Quick Hunting area questions

[TheYoungSelfStarter]

Hey everyone,

Been e-scouting the past few weeks and deciding where to commit to these next few weeks. Was wondering if I can ask about a little info on these areas below to save myself multiple scouting trips. Let me know what y'all know about these areas. Tips for gear (only have floating decoys atm looking at getting some ground decoys for example), spots to park, unique rules, etc.

Located in SeaTac area if that helps for context.


Black River wildlife area
Davis Creek wildlife area
Any jblm oppertunities


-Thanks!
A

[metlhead]

Not much goin on till frigid weather sets in. You can kayak and jump shoot

[hdshot]

I would scout and do your homework before you get two deep. As example might do a camping trip in Moses lake to hear what the gun fire is like before even thinking about buying a hunting license.  Good luck 🍀 from a person who started duck hunting in 1986 🤣 with about a four year break. Times have changed and no one has disputed that by a long shot.  But reports seemed better on the west side last year to be 110% fair as well.

[JBG]

Holy heck dude, might as well ask to take my wife to dinner lol

Remember the 80/20 rule, 80% scouting and 20% hunting. Duck hunting location information is a close kept secrete and should be.  Your best bet would be to leave the gun in the truck for a few weeks and just take your hiking boots, bino's, and plan to buy a couple tanks of gas to go answer those questions yourself.  If you have a specific question about a specific area someone might, might help you but generally you are seen as competition to other duck hunters. 

I just got a new to me duck boat this year so I am excited to leave the gun at home and just go learn a new spot for the first few weeks.

As for gear get a good decoy bag with built in straps and belt. https://www.wildernesspacks.net/product-page/the-flyway

[metlhead]

Meh, never hurts to ask. I gots plenty of info to share. I live on the river and don't hunt it. PokeBoated it many times in the 80's. Always worth some teal or ringers. The upper end in Dismal can be good but you gotta drop birds on the water. The timber is unforgiving. Also the walkway/launch on 110th is long gone. Long ways from Litterock launch and river disappears above the Schock place. Watch out for bears. Remember, frigid weather. Davis areas will get you a ringer or buffie. Let the Chehalis flood then hit Koopmans field on the drop. You'll only have two days. Again, cold weather is your friend. Any other scenarios just make far a quiet day in the outdoors. But, still can't kill birds from home. I can

[wadu1]

The Nisqually Delta can be a good area. But you need a boat, bigger boat hunt the river small boat hunt the McAllester Creak area.

[ljsommer]

Holy heck dude, might as well ask to take my wife to dinner lol

Remember the 80/20 rule, 80% scouting and 20% hunting. Duck hunting location information is a close kept secrete and should be.  Your best bet would be to leave the gun in the truck for a few weeks and just take your hiking boots, bino's, and plan to buy a couple tanks of gas to go answer those questions yourself.  If you have a specific question about a specific area someone might, might help you but generally you are seen as competition to other duck hunters. 

I just got a new to me duck boat this year so I am excited to leave the gun at home and just go learn a new spot for the first few weeks.

As for gear get a good decoy bag with built in straps and belt. https://www.wildernesspacks.net/product-page/the-flyway

I think this is probably 100% spot on, though I am not speaking from experience as I've only been on one bird hunt of any kind in my entire life. However, this is also the reason that I am not willing to try to get into duck hunting! My wife keeps talking about it like it's going to be great, and the success rates are so much higher than deer. I am looking at it differently: "We already suck at every kind of hunting we do, let's not add to the list!". I feel like we should probably figure out at least one of the kinds of hunting we do before picking up another one to be failures at

[ducks4days]

Holy heck dude, might as well ask to take my wife to dinner lol

Remember the 80/20 rule, 80% scouting and 20% hunting. Duck hunting location information is a close kept secrete and should be.  Your best bet would be to leave the gun in the truck for a few weeks and just take your hiking boots, bino's, and plan to buy a couple tanks of gas to go answer those questions yourself.  If you have a specific question about a specific area someone might, might help you but generally you are seen as competition to other duck hunters. 

I just got a new to me duck boat this year so I am excited to leave the gun at home and just go learn a new spot for the first few weeks.

