Duck Food sources in North Texas

I haven't hunted North Texas since the early 70s. Now I'm taking my youngest duck hunting this year. I've scouted some and continue to scout the bigger lakes and try to get access to smaller private stock tanks. If this were Kansas, Nebraska or even the Texas coast I could pretty well tell you where the ducks would go to feed. Here, I'm stumped. We don't have miles of grain fields. We don't have flooded rice. I assume they are feeding on aquatic plants and insects rather than grain fields. I drive the back roads around the major lakes but don't see anything but pasture, hay or sometimes cotton. Even further west you can locate the winter wheat and find geese. Am I missing something?

Ducks and geese wel will feed on food sources that are usually in shallow water like smartweed, pondweed, coontail, barnyard grass, etc. For the area I'm in the fowl use the area more as resting and roosting areas. Each front brings in new birds,that's why it's so important to scout, scout, scout the day before because they don't always use the same water that previous migrators used. This is no way fact, just my opinion.

Snails snails snails snails I have 18 ponds locked up for this season in southern Coleman cnty it seems to me year after year these ducks are full of snails.

Peanut fields in Oklahoma. Once the propane cannons get going they'll be flying the Red. They use the stock tanks regularly in Cooke Co where I hunt them. Jumping the tanks is a blast.

As already mentioned, they'll feed on smartweed, pond weed and various other aquatic vegetation and tubers. But even if the vegetation is not a direct food source it may be an indirect food source, hosting habitat to snails and other invertebrates that they'll feed on.

Thanks to all. I suspected it was something like that and helps my scouting. We've been out to various spots to scout but until the birds get here we're just guessing. I have found some birdy spots to go back and look at plus some that I will come back and visit in the spring to see if I can get access. Wytex, you mentioned peanut fields and I recall there used to be some around my home turf. Those were tightly controlled by federal allocation so they may not still be around. I'm going to check on those.

Thanks for the help

Are you hunting stock tanks?

I have some prospects for stock tanks but nothing tied up. Friend take me hunting deals. It looks like we will slug it out on the big lakes and maybe some smaller lakes if I see the birds move to them. Back in the day we shot a lot of ringnecks on the smaller lakes but we were hunting deeper water. I don't know if that pattern still holds or not. We will be hunting from kayaks on the bigger water so I'm looking to stay shallow and within a mile or so of a launch point. There are some shallow flats that it looks like it would be hard to get a PB or even a john boat in. Those are the spots I'm hoping to see birds.

Good luck with those peanut fields

What I found out is that ducks in that area do one of two things. Roost on ponds at night, feed at big lakes in the day. Or, roost on big lakes at night and feed at farm ponds during the day. It always changed with each new group of birds. Many times I've been in the smack middle of big lakes like Ray Roberts at 3 in the morning running to the spot and jumped huge rafts of roosters just to have a crappy day of hunting. Figure out which pattern they're on and fine the above mentioned vegetation and you should be good.

What is a propane cannon?

Propane fueled cannons the farmers use to scare off animals/birds/waterfowl from their crops. They have em on timers, set to go off at feeding times, even at night.

I can remember a time it worked on teenage boys in a watermelon field some 40 yrs. ago.

I hunted Proctor when the peanut fields were there,I would camp out and as the previous post said the cannons would sound day and night, ducks everywhere! No more peanut fields, much less ducks. Those were the days!

Skinny water or shallow tanks tend to hold more vegetation and invertebrates- also look for tanks with oaks that are mature and hold good numbers of acorns. Use google maps to find good size water that’s unique to area. If in flyway and no larger water for 3-5 miles+ tends to be pretty good.

I have also had good success were you have concentration of tanks were hunters push birds. All different every year depending on drawdowns and food available that year. Good luck

Thanks all for the information. I'll keep scouting and have had some luck securing stock tanks. I'm optimistic about the season starter but can't wait till December!