Is anyone killing any ducks?

The second split has been; let say 'a challenge'. I didn't hunt this past weekend based solely on the negative reports I got from all last week; no ducks. I realize our local conditions were not ideal, but there was a major ice storm that covered large areas north of us. And the weekend before last it was perfect duck hunting conditions (North wind 20-25mph, cold (25-30 degrees)) and we still only managed 6 GW teal that Saturday. I'm just wondering if everyone else is experiencing the same results.

In SE LA, yes. Weird year, first split hot with teal. Second split started off slow, but has heated up with the weather. Funny thing, during the polar blast, did not see many ducks. This weekend with the fog, smoking hot, not just the weather. Finally, the Gray ducks have showed up where I am hunting.

It's been a weird year, but my best year yet. Been killing ducks on public land (pointe-aux-chenes). Mostly grey ducks....this season totals (40 gadwalls, 1 mottled, 1 redhead, 4 spoons, 5 GWT, and 1 BWT) out of 12 solo hunts. The key to my success is to keep moving, find where the ducks want to be and go there (even if I had to pick up 3 times). My calling was very limited, I didn't use a boat blind, stayed well-hidden in the marsh grass and didn't use a mojo.

The hunts in our area of Delacroix have slowed down the last couple of weeks also. Just not seeing many ducks. Some of it may have to do with the weather but every year we have good and bad weather weekends. Seems the ducks will just pick up and move this year to where you may go a couple of days with empty skies, then all of a sudden they show up again. Been a strange year. Will give them all they can handle the last week! Will pull out all the tricks we can think of! Good luck to all!

Hunted cocodrie for the weekend of the icestorm. Saturday we kill 18 greys and a matter of 45 minutes and the Sunday we went to the wax outlet and killed 4 pintail 4 SPECKS and a few teal. But since then we been struggling just to fill one limit. To hot down cocodrie. The diving ducks are down by the thousands in the lakes but we don't hunt them. Thinking about starting though after this year!

Another cold day

The second split has been very strange due to the erratic weather conditions. The fog days have killed us the last few weeks. No wind and very few people out in the marsh leads to very few ducks on the move. We don't seem to have as many ducks in our area as we did a few weeks ago despite an abundance of vegetation in the ponds for them. I usually look at the ducks that get up on the 20 minute boat ride back to the camp, there are fewer in our area.

The ice bowl weekend did not produce huge amounts of ducks for us either. I am of the opinion that cold weather in our area makes no difference as some people think rather it is change of weather and a decent breezes that lead to success. I have posted before, I have shot many limits with clear skies 10MPH breeze in 55 degree weather.

What is happening now are the same results year after year of the ducks gathering in certain areas and staying put. Less hunters and less fisherman moving around shaking things up along with a few less ducks in the area. Limits can still be had but we need a little help from mother nature to make it happen.

The above is why I cant support extending the season later as some in the coastal area ask for. The first spilt is always the best hunting for us.

One more weekend of hunting to go. Good luck to all...

I agree MileyPop: I prefer the early start like last year. I always do better in the first split on my Delacroix lease. My land is near the Lake Lery restoration project and is subjected to severe silty runoff. As a result, I have absolutely zero aquatic vegetation, and my ponds are silting in. Hell, we almost got stuck on those two Saturday mornings when the strong North wind was pushing. It's because my ponds are roughly 8-10' shallower that they were prior to the runoff. But all that said; that is not why we do not have any ducks. The entire area seem void of ducks this season. When I rode out last time I did not see many birds getting up. And everybody I talked to didn't do well either. One other comment: I can count the number of big ducks we shot this season on one hand. Trust me, I ain't complaining, we had plenty teal (mostly GW for whatever reason); but I like killing greys. We only shot 3 greys all season so far. Good luck to all, and good shooting!

We were very fortunate to have had a good year for grey ducks this year. My guess is about 65% of the ducks harvested by the camp this year were grey ducks. In fact, probably the best year for them since 2011 which was phenomenal. I would sign up for the season we had every year. We frequently had some really good hunts.

What is very odd this year is the lack of Dos Gris in our area. They typically show up in the later part of the season and are a good supplement to the greys that start to thin out later in the season. The camp has maybe shot 15 Dos Gris all year. Now don’t get me wrong, I much prefer shooting greys than Dos Gris, but this is an example how things in the duck world change from year to year despite similar weather conditions and local marsh habitat.

