Duck Hunting Small Rivers

Duck Hunting Small Rivers

By Nick Johnson

Hunting ducks on smaller moving waters is less common in Iowa than one might think. How you define a smaller river is objective and really can be anything from a reasonable stream to something like the Des Moines River in the northern half of the state. What comes to my mind when I talk about smaller rivers would be the Wapsipinicon, the Little Sioux, upper Des Moines and the East and West forks, the Turkey, you get the idea. Many of these smaller rivers are bordered by private ground so you need to be conscious of that and know the laws on what you can and cannot do, but they can be hidden gems during portions of the season as the migration passes through.

I’ve found two stages of the season that really become a peak opportunity to hunt smaller moving waters. One would be earlier in the season during the month of October when the waves of wood ducks are passing through mixed with some teal, mallards, and other dabblers. The second stage is later in the season when things are starting to freeze up. This is when the hunting for mallards gets really good and you can even have opportunities for geese on these smaller systems. Safety of course is the upmost concern during these types of hunts.

Finding Ducks
One of the hardest pieces of the puzzle with smaller rivers is finding an area where birds are hanging out. Generally, these rivers are not where the ducks are flying into feed, but rather loaf and feel safe. Like I mentioned earlier, many of these rivers are heavily bordered by private ground so it can pay to do a little online scouting first and figure out public ground opportunities, river access points, perhaps even a landowner name if you choose to get permission.

I’ve spent a lot of time driving around and looking at stretches of river from road crossings early in the morning when ducks are starting to trade about. This can be a decent way of revealing where they are spending their loafing time. Another method, and arguably the best, is to take a canoe, kayak or small boat and physically float the river and scout from that. If you are lucky, you may even notice a flock of ducks returning from feeding back to their river roost. I’ve been lucky enough to find something like this once in my life. Hundreds of mallards pouring into this stretch of river that happened to be public ground. To this day, one of the best mallard hunts I’ve ever had in Iowa.

October
This is the perfect time of year to hunt from a canoe, kayak or small boat and float some of these rivers. Being quiet and stealthy is the name of the game here. Also having an exit point and means of travel so you don’t have to paddle miles back upriver. Hunts like these require little gear and the best part is you can also fish for species like smallmouth bass, pike and even walleyes inbetween sneaking around for ducks! I’ve often found October to be prime for wood ducks on smaller moving waters. You’ll also get cracks at mallards and teal, maybe even the oddball gadwall or wigeon.

I’ve only float hunted from a canoe a couple times and this took place on the Des Moines River north of Fort Dodge. One thing I learned was to stick closer to the shorelines and try not to just float down the middle. Move as quietly as possible and if you spot some ducks, keep a low profile, and move very slowly. It really helps to do this with a hunting partner so the person in the back is navigating and the person in the front is ready to shoot. Just make sure of what’s behind your target as some of these rivers have houses that can be rather close to the river edge.

Late Season
Ah, my favorite time of year to waterfowl hunt. Something about freezing temps, perhaps some snow, just gets me fired up to hunt waterfowl. Many folks take to the bigger rivers when the lakes and ponds start to lock up which is an excellent strategy, however not without pressure from other hunters. Often overlooked are the smaller rivers and this time of year can hold some impressive little pockets of ducks and geese.

The hunting isn’t always easy, though. It takes a little more time and scouting, generally, to find a solid duck loafing area. You can still float the rivers as long as they aren’t iced over in spots. For me this is an ideal time of year to get under the flight path of ducks trading back from feeding to roosting areas and set up decoys. In some cases, the roost might be a refuge and that’s a good thing. If the ground around the river is public then you are golden. If it happens to be private, then you will likely need permission to set foot on the bank or bottom to set out decoys and hide.

It may take a lot of decoys to be visible and pull ducks down into your set, but sometimes you may only need a dozen or so to have action. Traveling light is very important so bringing along some silhouette decoys can really bulk up a spread and save on weight and space. Goose silhouettes this time of year are a great idea to throw out and increase visibility. I was always told, goose decoys make great duck decoys!

There really isn’t a lot of fine details to go over with for hunting smaller rivers, more of an awareness to an overlooked opportunity for us Iowa waterfowlers. Just be very conscious of the laws in the state that govern these resources. While it may not be the massive flocks of mallards cupping into a field spread, or the waves of divers on the big lakes and rivers, there are definitely ducks to be had for those that put in the time and effort on the smaller rivers in Iowa and I’ve had pretty darn good luck in the past. Have a great season everyone.