Secrets Of The Sneak

Many duck hunters lay in wait with a bag of decoys and specially made duck calls to lure in the ducks to their demise. That is all fine and dandy but it's not for me. I like to put on a sneak to kill my birds and this is how I do it.


The first and most important thing about sneaking up on ducks is knowledge of the jump hole. A jump hole being a small pond or portion of larger lake you know ducks could be.  You should know exactly where the ducks normally sit. You should know the shape and features of the jump hole.  The weather conditions will matter as well.  You also need to know your route and what will be involved in your path to the birds. The only way to gather all this information is experience.  Trying many different routines on each jump hole to figure out what works the best.

 
It’s good to know where the ducks are on the pond before you attempt a sneak. This will allow you to plan where you need to sneak and what shot to use. Especially if the pond is larger than you gun can cover.  Every jump pond I have I try to have an observation point (OP). Where I can look at the lake and see where the ducks are before I go for it.  Some OP’s are a half mile away and some OP’s are 10 feet away. With the Op’s that are further away it is easier to look at the whole lake and plan your attack.  When I have an OP that is very close I walk very slowly staying behind cover. IE a large rock or sage brush.  I only allow enough of myself to be shown so I can look at the water for ducks. If you are in a heavily hunted area, the ducks will leave at first sight of you.   As I watch the water I slowly move until I either see some ducks or I can see that there are no ducks on the water. If I do see ducks I immediately crouch behind my cover and retreat to plan my assault.  If you are not able to have an OP play the odds and plan your attack to where the ducks would normally sit.


Weather conditions can also play a big role in where you jump the ducks. It is my experience that if it is windy the ducks will sit on the bank that the wind is coming from. So if the wind is blowing from east to west the ducks will be on the east bank trying to be protected from the wind.  If the weather is windy and raining it will help muffle your sound as you are trying to get within shooting range.  I tend to think when it is snowing heavily it will help conceal you from their sight. Something I have noticed if it is windy out the birds seem get up off the water faster, maybe because they can get air under their wings faster which might give them faster lift. With weather is also time of year. If you go somewhere in early fall the leaves might still be on trees to give you cover. But in late fall or winter the leaves are gone only leaving you with concealment.
 

It is good to know what is around your lake. Big rocks and tall grass will provide you good cover to get close to the lake.  Know if there are any draws or hillsides you can utilize for cover. Know where groups of trees are and know where cover is the closest to the banks of the jump hole. You have to realize that if it is a bigger lake you are sneaking on, that to get to one good spot you might have to sacrifice another spot and let some ducks go.  Also it is a good idea to know how tall the grass or cattails are around the lake.

 
Now that you know all these things about your jump hole figure out your route to the ducks. This starts with your vehicle.  Know where you can and can’t park your vehicle. Some jump holes you have to park way away because there isn’t much cover and you would scare the ducks if you drove any closer.  Some holes you can drive right next to and walk 10 feet to the water. Remember a very important detail in getting out of your vehicle, DO NOT SLAM YOUR DOOR SHUT!~! This will scare birds faster than you realize.


 Once you figure out where you’re going to park figure out how you’re going to get to the water. In the world of jump shooting there is cover and there is concealment. Cover is a large solid object that you cannot be seen through.  Concealment is trees and tall but thin grasses that you can be seen through but still gives you better protection than nothing. Always pick cover over concealment if you have a choice.  I always try to get as far as I can using the lay off the land first. Staying behind hills or down in draws to hind me. Once I can no longer use the land I try to use big rocks or very thick vegetation.  Then move to whatever else I can find to hide my movement.

 
Of course using camouflage that matches your environment is a must too.  I find it important to hide your face. Whether it be face paint or a mask I use a balaclava which only lets my eye stick out to see what I am doing.  I have seen people forget their sun glasses are on their head, this is a bad idea. If the ducks see any glare they will leave. You will also need pants that are very durable. Lots of crawling will wear through average pants very fast.

 

Once you get to the water’s edge hopefully there is some tall grass or cattails so you can make your way around the pond.  I also prefer to load my gun before the sneak. Sometimes I get within a few feet of the ducks and I don’t want them to spook because my action is closing.

