NJ Black Ducks for the finish

Jay K

Jay K

Active member
The fat lady has officially sung here in NJ. What a season it was. Hunted 8 times. 7 times from my first season in the BBSB. Learned a lot this year. Got the decoy spread dialed in, pushed them away from the boat. Used the sun and the wind. I even threw a few comeback calls at birds intent on going elsewhere and managed to turn them around.

Saturday I found myself in my favorite back creek, lesser known spot. Coming in it was loaded. I must have put up 30-40 puddlers, most of which seemed to be black ducks. Some divers were mixed in. I had some beautiful hooded mergansers moving up and down the creek all day which provided some nice entertainment. The birds seemed to move in waves. Every half hour or so a few puddlers would pick up and transit back and forth. Had a few takers early. Two of the opportunities I maybe got on the gun a little too quick. The shots were marginal at best. The last hour of the day got really good. About 10 min from end of legal shoot, a whole flock of brant came in to my left. I was all set to try and take a pair when out of the corner of my eye to the right, I see a nice black duck practically on top of me. I pulled off the brant. Black duck just touched his feet on the water and immediately popped back up. Shot was good. 5 minutes left in the season, I had a nice black duck to show. I hopped right back to the spot. With a minute left in legal shoot it looked like I would have a shot at a pair of mallards. Unfortunately, they decided last second to land a little outside my spread.

Very, very tough season here in NJ. The mallard migration was virtually non-existent. I look at it as an awesome season of hunting. Getting an education with the super-shy and spooky black ducks is great training. The BBSB performed well and I have a decoy spread that works. Couldn't be happier.
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That is the way to end the season!

We tried mightily for that here in Maine, but found only mallards willing to commit on our last couple of hunts.
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Jeff,

It's amazing but NJ, based on what I know, might be black duck capital of the USA. They sure do give you a course in concealment, decoy placement, and stealth!
 
Jay -

Ya did good, congratulations!

Sneakbox, good decoys and Black Duck, the East Coast trifecta.


Black Ducks are my favorite large puddle duck.

If you like to read, get a copy of HIGH TIDE and a EAST WIND The Story of the Black Duck, by Bruce S. Wright, drawings by Peter Ward.

Though it was first printed in 1954, I think you will enjoy it.

Best regards
Vince
 
Jay K said:
Jeff,

It's amazing but NJ, based on what I know, might be black duck capital of the USA. They sure do give you a course in concealment, decoy placement, and stealth!
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I read somewhere that something like 30% of the Atlantic flyway black ducks overwinter on the coast of Maine, and most years it feels like it in late December and January, but this way those big flocks of black ducks were scarce on the days I was out. glad someone found them!
 
Good morning, Jay~


Congratulations! It's been fun following your hunts this year - hard to beat sneakboxes and Black Ducks. And, yes, although we on Long Island love our Black Ducks, you guys in Jersey have SO much more wonderful habitat. It always does my soul good just to see the great expanses of saltmarsh and shoals whenever I visit.


All the best,


SJS

 
While I regularly shoot my 2 blk. ducks over the fresh river I hunt nothing beats hunting them on the salt. Just pure magic watching them stool coming in off the bay. Now that your hooked and your season has ended the planning phase starts for next year! Congrads on a successful season and hope you have many more to look forward to.
 
Thank you so much guys.

Jeff,

It seems like sometimes all we see here is black ducks, especially this year. I think a lot of hunters in NJ looked at them as a curse for so long with the one bird limit. I am very much hoping they keep it a 2 bird black duck limit. There is just simply a large biomass here. Lots of resident birds.

Steve, Roy,

I definitely know where you are coming from. I hunt various habitats here in NJ. Everything from beaver sloughs, to lakes, to tidal swills, right down to full bay...mile from the ocean. Nothing beats hunting them in the short spartina. It's simply one of the most challenging types of hunting. It's really mind boggling to think how they sometimes bust you hiding in a BBSB inches off the water with decoys set perfect.
 
Congrats on a successful end to the season Jay. As I've told you many times, if you can fool NJ black ducks you can fool anything.
 
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Thank you Craig. They are amazing ducks. I never saw the draw of them until I found out how challenging they are to get to work/cooperate.
 
Jay K said:
Jeff,

It's amazing but NJ, based on what I know, might be black duck capital of the USA. They sure do give you a course in concealment, decoy placement, and stealth!
Click to expand...

Great hunt to end the season! You're absolutely correct, there isn't much room for error when decoying black ducks in real salt marsh spartina.
 
I too finished the season with black ducks in hand. There were also a few GWT to fill out the duck limit and my very first brant that same day out of a BBSB copy, the aero marine sneakbox. Very happy with the boat and the birds this year.
 
Traveling down from Ohio, I have been hunting the East Coast for over 15 years, between Christmas and New Year's. I've always taken my big, 17' aluminum boat, with my custom blind. While, we do manage a lone puddle once in a while, I'm thinking, life is too short. I AM going to drag my little wooden sneakbox down to the East Coast next year, and try to get in on a few Puddlers, hopefully Blacks and maybe my Holy Grail Duck, the PINTAIL! And I certainly wouldn't pass up any Greenwinged Teal, Gaddys, Woodies, or anything else that will pay me a visit. You guys have me all worked up now!

By the way, up here, I have seen more Black Ducks this year than ever. No doubt about it. They've actually outnumbered the Mallaeds this year. I eve managed to bag 5. Mist ever for one season. Sometimes, I'm lucky to see just a couple.

Jon
 
M - I'd love to see pics of the Aero Marine. I am a fan of sneakboxs and their builders.

Jon - I hunted a 14' Jon boat prior to this. I can honestly say the majority of puddlers were a no go for me in that. Flared them 90% of the time. You will do so much better from a box in the short spartina where a lot of them frequent. Even, I still do flare some birds. Quite the challenge.
 
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