Help...Retrieving ducks in deep water

Ive been trying to come up with an idea and was wondering if anyone could help.

We are hunting out of a flat bottom surface drive with a boat blind on it. Some of the spots we really like setting up arent far at all from deeper water. (Too deep for waders) we dont have a dog and thats not a possibility as of now. Opening day we shot a good amount of birds and had to let the majority drift with the wind till we were finished hunting. Almost lost some, but we found them bc we were near a creek mouth. Question...

Does anyone have an idea for retrieving ducks in deeper water without a dog? I have a 16' decoy retriever pole which helps, but when you shoot several at 30yds and its 8' deep, that aint gonna work fellas! Haha. Considering an inflatable kayak, ir float fishing tube. Any thoughts?

Rod and reel....a few treble hooks and a small weight so it doesn't sink too fast if you miss....

Fishing pole with a big topwater plug. Someone on here used to make a throwable retreiver, DWADR or something like that.

IMO as a hunter it is your primary responsibility to retreive downed game as quickly as possible, especically when hunting public/big water. I wouldn't be surprised if a warden give you a ticket if they witnessed what you described.

You are in a boat....most likely on Ray Bob.... if you down birds that are in too deep of water stop your hunt and go retreive the ducks and get set back up compared to inflatable boats/tubes/etc..

I’ve used a fishing rod as suggested before, and even a remote control duck decoy that I put a wire coat hanger on the front in a v shape to push them back to me. Whatever works. Good thing about the rc duck was it didn’t spook incoming birds. Stay safe in the deep water!

I use a short kids fishing rod...about 3 feet long with a micro spinning reel...8 lb test line and then I made a retriever...it's a piece of wire hanger that looks like a "W" that is twice as long in the center of the "W".each side is about 5 inches long and bent out at about 45 degrees from the center "bar"...I pushed the bar through a piece of closed cell foam like they use as packing around a computer but I bet a piece about 4 inches long from a kids "funoodle"...pool play toy, would also work...clip on the end of the wire loop above the foam and cast out past the downed bird, then retrieve slowly as you get the floating part to one side or the other of the bird, and voila...slowly reel in your bird...seems like there was a commercial product "duk-treiver" maybe...looked like it might work...best ever though was a battery powered RC boat,,,rigged with a "V" out of circular foam and wire on the bow of the boat...add a decoy shell over the boat and you have something to occupy the time on even the slowest of hunts...

Noted. And not Ray Bob. Though there's probably several places like that there im sure.

I like the fishing pole ideas. I have a retriever i made of pvc for decoys in a swamp pond a while back. Just can't throw it 90ft.

Not trying to ruffle feathers on here...

As kids being raised in the Hill Country, we would chunk rocks on the other side of the duck until the ripples carried them in. We had a lot of rocks so we could chunk a lot of rocks. We also used top water plugs on a rod and reel to snag snakes swimming across a pond or creek. It worked pretty good also. The RC boat would be good also. The grandsons had several of those on one our tanks and it amazed how good they were able to maneuver them. (ramming each other of course) I can see that working pretty good.

An inflatable tube in the winter is as bad of idea as they come. You can get a cheap kayak much safer.

Rc boat is a good thought. Ive done the rock throwing at private tanks before and it worked well. We honestly thought the scrub brush would hold the dead birds but they kepy snaking out. Thats why im here asking. I dont ever want to lose a bird. If im lucky enough to have 1 decoy, i owe it to the bird to retrieve it and eat it. Everything ive ever shot in a duck blind has been eaten with the exception of a mallard last year that got pulled under by 2 other ducks somehow, and the rare occasional one that dives and drowns itself.

When the time is right and you realize there's nothing better than hunting with a well trained dog shoot me a PM...

Oh i have hunted with amazing dogs before, and for sure realize their worth. Only issue is we have 3 dogs now and a 2yr old kiddo. But... one day, i will have my duck dog i want. Always dream about having my own dog in the blind. Nothing better than watching ducks decoy and watching a well trained, trustworthy dog retrieve em!

No doubt!

Watching your hunting partner strip down to his jockey shorts and then swim out to get them....now that's funny right there, I don't care who you are, that's funny!

Tophorsecop, have we hunted together before??

I've done it for an expensive decoy.

Lol that's genius.

Figured I would post a picture of my prototype DUKSNAGR...been using it for about 10 years now...I rarely have to get it out...I hunt with a black dog, but every once in a while I jump shoot a tank or 2 on the way home from work...so it rides in the truck with me...still have had to go home and get Raelette a time or 2 when the wind or a snag kept me from getting a down duck. I can add a lead weight at the back end if I need more distance but this will cast 100 ft or so on a calm day.

Thinking about a cheap bowfishiing bow with modified arrow.

Fishing pole, top water lure, and a valid fishing license.

My wife and MIL turned my lab into a baby who now despises cold water. Too bad duck season is not when it's hot.

I have successfully used a 7' spinning rod with a Zara Spook to retrieve ducks in deep water.

Whopper Plopper works great! Might also catch a giant bass on the way to the duck...bonus!!

Before I had a dog I bought a rc boat and stuck it in a small block of styrofoam. I then bent coat hangers to hooks to stick in the sides of the styrofoam it worked unless the wind was to high. I saw a rc duck retriever at a hobby shop about 6 years ago. It actually was a decoy with ducklings on a string that grab them when you circled the down duck.

What happened to dwader

use to be a member that had some sort of contraption he sold for retrieving birds.

Have the perfect thing
https://oldtowncanoe.johnsonoutdoors.com/canoes/recreation/discovery-119?id=11061

I have one of his contraptions and it has worked great for me quite a few times.

Get a good fire going first. Done it numerous times when I was MUCH younger and dumber. Really it's not as bad as you might think provided that fire is going when you step back out on solid ground.

I’m still here. I just reached out to him. I have some in stock.