 
Now when your next to the ducks just stand up and blast away.

 
Just realize that this is sometimes harder than it sounds. I have lakes that I have to belly crawl over rocks, stickers and mud and sometimes through cow pies.  There are also holes you can just drive up to walk over a little hill and go bang with success.  

 
Also if you have more hunters than is safe to all jump, figure out where the ducks will leave and place those hunters there. That way they will get passing shots after you jump the whole which will lead to fast limits for everyone.  Remember most jump holes will have multiple ways of doing things depending onthe conditions and a few holes no matter what do it the same way every time.

Last Trip To Duck Camp

What the lakes normally look like this time of year.

So this year the weather has been very warm for the season. Okanogan county had two weeks of rain and above freezing temps. Normally the lakes I hunt at duck camp are frozen thick with ice. But the day before Thanksgiving I figured I would drive over there for the day and see what I could get into. The worst case scenario was the lakes would be frozen and I would go do some upland hunting.

I get up into camp and lucky me the lakes are free of ice. I get up above Long Lake and see a group of widgeon swim into a corner of the lake where I can make a sneak on them. I follow the same little draw I always do to the lake. It is harder to get down to the lake in the draw later in the year because all the leaves have fallen off of the trees making you more visible to the ducks. I get down to the lake edge behind some cattails and know I have to make my way around the bottom of the lake behind the cattails to get to where I think the ducks are. I notice that the cattails are not giving me as much cover as they usually do because the water has risen a few inches from all the rain. I get about as close to where I think the ducks are as I think possible. I stand up and nothing happened, I find a rock and throw it into the water and nothing. I’m starting to get upset thinking the ducks left before I got down there. Then one lone widgeon drake gets up and I dump it. After I shot the water beneath me exploded with ducks. I picked out two more ducks which turned out to be another widgeon and a teal and dumped both of them. The dogs were still at the top of the hill in the jeep. As I started walking back to get the dogs another teal jumped out of the cattails and I dropped it. And again another teal got up and I dropped it. Now I am at 5 ducks out of my limit of 7 and I just started hunting. I told me self I was going to stop shooting at this lake so I could continue to hunt the rest of the day. As I walk back to the jeep ducks keep flying right over me but I resist and don’t shoot.

I get to the jeep and drive down to the lake. I let the dogs out and leave my Winchester SX3 in the jeep. I take Lily over to where she can get a clear shot at a teal out in the water. But Lily being Lily, she would not go that far out to it. Remi came over and went out right away without hesitation and retrieved it. Then we went over the where the other 4 ducks were. I was standing on some wet slippery logs trying to guide the dogs to where the ducks were at the edge of the cattails. Lily caught a scent of one of the ducks and was trying to stand as far out on the logs as she could without getting in the water sniffing the air. After she fell into the water a few times she swam through the cattails and got the duck and swam back. I was very proud of her. Remi then settled down and went to work. She got the two widgeon without any issues. I knew I had one more down but couldn't see it anywhere. I figured it must have buried itself in the tall weeds. I threw a rock into the cattails where I figured the duck must be and Remi jumped in. I know when Remi gets quiet she is close. A second later she came out with the 5th duck of the lake. Of course while all of this is happening ducks are flying over and landing in front of us. But sense we did so well on this lake I set a greenhead only rule for the rest of the day.

We got back into the jeep and went to the next hole. Again it was full of teal and widgeon which flew right over us but we let them go since no greenheads were in the groups. I checked Rock Lake and didn’t see anything worth putting a sneak on. I check some other private lakes with nothing I was to pursue on them. Then I checked the pan lake at the Y.

