Home Forums Birds & Dogs Waterfowl Pot shooting (sitting ducks)

A YouTuber recently posted a video of a wood duck hunt where they shot most, if not all of them after they landed among the decoys. I objected, but it seems I’m in the minority, based on the thumb-count. Not a waterfowler, so I decided to ask here.

Is it unethical to shoot birds on the water? Are the ethics any different for woodies than other birds?

Thanks for your input.

Growing up, we never knew what “real” duck hunting was in our area of NW TX.
Our “method” was to sneak up on farm stock tank, creap over the edge of the dam, and shoot the ducks as they took off in flight or as they were taking off.

Fun stuff. 🤠

It's legal, and we will get the "If it is legal, I have no problem" crowd chime in for sure....however, an 8 year old could do the same easily....

About the same as an adult beating a pre-schooler at X and O and thinking they did something. Then again, if you can't shoot it's all you have left.

These things vary. What I saw coming up was different than what was printed in magazines. I suspected it had to with means and how many ducks were about versus the limit.

If you're covered up in ducks with a six bird limit you're stupid to shoot sitting unless you can't afford shells.

99% of my local duck shooting is public creek woodies. Very few birds. I shoot the first one sitting. Second on the rise or return flight. Whether that is sporting has nothing to do with it.

I like the Duck Commander videos of their hunts, call them in to sit , bust the first shot into the decoys and shoot the rest as the rise. I did shoot as they circled if one or two are needed for limits but I seenothing wrong with busting them in the decoys....

A lot of guys will shoot a bedded buck from a few hundred yards away and consider that sporting too...

Most of my duck hunting is jump shooting in very small water. They are easier to kill in the air, and that's my preference, but I wouldn't personally look down on anyone who shot them on the water

I shoot ducks on the water and kill elk and deer in their beds. 😀

TR
Sounds like you eat pretty well too then!
Continued success to you
Dan

I have seen YouTube videos of ducks being shot on the water and I immediately hit the stop button and go on to something else. I can't believe somebody would post something like that and act proud of it. I understand everybody has their own idea of what "sporting" is but I would not hunt with someone who shot ducks on the water.

RS

Shooting ducks on the water is kid stuff.

Who wants a duck anyway? The best way to shoot them is flying and real far away. That way you can keep shooting and you don’t have to deal with any stinking ducks.

Only reason in my book to shoot a duck on the water is the ducks been crippled and getting away. Having a good retriever eliminates most of that need. Just how I see it. Mb

Yes agreed, cripples must be swatted.

+1. Labs rule!

RS

Duck hunting isn't a sport for me.

We like to talk them down into the flooded timber and get em close. Wait until their heads line up and shoot once.

In these times of shell shortages, it's very efficient.

I guess the consensus is there ain’t a consensus. I looked up a bunch of waterfowl clubs and checked their rules, and only one mentioned it, but many had rules about Sky Busting, apparently because it educates the birds, not because it they are wounded and lost. Now perhaps that’s because they simply assume that nice people don’t do it, or maybe it’s done and not spoken of.

Used to have a neighbor that was always bragging on all the pheasants his family killed in PA, and was surprised that my brother and I said we missed them sometimes. We took him with us on a hunt and he ground-sluiced the first one he saw, which explained a lot. I would shoot one on the sit if I was carrying a .22 for rabbits or squirrels (never happened) , but if carrying a shotgun I’d charge in to make it flush (which happened quite a bit).

Thanks all.

AKA.....Water Swatter

The high fence hunters need to duck hunt too.

NV, I saw what you did there, and I liked it. Clever.

For me, calling ducks in range, cupped wings feet down or backpedaling over the X and shooting them in the face is half of duck hunting. Watching the dog work is the second half.

Kids, first time hunters, go ahead water swat one. But I try to get them to love the sport not the easy kill. After they “get” one , then let them only shoot rising birds , then get them shooting them in the face .02 YMMV

But if water swatting is your game It doesn’t affect my day....

