West side Lowland ponds in state land

[Jarredhs]

New to duck hunting, I am here on the west side. I was wondering if anyone knows if the various lowland lakes or creeks in the national forrest and state land ever hold or attract duck? Also if the alpine lakes higher up hold ducks or geese either? Would it be worth setting up a few decoys and calling or do ducks just follow the rivers? Final question, how far up the rivers can you duck hunt? Do they fly all the way to say skylomish? Or Verlot? The mountains? Where does the hunting stop? Thanks any feed back helps.

[cem3434]

Welcome to the site.  It looks like you're a north sound hunter, so I cant help you as I have no experience in that area.

[Stein]

Only one way I know of to find out.  Waterfowl is so competitive around here that it would be incredibly difficult to get any first hand knowledge of public land that holds ducks outside of the well known spots.

[7mmfan]

I'll add what I can. It depends on the type of ducks you are hunting. You may find divers and fish ducks higher up on the rivers well into and through winter, but you are unlikely to find the more desirable puddle ducks and mallards at higher elevation or in the woods and upper river basins. They migrate here for food, so think about what they are primarily feeding on and you can check off lots of places very quickly. Most alpine lakes are pretty sterile in general, so the chances of finding even divers into fall on them is low. 

[Bullkllr]

I can't speak for your specific area much, but there are some generalities that should apply:

The further up in elevation the less waterfowl/more "local" they will be.
Main flyways/populations are near saltwater and larger valleys.
If there's agriculture there usually are at least some birds nearby.
Good hunting can be found away from these areas, but you'll have to put in time and effort to find small ponds and backwaters that consistently hold birds.

[metlhead]

Past experience is a few teal and ringers on the opener. Maybe a mallard. After a half hour, it'll be dead for the season.