As for gear get a good decoy bag with built in straps and belt. https://www.wildernesspacks.net/product-page/the-flyway

 

My dad taught me a bunch of stuff, and the other 75% I learned from wasting gas and almost dying trying to find out what areas that I have access to are worth spending time in. Nobody buys completed jigsaw puzzles because the point of them is in the journey, get yourself some energy drinks and a gas card and a good pair of binoculars and go solve the puzzle.

[hdshot]

Waterfowl hunting is like eating Chinese food, shoot a limit and a hour later you want to shoot another limit.   

[metlhead]

Yum, hot duck stir fry.

[Boss .300 winmag]

Waterfowl hunting is like eating Chinese food, shoot a limit and a hour later you want to shoot another limit.   

🤣

[Feathernfurr]

“ Trebek, What’s the difference between you and a mallard with a cold?…”

[h2ofowlr]

Best advise is get out and scout.  I burn thousands on fuel and tons of hours scouting.  It's what I like to do and I invest into my hobby.  You will be a lot more successful if you invest in the time to learn spots and read the birds vs. hitting the public blind someone told you about on social media where all the skyblasters hang out.

[Special T]

I think the best thing you can do is walk those areas on a sunny day to learn them and not screw up some one else's hunt. I would walk new areas before the season taking the dog and kids with me to get the lay of the land.

[metlhead]

I encourage new folks to come to this site and ask questions. If you don't wanna give up your handed down secrets, well that is fine. Haze someone for asking and yhey will go elsewhere. These small game threads are hardly alive as it is. Fresh conversation is welcoming and a great way to extend our sport out of the field.

[McCRIZZLEY]

I'll add to be hesitant of the areas you find good information about publicly online... Usually everyone else has read the same posts and waterfowl hunting is best done without the crowds.
Get a pair of waders, binoculars, and couple tanks of gas and get out there!

[HntnFsh]

I encourage new folks to come to this site and ask questions. If you don't wanna give up your handed down secrets, well that is fine. Haze someone for asking and yhey will go elsewhere. These small game threads are hardly alive as it is. Fresh conversation is welcoming and a great way to extend our sport out of the field.

Great perspective! Thank you!

[Jpmiller]

I’ve never tried this personally but always thought it would be a good way to learn based on what I used to do hunting.

Growing up we had an 80 acre piece of land we hunted ducks on. It had about an acre pond on it and about a hundred years away about smaller pond, maybe 200 foot square. Because it was ours I built my dad and I a really slick blind, dug into the ground/hill a little bit and with some drainage so it was usually dry inside. It was only sized for two people and a dog so when his buddy came along (who really had a way of sucking the fun out of duck hunting! I would peel three decoys out of the spread and hunker down in the bushes by the other smaller pond.


They would call to all the flocks and about half the time (if not more) I’d get ducks coming to my pond and I wasn’t calling at all and I’d get my limit before them. I always figured taking a small spread out to a busy place and not calling might work well based on that. It would give you the chance to see where the ducks are and aren’t, how they come in, and where they go. Plus having a small spread and no blind makes it really easy to move around if you end up in a less than ideal location.


Don’t know if it’ll work, never tried it myself but something I always thought. Good luck, hope you have a fun season whatever the outcome.

[ducks4days]

I’ve never tried this personally but always thought it would be a good way to learn based on what I used to do hunting.

Growing up we had an 80 acre piece of land we hunted ducks on. It had about an acre pond on it and about a hundred years away about smaller pond, maybe 200 foot square. Because it was ours I built my dad and I a really slick blind, dug into the ground/hill a little bit and with some drainage so it was usually dry inside. It was only sized for two people and a dog so when his buddy came along (who really had a way of sucking the fun out of duck hunting! I would peel three decoys out of the spread and hunker down in the bushes by the other smaller pond.


They would call to all the flocks and about half the time (if not more) I’d get ducks coming to my pond and I wasn’t calling at all and I’d get my limit before them. I always figured taking a small spread out to a busy place and not calling might work well based on that. It would give you the chance to see where the ducks are and aren’t, how they come in, and where they go. Plus having a small spread and no blind makes it really easy to move around if you end up in a less than ideal location.