This is how we hunted them in Coleman county. I liked doing that, definitely fun.

Yes it was !

Side discussion to ponder: which is ‘more sporting’: shooting them before they might land or landing them in the dekes and shooting them on the rise?

One is probably a better indicator of scouting, decoying, and calling……even if a duck or two gets shot while it’s feet are still wet.

I started hunting ducks right at 50 years ago. It was considered unsportsmanlike to shoot a duck on the water unless you were killing a cripple. Anyone caught shooting a non wounded duck on the water was labeled as a "slob hunter".
Back then if you saw another blind working a group of duck, you had better not touch your call unless the duck pealed off and quit working that blind. Back then is was called "blind courtesy"
Now a days, I have seen times when the other blind will shoot at duck to flair them just because they are not working their blind and they are like "if I can't have them, then nobody is going to kill them".

Times have changed in the waterfowl world and not for the better either.

No opinion...Done it both ways. But swatting them on the water, is usually for killing crips.

I prefer the ducks to be setting on the decoys.

I’ve been awakened from a nap when shooting slowed by my hunting dog whining to find birds in my set. Stand up, the ducks come off the water, shoot.

I guess that’s close enough to them sitting on the water, even if they were in the air, barely dragging a wet toe nail.

🦫

Nobody hates a duck hunter , like a duck hunter

I don't hate them, just never knew duck hunting was a competitive sport until resent years.

Besides being far more difficult to kill while sitting on the water, I don't do it. I figure if the duck evades my notice and lands in the decoys, they get a pass. Besides, I now have a live bird in my decoys!

Exactly.


RS

This is the camp I grew up in. Jump shooting on stock ponds and jump shooting ditches or ground slousing poted birds was duck hunting. It really is a different sport or art from than hunting out of a blind with decoys and calls.

If you go to the trouble of putting out decoys and using a calls and you shoot birds on the water you’ve kinda f’ed up. You’ve tricked the bird and missed the opportunity to shoot the bird on the fly. Whereas jump shooting and potting ducks is more about the ambush and putting up numbers”meat hunting”.

Shooting birds on the water is not the best way to put them down the low angle and shooting at the back usually yields poor results. For me both have there place but they are apple’s and oranges.

My first duck hunts were floating rivers after everything froze up. That being said, we still did not shoot them on the water, you let them get up and shot them.
That was just how I was taught, maybe it was because the same guys I started duck hunting with were the same guys that took me quail hunting. You did not shoot a covey of quail on the ground either.
I guess it all boils down to the way you were taught when you started hunting

We do both, dont care, if they land on the water it means they finished, sure is better than folks out there skybusting or shooting above their skill level. A lot times when them swim into the spread or coots, we'll let them dive in order to get our guns ready, and when they come back up its on. We also hunt over very expensive decoys so try to be careful not to hit them. They taste like crap whether you shoot them on the water or in the air.

I've done both though shoot the vast majority on the wing. The Feds are silent on this issue though some states have laws against the practice while others allow it. One needs to check the state regulations to determine if the practice is legal or not.

The most common times to shoot a bird "sitting" is geese in the fields and sculling. In the first it is often a single bird that snuck in at some point - usually when I'm taking a nap. These birds do not like to flush and are such easy targets when they do that I see no difference in shooting them then or when on the ground. Actually, there is a difference- it is easy to head shoot a goose on the ground but much harder as it tries to fly/run away.

When sculling, one is often chasing divers and they are often loath to flush from a piece of debris floating down on them. The birds will either swim in front of the boat or off to the side but often not fly. Sitting up and yelling, pounding the boat, or otherwise causing a scene is more likely to cause the birds to swim faster or dive rather than fly. Shoot one though and the others take to the sky.

I'm angry at em, but this yella dog has rage for em that is unmatched.

Great picture

Unethical? I wouldn't go that far. I'd reserve that label for skybusters, baiters and other vermin. Kids? Fine for the first few ducks. They need a body count and some for photos. I guess I'd think a little less of an adult who routinely shot sitting ducks.

