diver hunting

[bluebill97]

I need some advice on early season diver hunting. Im going up north or Grand Rapids about an hour and is it good hunting for divers early in the year? We usually dont get up there till late October and we usually get nothing but ringnecks if anything at all. we decided to go up earlyer thinking we may see more ducks, am i right? divers must live up there huh? well what kind of decoy paterns, # of decoys and should i throw a mixed bag out in my spread? like mallards/bluebills. any help would be great im very new at this and want to get a chance at a few ducks this year.

[Fisher Dave]

Divers usually dont show up until the mid season up north in my experiences... I may be wrong for some areas of the northern tier of the state. I believe most of our divers are coming from far north and usually get slowly pushed down as the season progresses by water freezing up, or powerful fronts producing a heavy NW wind or jet stream. Lake of the Woods and Leech lake hold countless divers from mid to late season. It seems they gather on the big lakes and migrate in huge flocks from there when the weather pushes them out.

Once the birds get into these giant flocks I set out from 150 - 200 decoys with most being divers and mallards. I do throw a few teal, woodies, and pintails into the mix in the puddle. If you ever have the opportunity to watch ducks when they are staged in huge numbers, there will be a mix of ducks, not just one species.

[bluebill97]

thanks for the info fisher dave, three years ago we must have hit it just right. there were thousands of ringnecks and some bluebills just circling our lake we were hunting. too bad it had to be our first year of hunting because we only got a few out of all of those birds. In other words I should hunt puddle ducks if im going the first weekend in October, unless we get an early cold spell?

[Fisher Dave]

One way to look at it... there always seems to be some puddlers around. Ringnecks usually move pretty early. Cold weather might move early to the north and push birds down early... never know. Anything could happen, either way im sure it will be a fun trip.

[Borch]

We've been seeing quite a few divers(mostly ringnecks) while fishing the lakes in central minnesota. Thw flocks aren't big but usually 6 - 12 birds in them. Is there much for redheads up there fischerdave? We usually get a few of those earier in the season here in central MN. We'll be up there the middle of October for a combine walleye and duck hunting trip.

Have a good one!

[bluebill97]

how do i set up for early season divers/puddler, like decoy numbers. is a dozen or two enough and what kind of pattern do you set them in for divers? I have heard a J pattern off of a poind works good, is this correct. and do you call divers in like you would a mallard or is there a special call for these bluebills and ringnecks? please help me!

[Fisher Dave]

Hunting divers you always want some type of *line* coming into your puddle. Divers follow these lines like landing strips. Be sure there are no gaps in the line or significant breaks in the line or they will land in the middle of your line .. last but not least .. be sure the line has the birds flying into the wind. The number of decoys is entirely up to you. I always use a fair amount of decoys for diver hunting even in the early season. I use up to 200 in the late .. I stongly believe divers follow something similar to a "safety in numbers" theory. For a line you will need at least a dozen decoys. A couple dozen is ok for a small puddle earlier in the year when the flocks are small. Be sure to leave a hole in the puddle where you want the birds to land. Hope this help out some.

Borch ... I used to be a taxidermist and we would take special trips to LOTW for the purpose of muti-species hunts. 4 of us in a weekend have managed to pull a hen and drake of every legal specie of duck over a few days. Red Heads were quite numerous at LOTW and I also see alot at Leech, both mid to late season. I hunt the central region of the state 90% of the time so I'm sure theres others out there that can keep you more up to date on what seems to be moving when. I do get some Redheads in the Monticello and Annandale areas. I also have been seeing alot more Pintails the last couple years.

I just wanted to add in that the birds that were harvested for taxidermy use were in fact dressed for consumption and not just wasted. There is nothing wrong with having something mounted to make a memory last forever ... but I dont believe in wasting wildlife of any kind.

[Borch]

For us it's been real interesting with the variation in duck species. The past 3 years we've been seeing more and more redheads. Less and less blue bills. Ringnecks have been pretty consistent. The canvas backs have really varied. Some years seeing 10-15 flocks of up to 40 birds. Other seasons not seeing a single can. See also see a lot of buffle heads. The megansers have really increased. I do not like to eat them so I really keep an eye out for them.

Of course no shortage of puddle ducks.

