Moments like it are rare. Our last few steps to the backwaters of the Potomac River – not 30 minutes from Washington, D.C. as the crow flies – spooked two drake mallards and three hens. The slate sky pressed down on us as we threw out about a half-dozen Carry-Lite decoys. Big wet snowflakes slowly drifted down around us as my friend and I settled into spots next to big trees, which we hoped would hide us from the prying eyes of incoming ducks.
 
We were killing an evening after hunting divers that morning. The only sounds were the tiny sizzle of the snowflakes hitting the water. Then we heard wings.

The five mallards were looking to return to the water they’d claimed for that evening. Steve gave a quiet feeding chuckle after the ducks had passed and were heading away, and they abruptly turned to make another pass. Again we heard their wings approaching, and Steve hit a quiet comeback call after the ducks had passed over. Again they turned for another look.

Hiding my face and glancing out of the corner of my down-turned eyes, I whispered that I would give them a shot on the next pass. The birds swung straight down the backwater and I shouldered the gun, tracking a drake and dropping him with the shot. I swung to the next drake and dropped it, too. What a feeling! It’s rare when it all comes together – the right location, good decoy placement, perfect calling and effective shooting. And all this on a public hunting ground so close to town.

Calling
Your duck or goose calling does not have to be perfect, but it does need to be decent. There is only one way to go on this – practice. A good, inexpensive duck call like Knight & Hale’s Bachelorette or either of the Smooth Talkers work well in just about any situation.

As a rule, single-reed calls are louder, and most are used in big-water situations, so a double-reed might be a better choice for starting out. There are plenty of instructional cassette tapes and CDs and full length DVDs available that will help you become proficient with your new call. Then you’ve got to practice, practice, practice.

But there’s more to calling ducks and geese than being able to make a comeback call, feeding chatter, etc. Perhaps the most important aspect is knowing when to call. Many callers call too much. A good rule is to call to get their attention, then only call when the ducks are going away from you. There is no need to call after the birds turn toward you. Let them come on. Make adjustments if they appear to lose interest, but otherwise keep quiet. 

Waterfowling Gear
You don’t have to be rich to hunt waterfowl. A dozen decoys, an inexpensive call and an old pump shotgun are all that’s really needed. Sure, the big outdoors magazines always show a well-outfitted guy with a half-dozen calls hanging around his neck and a $3,000 shotgun taking a plump mallard drake from the soft mouth of a well-trained black Labrador, but it doesn’t have to be that way. You can get away with much less gear, and still have a great hunt.

Almost every part of the country sees some type of waterfowl migration or features a “local” duck, like the wood duck in Alabama. Resident Canada goose populations are blossoming like crabgrass on a golf course, and these giant geese are great fare.

For basic duck hunting, a dozen mallard decoys will draw in just about any specie of duck, especially if you’re hunting smaller waters. Add at least another dozen if hunting bigger waters.   Using one dozen mallards as a start, add a coot decoy, or a few pintail or wood duck decoys for variety. If shovelors are common where you hunt, add a couple of those. Variety in your decoy spread adds realism.  There’s a lot of talk about putting out decoys in patterns – the J pattern, the X – but with only a dozen decoys there is no need to go into elaborate patterns. Just space them out with about two feet between each decoy will pass for realistic. Decoys with space around each one mimics a flock that is relaxed. Shotguns in 20- and 12-gauge are standard for duck hunting, and steel shot or a nontoxic substitute is required. Nontoxic substitutes include Bismuth and others, including Remington’s Hevi-Shot.

Location is perhaps the most important aspect of waterfowling. Basically, hunt where you’ve seen ducks. Shallow backwaters off big rivers, smaller ponds, big ponds, etc. You don’t need a boat to get to many of these spots.

Putting it all together
It’s rare when it all comes together, but when it does, it’s a beautiful thing. In the scenario that opened this story, for one magical moment all of my and my partner’s waterfowling knowledge culminated into success. Our location (being where the ducks wanted to be), use of only a few decoys when conventional wisdom said we needed more, his exceptional, quiet calling on a day when you could hear snow falling, and my effective shooting (which is rare indeed) all lined up to produce the perfect trip. 

You don’t have to be a rich man to enjoy waterfowling. And, you don’t have to see 10,000 ducks to have a successful hunt. Start small and go from there, and you’ll cultivate a love of waterfowling that will follow you your whole life.