Ducks on the pond

[Green Horn]

My first duck call was a call made my the boys at Duck Commander. It was this company that kept me intrigued to continue duck hunting. I would watch youtube videos all night learning tips from these guys. One aspect I questioned when I got in to waterfowling 4 years ago was how ethical it was to shoot ducks on the pond. In a few of the Duck Commander videos I've seen them blast ducks that didn't have the slightest. What do y'all think? Is it a  to shoot these ducks or are you one of the guys who chomps-at-the-bit for an easy kill  ? What's the difference between shooting a deer who's just hanging out and shooting a duck who just swimming circles? I ask myself this question every season.

[jyerxa]

I prefer to knock them down because they usually land on the shore. And I hate swimming this time of year too. It's kind of cold now. 

[Mfowl]

Shoot them out of the air. Either directly overhead or hovering over the decoys. Its hard to get a clean kill on a duck that is on the water. Seems odd but most of your pellets hit all around the duck plus they are tougher on their back and wings then having their breast/vitals exposed. I've wasted alot of shells try to kill a wounded duck that was swimming away. Flushing out of the decoys and flying away from you is also a low percentage, crippling shot. Get'em close, shoot'em in the air.

[sumbeech66]

Shoot them out of the air. Either directly overhead or hovering over the decoys. Its hard to get a clean kill on a duck that is on the water. Seems odd but most of your pellets hit all around the duck plus they are tougher on their back and wings then having their breast/vitals exposed. I've wasted alot of shells try to kill a wounded duck that was swimming away. Flushing out of the decoys and flying away from you is also a low percentage, crippling shot. Get'em close, shoot'em in the air.

Just like to point out that I thought this was a great answer!!! No ETHICAL/UNETHICAL bs, just a straight to the point and from past experience answer.      

[CoryTDF]

Just kill them how you want. I have killed enough that I like the challenge of wing shooting. If they land i scare them up and shoot them. End result the duck is dead. Who cares how you do it one way is not more ethical than the next.

[Pilot_Hunter]

What feels better to you, shooting on the water or shooting out of the air? I like the challenge of wing shooting. Anyone can point a shotgun at a non-moving target and pull the trigger.

[Fishnclifff]

Like Phil says--- you can't eat em if they are not dead.

I like flying ducks, but
If it real cold and I am close to a limit, or freezing,

No holds barred.

[boneaddict]

Shoot them out of the air. Either directly overhead or hovering over the decoys. Its hard to get a clean kill on a duck that is on the water. Seems odd but most of your pellets hit all around the duck plus they are tougher on their back and wings then having their breast/vitals exposed. I've wasted alot of shells try to kill a wounded duck that was swimming away. Flushing out of the decoys and flying away from you is also a low percentage, crippling shot. Get'em close, shoot'em in the air.

Just like to point out that I thought this was a great answer!!! No ETHICAL/UNETHICAL bs, just a straight to the point and from past experience answer.      

 :yeah
I wont shoot a roosting turkey, a floater (duck), or a buck swimming across a lake/river.  Those are personal choices.....oh or an animal doing it.  Just seems wrong to me. 

[pianoman9701]

I personally like wing shooting. It seems more sporting to me. I sluiced a pheasant once and the guy I was hunting with gave me a hard time about it. He said if you're not hunting to literally feed your family, there's no need to make it easier. Made a lot of sense to me. I used to pass shoot geese, too. I don't do that anymore. If they're not coming into a set-up, it's just not very much fun. The exception to that is depredation hunts for farmers in the late season.

[scout/sniper]

Shoot 'em in the air over the decoys.
It's much more satisfying to know you can hit a bird on the move than one sitting on a pond.
My old hunting partner had decoys with bb's rolling around in them, dead giveaway.

[full choke]

When that goose swims to the river bank, waddles his little butt 10 miles or so to my field, and walks into my decoys- I'll shoot him on the ground. If he flies in, I will give him the courtesy of shooting him in the air...

[Bullkllr]

Shoot 'em in the air over the decoys.
It's much more satisfying to know you can hit a bird on the move than one sitting on a pond.
My old hunting partner had decoys with bb's rolling around in them, dead giveaway.

I thought everybody had decoys with shot rolling in them.
 I don't think that's always from pasteing swimmers. Its amazing how fast a cripple can dive and dissappear. Pays to shoot 'em quick. Every once in awhile a decoy takes some of the hit.

[boneaddict]

I was sitting over dekes once and all of a sudden pop...  smack ZING......  Then again.........   I was like what the heck...... then pop spash by the dekes.   Some poacher was trying to kill the ducks with a .22.  Imagine his surprise.

[full choke]

I was sitting over dekes once and all of a sudden pop...  smack ZING......  Then again.........   I was like what the heck...... then pop spash by the dekes.   Some poacher was trying to kill the ducks with a .22.  Imagine his surprise.

I was hunting with my dad in a field once.This was back when we used a lot of silo decoys and we had some of them set up around the sides of our blinds to break up the outlines. We were probably 150-200 yards out into a wheat field. There was loud bang and three decoys went flying. I had no idea what was going on. We jumped up out of the blinds asking each other what they were shooting at. Then I saw a white SUV peeling out of the shoulder on the road closest to us. The dbag fired off a round from a rifle from his truck at our dekes. I was so glad he didn't line up on one of the decoys by our blinds...

[lokidog]

I'll shoot them how I can when by myself, if my partner objects, then it is decided beforehand that we won't.  I will shoot at a flyer at a farther distance than a swimmer though because, as mentioned, the pellets seem to go around them.  In defense of water shots, either you kill them or you miss, generally there are none locking up wounded and sailing away.   

For those hunting over water, throw a handful of steel 6's in your pocket, they work better for picking up swimming crips than 4's or 2's seem to.