Years ago, forget where, I read a comment from a federal warden who said that while shooting them on the sit was legal, if he saw someone do it, he’d find something to charge them with.

Some of the posts here describe scenarios that, not being a waterfowler, I didn’t consider. I guess I’ve lightened up a bit about it for situations like that, but still think that if I ever do hunt them, I’ll try very hard to get them in the air.

Thanks to all.

People who do it are probably the same ones who put clay pigeons up on the berm at the range, then blast them with their shotgun.

Does anyone on this thread even hunt ducks?

been duck hunting for almost 50 years

Since about 1960.

I really don't care if it is legal or ethical but if someone shoots into the deeks they will be punched and thrown out of the blind and
asked to never return.
Deeks are expensive. If the bird is wounded I'll send the dog after it.

I've only gotten into duck hunting somewhat seriously in the last 5 years or so. I'd never even considered that there were people that shot sitting ducks. My hunting life had always been quail and pheasant. I've shot a wounded pheasant with his track shoes on on more than one occasion, as have I shot a wounded duck on the water. But an unwounded bird, never.

A little humor, a lot of truth: A vet I hunt with said he was at a pheasant hunt one time with people from all over. Somebody was talking about 'Arkansas-ing' a bird. They asked a vet in their group from Arkansas what they call it in his state when you shoot a bird that is on the ground or in the water. He said with a straight face and serious as can be... "we call it hunting".

Days of market hunting and having to hunt to feed your family are all but gone for the most part. I can/could see shooting them on the water if it meant having food on the table or going without food.
That being said, everyone has to do what they deem right in their own eyes.

As usual, I have no issue going against the grain here and proclaiming that half of these posts are knee jerk reaction responses based on "how you've always done it", which is fine, but predictable. I wouldn't say that I believe that it is unethical to shoot ducks after they have landed, though I rarely do it. If one lands and doesn't take off before I get reloaded though, then I sure wouldn't go out of my way to make it flush before shooting, unless there was danger of hitting a decoy or dog. To be fair though, I rarely decoy ducks. Maybe once every few years.

More to the point, shooting at flying birds I believe creates more opportunity for cripples just like shooting at running deer vs stationary deer---so there's that ethics angle to consider. Pellets can really be slowed down by water though which can also cause cripples I guess. That adds more levels of ethics to the situation.

It is outside of the point of this post since the OP is talking about decoyed ducks, but try stalking mallards (or wood ducks as in the OP's example) and getting a shot off without them knowing you're there. I believe that is WAY tougher than shooting them as they have their wings cupped. To my thinking, sneaking up on resting birds is way more of a challenge than blasting them out of the air, which is just shooting if you didn't do the calling or decoy placement.

Can't but agree with that 100%.

Im thrilled that posters are 50-60 years in on their duck hunting seasons.

I'd like to know how these seasons are progressing. How are bird numbers? Killing many?

Decoys are the least expensive thing I buy for duck hunting.

Timber Runner
In TN if you don't draw a blind or know someone with a blind you are pretty much SOL. We have put in for every draw in the system and not one person in our group has been drawn this year, so as of yet this year I have not been.
I have talked to several guys that have been and they have blinds in very good areas when ducks are here and none are setting the woods on fire. The best of the guys I have talked to, their blind has killed less than 100 and none of the rest have broken the 50 bird mark yet.

As a long time hunter in TN and some in Arkansas, I have seen nothing but the numbers decline over the last 20 years. Another long time duck hunter and I were talking about this the other day and we both feel that the best years are behind us.

In the scenario described by the OP, of course it is unethical; no question.

Even though I still wouldn't do it, if a man can sneak or paddle up on a duck, especially a wood duck, I believe he has earned whatever shot he cares to take.

