WHY? new to duck hunting...

I have soe "why' questions for you more experienced hunters. I think i know the answers, but on some of them I don't understand...

Why is it "better" to hunt on public land rather than private?

why is pond hopping "frowned upon"? Did this as a kid with my dad growing up once or twice. i thought it was a blast but my dad was embarrassed by it, but we did it anyway

why are 'green heads" better than gadwalls. and ring necks better than green heads?

why would a group of duck hunters not respect anothers "set up"? plenty of water yes?

Why is there such a stigma attached to new hunters? I have asked for advise and info before and been roasted for it...

When hunting smaller ponds, are decoys necessary?

Serious questions...not trolling.

hammer away!

Dave

Just always remember, 80% of what you hear in a duck blind or read on this forum is BS. You have to figure out what is good info, and what is BS. We are not gonna give you all the answers.

Public isn't better....people that do it feel superior to private hunters because they have to compete

I like pond jumping....people against it are too lazy to walk...

Green heads, gadwalls, and ringnecks......all ducks taste like crap so the only real difference is how plentiful or rare they are where you hunt...

It's easier to poach than scout so people who don't scout set up close to people they think do scout

New hunters are the same as new anything.....people who have been doing it longer like to belittle others like they were belittled when they first started.... consider it a right of passage

If you are jumping a small pond you don't need decoys....


Jes sayin.....

Who told you ring necks were better than greenheads

Why is it "better" to hunt on public land rather than private?

Never new hunting public was better. Personally I enjoyed being on a lease. Guaranteed place to hunt, no one setting up on top of me, and the biggest beef of them all, no sky busting. It was awesome.

why is pond hopping "frowned upon"? Did this as a kid with my dad growing up once or twice. i thought it was a blast but my dad was embarrassed by it, but we did it anyway

Again, this is news to me. We had ponds on our lease we didn’t hunt. And when things were slow, it was a blast to jump them.


why are 'green heads" better than gadwalls. and ring necks better than green heads?

Ok, this questions borders on a troll, but I’ll answer. I live for dabblers all day long, so I don’t care if its green heads or grays coming in. Ring necks better then green heads. The ring neck is to be shot for dog food or a training bird. Or by mistake. Anyone that has ever said they don’t eat duck because they just don’t care for the taste, had to have been served ring neck.

why would a group of duck hunters not respect anothers "set up"? plenty of water yes?

Human nature, selfishness, not knowing better, or you ticked them off when you pointed out they were to close.


Why is there such a stigma attached to new hunters? I have asked for advise and info before and been roasted for it...

Tough one to address, but it took someone here to show me the ropes. Thankful and hateful he did. Dang sport is like crack.

Biggest question folks get ticked off are what lake the birds are showing up at?. At the end of the day if you’re hunting public, only certain parts of lakes are open to duck hunting altogether. And on those areas, only a small segment is huntable, or where the ducks want to be.


When hunting smaller ponds, are decoys necessary? Yes. The number of deeks you put out will depend on what time of year you’re hunting that pond. This time of year, less is more.

If you don't like duck, you're not cooking them correctly.

I pond hunt all the time at my lease near waco. Nothing wrong with it. Sure I'd love to hunt somewhere like Stuttgart arkansas but hey you gotta take what you get.

Yeah we will. They just have to figure out which are the right answers.

There is nothing you can do for ringneck . I tried the marinade.

Ringnecks or " Black Jacks" are good for a couple of things. Multiple flybys and duck tamales.

I have soe "why' questions for you more experienced hunters. I think i know the answers, but on some of them I don't understand...

Why is it "better" to hunt on public land rather than private?

Never hunted public land, it is nice having a lease so you can let the birds rest and it's always nice to hunt on your own, with family or friends and not have to deal with anyone else.

why is pond hopping "frowned upon"? Did this as a kid with my dad growing up once or twice. i thought it was a blast but my dad was embarrassed by it, but we did it anyway

I have jumped ponds on my deer lease which holds few ducks but always drakes of multiple species. Not sure if I think it is bad or good.

why are 'green heads" better than gadwalls. and ring necks better than green heads?

Mallards are huge and fun to shoot. Drakes are beautiful. See my ring neck answer above.

why would a group of duck hunters not respect anothers "set up"? plenty of water yes?

There are scumbags everywhere in life and in duck hunting too.

Why is there such a stigma attached to new hunters? I have asked for advise and info before and been roasted for it...

I don't think there is but this forum in particular can be harsh. Not sure why. Just ask a question on Sandhill Crane and get out your popcorn as the high and mighty speak.

When hunting smaller ponds, are decoys necessary?

Yes and jerk rigs if no wind. Decoys are more important than calling IMO.

Serious questions...not trolling.

hammer away!

Dave

Jerky.

I did this at my deer lease for the first time this year. It was the most unfulfilling hunting thing I've ever done. Just like shooting a hog that's not running. I did get the pair of Hooded Mergansers I was after, but all I had to do was throw a camo net over myself, sneak up the edge of a tank and shoot once. If you're not brushing up a blind, setting decoys and doing something with a call... it's just not a duck hunt.

Duck really is flying liver.

Public vs Private: I prefer public cause if a private spot is dead your screwed.
Greens vs Rings vs Gads: They all look like shadows when I shot them. Rings seem to decoy easy.
I'm the guy who finds way out of the way spots that no one hunts...so other hunters aren't my problem.
Pond Jumping. I think it's a challenge and that it's fun. I do it on my way out of my normal spot.
But my goal is to get the duck touch their feet on the water. I don't like shooting ducks that are passing. Lock 'em up then take the shot.
New Hunters: I have no issues if they will listen and learn. There is a lot of respect factors and unwritten rules that come into play here.
If a guy takes you to a spot, don't go to that spot without him unless it's cool with him. Especially if it's somewhere that is not commonly known. Carry your weight and more. I spent the first year of duck hunting learning from guys, carrying the dekes, working my butt off so I got invited back. By the end of the year I was getting invited to different leases every weekend.
If you hunt with the same group all of the time, pick a job and be the best at it. whether it's setting dekes, or calling, or whatever. For my group I do the calling, another guy sets the dekes, one guy works the jerk ect. So no one even has to ask what's going on.

Small pond: Yesterday I hunt a fairly small pond, 6 dekes and a jerk.

You have had some great answers so far, so I cannot ad anything useful except on one point. Ringnecks are not a prize duck. The guys I hunt with let ringnecks land to lure in other ducks. We try never to shoot a ringneck, because the only duck that tastes worse is a hooded merganser. Hooded mergansers taste like a combo of liver, manure, mud, and rotten fish. Take out the rotten fish and you have the flavor of ringnecks.

Hmmm, not sure I fully get your picture, can you add some more descriptors? The ones I mentioned in my reply were for the wall, not the plate.

Ringneck's do not taste bad. Y'all just don't know how to cook them. We throw all the ducks in one marinade and you can't tell the difference between the ducks when they are cooked and we simply just marinade them overnight then grill them up. Now coots and mergansers are some nasty tasting birds.

you sound like the type of guys I would enjoy hunting with! That is how my group operated before we split up.

There is only 1 thing worse than eating ringer, and that's a ringer burp the next morning.

Personal preference. Private provides a sense of relaxation, but public is an adventure.

Well, if pond is holding a lot of ducks, jumping it is not very smart. Say you got a hundred ducks on it, you jump them maybe you kill 3, and you scare off 97 that will probably not come back, and you just messed up the duck hole. If instead, you set up the next morning, and shot the first 6 that come in, and get out of there before the other 96 get there, you got your limit, and preserved the hold, you could hunt it every day like this.