My natural preference (perfect scenario) is to shoot them on the rise OR while cupping in. You have to have done some scouting, setup correctly, and let birds work to consistently land them or cup them.
If they won’t get up, I have zero issue with smoking the first on the water….but like having a kid or new hunter for that first duck that way. It rarely happens, but some prefer to swim to cover or dive, rather than jump up.
Super expensive decoys have always been a negative return on investment item for me.
For shooting that duck on the water, the shooter should ALWAYS be given permission to disregard the decoys.
Dogs don’t care how the retrieve came about.
After 40+ years of hunting ducks, I find that those that harp the most about others shooting them on the water are FAR more likely to be sky-busters and three shot whiffers. At least most water swatters are more proficient at NOT sky-busting or making a lot of useless noise and educating birds.
