Know your limits and what species you are shooting!
Make sure you know how many and of what species you can legally harvest. It’s tempting to just blast away at first light at the first bird you see but take the time to harvest the right birds, it’s the law, too. There are plenty of identification guides online like this one from Ducks Unlimited.
Also, learn what the ducks sound like as a secondary identification source. It can get wild and crazy when a lot are flying so taking the time to learn can save a lot of heartache.
Brrrrrr, layer up!
Its gets cold, so layer up! You can always shed clothing if needed. It’s a fact…it’s colder by the water and that wind stings a bit more with every guest. Layering up will make sure you are plenty warm. Most importantly, cover your head as you lose most of your heat through your head.
Don’t let ‘em see you
Camo is a must! Moreover, if you have a new outer layer (jacket, bibs, etc) rub it around in some dirt to remove the new sheen. Make sure you attempt to match your camo to your hunting grounds as best as possible. Them ducks see real well, so a camo that doesn’t blend is almost as bad as not wearing camo at all.
Don’t Look Up!
Ducks can see incredibly well. Looking up at circling ducks is like shining a spotlight at them! Its sounds funny but go outside and practice looking up with your eyes and not your head. Also, wearing a facemask will help if you have to look up!
Quack, quack calling
Learn how to call but don’t overdo it. The less the better, normally. Don’t try to master every duck noise at once…ease into it. The basic mallard quack, feeding call, hale call and a basic whistle to mimic a teal drake will help them get in range.
Late Season Birds are Spooky
Cut down on your decoys and calling the later in the season. Birds tend to get smarter the more they are shot at. How would you feel if at every restaurant and hotel you stopped at on a thousand mile trip you were shot at? Yeah, you’d be a bit edgy and beyond careful. I typically will only use 2-4 decoys late in the season and no motion type decoys. They seem to avoid those late in the year.
Movement in the Decoys
Ducks don’t normally just sit there. So if you don’t have any wind to move them around purchase a jerk string to add some movement. The spinning wing decoys work well early in the season too but don’t over do it! Sometimes too much movement is a unrealistic.
Match your shot size to your target
No point in firing #2 steel shot at teal ducks. You’ll blow them to pieces. With bigger ducks such as mallards and gadwalls #2 is suitable. There are many guides online that offer recommendations for matching the bird shot size to your prey such as this one from Outdoor Life.
Early Teal Season
There is nothing better than coming back from the morning hunt with a stringer full of teal! Teal are the first birds down in September in Texas where I hunt! Early season teal sometimes act as though they left their brains up north, so take advantage!
They are very fast flyers and are suckers for decoys. No reason to get a teal motion duck decoy. We throw a MOJO dove decoy into our mix and it works great! They are mighty tasty so try eating them Texas style! Cut a slit between the meat and the breastbone on either side and placing a slice of a Texas 1015 onion on one side of the dove breast and a jalapeno on the other side.
