Hunting on an iced up lake

[jeepguy]

I made a detour on the way to work and stopped by a local lake where i like to hunt. It is locked up except for a few open spots in the middle. One group did break some ice to get out there. Is it worth breaking ice to hunt? Would it be worth going out and creating a hole and putting mallard and canada decoys out?

[ZEEK1223]

I broke through about 3/4 in for about a 1/2 a mile. It was pretty scary as far as I was concerned. My buddy didnt seem to mind. even on the way back, we were like a pinball bouncing on the sides of the channel we created. I just took it really slow, and we found a different spot to hunt the evening. This is a great time of year to hunt. If you can find open water the birds are getting concentrated with a lot of water starting to get froze over.

[dan z]

do till the last day of hunting every year I dont mind it and the boat dont either, broke almost an inch last tues prolly fer a good 3/4 mile love my boat it treats me every time out never fails.

[schr0563]

Last year I spent hours breaking ice that was about an inch thick only to sit and watch empty skies. My problem was that I was on a lake that the ducks weren't using. My point is to make sure you pick a body of water that is holding birds or all your effort may be wasted.

[chub]

Last year I spent hours breaking ice that was about an inch thick only to sit and watch empty skies. My problem was that I was on a lake that the ducks weren't using. My point is to make sure you pick a body of water that is holding birds or all your effort may be wasted.

What he said.

If there's not alot of birds in the area(most of time, that's no guarantee either), all your gonna get is dissapointed. This time of the year it's pretty much a done deal unless you can get in a field that they're hitting, or on a river that they're roosting in.

Quite a bit of open water(larger lakes) in my area, and there is little or nothing in them for birds.