I normally drive by and see what is in it and then sneak back to it if there is ducks, but it was full of geese and swans. I knew there was no way to crawl into that lake with all those eye balls watching for me. So I loaded up with 3 1/2 BB's and just ran over the edge of the road till they started to fly and cut loose on them. One goose folded out of the sky and they rest left without saying goodbye. The goose that was down seemed dazed but definitely not dead. I again ran back to the jeep and got the dogs. we got back down to the water’s edge and I sat Remi down pointed at the bird and gave her command of "Dead Bird" which sends her into work mode, not that she was ever out of that mode. Remi swam out to the goose and of course it tries to dive on her. After a few misses Remi finally locks her jaws onto the tail of the goose. As Remi is swimming holding onto the butt of this goose it is still trying to dive pulling Remi down in the water every now and then. I tried to run back and get the camera before Remi got to shore but Remi beat me back. Once Remi got it to shore she was having a hard time picking it up due to its size and weight.

I drove up the road and saw some mallards in a lake that I normally don't hunt due to its proximity to a ranch about 1/4 mile away. I got to the ranch house and speak with the property owner who I know. I explained to her that in October I kicked some deer hunters off her land that did not have permission to be there. I also told her that I found her fences open a few times but I closed them up for her so her cows would not get out. The I asked her if I could hunt the lake, which she gave me the OK like she always does when I want to hunt that lake once or so a year. So I drive around the lake and get into position for my sneak. The mallard were in a group of spoonies. The wind was also howling over the lake. I get close enough to where I think I can get my shot off and stand up. The ducks get up into the wind and I pick out my greenhead. I shoot threes times and all the ducks left. When they got about 70 yards out a duck dropped out of the sky into the middle of the lake. I went and got Lily out of the jeep and got her downwind of the duck. After throwing a few rocks and a few attempts of going out into the water Lily swam out and got the greenhead.

I then went to some lakes I thought would hold some geese. I was right and out in the middle of cut wheat fields there is a lake shaped like an exclamation point. In the period of the lake sat a group of geese. There is no cover around the lake except for some tall grass at the edge of the lake. I walked round to get behind the birds and walked as close as I could till I could start to see water. I didn't think there was any way I could get close enough to the birds to get a shot, but I was going to try anyway. I used the lay of the land to my advantage and crawled around rocks and small hills for what seemed like forever. I would take breaks every now and then. I was able to get behind the grass, but then the geese started to move around and get nervous. I was able to get to the last clump of grass between me and the geese. At this point I got very confident. I stood up and realized that the geese were still about 35 yards out and they weren’t getting any closer. So I pulled the trigger and watch handfuls of feathers come off of the bird I was shooting at, but nothing came down. It was a long disappointing walk back to the jeep.

After only seeing widgeon and teal the rest of the day and running out of I took off my greenhead rule and went back to long lake where walked up the other end of the lake and shot a widgeon to finish off my day.

It was a great day at duck camp and I am sure these lakes will be solid in the next week or so. So till next year I will be dreaming of duck camp.

Maps from Google Maps.

There is a first time for everything

So this year there have already been some firsts , like the $100 duck. But today will another first for me and my wife.

It all started the night before when my wife got home a little early so I decided to head down to the local duck hunting spot The Run Way and see what I could get.  I got to the first and best area to jump some ducks and I shot a triple in mallards. This area is a side channel of the Methow River and the area I hunt is the island it creates. After Remi retrieved all of my ducks we started to walk the loop of jump holes. I got to one of the bigger holes and to my surprise was a group of geese sitting on the bank. Now where I live in Washington State is Goose Management area 5. That means I can only shoot geese on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays during water fowl season. Since it was a Tuesday I was not able to shoot the geese. I went home with my three mallards and a plan.


The next morning Wednesday I got up early and got down to the hunting area before anyone else could. I sneaked into the area and sat down in some timber before day light in a light rain.  I was about 75 yards from where the geese were the night before. Luckily I had my phone on silent because my brother started texting me. I told him I was sneaking in on some geese and he told me he was making banana bread, which we both thought was funny.  At shooting hours I crawled in on the geese that happen to still be in the exact same spot. I didn't get as close as I wanted to but I was able to drop two out of the air with my first shot and missed with my second two shots.  As Remi was retrieving them from the water I heard a couple of geese calling. I turned around and two of them where flying just over the tree tops I knew it would be a long shot but I took it anyway. When I pulled the trigger one of them came crashing down to the ground with a big thud. I knew it was still alive with the way it came down so Remi and I got over to the other side of the channel as quick as we could. Remi Quickly found the goose trying to hid in a small clump of grass.