Really?
I have more invested in my deeks than my boat and guns combined. Good deeks are $15-25 a piece for ducks. Damn right I'll get po'ed if someone sprays steel BB's into four or five of them just to kill a bird.

OK, full disclosure. I shot Mojo. A flock of mallards was coming into the decoys and I shot a beautiful greenhead near the bottom of the flock. A stray pellet hit the spinner and blew a hole in his wing, leaving a disfigured whirling reminder of my mistake.
Wounded birds on water? If the pond is small, I'm quick to send the dog. On bigger water I'll quickly execute the cripple as I've seen that merry chase too many times.

Sure do! However, despite the annual glowing reports from Ducks Unlimited, numbers of ducks in my area (western Oregon, mid valley) have steadily dropped over the last 20 years. Hunting here now in the same public spots produces little by comparison. Anyway the dogs still love it

So I went back and re-read the OP after reading T Inmans post. Thought I’ll try to give input that isn’t nostalgic and based on what I grew up doing.

Today when I hunt decoyed ducks regardless of the flavor. Would I consider it unethical to shoot birds on the water? For me personally my simple answer is no, not unethical. For me personally though I find it more enjoyable to shoot flying ducks as sitting. I think it’s harder to hit flying birds, but tougher to kill sitting birds. The key word being decoyed

Again ethical but not as much fun.

I, personally, only shoot ducks on the wing. I, personally, don’t care how anyone else shoots ducks.

In a nut shell……This^^^^^^^^

While I’ve shot them on the water before, it’s not something I’ve ever planned to do. It’s infinitely more satisfying shooting them when they’re cupped up and sailing in. For me it doesn’t get any better than a double, or once in my hunting career, a triple of mallards on the wing.

Shooting ducks on the water is kid stuff. A kid snuck up on my Dad and I and shot our decoys, thinking they were real. He also shot my Dad. He spent 21 days in ICU and still has one steel BB in his brain and one in his shoulder.

I have shot a sitting duck before but not something I practice.

duck hunting was always my favorite , but here in Minnesota farming more and more ,pot holes are drained and plowed ,swamps that are left many no longer have those little shrimp in them, pesticides and herbisides are ruining Minnesota duck hunting probably by population less than half the ducks now compared to what it was in the 70`s. the river i live by no longer has bullheads in it ,too much pollution for bullheads to live.in that type of water. it is now much better to hunt in the western states.

^^^This^^^

Started and hunted ducks and geese on and off over the last 16 years. So I'm no "old hand" in the least.

For me - cripples get swatted on the water to end their misery. Try not to have that happen to begin with but if you've hunted ducks - it's something that happens.

Otherwise - all else are shot in the air. People I hunt with - all are shot in the air. Just seems to be the right way to do it. All our hunting is over decoys - either out on the bay (big water) or we have some ponds and small lakes we hunted but still - decoyed and called.

Pheasants are then the natural progression of the discussion....You are out hunting with a couple dedicated Pheasant hunters and their Dogs..You going to shoot a Pheasant you catch out in the open standing or walking around. See one crouched down in the cover...shoot it as long as the Dog is in a safe position???? For the fish in the barrel shooters it should make little difference.

pheasants in cover is a little different in cover than ducks on water , though, dogs and people tend to pop up in the least likely places .

When I started hunting, my mentors lived through the 1930s or were their children. They were all from agricultural or rural backgrounds so their take on "hobbies" was different from others. Pheasants were shot as they were found and a running pheasant was described as, "getting up to take off speed." Pheasant hunting was mostly a part of a family gathering so drives were the rule.

Filling the bag was the goal and, with up to 20 or more drivers with 10+ blockers making a drive, that meant a lot of birds. But, there were a lot of birds back then making drives feasible and one could get their limits between 9:00 AM shooting time and mid-afternoon.

Armament was also a bit different with single shots often making up half or more of those carrying shotguns. Having just that one shot and a mentality that abhorred waste made a running bird fair game. 22 rifles were commonly seen and a Remington 514 was the gun I carried for my first two years. I didn't get a rooster with it on the drives but I got a few on my own later on.

