texashuntingforum.com logo
Main Menu
Advertisement
Affiliates
Advertisement
Newest Members
TraeMartin, Beatixre, MooseSteed, Trappernewt, casyoo
71987 Registered Users
Top Posters(All Time)
dogcatcher 110,788
bill oxner 91,416
SnakeWrangler 65,413
stxranchman 60,296
Gravytrain 46,950
RKHarm24 44,585
rifleman 44,461
Stub 43,764
Forum Statistics
Forums46
Topics536,987
Posts9,719,150
Members86,987
Most Online25,604
Feb 12th, 2024
Print Thread
Opinions on “jump shooting” public land? #8469720 12/08/21 03:51 PM
Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 119
D
Danny_DeerVito Offline OP
Woodsman
OP Offline
Woodsman
D
Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 119
This is my first year trying duck hunting.
I have public land near my house, based around a lake/creek, but includes a mix of very thick woods, a few tall grass fields, and the occasional isolated water hole from when the creek has flooded in past years.
I don’t have any sort of water vessel to hunt the main water or large creek, so I was considering hiking through the property in an attempt to hit as many water spots as possible, hoping to find maybe a few birds.

Is this considered an unethical way to duck hunt public property or is it more common than I think?

Re: Opinions on “jump shooting” public land? [Re: Danny_DeerVito] #8469726 12/08/21 03:56 PM
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 18,545
D
ducknbass Offline
THF Celebrity
Offline
THF Celebrity
D
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 18,545
I’d not do it at sun up. Maybe 10 on. Really it’s public. Just be safe and don’t shoot someone’s decoys. I wouldn’t like it but reality is it’s public.

Re: Opinions on “jump shooting” public land? [Re: Danny_DeerVito] #8469739 12/08/21 04:02 PM
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 11,510
R
rickym Offline
THF Celebrity
Offline
THF Celebrity
R
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 11,510
Not as common here as it is elsewhere, but I agree with ducknbass, I wouldn’t be stomping through at first light. Set up on a waterhole and hunt it for awhile before walking. Or set up in an open area so you can get a good view of the sky and just watch where birds are going.



Re: Opinions on “jump shooting” public land? [Re: Danny_DeerVito] #8469820 12/08/21 05:31 PM
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 35,409
Guy Offline
THF Celebrity
Offline
THF Celebrity
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 35,409
It’s pretty hard to jump ducks on public, more than likely they will fly off before you get in range. Jumping ducks is more associate with sneaking over a tank dam.

Re: Opinions on “jump shooting” public land? [Re: Danny_DeerVito] #8469848 12/08/21 05:58 PM
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 35,409
Guy Offline
THF Celebrity
Offline
THF Celebrity
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 35,409
I’ll say this too about jumping ducks. If you see a few ducks, ok jump them. If you see 50 or 100 ducks, if you jump them you will be lucky to get 2, in the process you scared all those ducks off, probably will not come back. If you set up the next morning before they get there, you should be able shoot your limit. And if you shoot the first 6 ducks that come in, and get out of there, and the ducks settle back in, you could shoot your limit several days in a row.

Re: Opinions on “jump shooting” public land? [Re: Danny_DeerVito] #8469858 12/08/21 06:06 PM
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 35,409
Guy Offline
THF Celebrity
Offline
THF Celebrity
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 35,409
It reminds me of a time I scouted a public walkin spot one afternoon, found lots of ducks. I get back to the access parking lot, and I’m pretty excited thinking about the good hunt I’m gonna have in the morning. About that time another truck pulls in. He hops out of the truck with his shotgun. I’m giving him the evil eye, he looks at me and says “I’m just gonna look around”. It’s about a 10 minute walk to the duck hole so I just sit and wait, and sure enough I hear him start blasting away.
hammer

Re: Opinions on “jump shooting” public land? [Re: Danny_DeerVito] #8469932 12/08/21 07:18 PM
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 6,695
C
Cochise Offline
THF Trophy Hunter
Offline
THF Trophy Hunter
C
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 6,695
I would double check the rules for the public land that you're hunting. There is at least one WMA that I know of that doesn't allow you to hunt the ponds on the WMA lands - you're restricted to what is considered the "lake" - written as the "existing water's edge." That is how I interpret it at least. I've never bothered looking into it further because I've never seen many birds on them while scouting or bow hunting.

The other places - WMA and corp lands - allow hunting on those small ponds/waterholes - but as others have said - best to probably wait until later in the morning because there very well may be people hunting those little potholes. At times they hold good numbers of birds - especially if the main lake is getting a bunch of pressure or the wind is blowing birds off the lake and/or if there is a good food source.

Re: Opinions on “jump shooting” public land? [Re: Danny_DeerVito] #8469939 12/08/21 07:27 PM
Joined: May 2017
Posts: 5,156
S
Smokey Bear Offline
THF Trophy Hunter
Offline
THF Trophy Hunter
S
Joined: May 2017
Posts: 5,156
When I was a kid, jump shooting tanks was a thing. It is how many duck hunters started out. Me included. Serious duck hunters view it and pass shooting as something reserved for pot lickers. You can kill birds jump shooting but you won’t make many friends.