 I returned home to pack up the family for a over night trip of duck hunting over in another part of Okanogan County where our duck camp is. Lucky for us this involved driving over a dirt road where we hit about 6 inches of snow and snowing in the Jeep. WE love to play in the snow if our household. We got over to the hunting area with about 5 hours of hunting left. We got into camp and the wife wanted me to make lunch for her and Maddy. After lunch we got going to start hunting.


The first little pond produced a drake green winged teal. The second lake I shot at a green head but missed and hit a mallard hen and a pintail hen with the same shot. The third lake I shot triple on mallards because they were in a perfect spot for jumping.

The next little pond had a bunch of geese on it. I had my wife scare the pond and they flew remotely close to me. I knew I already had 3 of 4 for my limit of the day. So I picked out the last goose in the group and unloaded my gun on it. I could tell I hit it all three times I shot at it but it did not collapse. It struggled over the hill and into the lake about 1/2 mile away.

My wife, Maddy and I drove the jeep over to the lake while one of its friends joined the injured the goose in the lake.  A half hour later and a 3 mile swim around the lake for Remi chasing the wounded goose, I was able to get a shot on the injured goose so Remi could retrieve it and my wife killed her first Honker.

All I needed now was one more duck for my limit of ducks. I really only had one more option to hunt. A small jump pond just off of the main dirt road in the area. The problem with this pond is the ducks can see you coming as you drive up to it. As I pull up I can see a couple of mallards in the pond, one green head and one hen. I loaded up got behind a clump of tall grass and ran up to the lake. With my first shot I dumped the green head. This time Lily my 3 year old German Wire Haired Pointing Griffon went down and pulled the drake still alive out of the cattails. 

So lets review the firsts of the day: 1. Shooting geese at the Run Way below my house. 2. Shooting a limit of geese and ducks in the same day. 3. Wife killing her first goose.

It was an awesome day.

Weekend 2 of duck hunting

My family has been duck hunting the same area for around 65 years. This weekend something would happen that has never happened there before.

Friday after work I head up do duck camp like normal. My wife wasn’t feeling too well so she and Maddy decided to stay home. When I got into camp Dad and Ellen are already in camp with their new trailer AKA the castle. They have the fire burning which was great since the weekend before we couldn't have a fire due to an area burn ban. Later that night my sister E'lana and her kids and my little sister's (Ellary) boy friend (Caranza) with his little sister Jazmine showed up in camp.

The next morning we all got up and got ready to go like any other day hunting. The first couple lakes produced some Teal and Widgeon.

Caranza and his double banded Green Head

We get to the lake we call Rock Lake. E'lana goes around to scare the lake and I sneak into my spot. My dad and Caranza are a ways on the other side of the lake. While I am sitting in my hiding spot I can hear all the ducks splashing and talking in the water and I can tell they are mallards by the sounds they are making. Like a tornado they all get up as soon as E'lana shows herself. Just my luck they all go over Caranza and Dad. As I watch the Mallards start to fall I start walking their direction in case they need Remi my dog to help find the ducks. When I get there they have found all the ducks but one. They tell me the area where they think it fell and Remi goes to work. Remi get birdy a few times but isn't finding anything. Finally Caranza says he sees it in a mint bed about 75 yards away. When he picks it up he says it has two bands. Everyone gets excited; Caranza had never shot a banded bird let alone two bands. A two banded bird has never been shot in our group in this area; it only took 65 years and tens of thousands of ducks.


Day one results

Later sitting in the truck after a closer look at the band Caranza finds out that it is a "Reward Tag" worth $100. That has also never happened in a group I have been hunting with.

We continued to hunt and Remi had a stellar day. She was able to find numerous injured ducks in the thick cattails and bring them out. Remi even brought out a 100% healthy coot from the cattails.

At the end of the day we all had our limit of seven ducks and were happy. We returned to camp to clean the birds and tell the stories of past hunting trips around the campfire.