The only thing I am certain about with duck hunting is it is 50/50 things will go like you think it will even with 38 years of experience as guidance. Sure, we can improve some outcomes but the type of ducks we shoot day to day can change overnight and there is nothing we can do about it.

It all comes down to pressure. The weekend of the big front there were thousands upon thousands of greys in delecroix, consitently killing solid 2-3man limits all week. but by saturday with 100 boats running around fishing every direction of delecroix,hopedale, point la hach the ducks get tired of getting pushed and they leave. By sunday it was a struggle to even find a few ducks to hunt. Its just like the refuge in main pass down river, the ducks stay all season bc they dont get jumped every half hr by a mudboat. And everyone going to say once the season closes all the ducks show up, no its bc they dont have every duck dynasty wana be out there riding around in a surface drive and a popup blind looking for a spot to hunt running the ducks for miles.

Been an interesting year for sure. We struggled mightly for the first 2 weeks of the first split and then slowly buy surely it got better as the season progressed. We had to hunt em though. Moved around a lot. Some mornings we had to move to another blind to get our birds. Rarely could we hunt a blind/pond two days in a row and kill limits. Made for a lot of work...resetting decoys, building blinds, cutting brush all season long. My boys, in their 20's, did better than me - they never run out of gas!
One thing about duck hunting in our area below Houma that keeps my blood pumping...always a challenge and every year is different. Gotta luv it, or stay home.

I agree 100% on the too much pressure from SD boats all over the place. I think it has taken several years of repeated abuse and invasion of duck sanctuaries, to have a lasting effect on migration patterns and wintering grounds. I have seen what it has done at the PRWMA. Ducks absolutely have changed their patterns so much there, that they literally do not even visit the area anymore. The south marsh is virtually void of any wintering waterfowl after the first shot is fired. And now it is even void of duck altogether, even before the opener. All the 'scouting' leading up to the season has changed the pattern completely. And now its happening incrementally on private land too. I have been preaching this for years. Ultimately: what has made duck hunting so easy and convenient, has also had a reverse effect in that the ducks have adapted to the human factor, and simply avoid heavy traffic areas. When you have good days, it is probably made up of juvenile ducks who haven't been exposed yet.

No doubt, the ducks do respond negatively to pressure. Reducing the amount of time running around the lease has helped some.

I hunt exclusively Public Land and on 30 hunts this past season,me and the guys I hunt with harvested 105 ducks,not necessarily stellar results but decent and in the mix,we had quite a few DNF hunts,obviously reducing our average/hunt but ya gotta report de good,de bad,de ugly!!By scouting and being ridiculously mobile,using palmetto branches for incredibly effective blinds,we tried our best to be on the 'X' and more often than not,I was on the 'X'!!Hunting Public land forces me to out-work and out-think the average duck hunter,not willing to either scout extensively or perhaps paddle quite a ways to get away from crowds.I did notice a decent pattern,that being certain ponds were loaded with ducks and ponds not more than a couple hundred yards away had little to no duck activity.I also have the luxury of sometimes being able to hunt til noon,when most hunters long gone and when hunters started getting the ducks stirred up,ya can guess how that upped my odds of shooting a few more to possibly round out a limit or break a scratch hunt!!!Can't wait for teal season and have a client whose husband tragically passed away wanting to give me his pristine sets of decoys and she is making me an awesome offer for his lay-out blinds!!!

Mandevillian

Mandevillian, which public lands do you hunt mostly? My boys had great success in Venice in the first split and had decent success at the Wax in the second split. Like I said, we had a tough first split so they opted to do more hunting than usual on public land.
I'm wondering if anyone out there is hunting some of the northern public areas of the state? Curious how their year went?

I hunt almost exclusively the Big Branch Marsh NWR and we really bust our tails to get away from pressure,not exactly easy but I have been hunting this refuge religiously for about 10-15 years and pride myself on concealment and calling in wary ducks.John Manion made a hunt with me on the last Th of the season(he missed two limit hunts,unfortunately)and he commented on how nice it was to have late-season greys feet-down,definitely a tribute to not only our scouting efforts but also our camo techniques.If ya aint on de 'X' ya might as well be on de 'zero',as far as this particular refuge concerned.Last season,I was very fortunate to kill a true Black Duck,and John Manion has seen the Kevin Hynes' trophy mount!!!Pearl River can be decent,just gotta contend with Go-Devils and Surface-Drives and we hunt ole school all de way,de best way to hunt in my estimation,proof in numbers and quality of ducks we took,though wished we had not had as many DNF hunts!!!Thanks for asking!!!