Dogs weren't much of a concern, seldom were they brought from home to than those living at the farm being hunted rarely were they brought out as they were "farm" dogs and not very well trained for classical bird hunting. If a dog was brought out, it was kept on a leash by one of the kids too young to hunt. At the end of the drive the dog(s) would be let loose to find cripples, often being eaten by the hungry dog.

After the pheasant populations crashed and I got into actual hunting dogs and hunted on my own. Originally, out of concern for my dogs I shot flying birds instead. At some point my view point changed as ground sluicing pheasants as what one did when "poor."

In 45 years I can recall shooting, with a shotgun, only one running pheasant that wasn't obviously wounded and that was 6 years ago. We hit a field that others had hunted earlier that day hoping to find some missed birds or birds that filtered in. That particular bird ran maybe 80 yards and dodged around other 4 guys without flying. I would have called my dog over to run it down but the bird was headed to posted land so I shot it.

I'm not against shooting roosters with a 22 and I get a couple that way every year. Same as with ruffed grouse except one can use a centerfire for them. It takes a lot more skill in woodscraft and shooting to get either of them in that manner compared to using a shotgun and dog.

Water Swatters claim shooting ducks that are swimming with the current to be far more challenging.

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.

Different strokes.

A rose by any other name is still a rose.

When you're hungry, all bets are off.

I'm old school and hunted ducks HARD from teens through my fifties. We didn't shoot anything on the water but cripples. Also unless the duck was very, very close it was more difficult to kill ducks on the water, especially a tough old diver. Much of the time we hunted in tidal saltwater with the boat high and dry, so if you only wounded one on a strong outgoing tide it was a good way to lose a dog. Many times we shot more shells finishing ducks on the water than knocking them down. Guess it might be different hunting in flooded shallow water.

100% my experience with them as well. If I have managed to work birds all the way to the water then I feel I have beat them at their game and I shoot the first on the water then the rest as they get up. But then again I don't pass shoot or jump shoot ducks either. If you want to pass shoot go find a dove field. And IMHO jump shooting ducks vs working them is kinda like jerking off versus getting laid. The end result is the same but one of them is a helluva lot more fun than the other

Nothing like do it my way or you suck!

I guess some guys also make a point of only shooting at running big game too? You know, because it's more sporting?

Posted in another thread also....These boys/girls don't need them setting on the water...amazing

I kind of like how the United Kingdom handles the question - you are allowed a quota of ducks and it is up to you how to do it. I've standing invitations to punt shoot ducks and shoot geese by the light of the moon. I just need to make it happen.

Of course the season would then have to be shorter and the bag limit smaller to preserve the resource. No thanks.

Punt guns in England today….they are rarely used, and it’s not about big kills. “Irish Tom” must have been an absolute hoot with 10 ounces of BP and 50 ounces of shot.

https://www.shootinguk.co.uk/guns/history-of-punt-gunning-119189

You will never again see punt guns allowed for hunting here. They went out along with market hunting. However they would be the ultimate water swatters.

Although selling game for market is still allowed in England. However, there are those pushing hard to make it illegal.

Good read on the punt gun era would be “Outlaw Gunners.” They hung on down around Chesapeake,Md long after market hunting was made illegal.

I would be perfectly happy shooting a 2 or 4 bore punt gun, it is much easier to safely mount and fire one of those than a larger model. It is also what is owned by those who have extended me invitations to try out. I can't imagine the recoil of a maximum legal punt gun as it is a bit over 1 bore in diameter.

And it is not the crass thought of a large bag but the nostalgia and tradition of using such a specialized piece of equipment in the manner it was designed. As young boys, my great uncles got in on the end of the market gunning era. They were the retrievers and ran down cripples in their canoes. Then they got to pluck the birds afterwards. Prices reached a high of $1.50 for canvasbacks but most were $0.50 or less.

