Icy Water Divers

Icy Water Divers

By Nick Johnson

The air was frigid…so crisp and so cold that my breath froze to my facial hair in little icy droplets. The only sounds were the gentle gurgling of the river and the occasional crash of a floating ice chunk meeting a brief stopping point on its way down stream. As dawn broke, the early morning light gave way to a winter wonderland all around us. Eagles lazily awoke and began to scour the river for fish while a small flock of mallards chattered overhead, moving southward through the bone chilling sky. Snow from a recent snowfall clung to trees and shrubs, blanketing the countryside like a crystal-white comforter. Everything was calm, frozen in time.

I sat stoic in my layout blind, feeling the bite of cold on my toes. The soothing hot coffee in my thermos steamed past my face as I sipped away, rendering thoughts of what waterfowlers contribute to a good hunt. Before any hunt comes time spent preparing the gear, scouting with friends, asking the dog if she is ready to go and conquering all attributes needed to embark. Coffee is definitely one of these attributes I thought as I poured another cup.

As the hot liquid seeped across my teeth I heard the sound. A low whistling sound at first, barely audible but much like that of a stout wind crawling its way through the cracks of an old window. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end for I knew this unmistakable sound and how rare it was to hear in Central Iowa. Goldeneyes!

The coffee in my thermos cup now spilled across my chest as I hurriedly burrowed deeper into the blind. A flash of white from upstream caught my attention and I could now see the source of the whistling sound. A small flock of divers flew in tight formation, inches off of the water quickly closing the distance to the decoy spread.

My hands shook and my heart raced while the lead bird drew the flock into gun range. I rose from the blind and my Benelli found its mark on a beautiful drake. With hands still shaking I picked up the duck from the frigid water and admired his plumage. Striking white and black with the telltale white cheek spots set upon a black-green metallic head. The Goldeneyes had finally shown up and I had harvested this trophy on the last day of Iowa duck season.

When one considers hunting diving ducks, Iowa rarely comes to mind. During the fall migration, divers typically stage on big bodies of water especially bigger rivers. The Mississippi, Missouri, Lower Cedar and Lower Des Moines Rivers are classic examples. Hunting them with some level of success requires careful scouting and planning as well as keeping tabs on the migration to estimate when they will arrive. It’s a tough game and not for the faint of heart, yet the rewards can be great.

Scouting

As any seasoned waterfowler knows, scouting is everything. Late in the season, ducks become more isolated as standing waters freeze leaving your scouting missions confined to specific areas where waters remain open. Rivers in this case are a prime example. Scouting a river is best done by boat, which also presents a few problems. Iowa rivers late in the season are typically very low making underwater obstructions a real threat to the boat and your motor. Ice floes can also damage a boat and are common especially after a period of warming weather when they break free.

Aside from the dangers of collision, scouting the river by boat is the best option and it allows you to reach many of the places not visible from roadways and lets you quickly cover more water. Be sure to bring plenty of gas while scouting and hunting with a boat as running upstream or against prevailing winds is taxing on any vessel. Life jackets, oars, spare fuel tank, spare prop and tools, running lights and a spotlight are all invaluable items that should be on board. Even a dry bag with extra clothes, minor survival tools and food is a good idea to bring along.

If boat scouting is not an option, then finding roads that border the river is the next best thing. Much of the ground that borders our rivers is privately owned so accessing the river if birds are found may only be done by acquiring permission from a landowner. Iowa PLAT Maps specific to the counties are a great way to find out ahead of time who owns a specific tract of land. I have found that many landowners willingly allow a respectful hunter to access the river through their property.

Scouting on rivers is imperative in any aspect of diver hunting. The ducks often roost in one area and feed in another while they trade back and forth between these locals throughout the day. The “X” in this instance is where they travel to feed and it can be as much as a few miles upstream or downstream from their roost. Keep a watchful eye on the major use areas and the flight path the majority of the birds are using to navigate from one location to another.

Location

Just like hunting fields, marshes and lakes for puddle ducks and geese, hunting divers on rivers brings the focus on setting up in a key location. Maybe you didn’t find the “X” while scouting but you know the birds are using the river. Maybe you did find the “X” but you observe the majority of the birds rafted up in the middle out of gun range. Location in this instance is key. Its almost like running traffic on divers as you would other species of waterfowl. Your goal when not hunting the “X” is to intercept these birds in their daily routine and convince them to take a closer look at your set.

The best locations on any given river are those that contain resources to support waterfowl, most importantly food resources. Vegetation that grows on the downstream side of islands, inside bends or backwaters are a great place to start. Species such as Goldeneyes and Lesser Scaup also use deeper portions of the river to feed on invertebrates. Being where the ducks want to be should be the primary consideration.

The inside contour of a sharp river bend can be a great location to set up when running traffic on divers. The inside bend acts like a point such as you would find on a lake and many species of diving ducks will fly close to this land feature when traveling upstream and downstream. Inside bends often contain sandbars and debris making layout blind hunting very effective.

Decoys

Hunting diving ducks over decoys is not so different than hunting puddle ducks. The size of the body of water, the number of birds present and the species present are usually what dictates your approach. Hunting big water usually means big numbers of decoys. Often the more decoys you have, the better your chances are of pulling divers in for a close shot. Late in the season especially, diving ducks will amass in large concentrations. A large decoy spread is much more visible and makes the passing birds confident to approach.

