Sea Duck hunting questions

[seth30]

Just got my Sea Duck license and cant wait to smack some scoters and golden eyes    I have a few questions on how you go about harvesting these ducks.  can you provide photos of your decoy spreads?  Do you use a dog out in the deep water or would that be a bad thing with seals and other sea creatures?  How shy are sea ducks, can you call them in like your freshwater ducks?  Any info will be great, I plan on chasing them in a few weeks  

[h2ofowlr]

Easy to decoy.  Run gang lines.  You can bring a dog if you have a platform for the dog to get in and out.  They will shake the salt water off and you will start to see rust about 2-3 hours later on everything.

Bring lots of shells as you have to double shoot them many times.  BB's & #1 are good options.

Quick shoot in most cases given a 2 bird limit.

If your in a small boat, find a location where you can hunt them closer to shore.  The conditions can go from flat to pounders in short order.

[LndShrk]

Dumb as rocks, Taste like Crap, But fun as **ll to shoot. 

Long lines and painted old flambuea dekes always worked.

Do not send your dog until you are 100% sure the bird is dead.

They will drop from the air like a rock and resurrect from the dead like the holy man himself. Keep shooting until feet are twitching. 
I always found the incoming tides to be the best for me.

[270Shooter]

After you shoot a goldeneye you won't want to ever again. They look cool but they are tanks, you have to really smack them to kill them. And they are the hardest of all ducks to clean. They are dumb, long lines work well, never hunted sea ducks but I imagine its pretty similar for most divers on big water.

[seth30]

Dumb as rocks, Taste like Crap, But fun as **ll to shoot. 

Long lines and painted old flambuea dekes always worked.

Do not send your dog until you are 100% sure the bird is dead.

They will drop from the air like a rock and resurrect from the dead like the holy man himself. Keep shooting until feet are twitching. 
I always found the incoming tides to be the best for me.

will they mess a dog up or will they swim long distances? 

[LndShrk]

Dumb as rocks, Taste like Crap, But fun as **ll to shoot. 

Long lines and painted old flambuea dekes always worked.

Do not send your dog until you are 100% sure the bird is dead.

They will drop from the air like a rock and resurrect from the dead like the holy man himself. Keep shooting until feet are twitching. 
I always found the incoming tides to be the best for me.

will they mess a dog up or will they swim long distances?

They dive.. Not like any mallard or anyother duck you have witnessed.. They go down and don't come up. I have had them resurface 80 yards away.

They are not birds that flair and fly away when they feel threatened they hit the water and dive.  If they still have any life in them in the open water your dog will not stand a chance.  That water is cold and repeated long ass retrieves is not going to be good for the pooch.. 

All that plus if they are still swimming you should still be shooting. 

[seth30]

Thanks, sounds like I will be leaving the dog at home.  How far off do you normally sit from a spread?  I have a Jon boat but cant imagine I will be blending in too well with the open water.

[TheSkyBuster]

Your John boat is Perfect, you just have to stay low in it. 

Here is an example of a Gang Line,  I use 2 8lb anchors 1 on each end and 6-12 decoys per line. I usually run 2 lines.   I never tie one end of a line to the boat.  Less stuff to pull in if for some reason I have to move in a hurry.

[lokidog]

Many of these birds feed on the bottom in 30 - 50 feet of water, as mentioned they can DIVE.  I don't bring my dog for the sea ducks, but then again, I don't have to be anchored in San Juan county like I think you do in Skagit.

[seth30]

Thanks for the photo and the help guys.  I am starting to get a really good idea on how to approach these sea ducks.  do you use a net to get the birds after you shot them?

[TheSkyBuster]

Many of these birds feed on the bottom in 30 - 50 feet of water, as mentioned they can DIVE.  I don't bring my dog for the sea ducks, but then again, I don't have to be anchored in San Juan county like I think you do in Skagit.

I think that's Just Padilla Bay, Now I have to double check. 

[lokidog]

Could be, haven't hunted ducks anywhere over there so I don't pay much attention,  just remembered something about that a few years ago.

[TheSkyBuster]

From the Waterfowl Pamphlet:


WAC 232-16-760 Northern Puget Sound
Hunting Method Restriction. It is unlawful
to hunt waterfowl, coot, or snipe from
a moving boat or any free-floating device
that is not in a fixed position which is
either anchored or secured to shore in
Port Susan Bay, Skagit Bay, Padilla Bay,
and Samish Bay.

[seth30]

Thanks for the info on the anchor rules

[h2ofowlr]

Many of these birds feed on the bottom in 30 - 50 feet of water, as mentioned they can DIVE.  I don't bring my dog for the sea ducks, but then again, I don't have to be anchored in San Juan county like I think you do in Skagit.

I think that's Just Padilla Bay, Now I have to double check.

Padilla, Skagit and Samish bay require you to be anchored and all movement ceased in order to shoot them.

Decoy set wise, I am usually fairly close to the decoys at the top end of the spread to one side or the other.  They will fly up your string of decoys.  If their head is still up or the are not belly up, keep shooting them.

You will have to use a knife to fillet off the skin.  Not like a mallard that pulls back easy.  Very fishy CRitters.