Question

Mark W

Mark W

Well-known member
Buddy and I were talking about duck movement and weather. We each had a different opinion. Here is the topic. Do ducks tend to be pushed by strong storm fronts or do they typically follow storm fronts?

We have had some weather come down in the last couple of days.

Mark
 
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I assume they ride the north wind south, as opposed to fight a south wind ahead of a front.
My best days were usually the day after a front. When there is a strong north wind.
 
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Are we asking when they make long migratory flights, or when they are on the move locally?

I generally figure my hunting is dependent mostly on the latter, with the birds migrating through all season long.

Several of my favorite spots hunt best on a NE wind, but I don't know why.

Another hunts best on a S wind.

Cold--and ice--are also a factor. A N or NW wind here often means cold nights and ice forming fast. That drives birds, first from the small pockets to larger lakes and rivers, then to the coast as more things freeze up.
 
Yeah, I?m talking about the migratory flight. I tend to think the strong weather fronts coming out of the North push the birds south. Buddy says his best days are after a front has moved through.

Mark
 
I tend to believe after the front and especially when a snow event takes place and covers their food sources. There has been very little action locally and Friday when the front blew threw here there were no birds or shooting. Saturday morning (day after the front went through) I saw several flocks of different species come through as well as an uptick in shooting from the river blinds. No shooting was heard rom the pothole blinds where I hunt (except for a Woodie that surprised me at daylight and flew by after I ruffled his tail feathers). I didn't hunt today as I had to work on a boat issue but received a text from a friend and their foursome was just a couple of birds short of limiting out.
 


For a many seasoned waterfowler, or new.

Get a copy of TRAVELS AND TRADITIONS OF WATERFOWL by H. Albert Hochbaum.

Read it cover to cover.



my 2 cents
 
Vince Pagliaroli said:
For a many seasoned waterfowler, or new.

Get a copy of TRAVELS AND TRADITIONS OF WATERFOWL by H. Albert Hochbaum.

Read it cover to cover.



my 2 cents
Click to expand...

Cliff notes version?
 
We just had some strong NW winds and temperature drop over the weekend. I don't hunt the weekends but there is a mix of new ducks today. Not all new ducks and not huge numbers, but enough to have a good morning. Two Mallards, one Woody and one goose. [sly]
 
Mark

In my year of hunting I have seen ducks move in ahead of a front, I've seen them come in on the front, and I've seen them show up the day after a front. So there you have it!

Eric
 
Eric Patterson said:
Mark

In my year of hunting I have seen ducks move in ahead of a front, I've seen them come in on the front, and I've seen them show up the day after a front. So there you have it!

Eric
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My experience is a group or two will show up after the guns are stowed and the decoys are half picked up.
 
tod osier said:
Vince Pagliaroli said:
For a many seasoned waterfowler, or new.

Get a copy of TRAVELS AND TRADITIONS OF WATERFOWL by H. Albert Hochbaum.

Read it cover to cover.



my 2 cents
Click to expand...

Cliff notes version?
Click to expand...



Do they still make Cliff Notes? (Yer showing yer age. [;)])

Hell in today's world that would be even to much book reading.

Just google the damn thing and get it over with. HHHHEEEeeeeHHHHHEEeeeeeHHHEeeeeeee

Cuz dats how we get "enlightened". Reading books is so hard.....

Even this forum is considered outdated by many folks according to today's "standards".
 
Abebooks.com has Travels and Traditions of Waterfowl used, between $8 - $15. The site is a also a good source for MacQuarie, Gene Hill, Corey Ford.
 
Only time I ever had scoters in the decoys was under this exact circumstance.
Actually, it was the only time I ever saw scoters while actually hunting vs. scouting.....
 
Very interesting question. We certainly saw birds after a front. But on the North Shore salt marshes of Long Island, during my "yout" and for ten years thereafter (from 1963-1980), I tried to be on the marsh on the day the NW winds were blowing, best anytime in November. Not the day before or the day after. I assumed that is when the front was coming through. Routinely, I would feel the weather and check the tide chart, and skip the last three periods of Port Jeff High School to get 2+ hours sitting on a mud pothole watching the birds work, and typically shooting a lot of shells. The black ducks would be all over the marsh, I assume they rode the night front winds in, and they were edgy, always getting up and moving from pothole to pothole, and readily stooling. 1969 BC below by my best guess. ("BC" before camo.)



View attachment J C Woods - Stony Brook Harbor - Bayliss Meadow - November 1969.jpeg
 
I'm still new to this, only been hunting 7 years now. However, both. Throw in moon and photoperiod to complicate things. I can tell you that a couple weeks ago, a buddy had an absolute world-class hunt. Shot 2 boxes of shells in under an hour. I went 2-3 days later, after big heavy cold front moved through. Birds were gone. Combine that with the full moon, they were out.

I've also had it where following weather there were tons of birds.

Keep a log. I just started doing this myself. Note weather, tides, time of day, spots, wind, etc.
 
Jay K said:
I can tell you that a couple weeks ago, a buddy had an absolute world-class hunt. Shot 2 boxes of shells in under an hour.
Click to expand...

So that is some where around 8 shells per bird for a 6 duck limit? How is that even possible? or is the more to the story?
 
Before I got glasses and a shotgun that fit, I had days like that.
 
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Huntindave McCann said:
Jay K said:
I can tell you that a couple weeks ago, a buddy had an absolute world-class hunt. Shot 2 boxes of shells in under an hour.
Click to expand...

So that is some where around 8 shells per bird for a 6 duck limit? How is that even possible? or is the more to the story?
Click to expand...

Well, skybusting is a possibility (not saying that's what happened...jus sayin)....very poor shooting (I have had days where I can't hit the ground with my empties it seems like)....oooooooorrrrrrrrrr perhaps he was shooting ducks, geese, coots, snipe and/or any other in season bird all on the same day.
 
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