During hunting season my favorite tv station is the weather channel. Regardless of what you hunt for, weather is crucial for any hunting trip. This rule is most important with ducks.
Weather has a serious impact on waterfowl and watching the weather religiously helps me prepare for what kind of hunt I might have. Ducks and geese can withstand cold temperatures but when that barometer drops, they don’t know how serious the cold fronts going to be. For all they know, it can be five inches of snow, an ice storm, or just rain showers.
I’ve been around hunters that have said “we didn’t see a single bird, I wonder why”. Of course there are several reasons behind this. One of those reasons is the weather. Hunting on days where cold fronts push through can be some of the best duck and goose hunting out there. In fact, I’ve see some of my best hunting before or after a front. It’s when you go out several days after a front that make hunting hard. You know, those bluebird days where all you see is some crows. Below are some different weather scenarios and some tips for those days.
Sunny:
These are the days that waterfowl hunters don’t see a lot of birds. There is one up side to hunting sunny days, but there are more negatives. The positive is your decoys are a lot more visible during these times. On these days the birds are lazy and are going to be loafing around. The birds you're probably seeing are going to be high flyers and bringing these high flyers down is nearly impossible. There’s usually no wind on these days and you're calling can be heard a lot farther. Ducks have both great vision and hearing. When you call these birds at such distance on days like this you’re just educating them to a sound of a call. On sunny days wait until the birds are closer than 200 yards and just do simple quacks, no high balls.
Cloudy:
Clouds will be the first signs of a front moving in. For fall months, this is usually a cold front. These fronts can bring a variety of weather from snow to a hard freeze. Ducks will begin to migrate prior to these fronts or wait until after. These days the ducks are usually going to be moving early and throughout the day. With these incoming fronts high winds are usual common. During these times ducks try and get off large water and move to calmer waters such as sloughs, rivers and coves. Its not all glory on cloudy days. Unlike sunny days on cloudy days it is hard to see the decoys on the gray and choppy waters. These days try and use a variety of decoys in your spread.
Brrr:
This is where you will find the avid hunter. Those nights where the temperature gets to the teens and only gets to a mid 20’s high. Obviously dressing warm is crucial however, not as vital as trying to find some open water. All your shallow waters are frozen up and ducks or going to congregate in the remaining open waters. Unlike the early season the ducks don’t move until later in the morning so you don’t have to be there right at shooting hours. Ducks and geese have two things on their mind during these frigid temperatures; survival and food. Scouting will help you see what the new flight pattern is. This pattern will be different than the rest of the season.
By no means am I saying that if you just watch the weather channel you are going to limit out on birds. You have to get off the couch, go find out where the birds are working and watch the patterns in the sky.
With everything it takes time to get used to how the birds will work in different environments. The more you go out and experience the outdoors and waterfowl in their environment the better chances you have to have a great hunting season.
As always remember to enjoy the outdoors good luck and stay safe.