Day two results
 

Day two (Sunday) yielded 10 ducks. Sunday is a relaxed day where we don’t work as hard since everyone has a long drive home after hunting. It was a great weekend and can’t wait to be back at duck camp.

The Great Goose Jump of 2011

This is my submission for the Sportsman Channel Writing Contest for Hunters hosted by the Outdoor Blogger Network.

For my favorite outdoor memory I am going to go with one fresh in my head. As it just happened in late October.

 I was in Okanogan County WA hunting ducks, the lakes are starting to freeze and I know this will be my last day hunting in this area. It is a Wednesday and where we are hunting you can only shoot geese on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays. My wife had gone home and my friend’s wife had stayed in camp to pack things up before their 7 hour drive home.

Most of the lakes we checked were frozen, the wind was blowing very cold air and we had only shot 2 little teal. It was a long hard day so far. We go to our last lake of the day a small spring lake out in the middle of the sage brush. I am 100% expecting this lake to be frozen and my friend asks "Should we even bother?" I tell him we are here we might as well check it out.

We drive over to the lake and park in the sage brush and like I always do  I check the lake to see where the ducks are by peeking up slowly over the sage brush to check the water a little at a time as too not scare off anything on the water. (Believe me if the ducks see you they will be gone.)  As I look to the far side of the lake I can see ICE!!!!!!  I can remember thinking crap this sucks. I stand up a little more and I see two goose heads, then four. I duck back down below the brush line and turn to my friend back at the truck and give him the goose sign. (Which consists of me flapping my arms all the out as if I were a goose.) I don’t think I have ever seen him get out of the truck so fast.



Puting on a sneak



We started our walk around to the "Jump Point" where we are going to implement our attack on these geese. We load up with 3 1/2 in BB's and BBB's. It is about 1/4 mile walk around to the best jump point on the small lake. I tell my friend ok I don’t know how many or how close but if we don’t end up with four or more geese we should retire from hunting for ever.

We get to the jump point which is a berm with the lake right on the other side of the berm. We give each other the ceremonial fist knock and we jump.

All I can say is there were geese everywhere, they took off in a tornado of birds and we unleashed hell upon them. Geese were dropping and splashing everywhere.

When the Shooting stopped there were 5 geese in the water. Before I was able to celebrate I noticed a small group of geese turned the wrong way and could not make it out over the hill the lake is tucked into. But I was too far for a shot at this point. I grabbed another 3 1/2 in shell from my vest and went into a dead sprint down the bank of the lake. (I felt like I was a car trying to beat a train across the train tracks.)  Just as the geese got parallel I stopped pulled up and BANG! Wouldn't you know one of those geese just peeled right out of that gray sky. I was in complete disbelief...... I mean I knew I had it the whole time.

Now the real work begins, as in get back to the truck, get the dogs and then get the dogs to break the ice. See these geese were sitting in the only part of the lake that was not frozen. No matter where you started from the dogs had at least 20 feet of ice to break.  I started gathering rocks to throw at the geese to get and keep my dogs attention.

At first my dog Remi was not having this whole ice thing. Finally I get her to break a path way through the ice for her to get two of the geese in the water and my friend’s lab was able to get the other three.

We had all six geese laying there on the beach and we felt like we had just won the super bowl or maybe the 2011 Goose Bowl. There were hugs for everyone even the cold wet dogs. Now we get to carry these six Canadian Honkers as well as guns back to the truck.

On the walk back we asked, what ones did you get? I don't know, which ones did you get? Screw it how about we both got three.... Sounds good to me.

We ended the hunt with another ceremonial fist knock and a memory that will last forever.

Duck Hunting 2011

Well so far 2011 has been a great year for duck hunting. I took one week off of work to go to duck camp with my family and friends. My wife got her first duck out of the air this year and is still shooting 100% green heads life time. I shot a triple on geese twice this year and shot 10 geese all together and all jump shooting.  With my buddy we shot about 60 ducks, alot more when you add in my Dad and brother. Here is a pic from hunting at our DUCK CAMP in Okanogan County WA.