Hunting Washington Forum
Other Hunting => Waterfowl => Topic started by: Ajj828 on November 19, 2016, 10:20:51 AM
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Where I hunt there seems to be lots of these ducks. What are they and can I limit 7?? I'm thinking it's wigeon
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Another pic
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Another pic
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hen widgeon
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Yep wigeon and you can take 7 of them
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taking 7 depends on your shooting.
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A dead duck ! :chuckle:
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Not being a duck hunter and knowing the regulations, I would think you should know what you're shooting at and if you can shoot it before shooting it, or am I out of line here? :dunno:
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Not being a duck hunter and knowing the regulations, I would think you should know what you're shooting at and if you can shoot it before shooting it, or am I out of line here? :dunno:
:chuckle:I was thinking the same thing! :peep:
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My first duck back in 1971 lay on the ground for a while as I flipped thru the duck ID book that DU put out. It had blue wing teal in the book but not green wings and a hen to boot.
It's hard to tell the different species of ducks when first starting out. I'd cut him some slack.
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It takes some time to identify different ducks. There aren't many ducks on the don't shoot list so i think it is pretty common to be confused when you start hunting without buddies to help.
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I understand it can be confusing, but a better way to go would be to know what you are shooting at before you kill it. I wasn't allowed to have a gun in the blind until I could prove I knew the difference between a hen mallard and a hen pintail on the wing, a shoveler drake and a mallard drake, etc. It sounds like you're having a go at it alone, so I do get there's a step learning curve here.
Check this out - since you have internet access out there it might help.
http://www.ducks.org/hunting/waterfowl-ID/# (http://www.ducks.org/hunting/waterfowl-ID/#)
Good luck! :tup:
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I learned not to shoot until you are sure of your target. Just saying.
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I learned not to shoot ducks until they were in range...... eventually
Congrats on your first duck!!!
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I understand it can be confusing, but a better way to go would be to know what you are shooting at before you kill it. I wasn't allowed to have a gun in the blind until I could prove I knew the difference between a hen mallard and a hen pintail on the wing, a shoveler drake and a mallard drake, etc. It sounds like you're having a go at it alone, so I do get there's a step learning curve here.
Check this out - since you have internet access out there it might help.
http://www.ducks.org/hunting/waterfowl-ID/# (http://www.ducks.org/hunting/waterfowl
ID/#)
I can easily identify mallards, teals, scuaps, gadwalls, and pintails. I've been on 4 hunts with experienced hunters this was just the first on my own. It's easy to see what is a duck and what is not so far. I've just never come across a wigeon yet
Good luck! :tup:
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What's the old saying.... If it flies it dies? :chuckle:
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When I started, I shot it and then figured out what it was. I still am not 100% sure when I pull the trigger many times. I know it is a duck and within range.
You can be picky if you want, but it isn't a requirement either legally or ethically. If you aren't at the limit on any species, any duck you shoot will be legal. No need to make it any more complicated than that unless you want to.
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I can easily identify mallards, teals, scuaps, gadwalls, and pintails. I've been on 4 hunts with experienced hunters this was just the first on my own. It's easy to see what is a duck and what is not so far. I've just never come across a wigeon yet.
That's cool, wasn't thinking you would mistake a duck for a goose - just that you can get quickly get yourself into an over-limit situation with hen mallards and pintails if you have trouble ID'ing the different "brown" birds on the fly. It isn't easy at times.
How did you end up today?
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WDFW publishes a book that is decent and I bought one from Delta Waterfowl that was pretty cheap and very good.
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I can easily identify mallards, teals, scuaps, gadwalls, and pintails. I've been on 4 hunts with experienced hunters this was just the first on my own. It's easy to see what is a duck and what is not so far. I've just never come across a wigeon yet.
That's cool, wasn't thinking you would mistake a duck for a goose - just that you can get quickly get yourself into an over-limit situation with hen mallards and pintails if
you have trouble ID'ing the different "brown" birds on the fly. It isn't easy at times.
Not very well just one wigeon. I don't know what's wrong with me when I hunt duck. I feel like I'm in the wrong place at the wrong time and miss so many ducks coming in. I don't call because I'm not good at it and I'm still practicing so I need Ducks to go to my decoys. In the morning I had a duck land sort of in my spread about 30 yards away but I didn't want to shoot it on the water and I feel like 30 yards is too far with a 26 inch barrel modified choke. I had 3 birds actually land in the spread but didn't want to shoot them on the water so i tried to scare them up and lost them. Had ducks fly straight infront of my face when I was not ready (I was like, "well it's pm I'm gonna pack up") and as I set my gun to get my bag a duck flys right to the decoys. Whenever ducks do fly by me and I'm "ready" I'm very hesitant to shoot. I can't make up my mind if it's too far of a shot or not. Usually they are like 35-40 yards away flying above and across my decoys: I think I need to pattern my gun so I have an idea for the distance. I just get frustrated because I feel like the ducks are always in a distance that's just too far away like 40 yards. Whenever I shoot i try to lead the shot too. I'll aim like 3 feet ahead of them at 40 yards. I feel like I'm doing everything wrong. I'm using 3 inch kents 2 shot and some 3.5 inch Winchester super x
How did you end up today?