Mandevillian

I can assure you if you ban surface drives on public land the hunts are so much better. Birds aren't spooked they work decoys land in decoys no problem. I can tell you where ive seen this but im sure you all already know.

Yep,1000% agree with ya!Love my mid-week hunts where there are few hunters out!!!

Mandevillian

not just surface-drives...ban all boats!! keep to the navigational bayous/canals and paddle the rest of the way in.

Well,I would certainly not mind banning all boats would force me to do little more paddling but certainly doable and would no doubt reduce the Yahoo!'s out there plus incredibly reduce pressure on already highly-pressured duck population. Think my hunting partners might have to start exercising bout dis time but I paddle all de time so no big deal for de Mandevillian🦆

In my opinion the smaller go devil longshaft motors are not an issue. They are far to slow to be joy riding around all day and you cant pile 4 people in a boat and go faster than 10 mph. Private land surface drive motors no problem if not abused its the public land that it really ruins. Lots of the places we hunt on public land are 10-18 mile rides you aren't going joy ride in a go devil that far just wont happen. The ducks have sanctuary.

ban mud motors.....and if that don't work, ban all combustible engines......and if that don't work, ban auto shotguns.....and if that don't work ban 3' shells.....and if that don't work ,limit to 20 gauge......and if that don't work, ban duck calls.......and if that don't work ,ban decoys ....blah blah blah

You could do all of the above and if the idiots keep showing up, you're still going to be screwed. Big Branch already outlaws surface drives and you still get the idiots.

The real problem is over pressure and too many people. Someone may think to themselves, 'well if we ban surface drives, that will eliminate half the hunters'....WRONG, they're just going to start showing up in outboard rigs.

WLF can't enforce skybusting (which is only a portion of the problem) and they cannot enforce exhaust decibels.

In my opinion, Lottery hunts would be the best solution for overcrowded WMA's

Back to the subject of exhaust decibels, over the past couple weeks we been fishing in our bayboat with a 225 2-stroke mercury. That rig jumps way more ducks than my surface drive rig. Should we ban bayboats during duck hunting season? (sarcasm)

Yea maybe so but you aren't joy riding through the ponds in that boat either at least not if the tide is below normal. Your sticking to the main bays and the bigger ponds not getting into the small stuff way back in the marsh.. once again at least not on a low winter tide.

You missed the most important points that I made. But just to clarify, when were fishing last weeks, we weren't joy riding in the middle of the ponds to jump the 1,000's of ducks we seen. We were sightfishing in the bayous and cuts and when we were running from one bayou to the next, ducks were jumping 500- 1,000 yards away.

IN FACT, when we regularly hunt the Biloxi marsh and the bird flight slows down, we're hoping fisherman run around because they jump ducks without joy riding in the middle of duck/redfish ponds.

But to get back to the main point that I was making; less idiots in the marsh is going to be the only saving grace for WMA's, NOT telling that same idiot to show up in his outboard rig instead of his surface drive rig.

Lottery hunts for overcrowded WMA's

Well I hunt out there too and I can promise you since they banned surface drives there is a whole lot less people hunting where I am hunting. Literally Its like my private lease. Take it for what its worth I guarantee a 225 hp isn't getting where I go on any tide. But yes limiting the people is the only way.