Smokey Bear---Lone Star State.
Re: Opinions on “jump shooting” public land? [Re: Danny_DeerVito] #8469968 12/08/21 08:10 PM
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 954
G
goosebuster Offline
Tracker
Offline
Tracker
G
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 954
Did that mostly on tanks growing up, but don't think I would partake these days. I view it as ground raking geese, legal, but not highly regarded.

Re: Opinions on “jump shooting” public land? [Re: Danny_DeerVito] #8469978 12/08/21 08:31 PM
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 20,891
Sniper John Offline
gumshoe
Offline
gumshoe
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 20,891
Depends on the location. When I do combination hunts in Kansas, I research the WIHAs in advance and include several units with small lakes, ponds, and live creeks to jump ducks while walking up pheasants. I almost always pick up a bonus limit of ducks every day even if I don't limit on pheasants. But realize too I never see duck hunters on those places.

There are at least three large public land areas I hunt, one in TX and two in OK, that have several small water areas I have discovered over the years that hold the occasional duck or three. I have done a run and gun jump shoot circuit from time to time on at least a couple of those areas for at least 30 years and even have old top maps with my circuits marked on them. I never see decoy duck hunters on those circuits but I do have to pay attention to deer hunting dates to try not to conflict with those hunters. Back when I had my dog Blaze, I even trained her to crawl next to me when crossing over a tank dam or creek banks on those hunts.

So yea, If you can find those small water holes that are either too small or not consistently attracting ducks enough to be utilized by the decoy hunters, have at it. Some of the most fun, most exciting, most memorable hunts I have had were run and gun hunts. Despite what the so called purists say, it is just as traditional as any other kind of hunting. Like sculling a canoe up a creek jumping ducks, It is just a different kind of hunting compared to decoy hunting. An apple to an orange. But like others have said, with most of this DFW public lake type hunting it is going to be nearly impossible to run and gun without conflicting with decoy hunters and besides it will be much more productive for you hunting over decoys on those lakes anyway. So again it really depends on the location. If it is an area at or near where there are decoy hunters every morning, they are not going to be happy with you there.

Re: Opinions on “jump shooting” public land? [Re: Guy] #8469995 12/08/21 08:58 PM
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 19,129
B
Biscuit Offline
THF Celebrity
Offline
THF Celebrity
B
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 19,129
Originally Posted by Guy
It’s pretty hard to jump ducks on public, more than likely they will fly off before you get in range. Jumping ducks is more associate with sneaking over a tank dam.


I agree, they will jump quickly

Re: Opinions on “jump shooting” public land? [Re: Danny_DeerVito] #8470290 12/09/21 02:51 AM
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,228
D
duckiller Offline
Pro Tracker
Offline
Pro Tracker
D
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,228
Jump shooting creeks can be very productive. Especially for wood ducks in north and north east texas. Find a good size creek with banks steep enough to hide your approach, and you will be able to walk right up on top of wood ducks. It’s pretty sporty shooting. I do this a couple times a year on days when I deer hunt in the mornings. It’s actually pretty enjoyable. Typically it’s a wood duck thing, but at times you can shoot mallards doing this.

Back off the creek 100 yards or so creep up to each bend. Typically you either jump them right in the bends or log jams. Good luck.

Re: Opinions on “jump shooting” public land? [Re: Danny_DeerVito] #8470511 12/09/21 01:46 PM
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 954
G
goosebuster Offline
Tracker
Offline
Tracker
G
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 954
When I did do a jump shoot or 2, I used my ears as much as my eyes. Usually you can hear bird chatter on the water and prepare yourself for the jump.

Re: Opinions on “jump shooting” public land? [Re: Guy] #8471577 12/10/21 03:09 PM
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,418
B
BDB Offline
Pro Tracker
Offline
Pro Tracker
B
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,418
Originally Posted by Guy
It’s pretty hard to jump ducks on public, more than likely they will fly off before you get in range. Jumping ducks is more associate with sneaking over a tank dam.



This reminds me of a job I did up near Stillwater Ok back in the 90's. I took my best friend who needed work up there to install a metal roof, just the 2 of us. Farmer let us stay in a dumpy but cozy single wide while we roofed his main house. He gave us a single shot shotgun and box of shells and said we could shoot some ducks on the tank. We'd be up there working and one of us would see some birds lite on the tank. All giddy like a kid one of us would sneak down the ladder, grab the gun and go water squat a duck or 2. We'd have 4 birds by the end of each day. Stop by the neighbors place and pick some turnips after the work day ended, farmer had canned vegetables in the trailer.

Ate cheap all week but I do recall having to make gravy to eat with the duck as I'm sure I overcooked the hell out of them lol.

Previous Thread
Index
Next Thread

© 2004-2024 OUTDOOR SITES NETWORK all rights reserved USA and Worldwide
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.3