How to Hunt Pressured Ducks


Hunting highly pressured ducks is easily one of the biggest challenges waterfowl hunters face. Nobody likes watching birds fly by without giving you a second thought. Or even worse hesitating and quickly getting spooked.Your decoy spread failed the reality test it scared off the leery flock.

This is especially common late in the season when ducks have seen it all. They start to get a little bit decoy shy avoiding all but the most carefully thought out spread. Adapting to the different variations life throws at you is crucial to catching late season ducks.

How To Hunt Pressured Ducks

Late in the season and in areas that are heavily pressured you’re going to have to adapt to make it through the season. Make sure you adapt to variations in the birds behavior and modify your set up to suit the changing needs. The following tips should help you hunt decoy shy ducks.

Try To Switch Things Up

Late in the season and in pressured areas you’re going to have to go in thinking differently. Try and change things up with a different approach to other hunters.

A few weeks into the season ducks start pair bonding and adjust their flock size.  At this stage hens prefer small flocks so there’s more food to go around.  Instead they are just staying with their mates and trying to fatten up for their trip north.

Having a few decoys scattered with a jake hen pair is going to work a lot better.  This is when I know that I need to switch things up and do it a little differently. Rather than going with the standard 8, 10, 12 dozen decoy spreads you’re going to want a single dozen decoys.

Probably run a single spinner like this Lucky Duck Landing Decoy right in the front of your spread to draw attention and a few geese decoys to throw in a little contrast.  Less is going to be more towards the end of the season.

Identify Pressured Ducks

The first thing that you’re going to need to do is identify whether or not your actually hunting pressured ducks. It might not always be easy to identify whether or not the ducks have had a lot of pressure.

Common Signs of Pressured Ducks

  1. Other Hunters:  Seeing other hunters is going to give you a good sign of the hunting pressure. Whenever you’re out Scouting for ducks keep an eye out for other hunters. Whenever you see four or five other pickups scouting prime hunting land you know you’re in for some trouble. There are very few reasons people are going to be hanging around out in the field in less they are hunting.
  2. Ask For Permission: I also like to avoid areas that are of particularly heavy interest to other hunters. If you ask a landowner for permission to hunt and he says a few other guys have already talked to him you know that’s a high pressure area.
  3. Ducks Avoiding Decoys:  There have been so many different times where I’ve been out hunting and ducks have wanted nothing to do with decoys. There’s even been a few times where they’ve been scared off by their own kind floating around in the water. The last thing they want to see is a decoy spread. They often fly around refusing to approach open water and not centering up.
  4. React Negatively To Calls:  It doesn’t matter if you’re the best caller in the world at some point in the season they’ll just start to ignore calls. Even worse they might get spooked by them and fly away. I’ve even seen actual ducks calling and spooking off a flock.

Use A Goose Flag

Everybody that hunts geese should have a goose flag in their arsenal.    I’ve tried a ton of different flags and prefer the simple black Avery Power Flag.  Avery’s Flag is cheap simple to use and works really well.

Goose flags aren’t just for geese they’ll really draw in a ton of ducks.  Flap the flag when you see ducks at a distance and they’ll see it just like a goose would.  Chances are they’ll come to investigate all the commotion.

Hunt Next to A Refuge

When ducks start to feel a little stale you’re going to have to hunt as close to whatever concentration of ducks you can find.  Most of the time this is going to mean hunting next to a refuge.

What you want to do is try and separate yourself from the other hunters.  You’re going to want to hunt with a spread that looks like the surrounding area.  Most of the time that’s going to mean bringing out a few extra geese to match the surrounding area.

Hide Like a Ninja

Once you get start to get the birds attracted to you you’re going to really have to hide.  Later on in the year ducks have seen just about everything you can throw at them.  So your approach is going to have to change.

Most of the time I’m going to use a layout blind later in the season.(here are a few of my favorite layout blinds)  I’ve found that they’re much easier to camouflage when ducks are especially blind shy.