Take my opinion,for what it is worth,pressure on ducks entirely screws it for everyone and there are a hand-ful of regulars that I hunt with and we try our best to paddle in to remote ponds use a camo motor cover to hide my outboard and use a camo net to hide the trolling motor,both bright white)and where I hunt,I rarely see another hunter.Might be because we hunt hard and access fairly remote spots and do not 'joy ride' around,in fact,I do not scout a lot as sometimes the mere scaring up of ducks alerts them and we use my flatboat to gain access to deeper channels,dock the flat and paddle sometimes a minimum of 35 minutes(one way).I make a ton of observations while hunting and try as best as possible to put myself on the 'X' as it is difficult,if not impossible to get ducks to come your way vs being where they want to be and can tell folks that one of the most frustrating scenarios to unfold is where you are where you think the ducks want to be and there are hunters not more than possibly 300-350 yards away,pounding away at greys lighting in their decoy spread!!!We also hunt with huge palmetto branches and these things make an incredibly effective and super-mobile blind,using about 8-9 branches for the blind and about the same number to cover our pirogues.Sometimes my best hunts are those where I literally hunker down in the pirogue and stab about 16 palmetto branches all around the pirogue,'Tee-Pee' style and ducks have no clue where I am.They can fly right over the top,even look down,and all they see are palmetto branches touching each other.John Manion with LA Sportsman,saw up close and personal how effective our blinds are as we had ducks 'feet down' the last Th of duck season 2016-2017!!!Public Land hunting always challenging but those willing to put in some time and effort are more often than not richly rewarded,just put in de requisite time and if ya got de ability to hunt mid-week,even less pressure,and greater rewards!!!

Mandevillian

Put it to you this way all there are now is remnants of blinds from when they use to allow surface drive motors. Those blinds haven't been touched since the ban theres no doubt about it.

The only legal use of surface drives where I hunt would be if someone belonged to the private leases left in the Big Branch Marsh. That said,I have seen a few clearly on Refuge property and have brought it to the attention of the Federal Agents that monitor that Refuge. There are places in the Big Branch Marsh that consistently hold ducks just not easily accessible and by observation over the course of about ten years,I have been able to place myself squarely on the 'X' and not the '0',if ya knows what I mean🦆

Mandevillian

I have a strategy that I want to tweak-stanchioning off my canoe and stabbing in about 20 giant palmetto branches all around me and using nice lay-out blind.

Mandevillian

Yea that's good but a lot of work if you are hunting 15 different ponds a year. I find sit in grass on avery marsh seat full camo pants long sleeve face mask hat they won't see you. But yes I agree extra cover helps don't think it's a make or break type of thing tho. I usually just put the pirogue a ways behind me it's already painted camo.

No,what I am referring to is just de last few hunts of de season. I typically hunt about 30 days per duck season and de way I hunt is ridiculously mobile typically hunt 19 different spots per year and use palmetto branches to not only make mobile blind but also completely conceal Chapman pirogue. Last few hunts of each season seems greys wanna raft in middle of big bays and tough to blind out there but think ideal scenario involves Canoe with plenty of palmetto branches all round boat plus use of lay out blind inside Canoe.

Mandevillian

Gadwall
Been following this and figured I'd jump in for what it's worth, We hunt west of Lery, vegetation has been good but the closer you get to the restoration work vegetation is non existent compared to 2015/2016, as you, Proud Papa, Miley Pop, Tony and a few others have stated it has been a strange season, 1st and 1/2 Second Split while mid week hunts were slow they produced limits/ near limits and more big duck movement late in the mornings, thank goodness for Teal is all I can say, while we killed 9 different species of ducks the predominant bird has been Blue and Green Wing Teal. Season count ended at 283 birds harvested, Over a 48 year time frame in the Delacroix Area of Flat Boats and pirogue's to Go-Devil long shafts we ended up with surface drives and boat blinds as the marsh and access has changed, stock engines no open exhaust and we don't run birds that are resting open water if at all possible, we move around a bit on the lease as the water level and vegetation allow, the end of season hunts were really slow with 5 to 7 duck shot per hunt two hunters, birds were held up late season in different pockets around the area, during a couple week day second split hunt to the SSE probably Canal Marine Area we watched around 2,000 or better ducks get up circle and go right back down, no large concentrations held up close to Lery as we have seen in the past this year, hopefully after the restoration work ends we'll start to see some type of normal patterns return, the one thing that has been consistent and increasing has been Teal #'s in the area, were not seeing any Black Malards in the area either, all in all we'll count our blessings for a good season this year

