January LI Sea Duck Hunt

T

Tim LaVan

Member
Hi All:


I am looking to do a do-it-ourselves LI sea duck hunt in January.......been doing some boat ramp research, etc but need to know if I should be looking at the north or south shore primarily. Looking for scoters and long tails. We get white-wings and long tails on Lake Ontario, but interested in surf, blacks and commons....maybe eiders too.


Thanks!


Tim
 
Tim~

Your best chances for Skunkheads (Surf) and Pumpkinbills (Black/Common) - and certainly Eiders - are either right in the Atlantic Ocean - either outside the south shore inlets or off Montauk Point. Gardiners and Peconic Bays are also good possibilities. All of these are dangerous waters in January. I have not hunted any of them so cannot give you any sage advice. There are NYS (free) ramps at Point Lookout (for Jones Inlet) and Captree (for Fire Island Inlet). Access may be more difficult on the East End - because the towns (esp. South Fork) are not generous to non-natives when it comes to access.

Also - as others have discovered - trailering around NYC has plenty of challenges because almost all of the parkways are closed to trailers.

I will let others who have actually gunned these waters provide more useful information/advice.

Hope this helps,

SJS
 
Tim, as Steve has mentioned access is limited greatly on the south shore... I don't know what your experience is with a boat... You have no location mentioned, shooting the bays and sounds on the fork can be dangerous. As far a venturing to the ocean is a big undertaking. I would use a guide and see what local guides do and not to step on anothers places.
I have shot sea ducks from Long Island Sound to the Peconic Bays, before I would go to Montauk, I would ask a few guides there...
Ask Capt Jack, he is the local expert...
 
Tim,

As both my uncle and Steve has mentioned... this can be dangerous, especially if you dont have the experience and equipment to do the hunt right. Sea duck hunting in January takes a lot of both! There are plenty of sea ducks in the Peconics and Montauk, but access is a problem as you must have a launch permit for all of the public ramps. Also, in some of the towns it is actually illegal to hunt without a local who has a guides license.
My advice, if you are coming all this way... book a local guide who has the equipment and experience to make your hunt enjoyable and safe. Every year I read about someone in the local paper getting rescued or worse... recovered off the water in January.
I would recommend Capt Steve King of http://www.eastcoastwaterfowlers.com/. He hunts the entire island, end to end depending upon weather, tide and what kind of birds you want. He has a HUGE seaduck boat that will keep you safe and dry and also offers layout hunts out of two man layout boats. Check out his website, he is also a member here and an all around good guy. If you happen to shoot a nice eider, his brother is also an award winning taxidermist who only does birds.

Chris
 
Point Lookout Launch ramp would be a good choice your not far from productive ocean waters.You will find lots of bird activity to the east of the inlet anywhere from a half a mile off the beach on out .You will encounter every type of seaduck including an occasional eider.You will also see Brant and other ducks so make sure you have a copy of the NY bag limits for Long Island waters.Assuming you have sea ducked on the big lakes you know you need big boats and good gear as you are on the open atlantic.Having said that I have always been most successful on calm days as the birds can spot the decoys from far off.rough nasty days are better spent hunting dabblers in the marshes.If you plan to go you can contact me and I can give you any help you might need as my shop is not far from there..Also make sure you have all your licenses,stamps,safety equipment,etc in order as the DEC has a office right there at the ramp and you will definitely be checked.
If your time frame is only in January you should be prepared to deal with very cold icy conditions.As of Oct 2009 NY requires anyone operating a boat 21 ft or less must wear a PFD while underway and I've seen this activley enforced.
Good Luck
 
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Thanks for all the help guys. We hunt Lake Ontario and Lake Erie a lot...I know these lakes are not the Atlantic also. We have a 21 foot deep v StarCraft. Safety is the utmost importance, no doubt.......looking for something new to try!


Tim
 
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