I really love my ALPS Outdoorz Zero Gravity Blind.  Designed to work like a gravity chair it’s one of the most comfortable layout blinds on the market.

That means adding a ton of extra cover to your blind.  Try to use bungee cords and twine to add natural foliage to the outside of your blind.  Whatever you do don’t forget to add additional cover to the top of your blind. Ducks have a much better vantage point to the top of your blind, so even if it looks great from the ground it could look awful from above.

Adjust Your Calls

There’s really no one right approach when calling in pressured ducks.  You’re going to just have to play it by ear when trying to draw ducks in.  What works great one day probably won’t work the next.

Normally I’ll use a somewhat aggressive calling pattern when luring ducks in from a distance and stop on the approach.  There’s a fine line between overworking the call and successfully drawing them in.  You’re just going to have to try a few patterns to see what works best.

Know When To Tone Down Your Calls

Watching pressured ducks throughout the years has taught me one thing.  Hunters are much quicker with their calls than actual ducks.  Late in the season real ducks say very little both in water and in flight.  Instead of calling out to every duck that passes by rely on your decoys.

If your decoys aren’t drawing them in try a brief 4-5 not greeting call followed by a few soft quacks.  When they’re especially nervous try avoid your call altogether.  A few basic beginner duck calls is all you should really need.

Use Natural Camo

Nothing beats the comfort of a box blind or well concealed boat, but what good is it if you’re scaring away all the ducks.  Later in the season educated ducks start to look for duck blinds unnatural dimensions.  At the very least you’re going to want to cover your blind in the surrounding vegetation draped naturally across the ground.

Using a little bit of camo netting covered with natural brush will offer a much more natural appearance.

Skip The Box Blind

I’m surprised at just how few duck hunters actually forego the duck blind altogether.  If you’re hunting a marsh or field try to immerse yourself in the tall grass. Reduce your profile by laying flat on your back if the ground isn’t completely freezing.

Without tall grass you should consider stepping back a few feet into the woods behind a tree. Your slight discomfort will quickly disappear when those birds start to fly in.

Open Up The Ice

If you can’t find good hunting ground after lakes start to freeze up you’re going to have to make your own.  This means you’re going to have to open up the ice.

Using a boat blind is by far the easiest way to open up a patch of ice.  Simply use your boat as a battering ram to break up large chunks quickly.  In about 20-30 minutes you should have a big enough area to place your spread.

You can also use a dock de-icer like one of these units, but that’s going to be a little overkill for most people. You’ll also need to run a power cord out to your de-icer which could be a problem in open fields.

Hunt With The Pressure

Hunting pressure doesn’t always have to be a bad thing.  If you know that there’s an overly hunted public area or duck club nearby use that to your advantage.  Setup a little bit down the road and allow them to draw the ducks to you.

Just about any out of the way hidey hole or secluded spot will work well.  Anywhere that ducks feel safe without a lot of pressure will work well.  I’ll normally save this spot for the end of the season when the more common areas slow down.

You’ll notice that these off the beaten path hunting holes work best on the weekends.  When every Tom Dick and Larry get off work and head for public land you need to go somewhere else.

Stay Out After Lunch

When every other hunters stomach starts growling and they head off for lunch you need to be in your blind.  As hunters leave their blinds they stir up a lot of traffic drawing birds to less frequented sanctuaries.  All these hunters will stir up at least one last good flight giving you a chance at a few more birds.

Always Take The Shot

There’s nothing quite as beautiful as a mallard centered and approaching with exposed breasts, but you probably aren’t going to get this shot.  Late in the season you aren’t going to be able to hold out for the perfect shot.  If the ducks are in range on their first swing or offer a fly by shot you need to take it.

I’m not advocating that you shoot randomly into a flock of ducks.  You should know your range and whether or not you should be able to effectively get off a shot.

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