Well,For what it is worth,I have not hunted nearly as long as a lot of folks posting on here,including Bayoubob,my typical hunting partner,though typically he and I hunt solo and the one consistent trend I have noticed about the past 4-6 years,maybe longer,is that we see quite a concentration of greys that start rafting up in open bays,out of range of typical hunting and they refuse to decoy close enough to shoot.I have used two techniques,the first worked to perfection and it was somewhat of a pain but well worth it.I tagged along another pirogue,a 'ghost pirogue'and anchored it up about where I had seen greys rafting up big-time and I hunted about 100 yards up-wind and enjoyed some ridiculously easy,feet-down shots,fooled those wary greys extremely well.The other tactic,one that I will tweak considerably,involves the use of a fairy large canoe, stanchioning her off and using about 20 giant palmetto branches to completely hide the canoe.The day I used the canoe as a blind was not a good experiment as there was virtually zero duck movement and all I had was a pair of greys that landed about 70 yards away and a buddy hunting not that far from me was seeing the same lack of duck movement and fortunately did get a solo grey.For next season,I will get the canoe a tad more stable,use about 50 decoys,and possibly use a small lay-out blind on the floor of the canoe plus the best cover material I have ever used,tons of giant palmetto branches.These greys have done the exact thing about every year that I can recall,why fight it,just adapt!!!

Mandevillian

Well,For what it is worth,I have not hunted nearly as long as a lot of folks posting on here,including Bayoubob,my typical hunting partner,though typically he and I hunt solo and the one consistent trend I have noticed about the past 4-6 years,maybe longer,is that we see quite a concentration of greys that start rafting up in open bays,out of range of typical hunting and they refuse to decoy close enough to shoot.I have used two techniques,the first worked to perfection and it was somewhat of a pain but well worth it.I tagged along another pirogue,a 'ghost pirogue'and anchored it up about where I had seen greys rafting up big-time and I hunted about 100 yards up-wind and enjoyed some ridiculously easy,feet-down shots,fooled those wary greys extremely well.The other tactic,one that I will tweak considerably,involves the use of a fairy large canoe, stanchioning her off and using about 20 giant palmetto branches to completely hide the canoe.The day I used the canoe as a blind was not a good experiment as there was virtually zero duck movement and all I had was a pair of greys that landed about 70 yards away and a buddy hunting not that far from me was seeing the same lack of duck movement and fortunately did get a solo grey.For next season,I will get the canoe a tad more stable,use about 50 decoys,and possibly use a small lay-out blind on the floor of the canoe plus the best cover material I have ever used,tons of giant palmetto branches.These greys have done the exact thing about every year that I can recall,why fight it,just adapt!!!

Mandevillian

If you know what potholes hold water when you can barely launch the boat that's all you need. I usually leave the big bays alone to hard to hunt unless you build a temporary cane blind for boat. The birds usually trickle in off the bays to the potholes that have water as there are only a few that will so when you find them that's where I hunt in January if in Biloxi. much easier in my experience to hunt the potholes though and can be very good hunting. Broken marsh high tide potholes dead low tide is a good rule of thumb. Also most potholes are pretty good normal tide too.

Duckhunter 7777,I do agree,using the boat blind is a pain but the way I see it,every year for the past 3-5 consecutive years,these greys have found a sanctuary in the bigger open bays in the NShore Marsh and they flock to these bays in droves.I know of two specific bays that typically have rafts of ducks,not only greys but also redheads and sometimes canvasbacks and it is frustrating,at best,to watch these flocks build up and a simple solution is to either hunker down on one of the islands closest to where they raft(not easy,either)or use either a boat blind,legal in some of the NShore Marsh and not legal in the non-motorized pipeline,unless the boat is propelled by either an electric trolling motor(not a bad idea)or paddle craft.Mudboats and air-cooled motors not allowed in NShore Marsh(Big Branch),but simply employing a canoe and plenty of camo plus stanchioning off the canoe would most probably yield one of the most memorable hunts ever and I used a 'ghost pirogue' one time and it worked to perfection,pretty easy,just have to tether another rogue to the one ya paddle and just anchor dat baby off where ya see dem ducks raft and problem solved!!!I hunt plenty of potholes and where I hunt,there is plenty of open water and greys always seek refuge in big bays,especially late in de season!!!Already got me tinkering with my big canoe,getting her rigged for stabilizer planks fore and aft so once she is anchored securely via 4 U-bolts,all I have to do is use horizontal planks across the gunwales and she would make an incredible shooting platform,especially with nice lay-out blind on floor!!!

