Calls for sea ducks, esp Scoters?

[lokidog]

I love these foggy mornings.  I have had some of my best duck hunting in the fog for mallards but they are easy to call.  If you are out on the Sound, how do you let the divers know you are there in the fog?

[DR. DUX]

Try to make sounds like a clam bed or a crab

[jennyfell55]

 

[washingtonmuley]

I never use a call on them and I have decent success.

[lokidog]

I never use a call on them and I have decent success.

I can understand that when they can see your decoy string, but what about in the fog?

Try to make sounds like a clam bed or a crab

Ha ha!

[h2ofowlr]

I don't call for them, but have tried, using a diver call.  Didn't seem to really make a difference.  What does work is a flag.  A few flags for guys in the boat and one on a longer pole will get their attention.  That is a good option.

[lokidog]

How about when the visibility is, like, 50 yards?   

[DR. DUX]

How about when the visibility is, like, 50 yards?   

How about that's probably not the smartest situation to be sitting on the salt doing anything.....much less hunting.

Divers respond very poorly to calls (putts, purs, growls, and barks....done best with a diver call but can be done cupping and choking down on a mallard hen call) and sea ducks respond even less.

No magic calling bullet here, if they can't see your dekes you're hosed or your relegated to pass shooting a traffic area.

[lokidog]

"not the smartest situation to be sitting on the salt doing anything"

Huh?  Are you one of those people afraid of the fog?   

Maybe I should not have been bringing my daughter to school this morning?  The photo is of a rock marker that is less than 100 yards away....

Saw two flocks of scoters, one of about 10 and the other with about 50 birds in it.  It is amazing how close they will let you motor to them in the fog.

[hntrspud]

"not the smartest situation to be sitting on the salt doing anything"

Huh?  Are you one of those people afraid of the fog?   

Maybe I should not have been bringing my daughter to school this morning?  The photo is of a rock marker that is less than 100 yards away....

Saw two flocks of scoters, one of about 10 and the other with about 50 birds in it.  It is amazing how close they will let you motor to them in the fog.

  Nah she doesnt need school. It is amazing how you can get close to them. Unless you have a dog, deeks, and are set up to hunt.   

[Netminder01]

Seems like most local birds will be call shy so splashing of water or flags or a pull mojo work at different times.  It's kind of like fishing - change things up until they start cupping up.   

[DR. DUX]

Huh?  Are you one of those people afraid of the fog?   

Nope, just smart enough to understand you can't hunt sea ducks the way you hunt dabblers and if the only way you can attract sea ducks into shooting range is by sight but the conditions don't allow visibility that hunting them in those conditions is a waste of time.

Sculling, sure in those conditions that works well, setting up on a traffic area and pass shooting them, again probably more effective in those conditions.

Set out dekes and try to call them through the fog like you do geese or dabblers....probably more likely to trap a Sasquatch in your front yard.

[lokidog]

Can sasquatch swim?     I should put a big mirror on the front of the boat and I could paddle right up to them and just use a net.   

[LndShrk]

It is amazing how close they will let you motor to them in the fog.

That is your first clue that they are not going to be moving around to much in the fog.
Unlike puddlers they are not flying out to feed and coming back to water etc. They shift around with the tides drumming up food.

know where they want to be. Set up on an incoming tide with the fog and you should be able to get your 2 birds no problem.

[DR. DUX]

That actually would

Funny

[kodiak 907]

On kodiak we would play the tide on a muscle or clam flat, and in the fog we would whistle (blind call) for them.  When the divers are on food, esp. scoters and whistlers, they are very vocal.

[lokidog]

On kodiak we would play the tide on a muscle or clam flat, and in the fog we would whistle (blind call) for them.  When the divers are on food, esp. scoters and whistlers, they are very vocal.

Thanks.  Though I don't see them much in areas where the bottom is exposed at low tide.  The shallowest I usually see Scoters or Old Squaw is about 15 feet, though I mostly see them feeding in the 30 to 60 foot depths.  Saw a couple of White-winged Scoters in the bay today.

[sakoshooter]

I always preferred the sound of hot coffee being poured on diver hunts. Sometimes the sound of a zip-loc bag with smoked fish will also work well.

[lokidog]

I always preferred the sound of hot coffee being poured on diver hunts. Sometimes the sound of a zip-loc bag with smoked fish will also work well.

A fly zipper going down seems to work as well.