On the flip side of a large spread, hunting species such as Goldeneyes, Buffleheads and Ring-necks does not always require a massive number of decoys. In the story above, I was hunting over a dozen and a half GHG Goldeneyes and Buffleheads. I knew the ducks were specifically using a particular stretch of river in lower concentrations and simply wanted to give them a natural appeal. Not to mention my walk in was more than 200 yards through the timber. The bigger spreads are more of a necessity when hunting large sections of rivers for high numbers of ducks.

When dealing with types of decoys, it really is not that important to get too species specific. Most species of diving ducks will decoy to the standard black and white coloration of a bluebill decoy so that pattern should make up the bulk of a diver spread. I have even turned some of my old worn out mallard floaters into bluebills with drab spray paint to beef up the spread instead of purchasing new decoys.

An example where needing diversity in the spread or species-specific decoys would be hunting isolated populations of certain species. When I hunted that mid-December day on the Des Moines River, I was using Goldeneye decoys because Goldeneyes and Common Mergansers were the only species that were using that section of river and I was gunning for a trophy drake Goldeneye.

You may also want to avoid using too many Canvasback decoys in a spread unless specifically targeting them. Canvasbacks are one of the largest diving duck species and they are notorious bullies to other divers. Using too many Canvasback decoys may flare other species that would otherwise commit to your spread.

The shape of a spread is usually a simple concept. Since most shots taken at divers are passing shots, there is less of a need for a kill hole that you would use with puddle ducks. Running lines of decoys or “gang rigs”, as they are called is a great way to help center up a flock on your location. The approaching birds will use the line of decoys as a reference point almost as if they were a plane coming in to land on a runway. This line of decoys should be placed within comfortable range of all gunners, as many ducks will pass just outside the edge of it. The remainder of the decoys can be placed in lazy clusters between the hunters and gang rigs. A “J” shape or modified fishhook shape is what I normally imitate.

When hunting rivers I will also throw out a few mallard and honker floaters close to the blind or off to the side of the diver spread. Its common on Iowa rivers to encounter both puddle ducks and Canada geese while diver hunting so I always like to stack the odds in my favor for a diverse bag at the end of the day. Species of diving ducks are accustomed to carrying out their daily routines with other waterfowl species so this option rarely tarnishes the success of a diver hunt.

Another less common method to hunt river divers in Iowa is to anchor the boat and decoys in open water away from shore. Keep in mind that in certain portions of the Mississippi River it is illegal to do this unless the boat is anchored or attached in rooted vegetation. This style of hunting allows hunters to run their spread all around the boat and utilize multiple gang rigs either fastened to the boat or anchored remotely. On smaller rivers, this method is less effective but on larger potions of rivers, anchoring and setting up offshore may be what it takes to be where the ducks are staging. Species of diving ducks are notoriously less weary than puddle ducks and slightly less apt to flare from the stand out silhouette of a hunting boat.

Concealment

One variable to waterfowl hunting that should hold a close second to successful scouting in terms of importance is quality concealment. Often overlooked by many, concealment is paramount in most hunting scenarios. A poorly designed hide or inadequate camouflage will put up a red flag to approaching birds which will likely flare rather than commit.

Hunting rivers for diving ducks is most effectively done by three different styles of blinds or hides. One would be the standard layout blind placed in close proximity to the shore, second would be a makeshift or permanent shoreline blind and the last is naturally a boat with a blind.

Hunting the edge of a river from a layout blind is not only fun, but also easy. Layout blinds are highly mobile and can be fabricated to blend in to most river hunting scenarios. When I hunt from a layout blind, I will usually set the blinds next to a deadfall or drag woody debris from the surrounding bank to conceal the raised profile of the blind. I will also stack a few rocks around the blind and fasten any emergent vegetation from the landscape to fully camouflage my hide. Hunting on a snow-covered bank is a best-case scenario for layout blind hunters. Simply paint an old blind white for the occasion or buy a couple cans of cheap snow spray to temporarily “white out” the blind for maximum concealment.

For those who simply fabricate a makeshift blind our build a permanent blind where permitted, keep in mind to make it look as natural as possible. When building a temporary blind, time should be taken before the hunt to get everything set right. A good option is to build the blind prior to the hunt to get a daylight view of how it looks. Also keep in mind that many areas do not allow the construction of a permanent blind. A temporary blind made of natural materials is always a safe option to avoid problems or a confrontation with Johnny Law.

Hunting from a boat with a blind is usually easy and less time consuming than erecting a blind on-site. Most blinds on a boat can be pre-fabricated ahead of time, cutting out much of the time spent concealing your hide. When hunting open water, many diver hunters will paint burlap and blind material a dull grayish-blue color with faded light and dark markings to imitate rocks or open water. In this case, the best boats are those that are low profile. If there is adequate snow cover on the ground, white leaf-cut burlap covering the boat will resemble a small snow covered obstruction in the river or along the bank and looks surprisingly natural.

Rivers are a freelance hunters dream aside from areas designated for no hunting. Virtually endless hunting scenarios and opportunities present themselves on the rivers that flow through our state. The biggest challenge comes from scouting and navigating these variable waters late in the season. Hunting diving ducks is not for everyone but for those that spend the time to prepare and plan for such a hunt, the rewards are at your fingertips. Good luck this winter and stay safe!