What you Need to Know about Late Season Waterfowling

What you Need to Know about Late Season Waterfowling

By Nick Johnson

Arguably my favorite time of year for duck and goose hunting is late season. There’s just something about battling the elements, scraping ice off my beard and fooling weary birds that gets the adrenaline flowing. This is the time of year when a lot of scouting, hard work, and really understanding the birds can pay off big time. Waterfowl hunters who stick it out and hunt through the cold and changing of fall into winter are often rewarded with big bodied Mallards and Canada geese along with a few other hardy species nearing full plumage.

Hunting late season can hold a few key differences from early and mid-season that will mean the difference between a bad hunt or a successful one. I’m not just talking about harvesting birds here. Safety and properly operating gear are two huge things to keep in the forefront of your mind when mother nature gets nasty. All things considered, late season ducks and geese just act differently. The drive for food is huge. The need for rest and staying warm to conserve energy is equally as important. Without these three elements you won’t have birds that stay around very long.

Over the years that I have hunted ducks and geese up until the last day of season I feel that I have a pretty good punch list of items to consider. Some involve how to approach setting up while others involve gear prep and may seem “common sense” but all too often overlooked.

Safety
I’ll get the safety bit out of the way first because that is something that is most critical in my eyes. No duck or goose is worth someone’s life and if you feel at risk from the elements, don’t hunt! Just last year I was hunting on the Des Moines River in early December when the weather had been super cold, and I had an experience that humbled me.

There were tons of ducks around, but the Raccoon River was dumping in volumes of chunk ice and slush, making navigating the river by boat a little hectic because you couldn’t see disturbances from shallow obstacles very well. I made the poor choice of going too fast on the way back to the ramp after the hunt and ended up hitting something under the water that nearly capsized my boat. I’m not talking like I hit something, and it bucked the boat a little, I hit something, and my right gunwale dunked under water an inch or so and I about fell out. I had no life jacket on either which was a huge mistake.

That was an eye opener for me even though I’ve been doing this for many years. I was late for an event and after the fact my wife said she would rather I was an hour late and took my time. Wise words! It never hurts to take your time and your family will not only understand, but appreciate.

Know the Birds
The topic here can be broad but what it all boils down to is scouting and knowing their pattern. Often, late season waterfowl have no set schedule and the onset of a weather front or human pressure only complicates this. In the earlier parts of the season, ducks and geese generally feed at set times and spend much of the day loafing in a safe place. Late season birds may feed many times throughout the day, trading back and forth from the roost to the feed, especially if the weather is bad. Food is king, and they rely on this to keep energy reserves up.
On the flip side, if the weather is somewhat mild or super cold and sunny, you may not see birds moving much outside of sunrise and sunset. It’s a constant gamble which is part of what makes hunting late a challenge and downright frustrating at times. Put some miles on the vehicle and pay close attention to the weather. If the weather looks like snow, be ready because they can show up anytime throughout the day.

Being Real and Blending In
Late season birds are a challenge to begin with, outside of you toughing through the elements. You want to stack the deck in your favor at all odds. If you’ve ever watched late season geese and ducks you will notice that they spend a lot of time sleeping or laying down, semi-active. Even when feeding in fields, especially if there is snow. I think it’s a huge benefit to run sleeper goose shells in a field or along the bank or sand bar in a water set. This just looks natural and makes approaching birds feel at ease if the flock they are landing in is safe enough to sleep. In a snowy field, ducks and geese will do this to melt the snow in efforts to access feed buried beneath.

If you have the means, run as many sleeper shells as you can handle and keep them focused around the landing zone while the remaining decoys are spread out in the pattern you determine to make the flock appear larger. This is the time of year to run big spreads if you have them. A good duck decoy is a goose decoy, remember that. Not all of us can pop for the high-end decoys but run the best stuff you can afford during late season, and in numbers, it really helps.

Blending in is another critical component to being real and making sure you have a good hide. Birds this time of year have flown the gauntlet and are weary to anything that looks out of place. Actively falling snow can void this to some degree but it always pays to spend a little extra time and make sure the hunters and dogs are well hidden. Keep faces and bare hands tucked and movement to a minimum.

Look Beyond Mallards and Geese
Outside of Mallards and Canada geese, late season brings a small, yet beautiful migration of some unique species many early waterfowl hunters don’t frequently encounter. Species like Goldeneyes, Common Mergansers, even Hooded Mergansers and other hardy divers. Full colored Wigeon drakes, Pintails, the odd Black duck and Canvasbacks can be encountered when the season turns cold. The diving duck species can be encountered in many of the larger river systems and reservoirs this time of year and offer a unique hunting experience for those that put in the time. I am an avid Goldeneye hunter, so I relish in the experience for those late arrivals. The colder, the better.

The Gun
I bet many of you reading this are sticklers about gun cleaning and that is great! Some hunters spend a great deal of money on a firearm and it pays to care for it. Cold weather however can make even the cleanest gun act up, notably the semi-autos, so one thing I do is to thoroughly clean it mid-season. I pull everything out, including the butt stock spring and lubricate with a lighter, cold weather tolerant lubricant. Gas operated autos tend to be more impervious to sticking I’ve seen but I am an inertia guy and I hate nothing more than a sluggish action.

The Gear
The gear is everything from flashlights to blow torches to shovels. Be prepared for anything you may encounter and pre-meditate things that could go wrong in cold weather. Carry a blow torch for thawing out a frozen drain hole on the boat so you can get the plug back in. Carry a set of matches so you can make a fire in a worst-case scenario. I even carry a spare set of undergarments in the truck in case I get soaked. Keep a shovel in the car or trailer for digging in blinds in snow or freeing a stuck vehicle.

Check the grease mid-season on the boat or decoy trailer bearings. Keep extra batteries and a flashlight, one that emits a rescue beacon if need be. Things you can pack easily, serve a purpose and can be used in a worst-case scenario, God forbid. Let family or friends know where you plan to hunt and check in periodically.

This is the time of year when waterfowling in our state offers an awesome and challenging experience to have a blast with late season birds. Pay special attention to what the ducks and geese are doing. How they look and act in certain areas and mimic what you are seeing. Use your tools and knowledge at hand and have a great, safe close to the Iowa season!