Headed out today with the brother in law. Was a nice 27 on the truck temp gauge when we got to the spot. Ended up shooting our limit but only "found" 7 birds. Damn you mallards and your trickiness which leads me to my question. I had several (4 to be exact) situations today in which I had a birds fly over, we drop it, it falls down in a steel shot kind of way shot way (not folded..you know what I am talking about) about 30-35 yds away. It immediately starts to scramble for cover nearby while the Shl0g retriever is on point to pick it up (that's me), all the while I am jacking shells in a trying to shoot it on the water so it will stop swimming/diving. On a side note, I guess I suck at shooting ducks off the water when I am wading (waste deep) in the water, damn wings are like iron shields. Anyways, I get close to where they entered into a covered spot (trees, weeds) and I swear it is like they disappear into thin air! My question is, (A) are they diving and grabbing onto something, or (B) do they just continue into the thick brush and I just can't get to them fast enough. I tend to thick it is option B but I don't understand how they can dissppear so fast when I am within 10 yards and closing.

Chime in and let me know your experience with this....the situation above were all mallard ducks so I don't know if differs based on species on how they react. Yes I know, I need a dog!

Here a pic of the birds (that didn't get away)...DFD!!!
4 GH, 1 Susie, & and Hoodie/Woodie combo

I would sell your steel and shoot black cloud 2's. For 1.25 per shell, I would put them against heavy shot- but half the price. You will save $$$ and cripple less birds. Use skeet or IC

If birds are not folding and you are shooting cupping birds, your also getting more body. STEEL BLOWS.

Took 8 shots-6 birds today. 90% of cripples you are shooting behind a bit. I folded several birds going away 40+ yards today stone dead w IC and BC#2's 3.5 inch. The #4's are not as good-unless you shoot M choke-still don't like them.

Hope that helps

Nice group of ducks, BTW

take some #6's to shoot them on the water, more chances of hitting the bird

They go into the brush, a Mallard can run like a Pheasent. You shooting those Win Xperts????

What is black cloud if it is not steel?

Anyways, larger shot and/or tighter choke is what I would first change. If I don't have my dog, I use full choke. I think they may be doing both you mentioned to disappear

+ 1 on the swatter loads.

Nice hunt.

they can be right in front of your eyes and a person not be able to find them. They are sneaky bastages.

Kobeer had a Mallard hen run off on him the other day AFTER he brought her back to the blind. He wrang her neck the whole walk back, and thought she was dead. Threw her on the pile of ducks when he got back, and she took off into the brush. Never could find her.

Angler-

I have an adjustable choke in which I can switch between IC & M to Full at anytime. I typically leave it at M and shoot Remington #4 3" (crappy I know). I have shot black cloud a lot, and I might put a couple boxes in the bag for certain situations in which I am not hunting behind a dog and/or hunting areas that are tight with a lot of weed, brush, etc. What is your experience with the "Heavy-Metal"??? I have heard good things...

same thing happened to us this mornin. A guy that was huntin a little down the way knocked down 2 redheads with one shot... and as soon as they hit the water they booked it! He sent his dog after it and the dog was determined...determined to swim 500 yards to get that duck. Needless to say the guy had to get in his boat and go pick his pup up. then we downed a Greenhead and same thing! I decided not to send my dog after it, but they guy went out and got the bird for us, ( I think he felt bad for driving across the lake in the middle of the hunt) there still are some decent people in this world.

Black Clouds, while they are the most heavily marketed shell for ducks and has "magical appeal", do not cause ducks to commit suicide. They are steel shot just like the Remington's you are shooting.

I hunted today with my brother and another guy. They both shot Black Clouds and I shot Winchester Dryloks. The BC guys still had ducks fall that needed a follow up shot.

Its not the shotgun shell. Its where the pellets hit the duck. Try increasing your lead on the ducks a little bit more. It sounds like you are hitting the ducks toward the rear.

And definitely do what a couple of guys said.....pack some #6 steel shot (doesn't have to be Black Clouds either :D) to use as swatter loads.

Great hunt.

And yes, ducks can and do dive down and grab onto vegetation.

YUP Learned the hard way Thursday morning to keep some cheap steel #6s as crip loads. Chased a Bufflehead drake for 30 min. in the kayak fill I pushed it in range of my partner and his volley of #6s.

They will dive down and grab some vegetation and drown underwater and never surface.

Had one I was chasing last year in waist deep water. He dove so I walked to where he last went under. Water was clear and sure enough he was just sittin' there under the water holding on to some vegetation. I grabbed his arse real fast and taught him a lesson.

I would like to see that, never have.

+1 seen it done but with woodies. Had a mallard which we shot 6 times on the water before it died. Kevlar ducks for sure. What I get from when I cripple a bird is that I hit them in the body. I have to tell myself all the time to aim for the beak not the body! Also the load of steel doesn't matter.. Because like someone said it's still just as dense. Unless you change load material such as tungsten or heavyshot, the type of shell is mostly preference and how much you want to spend.

I posted a couple of days ago about a mallard someone else shot that my pup tracked down. Where he found it was probably 40-50 yards away from where it came out of the water. The guy had taken at least 5 shots at it as it headed across the water, and it was still very much alive when the dog found it...I assumed he was a bad shot, but maybe they are hard to kill on the water

LMAO!!


If I only had a dollar for every duck I've lost this way... I've come to the conclusion after watching several buddy's do the same thing. That a poor shot (wounded bird) is always a tough chase.

I took a buddy out and he shot his limit and only brough back 6 birds. All poor shots he shot them all in the *** and winged them but didn't hit the vitals or the head.

I've been trying to lead birds a little more and have brought back more birds this season than ever before, even though I hate to admit it, it's not the shot, or the choke, or the birds.

It's the poor shots.

FYI:
They are impossible for our group to kill on the water as well.

-Matt

Love hearing these stories! My buddy and I had to deal with a zombie bluebill a couple of weeks ago. Duck fell and hit the water hard. We were without a dog So he gives it the old Arkansas ground slide and wades in to pick it up. Duck "re-animates" and twice dives and swims right between his legs and pops up right behind him- which I was crying laughing while watching. (He was a new duck hunter) He wrings it neck back to the blind and drops it on the other birds. We go to retrieve another pair down about 30 minutes later and return to find the zombie duck has made his escape. After executing a hard target search of every farmhouse, outhouse, and henhouse on that particular pond we found him about 50 yards away calmly resting under a bush. I proceeded to "properly ring his neck and put him under a roll of camo material in the blind. When we packed up later I threw the roll in my bag and surprise- no bluebill under it. A second search while giggling in a way PETA would surely disapprove of we found him again 50 yards away and the zombie duck was dispatched with a piece of driftwood to the coconut. Only way to kill them zombies- everybody knows that....

Double Deuce....that had me cracking up! Great story.

I recently switched to the remington Hypersonics in #2 and have been folding more birds than with any of the other premium shells I tried, including Black Cloud. I really think they make a huge difference.

X2 HAHA!!