Mandevillian

Sounds like you have the duck fever pretty bad. I usually take my boat blind off when I bring pirogue but if I saw that many birds in open I'd put it on and stick that cane around it. Some reason open water blinds never really caught on around Biloxi everyone hunts off the banks of ponds. I really hate building blinds as it gives away a good location. If I'm riding and see an old stick frame or a pallet with old brush you can bet that's a good spot every time it is.

Yes sir,definitely have de duck fever very bad and always scheming to out-smart dem greys.We hunt exclusively Public Land where no permanent blinds allowed and a few years ago a duck hunting buddy gave me the idea of using giant palmetto branches to completely conceal the hunter and he had access to plenty of them.Fast-forward to now and I typically take two bundles with 10 each and usually take about 8 to completely conceal me and the rest are used to hide the Chapman pirogue.A few years ago,I put 4 U-bolts on my canoe and only need slightly longer poles to stanchion off the canoe and will tweak the set-up so I can use small planks,fore and aft,to make horizontal supports to completely stabilize canoe and I just met client whose husband has 3 lay-out blinds and bunch of decoys she is parting with.The lay-out blind might fit perfectly in the floor of the canoe,so by carefully placing the giant palmetto branches all around the canoe and using the lay-out blind,dem greys never gonna know what hit em!!!

Mandevillian

I have a lease but Biloxi has been much better. Being that it makes for a pretty long day I don't think many people venture out there.

I have heard that Biloxi Marsh can be a great Public Land spot but my situation is that I hate that long drive,not to mention that my antique Chevy pick up sucks down Premium non-ethanol gas like no tomorrow and it takes me about 15 minutes max to get to where I launch and about a 20 minute boat ride and where I hunt rarely see another hunter(typically paddle at least 30 minutes from where I dock my flat).We shoot mostly greys with a smattering of teal woodies mallards and mottled ducks and I ain't complaining since my 'lease fee' grand total of zero.

Mandevillian

Since it seems some of the commenters are trying to figure out ways to improve the shooting of grey ducks I have a few recommendations from experience I have learned trying to hunt the Gadwall.

I have had duck leases for years with designated areas to hunt so that allows me and the guys in the club to do things a little differently.

Many years ago I used to take a pallet and put it on a the bank of a pond then build a frame around it. Then I would put roseau cane and bushes around it for camouflage. Duck decoys usually 24 to 36 would be put out in front of the blind in different formations depending on wind direction. With that set up after many years I noticed the larger groups of grey ducks would hover outside of the decoys and were shy of coming to close to the pond shore where the blind was. Occasionally some grey ducks would come close but most of the time not. This repeated scenario became very annoying as grey ducks can be very predictable in some ways.

On light to medium wind days big groups of grey ducks love big water ponds to land in. I have commented previously big water ponds and big decoy spreads are major keys to success to get the big flocks of greys to come out of the sky for a look. Placing a duck blind in the middle of the big water is very important. It takes effort but it is worth it. 100 plus decoys and at least 3 mojo spinners the bigger the better for best results. I place most of the decoys on what would be the sides and behind the blind for a NE wind at the back. I put some decoys in front but they are close to the blind. Remember, grey ducks almost always fly outside the decoys not over them unless they are going to land I them. Anyone who has seen my videos will see exactly what my set up was. Another part is being able to talk the talk of grey ducks with a duck call. Grunt and feed when they are coming in and holler at them when they are leaving to get them to turn around. They will turn maybe three times for a look and that is it.

On heavy wind days some success can be had in small ponds with a dozen decoys hunting from a shore blind but there will be fewer opportunities and the flocks will usually be a lot smaller. There should be some close in quality shots.

I prefer hunting the big water with a lot of decoys getting the flocks of 15 to 25 coming down for a look as the site of that never gets old. When this happens I tell everyone who hunts with me this is why we do all of the work.

Grey ducks are very peculiar and are different than any other duck. The good thing is they have tendencies that over time can be learned. Adjust your hunting based on what greys like to do not what you like to do and you can have more success shooting the Gadwall duck.

If you have not seen my videos go to YouTube and search for Delta Duckman, they are all there.