Have that book on the shelf, along with several others about market hunting along the East Coast as well as the Mid-West. The latter was as large or even larger practice as the east but extended over a larger area and was not romanticized to the extent it was in the east.

If i feel like its going to be a slow weekend (or if i just feel like it) i will shoot the first few ducks on the water just to make sure i bring back something, especially bc we make a big duck gumbo saturday night and it would be a big let down to not have any ducks to put in it (in desperate times we have substituted marsh hens aka clapper rails).

But if there is plenty of action i will absolutely shoot them on the wing 100%, nothing feels better than making great shots on flying birds

As for worrying about shooting decoys, i try not to shoot them but it doesnt really matter to me bc i use foam filled anyway…either filled from the factory or done to old hollow ones using great stuff

I guess some guys also make a point of only shooting at running big game too? You know, because it's more sporting?[/quote]


I have been thinking this exact thing while I've been reading the comments.

The error of this thought is all big game is not usually shot inside 30 yards. Most Waterfowl being mostly shot inside 30. Either passing, or with wings cupped ready to drop in. Wings cupped over the decks is already almost standing still, quacking out “Shoot me.” But no, let’s wait until they are in the water, saying hi to their new friends. 😂

You water swatters must be really hungry, or have little confidence in their ability with a shotgun. Double 😂😂

Lack of confidence in one's shooting - maybe, maybe not. Not all who attempt to shoot birds on the wing are capable either. It is a foolish comparison to make one practioner seem more "skillful" than the other.

It does say something about one's woodsmanship abilities to either call ducks in to land in one's spread and/or to sneak close and stay hidden to surprise said ducks. It is a skill those unable to accomplish tend to dimishment and dismiss. I most definitely cannot do the later consistently but the occasions I can are memorable. The former is much more common, tough not assured, and shooting ducks or geese as they try to rise is a simple task not requiring much in the way of ability. Except divers, they tend to show their backs and butts when taking off making for an easy shot but difficult kill.

Agree, not all are capable. However, shooters shoot and take satisfaction in developing the skill to do so. They take little satisfaction in shooting Ducks in a barrel.

Something that escapes some.

The question had nothing to do with sneaking up and jump shooting.

So after reading through the 5 pages of this thread, do we have a consensus? I'm trying to figure out when I can shoot ducks. 40+ yds is too far and you are a sky buster. Pass shooting is for those who can't work ducks. On the water and you are a pot shooter/water swatter. Shooting them coming in, cupped up or on the rise takes little skill as they are almost stationary. In summary:

On the water- No
On the rise or coming in- No
Pass shooting- No
Sky busting at 40+yds- No

I guess I should make some phone calls and let Ducks Unlimited, Delta Waterfowl, and any other conservation groups and let them know their services are not needed.... seems the duck population is going to be doing just fine! I might take up Unicorn hunting, seems I might have a better opportunity at getting a shot off sometime. Nah, someone will still tell me I'm doing it wrong because I didn't do it their way!

It's not complicated, really. Wingshooters will always look scornfully upon the ground swatters, with kids being given some grace. Skybusters will be called out by both groups for being the Aholes they are.

No need to go overboard....Have some friends that would invite me to go Duck hunt with them..They were serious and got into the Ducks. After a few times, I realized I really didn't like having a bunch of Ducks come in and all four of us stand up and shoot. With that many Ducks I would rather have 2 shoot this time and another 2 on the next. Well, that wasn't the way the wanted to do it. So, I now
no longer go. We still hang out together, shoot together, I'm invited to the ones camp. NBD just because we don't agree on how to shoot a Duck.

One of the best hunts with them was when the Ducks really wanted in and you couldn't keep them out if you wanted to. We quit shooting and just watched them come in, Big fat Greenheads, coming from somewhere. Finally went out to pick up the Decoys and while doing so, they were landing around us. We could have swatted them from 10 feet...but it wouldn't have been all that much fun.

me too... anytime we have more than two hunting, we take turns...