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How did you know it was a duck!?!?
A series of "ducks" are on a no shoot/limited shoot list. As are "duck" like birds such as loons, cormorants, pelicans, cranes, herons, rails.
It isn't "you should probably know what you are pointing a gun at" also. It's actually "KNOW YOUR TARGET BEFORE YOU AIM"
If this was a big whitetail or muley shot during elk only or maybe Grizz instead of Blackie pictured up here y'all would be freaking out.
Nice you took a safe bird but that's an easy bird to recognize if ya did a bit of research before you hit the field.
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Yeah, that Widgeon probably orphaned a couple grizzly cubs.
Do you find it tiring to walk on water?
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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.
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Yeah, that Widgeon probably orphaned a couple grizzly cubs.
Do you find it tiring to walk on water?
Funniest post I've read in a while. Thanks for the laugh.
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#Widgeonlivesmatter
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I see the Huntwa ethics police are here too.
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How did you know it was a duck!?!?
A series of "ducks" are on a no shoot/limited shoot list. As are "duck" like birds such as loons, cormorants, pelicans, cranes, herons, rails.
It isn't "you should probably know what you are pointing a gun at" also. It's actually "KNOW YOUR TARGET BEFORE YOU AIM"
If this was a big whitetail or muley shot during elk only or maybe Grizz instead of Blackie pictured up here y'all would be freaking out.
Nice you took a safe bird but that's an easy bird to recognize if ya did a bit of research before you hit the field.
I did do research I looked at all the birds and read the full rules on the wdfw website. The pictures on the website seem different. They have some small green area on the American wigeon wing and my wigeon has no green on the wing. Chances are if a bird is flying into your decoys it's a duck. If it had larger wings it's probably not a duck. If it doesn't fly like a duck don't shoot it. That's what I was going off of when I was in the field. And people would freak if it was a mule deer cuz those are so easy to see the difference between a black tail....same with a grizz and black bear. With ducks there are multiple types and people don't care because it's easier to make a mistake. With deer if you can't tell the difference between a black tail and mule you shouldn't even have a tag. It's probably more common to shoot the wrong duck that the wrong deer so people are not that mad
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What's the old saying.... If it flies it dies? :chuckle:
That's the saying I grew up with.
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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."
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#Widgeonlivesmatter
:yeah: :chuckle:
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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.
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If it's brown it's down...
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If it's brown it's down...
LMAO
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If it's brown it's down...
Is that anything like a "dump check"?
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If it's brown it's down...
Is that anything like a "dump check"?
Hair tag.
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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
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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.
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hen widgeon
young drake, early in the season to not have his full blonde on top.
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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.
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What's the old saying.... If it flies it dies? :chuckle:
Not always.
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Did it have Two Points?
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Looks like a Grizzly cub..... :dunno:
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That's a long billed fish duck..... :chuckle:
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. :yike: 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.
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This isn't even bad. The other day I saw someone post a picture of a grebe asking what kind of merganser it was :bash:
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.
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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
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This isn't even bad. The other day I saw someone post a picture of a grebe asking what kind of merganser it was :bash:
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.
With an attitude like this, I'm surprised there are any Grizzly cubs left at all!
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Congratulations on your first duck. It's a beautiful bird and you should be proud of reaching a personal hunting goal.
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:yeah: Congrats. I'm glad you asked the question.
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Congrats on your first bird!!
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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.
:yeah: and I will add that early season can be even tougher to id birds as a lot of them don't have their full colors. I have been duck hunting a long time, feel confident in my knowledge yet still have times I kill birds thinking it is one species only to find out upon closer examination that it's different. :twocents:
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This isn't even bad. The other day I saw someone post a picture of a grebe asking what kind of merganser it was :bash:
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.
With an attitude like this, I'm surprised there are any Grizzly cubs left at all!
I was talking to a guy who is a black bear nut and one day took his dad out last minute to get him a bear. They spotted a bear in some thick woods and he got his dad aimed and said shoot, didn't shoot, SHOOT! His dad looked at him and said grizz? Holly crap I'm glad you came along haven't seen one of them around here before he said to his dad! He was embarrassed to admit it but he said he would of shot it if not for his dad staying calm.
In the Burbank office to check in they have about every type of bird mounted that visits that refuge and I'm sure some of those illegal stuffers for us are mistakes from hunters.
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The waterfowl guys are a touchy group. I think they've spent too much time standing in a puddle...
Good Luck :tup:
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The waterfowl guys are a touchy group. I think they've spent too much time standing in a puddle...
Good Luck :tup:
Lol yeh just wanna be careful...don't wanna shoot a swan thinking it's a snow goose...