MileyPop,Spoken like a true veteran and die-hard grey duck hunter!!I,too,have had many instances where massive flocks of greys would look hard,then veer off just outside effective decoy range(notice I said effective as I installed a Kicks High Flyer extended choke tube)and believe me,that choke tube the real deal and I made a handful of 45 yard shots with that choke tube and 99% of the time the ducks were 'hammer dead'.I typically hunt solo and putting out 100 decoys would definitely be a challenge,hence the use of the canoe,stanchioning her off in the middle of one of the bigger bays where I typically hunt the latter part of duck season.I will most definitely pay attention to your post and have ordered an intermittent grey duck Mojo from Rogers Sporting Goods.This past season,I employed a Lucky Duck Drake Green Wing teal and the doggone thing got submerged and quit working(think my wife right,should take my gear and dunk it every season since that gonna happen anyway!!!).Thanks for the incredible tips and insights and will scope out your YouTube.I was a lucky hunter season before last and shot a true black duck and the story gonna be in this December's Sportsman!!!

Mandevillian

look like ill be chasing greys in my layout boat next year in big branch

Probably not a bad idea and I have a buddy with a skull boat,not sure if I spelled it correctly,and he wants to target the numerous divers of Lake P!!Being mobile on a refuge like Big Branch one of the best keys to success out there,think I made about 29 Big Branch hunts and hunted about 19 different spots,each one offering differing degrees of success!!

Mandevillian

Biloxi is a different place and type of hunting. Much more land and marsh in Biloxi. I find the extremely large ponds are only good on almost dangerously low water levels. And that doesn't happen but a handful of days. My rule of thumb is if there's water in broken marsh I'm hunting there. If there's not in hitting the ponds 80-150 yds across. It's not like the ponds are pressured there's tons of ponds. Now before the surface drive ban there was decent amount of pressure. Being so remote and with the motor ban it gets very little pressure. I've hunted several times nobody around for miles but ya gonna need a go devil longtail and a lot of time and patience to get there. To me it's worth the effort I put into there don't even scout much anymore already know where to go on the conditions

Duckhunter 7777,I used to have a Hopedale lease,managed by the Biloxi Marsh Corporation and also had a Delacroix lease and both seemed to produce,the Delacroix lease always produced and the Hopedale lease almost seemed like it was a 'resting spot' vs 'feeding and resting' spot like the Delacroix lease.I have talked to a few die-hards that hunt Biloxi Marsh and they love it,my situation is that I have found extremely productive ponds much closer to home(takes me about a 15 minute drive with our antique Chevy PU)and about a 15 minute boat ride vs a 1.5 hr long haul with the gas-guzzling truck and about a 30 minute boat ride!!Might have to try to re-visit Biloxi Marsh.Thanks for all the tips and I always seem to learn a few tricks every year!!!

Mandevillian

Biloxi is very far and it is a lot of work however pearl river, pac, Salvador are nightmares with overcrowding. If im hunting public id rather go the extra mile and have a quality hunt. Especially with the mud motor ban that is just icing on the cake for less pressure and nobody hunting your first choice spots. This was the first year ive hunted there in some time but I will definitely be back even though we hunt our lease mostly now.

To be perfectly honest,we do not seem to have over-crowding where we hunt and I do have a buddy with some awesome access to free camps in Venice,but that truly is a long haul,one that I made just once but anyone that has ever hunted Venice knows how special a place that is!!If I was going to make the effort to hunt Public Land and was fearful of over-crowding,Biloxi would not be my first choice,hands down it would be Venice.I do have some hunting buddies bragging about the lack of hunters in the Biloxi Marsh but I would opt for the extra distance Venice would take me and have a chance at pintails galore,plus the shear beauty of the mouth of the river and not having a hunter within at least half a mile would by itself entice me to hit Venice.The problem I had with hunting Venice was that the fellow who took me sings in our Church on Sunday and we only hunted Saturday,so just getting in one hunt down there for all the drive was not ideal but I would do it again,in a heart beat!!Maybe I can convince him to make a Th hunt in Delta and a Friday and Saturday hunt in Pass a Loutre!!!

Mandevillian

Venice is not practical for me. I hunt by myself during the week a lot. Biloxi is much safer to go alone even though venice is better. You are never in any real danger when you are hunting Biloxi.

Duckhunter 7777,Ya sound a lot like me,I too hunt solo during the week when my typical hunting partner is not available and Venice is definitely not practical solo,no way would I consider dat!!I often hunt the non-motorized pipeline in Big Branch during mid-week hunts and there are often about no hunters out there but me!!!Nice to have a decent mid-week hunt and I might even start scoping out the Manchac and Maurepas Swamp WMA's for the same reason,lack of hunting pressure(mid-week only)!!

