What kind of duck is this it's my first time hunting

[206]

Sheesh now I have a picture in my head I can't get out;

Guy standing over a dead Grizzly;

"Sorry officer, I thought it was a widgeon."

If it flies it dies.  Grizz don't fly so it don't die.

[fisheral87]

If it's brown it's down...

[206]

If it's brown it's down...

LMAO

[jay.sharkbait]

If it's brown it's down...

Is that anything like a "dump check"?

[206]

If it's brown it's down...

Is that anything like a "dump check"?

Hair tag.

[greenhead_killer]

Get this book. Easiest book to maneuver. It's what I used when I started. It will take a bit to know exactly what bird is what but you will learn. Different wing beats, how they flock together, what elevation they fly at. There are a lot of signs as the birds move in. As far as your lead, set a decoy around the 25 yard mark, that will give you a solid guess as to where the duck is when coming in or passing by. Also on your lead, just aim for the front of the bill or slightly ahead. Not much if any though. As long as your follow through is good, no lead should be required. The shot is fast enough, you will be fine. Good luck and keep at it

[Bill W]

Get this book. Easiest book to maneuver. It's what I used when I started. It will take a bit to know exactly what bird is what but you will learn. Different wing beats, how they flock together, what elevation they fly at. There are a lot of signs as the birds move in. As far as your lead, set a decoy around the 25 yard mark, that will give you a solid guess as to where the duck is when coming in or passing by. Also on your lead, just aim for the front of the bill or slightly ahead. Not much if any though. As long as your follow through is good, no lead should be required. The shot is fast enough, you will be fine. Good luck and keep at it

This is a very good, no, an excellent book.  I bought it last year after an opening weekend hunt. 

[addicted2hunting]

hen widgeon

young drake, early in the season to not have his full blonde on top.

[JLS]

A few thoughts:

1)  A 26" barrel with a modified choke is plenty of shotgun to shoot ducks well out to 40 yards, or further.  I have shot a 26" barrel with I/C choke over water decoys for many years and don't feel undergunned.  I never shoot anything more than 1 1/8 oz of #2 shot in a 3" shell.

2)  I'm not going to rag on you for shooting it first and asking questions later, but it's pretty easy to shoot a closed season scaup if you don't know how to identify your ducks.

3)  Identifying ducks solely based on coloration is difficult because of plumage differences.  A bird that is not fully molted into its adult plumage may look different based on the quality of the manual.

4)  Don't be afraid to change around your decoys, and don't be afraid to use less.  Most importantly, make sure you have a good blind built.

[hdshot]

What's the old saying.... If it flies it dies? 

Not always.

[rtspring]

Did it have Two Points?

[Dan-o]

Looks like a Grizzly cub.....     

[lokidog]

That's a long billed fish duck..... 

Don't feel bad about not being able to ID a wigeon on the wing, I had a WA warden not know what a drake in eclipse plumage was, and he had it in his hand.    However, you should be able to ID ducks at least as to puddle vs diver.  With enough time in the blind, you will start to be able to notice slight differences like wing beat and wing shape to distinguish between Mallards, Pintails, and Wigeon.

As far as distance judging goes, I like to bring a rangefinder with me.  Just set your farthest decoy at your max range, if you can.  Do a bunch of shooting to pattern and get used to lead.  You need to shoot the expensive stuff for this as steel shoots differently than lead.

A quick story, when I first came to the west coast, I was excited that I could shoot lead at ducks, a can't even remember how many I crippled, I switched back to steel and lost very few the rest of the season.  The point of this story is that I was used to shooting steel at ducks, not lead, and that's what I was most accurate using.

Also, and I'm sure I'll get flack for this (don't bother, because I really don't care about anyone's OPINION regarding this), but I have no issues shooting ducks in my decoys/on the water. When they land in your decoys, it just means you were good enough to completely fool them and they don't fly off crippled after a head shot.

Good luck out there.

[ballstothewaal]

This isn't even bad. The other day I saw someone post a picture of a grebe asking what kind of merganser it was 
Dont sweat it. Ive been hunting ducks for about 8 solid years now and I still question some ducks that fly by. Only way to get better is time in the field.

[JJB11B]

Nice youthful response
Is what is. Heap it on the guy who called a fellow hunter out on a mistake that should not have happened.
Now I'm gonna go wring out my shoes.

I think he was called out enough in the last several posts.....My Uncle and I watched a group light up a flock of Trumpeter Swans thinking they were snow geese. This was at the millet ponds at Wallula about 10 years ago. I was really young but I remember my Uncle reaching over and put his hand on my shot gun as if to say "Don't Shoot" they buzzed our blind really low. I didn't know what was going on til after all the shooting. The other blind was too far away to warn them. Accidents happen