made in the ice tells you just how big this duck was:

All in all, it was an awesome duck hunting day. It took a lot of extra effort to get things setup, but it was fun and we didn't get skunked. The highlight of the day was when I finally decided that it was taking too long to break the ice and wade 50 yards or so to get my duck. I leaned on the ice and while it wanted to crack, it didn't.. It had just enough strength to support me on all-fours and I got my duck back. Getting back into the water didn't go so smoothly. As I approached the broken edge of the ice...yep...a shelf broke loose and I went in. Plenty of ice-cold water made it into my waders, but you'll be proud to know that I soldiered on and kept hunting. Once the thin layer of water warmed up inside the neoprene, it wasn't so bad. I guess you can say that we finally got the "real" duck hunting experience. :biglaugh:

Hunting the ice can be fun, especially when that is the only open water.

Next time, try some full bodies sitting on the ice at the edge of the hole. Ducks and geese do that naturally and it seems to really help.

+1 on the full bodies on the ice....

That is the kind of "noble suffering" that has given waterfowlers the crusty, fanatical, weather beaten reputation that we are probably too happy to remind people about. The kind of stuff that lets you give a squinty eyed scowl to plantation hunters and feathery setters. A guy with a slow leak in the crotch of his waders and ice in his beard has to find superiority where he can!

Seriously though, you can never be too careful around ice. Muskrat and beaver runs can get you into big trouble for instance. A little water in the waders can be an irritant in many instances or a real danger in others. I have had a dog fall through ice kept thin by a spring and only because of a neoprene vest on the dog and the fact that my brother is tougher than Chinese Algebra (he broke the last 10 yards of ice in jeans, t-shirt and stocking feet) was she retrieved. We were all three lucky to have come away without injury. Being that cold can put a scare into you.

I enjoy hearing about firsts seasons and the learning curve involved. Particularly from adults as it reminds me that I had it pretty darn good growing up where and how I did.

wildfowl/noduck -

Thanks for the tip about birds bordering the ice hole. I took the day off tomorrow (20 mph NW winds and light snow overnight - we can't resist) and we're heading back to this same slough. I'm going to try taking the keels off some of the Canada geese floaters and sitting them on the edge of the ice. We don't have and standers, but we'll see how this works. It will also help to clear some space from the open water.

BullGoose -

I couldn't agree more about working through these kinds of conditions as being something of a badge of honor and I hear you about the perils of ice. There are plenty of muskrat runs in this place and I always take cautious steps, especially as the overall water depth increases.

Also, you really should feel privileged to have grown up in an area where this kind of hunting is readily available. I'm 33 and this is my first ever waterfowl season. I don't know how I went all of these years not doing this because of how much fun it is. As a kid growing up in inner-city Philadelphia, this sort of thing wasn't in my vocabulary of life until I moved to Nebraska for military duty. Sadly, I have to move yet again in a few months to an area where the duck hunting will likely be poor at best (Las Vegas, NV area) due to military obligations.

Hey Luis what's up with movin already? Just met ya now you're leavin us!!!....Woody

Yeah, I know man. It sucks like that it seems. The good news is that the tour I'm headed to is only for a few years and I'm keeping my house back here. I intend to return when this one's over. I'm going to miss the good people and good times this area has brought over the past 7 years that I've been in Nebraska, for sure.

One other tip when hunting around COLD water-- Keep a "fall-in" bag in your truck. Pack it in this order with bath towel or two on top, then socks, underwear, shirt, pants, shoes, coat. After you fall in, you need to get dry so strip down and get dressed in dry cloths. The order will make sense when you think about getting dressed. I always keep a bag packed this way in the truck with old clothes. Thankfully I have had to use it very little, but I know it will be there for me when I need it and we all need it at some point.

Take heart regarding NV. It is after all the place where the oldest known duck decoys in America were found. Remarkably realistic canvasback dekes made of tule reeds from 2200 years ago. One reservation in NV is called Duckwater as well. Lake Mead is a HUGE body of water in the middle of a desert so there has to be some waterfowling to be found somewhere.

http://edecoy.org/locklove.html

Worst case scenario, take advantage of extra-ordinary big and small game hunting opportunities in the area and start hoarding decoys in expectation of a triumphal return. Hardships may change from cold weather to over night drives and hunting pressure, but as you say, it's only temporary.

Nevada may give you more hunting addictions, Quail, chukar, coyotes, muledeer, elk. Catfishing the colorado or striper on mead. You hunt fish right?

Sorry for taking forever to reply, guys. I'm actually in Nevada (Vegas area where I'll be moving soon) tying up loose ends for my job.

I know there are some good hunting opportunities in Nevada, in general, but the area where I'm going to be makes it a much longer haul in any given direction get to where much of it is. I have to look closer, but the closest huntable WMA that I have found where there's any sort of quality duck hunting is 2+ hours from where I'm living. After being just 40 minutes from where I hunt in Iowa and just over an hour from my Nebraska potholes, this is a bit of a bummer. I was previously able sneak out after work to get in an hours or so of duck hunting before the Daylight savings time changeover. This won't be possible anymore. I would like to learn mule deer hunting, but as with any move, I have to re-find a "spot" worth working. Quail/checkar would be fantastic. I went on my first pheasant hunt and realize that if I owned a good bird dog, I'd be a major upland bird addict.

Now the fishing part looks very promising. I have a good amount of bass gear, and Lake Meade is only an hour out. I've never done much catfishing, but I will certainly be trying it once we settle in.

Oh, and just as a follow-on, I did get back out to this same place and hunted some really nasty, snow-blown weather Tuesday morning. It was very hard keeping the hole open as he snow made for very fast forming 1/4" ice, but a walk through the hole every 15 minutes or so made it possible to pull a couple of early morning birds out of there. My buddy got a mallard drake, and I shot what I hoped was a mountable mallard hen to go with the drake I shot the other day, but she lost a ton of feathers off of her breast when she snagged a cattail reed on the way down. It's a shame because she was absolutely beautiful otherwise. Still an eater though, and I'm going to try a new recipe with her breast meat when I get back home.

I used to live in St. George, UT. There are lots of chukars and quail out on the Strip. Lots of quail if you find them. I'm sure NV has it's fair share too. This is a drive from you, but I know people who would do well on ducks over by Cedar City. I do know they needed a boat. Lake Meade has lots of striped bass too. One thing I never got to when I lived down there was to take a kayak and put in on Lake Meade near the AZ/NV boarder. I thought it would be a blast. I was too busy trout fishing and hunting on the strip to worry about waterfowl too much.