Mandevillian

Much like the last few post if I were doing solo hunting I would definitely do things differently than hunt with all of the decoys and mojos. The blind I hunt in most of the time is a 3 man blind so that allows for 18 ducks which is not always an easy task, but that is how we hunt them.

If I were to hunt the grey ducks solo I would reduce the size of the pond I would hunt in and reduce the size of the decoy spread to 24 or so. I would have probably 12 pouledeau and 12 G & H swivel head grey duck decoys. For some reason greys love being with pouledeau, thus the pouledeau decoys.
I would try to hunt the points of a pond not the coves to get better shots. No blind necessary just hunker down in the marsh and get some bushes to make a natural clump to hide in. With wind at the back place most of the decoys on the sides of the point with just a few in front of the point. If your on a point and the wind is right to left put most of the decoys on the right side of the point and a few on the left. You are hoping the greys will fly over you to land with the larger group of decoys.

A few more observations of past experience. Hope it woks for y'all?

It is August yet??

That's how we do it In Biloxi sit in grass. If I have more guys with me we hunt diff holes close by. It's pretty doable to kill twelve so sometimes we hunt together. 12-20 decoys pirogue in sit on marsh seat can set up in 5 mins. Our lease as well is a huge pond several big blinds but as Mileypop said Biloxi is different. There are spots in Biloxi that Always hold birds hot fog no wind don't matter you gonna shoot so when conditions aren't the best for the lease we go to these spots. Not sayin you limit on these conditions always but we have before in Biloxi. If I see a surface drive at launch it's no big deal we know they can't hunt our areas anymore that's a good feeling when they fly by you.

Just got off phone with a duck hunting buddy and we absolutely love the Big Branch Marsh and have hunted it since about the time it went from Privately-held to only two Private Spots and the rest open to the public and it certainly can be a gem for both of us since he lives in Lacombe and I live in Mandeville and both of us have older pick up trucks that seem to have a thirst for gas!!Think the most decoys I have ever used hunting Big Branch was about 40 and for 99.9% of my hunts(outside teal season),I employ no more than about 18,with the vast majority Greenhead Gear greys with a pair of large black duck decoys,an intermittent Robo Teal,and sometimes a pair of greys and pair of redheads on jerk string,just have to remember to employ the jerk string at the right time.Now,I am gearing up for Honey Island Swamp crawfishing trips and some fun T-Funky Kentucky bass and largemouth bass trips.I absolutely love the ban on surface drive boats where I hunt as that reduces pressure on ducks and with the pirogue rack I had installed on my Southfork flat,typically take flat as far into marsh as possible and typically make about 30-40 minute paddle from where I dock flat and that definitely keeps me separated from all but only the die-hards like me!!!Nothing for me to paddle over 45 minutes one way,great aerobic exercise and like I said,reduces hunting pressure like no other tactic!!!Like having my private lease but no cost!!!

Here is one of my favorite spots in biloxi

Duckhunter 7777,That looks a lot like most of the spots in Big Branch that always seem to have a nice variety of puddle ducks with a few divers every now and then and we refrain from most divers except for Redheads,Ring Necks,Canvasbacks!!My next venture gonna be Honey Island Swamp crawfishing and I have about 50 hand-made deep water nets that were relatively easy to fashion(Gus's has the nylon netting and I made my own rings).Buying them runs about $85 per dozen,quite pricey and for that amount of money,I guarantee I could make about 30!!I will attach a few nice pics of Big Branch ponds and think ya would agree it is a gem of a place,so far not over-crowded!!!

Mandevillian

Here is a picture of my decoy spread and the nice pond,loaded to the hilt with grass,from Big Branch Marsh.With a little bit of scouting and paddling more than about 30-40 minutes,you can most definitely get secluded from the masses and might shoot a few ducks.This hunt,unfortunately,I did not raise my shotgun but did shoot a number of ducks,mostly greys,from ponds very similar to this one.We had more feed than we could shake a stick at and shoulda had more ducks but I think their migration patterns have been altered to the SW,unfortunately possibly for the next few years,hopefully not permanently!!

Mandevillian

PS.This was the last Saturday of Duck Season 2016-2017