So, I've been hunting a spot with lots of flooded oaks. I'm assuming it's a roost because I can hear the wood ducks an hour or so before daylight. My question is, about 15 minutes before daylight, I start hearing big plops in the water from the direction they're in. Like if they were coming straight down from a tree and belly flopping into the water. There's no wing flapping sound or splashing like their wings touching the water. It's really odd. It was happening even more after I shot the first time, almost like I woke some of them up. Do they sit in trees at night and just jump into the water in the morning?

Yes. And yes you are on their roost. Either bust the roost one evening if lucky. If you hear them there that early then no doubt they are roosting there then heading out to creeks or other areas to feed.

Actually, for a wood duck, it's not the least bit odd. Particularly when their peace and quiet is abruptly disturbed by the sound of a shotgun blast.

If I walked out to the spot you're hunting and happened to see you sitting in a tree. Naked. And napping. Then plop down into the water to hide after I pulled the trigger. That would be considered really odd. With a wood duck, not so much.

Beaver splashing maybe. Makes a heck of a plop on the water.

Yes, they roost in trees at night, yes they plop down to the water when leaving the roost, then they fly off to feed and loaf somewhere else the rest of the day. They usually leave the roost and come back to roost before and after legal shooting hours. My Deer stand is in the middle of a wood duck roost area.

John, those are great photos. You def have an eye for photography.

Old picture with an early low resolution digital camera actually. The second two are thumbnails for short movie clips.

Thanks guys! I guess the behavior itself isn't that odd, but the sound is. I may try to get a good audio recording of it next time I go.

I did get a pretty good recording of some of their sounds.

Don't hunt them in the afternoon let them roost

Man, Wood ducks are some pretty birds!

It's probably them getting out of trees but I personally don't always hear any kind of wing beat before they land. I mean if they buzz me I hear the old jet fighter noise but if they come in from behind or something sometimes all I will hear so then hitting the water. Over the years hunting timber I have noticed that I might be somewhere where they are roasting, and the ones roosting there get up to feed somewhere else, however we will still have wiodies that rooster somewhere else show up to the timber we are in to feed.

If you can hear them during the day you can actually set up on them much like you would a turkey. Get a Wood Duck Whine call, Haydel makes one, not the squealer. I think it is the WW-90.

We used to paddle a pirogue through the timber in Louisiana until we could hear the wood ducks. We'd sink the pirogue behind a tree, toss out 10-12 decoys in an opening and then blow that wood duck whine call. They would swim right in.

We would hunt a blind in the morning and shoot gadwalls, teal, and mallards, but almost always left a couple birds short just so we could call in a woody or two on our way home.

Jet Fighter........ lol

I had a pond I used to hunt that was visited every morning by a teal drake that would come zipping thru head high at 500 mph at 8am on the dot. I bet we burned a half a case of shells first split trying to drop that bad boy till we finally gave up and just sat back and watched the air show when he'd come zipping over the field and over the pond. His nickname was jet fighter.

I avoid shooting them for that reason. Back in the day they were kept as pets in Victorian England, like a city park duck/swan/goose.

There's a nature preserve by my house that has a population of wild woodies (and mallards) that are acclimated to the presence of humans. They'll go after a piece of bread or popcorn like a chicken on a June bug.