I couldn't make the proverbial pimple on a real Duck hunters ass...But if you have never been next to a couple people who know how to work a call, with Ducks or Geese moving in strings from all directions, swirling, turning, looking, with some obviously committed, while joining in with the concert....your hunting bucket is far from full.

My post was MOSTLY tongue-in-cheek. They’re enough people out there who don’t want us to hunt at all. I really don’t care how anyone decides they want to do it. Nash Buckingham often talked of taking the “tall birds”. He also mentions taking the first one on the water. Worked for The Godfather of waterfowl conservation.

Battue- what you describe is how it should be, if you don’t like they way someone does it, just don’t hunt together. You can be friends otherwise.

There is skill in shooting birds. There is skill in working birds.

And if you hunt a beaver hole in the Southeastern US that is barely bigger than a postage stamp, good luck getting the woodies to coast in feet down…. More like kamikaze rockets that hit the water before you see them half the time!

As you allude to, it takes skill to be successful at hunting, it's just in different forms. With some, the emphasis is on shooting skill; others its in being able to pick the vicinity the birds want to be, place the decoys to properly position the birds to land, and have the calling ability to convince the birds to commit to landing in the decoys. Others find satisfaction in being stealthy enough to sneak into range of resting birds whether from the land or the water.

I've done all the above to varying degrees and find satisfaction in all. Often, being versatile in one's approach may be what allows one to put something in the game pouch. More importantly, when guiding having alternatives can give the person paying out their hard earned money a better chance at the success they think they are paying for.

I still have three methods of taking waterfowl on my bucket list besides a punt gun. The first is to catch a duck by hand as I've read accounts of those in Egypt and Japan. That would be a real test of stalking.

The second would be by net. Not a mist net or throw net as I have done the former but a long handled fishing type net as the bird passes by. It would be limited to puffins as it was them I saw taken by this method.

Last, taken over a tolling dog. This is one that I hope to accomplish this fall. I don't have a toller but I know someone who does and hope we can accomplish that goal. It appears to be pretty difficult but the attempt should be amusing.

Oops, one I forgot. Night flighting (shooting) geese. It's one I'll aver t add to the punt gunning when I make it to the UK.

I had a friend that hunted ducks in the 60's, by sneaking up on them as they sat on the water. He would take a john boat and wrap chicken wire around the perimeter of boat and stick in cat tails and corn stalks for camo. He'd paddle up and keep low till he was close enough for a shot.

That sounds like the first duck hunting trip I was ever on. Everything was frozen up and we did a river float trip like that.

No one has answered.

Do you academics shoot deer and other ungulates in their bed?

This is the Waterfowl sub forum. If you want to discuss pot shooting deer you will need to go to the Deer Hunting sub forum.

If Deer could fly you may have an academical question. Since they can't you don't. One species flys and the other....well???? Historically, what are the normal traditions of how different animals are hunted? Which happens to be the essence of the question.

If they could fly, would you be willing to send a bullet out into space not knowing where it may touch down a couple miles away? Hey!!!! You could shoot a Deer flying, so why not?

In your State, is it legal to shoot a Deer swimming across a lake or river? In many it isn't. Seems odd one can shoot them while sleeping but not swimming. Asking for an academic friend?

Yes it is in my opinion it is unethical. I would only do it if I were starving and needed the meat . That goes for all Bird hunting. I don't shoot at running game either with the exception of rabbits being run by beagles. I like to eat wild game but I do not have to depend on it for my food supply and neither does 90% of the rest of the population. Shooting sitting birds and running Deer is in my opinion un-sportsman like and hunting for me is sport and recreation. I don't fish with dynamite or quick lime either.

It is not unethical at all, being a decoy carver, I love watching birds commit and land among blocks I carved. Dead is dead whether it be 15 yards one foot above the water or 15 yards sitting on the water. You gonna tell me a couple of feet makes all the difference?

Just dont shoot the decoys!