Photo by Paul Tessier

By John J. Woods

Few duck hunters today have seen the phenomenon. The reports of Mississippi skies literally turned black with wave after wave of waterfowl blocking out all perceptible sunlight are generally thought to be tall duck hunters' tales.

But trust me: I know for a fact that some of those stories are true - because I was lucky enough to witness it myself as a child. Twice: Once it was ducks, once Canada geese. In both cases, the sight of those masses of feathered life created memories that have stuck with me for more than 40 years.

However, even back then there was a problem: From our vantage point, those heavy flights of assorted waterfowl were on the opposite side of the big water from our decoy layout. All we could do was sit and watch the parade, as not so much as one broke formation; neither mallards nor any other kind of duck did us the honor of giving our setup a single look-see.

They collaborated to build a deluxe duck blind with all the post-war amenities, including a drop-down front shooting wall, benches, and a charcoal pot that doubled as a space heater and cooker grill; it could handle a half-dozen shooters in real comfort. The blind was supported on stilts, so the duck boats could be slipped underneath and out of sight.

Back in those days, you could walk into a hardware store and buy sticks of dynamite as if they were firecrackers. Dad and his crew used them to blow huge potholes on both sides of the duck blind, the idea being that each would start to collect water with the first fall rains, and then planted sorghum milo and wheat around the edges. By the time the winter duck season rolled around, they were set.

On opening day they heard about as much shooting as they'd heard during their time in the European theater; they quickly discovered that they weren't the only duck hunters at the slough with an identical game plan. All too soon the ducks grew wary of the slough and maintained a high altitude when passing over the area.

On one occasion, ducks en masse could be heard quacking like crazy through the thick stand of cottonwoods. We crossed the slough and, climbing up the levee, witnessed one of the sky-obscuring clouds of birds mentioned in the opening paragraph. The trouble was that we never got a shot at any of them. Disgusted, Dad packed up, and we went home that day without even the whisper of a hope for a roast duck dinner.

In talking with duck hunters here in Mississippi over the past few seasons, it became apparent that some things never change when it comes to waterfowl hunting. It's still a lot of hard work - gear-intensive, time-consuming, expensive work - and it can be terribly frustrating when few ducks show up. It's even more baffling, not to mention nerve-wracking, when ducks do show up but remain well out of shooting range.

So many factors have to work in your favor if you're to pull a successful duck hunt off that when it does happen, the action can be the most satisfying to be found. At the other end of the spectrum, though, an awful lot of duck hunters simply give up and toss in the towel - much as my dad did for a time - when things don't work out right. Still, you never bag any ducks unless you go hunting for them.

The trick to successful duck hunting today lies in hunting smart and developing several contingency plans well ahead of the season. Today's duck hunter needs a Plan B (and, sometimes, plans all the way from C through Z) to get in some shooting. A rule of thumb: When duck hunting gets stressful for both the hunter and the ducks, it's time to engage those backup plans.

Before your scheduled duck hunt - especially if you travel a significant distance to your hunting areas - it's critical to make a few calls the day before to see what the action and conditions are like. In the case of public hunting areas, a call to either the district wildlife office or the specific wildlife management area headquarters can yield timely information about duck flight activity. That way, at least you don't have to start out on a hunt guessing if ducks are even working the area.

"It naturally seems that, within a very few days of the opening guns, ducks start reacting to avoid the really hot hunting areas," explained Delta duck guide Tommy Green. "Then things can settle down again just as fast. Often ducks become call-shy in short order, too. This requires hunters to conduct a fast scan of the waterfowl scene to see where the ducks have moved. This also usually means being able to switch tactics perhaps from big-water, big-decoy displays maybe to tight flooded timber with few or no decoys - or vice versa."

Veteran turkey and duck hunter Glenn Lycons agrees that versatility is indispensable. "Calling ducks these days nearly requires the same diversity of calling as it does for wild turkeys," he pointed out. "Some days, certain calls work when others don't. At times, one caller can do the trick; other times, two or even three callers working together creates the magic needed to entice ducks to set their wings for a closer look. If you luck upon any combination that seems to be working then definitely stick with it as long as it brings the ducks in close enough for a round of shooting.

"Keep changing calls, calling sequences and frequencies until you hit their button. When a pass gets within gun range, then let them have it."

When it comes to setting your decoys, Delta duck man Sam Barker has some time-tested ideas. "Decoy spreads can make or break a duck hunt," he emphasized. "Keeping it simple usually turns out to be the best way to play the game. Avoid overuse of hyper-motion decoys; ducks quickly learn that a fellow duck could never thrash the water that long without resting.

"Judge the number of decoys to deploy by the size of the water. An exception might be a small spread in a small cove or inlet or a landlocked pond cut off from a nearby river. These setups can handle a small decoy display. Use confidence decoys too, in addition to floating decoys. Make the setup look natural."