Don’t know if it’ll work, never tried it myself but something I always thought. Good luck, hope you have a fun season whatever the outcome.

I run a spread of 6 decoys in high pressure areas, one each sex mallard, wigeon, and wood duck. Hen mallard on a pull string. It pretty much always works. If birds are looking for somewhere sneaky and safe to avoid pressure you need to be in the sneaky and safe spot. Your tactic of sitting on the small pond makes a ton of sense.

[hdshot]

I encourage new folks to come to this site and ask questions. If you don't wanna give up your handed down secrets, well that is fine. Haze someone for asking and yhey will go elsewhere. These small game threads are hardly alive as it is. Fresh conversation is welcoming and a great way to extend our sport out of the field.

Unfortunately waterfowl places to hunt for the general public is currently in shrink-flation on steroids.  Even my former hunting partner left me to rot on the general public hunting areas because of this problem I’ve shared about before.  Can’t blame hunters being critical to protect spots and throw other hunters away like trash no matter how loyal and trusted. Just the way it is.

[ducks4days]

I encourage new folks to come to this site and ask questions. If you don't wanna give up your handed down secrets, well that is fine. Haze someone for asking and yhey will go elsewhere. These small game threads are hardly alive as it is. Fresh conversation is welcoming and a great way to extend our sport out of the field.

Unfortunately waterfowl places to hunt for the general public is currently in shrink-flation on steroids.  Even my former hunting partner left me to rot on the general public hunting areas because of this problem I’ve shared about before.  Can’t blame hunters being critical to protect spots and throw other hunters away like trash no matter how loyal and trusted. Just the way it is.

Most of your comments across several boards have been about your former hunting partner, and their lack of moral character preventing you from getting out after it. Seems like quite a shame to let another person have that kind of power over you.

Let me know if you are ever on the the wet side and want to kill ducks, I'm sure I can find an open seat in the boat.

[metlhead]

I've always an open seat. Love hunting large groups. All hunts are public land. If I lived E.WA I would be beside myself myself with all the option available. Prolly need to give up the job to accomodate the addiction

[Feathernfurr]

There’s plenty of ducks to be killed on public land for those willing to work for it.

[Dan-o]

I encourage new folks to come to this site and ask questions. If you don't wanna give up your handed down secrets, well that is fine. Haze someone for asking and yhey will go elsewhere. These small game threads are hardly alive as it is. Fresh conversation is welcoming and a great way to extend our sport out of the field.

Unfortunately waterfowl places to hunt for the general public is currently in shrink-flation on steroids.  Even my former hunting partner left me to rot on the general public hunting areas because of this problem I’ve shared about before.  Can’t blame hunters being critical to protect spots and throw other hunters away like trash no matter how loyal and trusted. Just the way it is.

When was the last time you actually went and tried to check out a few new spots?

You should really get out there.
Exploring and finding new spots is half the fun.

[lovetogrouse]

I second this. Lotta salty dogs on this forum. Besides, skybusters are more likely to ruin hunts than people scouting.

This is a really good resource for locations:
https://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/locations

While I haven’t been to the spots you listed, I’ve hunted on the central coast a bit. One thing I can say is the water levels can change drastically throughout the season. One day you can walk in, three months later you have to kayak in. Unfortunately this means you have to check in on the spots pretty regularly or else pay attention to the rainfall totals and river levels.

What I would do is make a day of it, visit multiple spots, and mark blind locations on OnX.

As far as gear goes, you can do perfectly fine with six floating decoys.

I started hunting five years ago, and the single most important thing I’ve learned about duck hunting is that the biggest predictor of a good hunt is going to be the weather. If winds are >10mph, chances are you’re in for a good hunt.

[ducks4days]

I second this. Lotta salty dogs on this forum. Besides, skybusters are more likely to ruin hunts than people scouting.

This is a really good resource for locations:
https://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/locations

While I haven’t been to the spots you listed, I’ve hunted on the central coast a bit. One thing I can say is the water levels can change drastically throughout the season. One day you can walk in, three months later you have to kayak in. Unfortunately this means you have to check in on the spots pretty regularly or else pay attention to the rainfall totals and river levels.