But I really love hunting those divers! Looking forward to the second half of the season already

[bluebill97]

when you say "line" do you mean extend strait out from the blind about how many yards???? shooting distance or more? so when you do this you leave a pocket just in front of the blind for landing? or is it more like a pocket then more decoys closer to the blind? sorrey for all the questions Im just trying to get a little more uderstanding. you think i can do this with two dozen dekes?
do you call them in? if so what kind of call should i use. thanks again guys.

[Borch]

A lot depends on the wind. But say you have the wind at your back. With 24 dozen divers a classic set up would be a large "U" formation made up of mallards, widgeon(puddle ducks) with maybe a couple(2-4) of decoys in the open landing area. With 2 dozen divers I'd set out two straight strings into with the wind(the string would be say 10-15 ft apart)with a dozen divers in each. Although I always do it with a long and a short string. Try to keep the decoys in the string say 2-4 ft apart. No more than 4 ft as the ducks will likely land in the string rather than follow it into the landing area. The end of the string closest to the blind would be 25-30 yards out from the blind. Wind from different directions will shift the set up slightly but you get the idea.

For divers I give them a few mallard "quacks". It usually doesn't take much more than that. Divers have always appeared to be more visual in deciding where to land. They do some vocalization and you can but diver calls, but I haven't needed them. Once they see the strings and if they want to land they will unless they see something wrong with the setup or location.

[Fisher Dave]

Borch has explained the *line* theory pretty well. Its alot harder to explain than it is to show. There is nothing complicated about it, although it may sound like there is.

Lets assume you are putting 1 doz dekes in a line ... this * line * should be as straight as an arrow and extend about 50' toward the main body of water directly from the edge of your *puddle*. If its right it will appear like there is flock of birds swimming single file into your decoys.

A * puddle * is nothing more than X number (6-100+) of decoys spread out close to your blind.

A *hole* is a phrase used to describe an area in or near the puddle area left open ( no decoys ) for the birds to land in.

A well planned decoy spread can make birds land exactly where you want them to MOST of the time .. especailly on windy days. Calm days the ducks will land in any direction .. but the lines still help.

With few decoys( 2 doz ) a * J * pattern can be an effective spread. the inside of the "hook" can be utilized as a hole. You still want to throw a few extra decoys around the outside (closer to blind and to sides) of the J to create an illusion of being more birds.

As for calls I have had no luck with diver calls. I stick with the mallard call. Lust make enough noise to reassure the birds your decoys are really ducks. If the calling isnt working ... dont be afraid to put it away. Divers dont make much noise.

[mwktrapper]

Fisher Dave mentioned that the line should be straight as an arrow. This can be tough when you set out individual decoys due to their ways of moving in weird directions. So what we use is a super long line of decoy string with a Large weight on each end. On the string, you can attach clips at your desired length and clip the decoys to this line, then you just set one weight closer to the blind and pull that line straight out into the wind. It works wonders and that line is as straight as an arrow. We usually run a couple of these prerigged lines and then toss all the bill and canvasbacks in a large puddle, as mentioned earlier, closer to the blind. Those bills will usually fly right down that line and into your face. If you want you can add mallards in or to the side of the puddle.
I've lived and hunted in the Grand Rapids area for years. It is the greatest feeling ever to hit that bill flight just right, flocks of 30 coming in every 15 minutes. It's incredible, I'm getting pumped talking about it. It usually happens around the third weekend of deer season, but these last couple years have been different. It also seems like the numbers are way down these days. Winni used to have incredible bill flights, but we haven't shot a bird there in the last few years. All the lakes seem to be dropping like that. Commenting on the redheads, there aren't too many around here. Sure you'll get a few here and there, but it seems they really pick up as you head west an hour or two.
Oh, and those bluebills make a sound kinda like a dying crow. I can't explain it in writing. I hunt with an old timer who calls them in with his mouth but it's not necessary at all. Man, I get so pumped when I come on this site.

[bluebill97]

Wow that really helped, thank you to all of you that helped me out. You made it really clear to what the "line" is and im pretty sure i understand what your talking about. from the sounds of it there should only be about a dozen or so decoys in the line(s) right? I cant wait to try this out this year. Just hope to see some ducks.

[mwktrapper]

Yeah, A dozen is all we run. These dozen are used just for the line. They have about a foot long cord with a ring for the clips. Go get em. Geese in the mornin.

good fishin