What I would do is make a day of it, visit multiple spots, and mark blind locations on OnX.

As far as gear goes, you can do perfectly fine with six floating decoys.

I started hunting five years ago, and the single most important thing I’ve learned about duck hunting is that the biggest predictor of a good hunt is going to be the weather. If winds are >10mph, chances are you’re in for a good hunt.

 

Burn hunting days with sunny warm weather and focus on scouting instead. Bring waders and a shotgun in case you get a chance to jump shoot, but dont bring much more than that. One day staying light on your feet and covering ground taking notes is worth 3-10 successful days with a full loadout.

[hdshot]

I encourage new folks to come to this site and ask questions. If you don't wanna give up your handed down secrets, well that is fine. Haze someone for asking and yhey will go elsewhere. These small game threads are hardly alive as it is. Fresh conversation is welcoming and a great way to extend our sport out of the field.

Unfortunately waterfowl places to hunt for the general public is currently in shrink-flation on steroids.  Even my former hunting partner left me to rot on the general public hunting areas because of this problem I’ve shared about before.  Can’t blame hunters being critical to protect spots and throw other hunters away like trash no matter how loyal and trusted. Just the way it is.

Most of your comments across several boards have been about your former hunting partner, and their lack of moral character preventing you from getting out after it. Seems like quite a shame to let another person have that kind of power over you.

Let me know if you are ever on the the wet side and want to kill ducks, I'm sure I can find an open seat in the boat.

Unfortunately can’t let that persons poor behavior disappear on page 189.  I understand many frequently visit this site but many new people drop in and will never hear the story as he probably hopes.  Also maybe some others now think better to keep than dump over questionable decisions are my main reasons. We will never know either way but according to federal statistics they claim there is not even a million waterfowl hunters in the USA.

[ducks4days]

I encourage new folks to come to this site and ask questions. If you don't wanna give up your handed down secrets, well that is fine. Haze someone for asking and yhey will go elsewhere. These small game threads are hardly alive as it is. Fresh conversation is welcoming and a great way to extend our sport out of the field.

Unfortunately waterfowl places to hunt for the general public is currently in shrink-flation on steroids.  Even my former hunting partner left me to rot on the general public hunting areas because of this problem I’ve shared about before.  Can’t blame hunters being critical to protect spots and throw other hunters away like trash no matter how loyal and trusted. Just the way it is.

Most of your comments across several boards have been about your former hunting partner, and their lack of moral character preventing you from getting out after it. Seems like quite a shame to let another person have that kind of power over you.

Let me know if you are ever on the the wet side and want to kill ducks, I'm sure I can find an open seat in the boat.

Unfortunately can’t let that persons poor behavior disappear on page 189.  I understand many frequently visit this site but many new people drop in and will never hear the story as he probably hopes.  Also maybe some others now think better to keep than dump over questionable decisions.  We will never know either way but according to federal statistics they claim there is not even a million waterfowl hunters in the USA.

That's fair. The open seat offer is still open.

[hdshot]

I encourage new folks to come to this site and ask questions. If you don't wanna give up your handed down secrets, well that is fine. Haze someone for asking and yhey will go elsewhere. These small game threads are hardly alive as it is. Fresh conversation is welcoming and a great way to extend our sport out of the field.

Unfortunately waterfowl places to hunt for the general public is currently in shrink-flation on steroids.  Even my former hunting partner left me to rot on the general public hunting areas because of this problem I’ve shared about before.  Can’t blame hunters being critical to protect spots and throw other hunters away like trash no matter how loyal and trusted. Just the way it is.

Most of your comments across several boards have been about your former hunting partner, and their lack of moral character preventing you from getting out after it. Seems like quite a shame to let another person have that kind of power over you.

Let me know if you are ever on the the wet side and want to kill ducks, I'm sure I can find an open seat in the boat.

Unfortunately can’t let that persons poor behavior disappear on page 189.  I understand many frequently visit this site but many new people drop in and will never hear the story as he probably hopes.  Also maybe some others now think better to keep than dump over questionable decisions.  We will never know either way but according to federal statistics they claim there is not even a million waterfowl hunters in the USA.

That's fair. The open seat offer is still open.

Sounds good and thank you. 👍