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I was wondering if any of you guys have some suggestions were i might be able to find some ducks for the late fall or winter. Like a fool i just had to invest about 500 dollars in decoys, calls, waders, you name i had to get it. i would appreciate any help were you guys had seen some in the past or just some good ol' flooded timber that looks ducky. Thanks for any help
CBagwell
I'm not a hunter, but in this issue of South Carolins Wildlife, there 's an artcle about Sparkleberry Swamp and the decline of the duck population there. Between 1970 to 1981 the would be 100,00o plus of ducks each year. With a peak of 179,000 ducke there in 1978.
But in the early 1980's there was a rapid drop in the ducks. In the mid 80's it was down to 20,000.. Also they think that when Hugo came through that there was a big loss of acorn producing hardwoods, and extensive timber harvesting didn't help either..
So it looks like the hunting of the good old days is gone and may not return. More people hunting and fewer duck to go around... Sorry about the bad news... Fishing is going the same way...
Gerald K4NHN
Cayce, SC
SCDNR sponsors draw hunts in SC each year. Get info from Columbia or your local DNR office. These are the best hunts unless you have access to prime hunting lands and water on the coast which is very private and restricted these days. Inland hunting is poor to poor except on some private ponds. Inland SC can be designated a duck desert overall.....we hunt the broad river each year and are lucky to get 10 birds a season. Some years are better and some or worst.Quote:
Originally Posted by CBagwell
rafdaddy also told me the other day that the duck hunting in our area really wasnt worth the effort. said there just wasnt many ducks in our area
Yeah, there's not many ducks in the area. If you know someone who has a some birds on their pond and they'd let you shoot them, that's about as good as it gets. I shot a couple of wood ducks on a private pond a few years ago. I think we wound up with 6 for 1 evening and 4 or 5 people. The year before or after that, I don't really remember, we shot 6 between 3 people. We only hunt it once or twice a year. I can't speak for coastal hunting though.
The no lead shot law really makes it an expensive sport to not have many birds to shoot at. It's really fun though, shame we don't have more.
CBagwell,almost any beaver swamp will have a few woodies in itand just mabey some teal early,some more than others.As far as the big ducks,a lot of folks will be on the upper end of lake marion/congree swamp.A lot depends on how cold it gets before season closes.Geese ought to be kinda easy,or looks that way.The most buffle heads I ever seen was at lowfalls area at santee.
I was lookign at duck hunting too, but the season is too hard to nail down. Certain days you can hunt, other days you can't, the days are few and afar betweeen, then there's the limits on all the different species.
I you do hunt, the rivers and creeks are your best bet. I hear the WMAs fill up fast. You can float a canoe or kayak and try to surprise ducks on the bends or catch them flying up and down the creeks. I've toyed with the idea all year long and tried to get close enough in my kayak to get within gun range, but these ducks are pretty sharp, staying well out of gun range, even when I get the jump on them rounding a bend.
You might be able to work together and do a drive on a creek arm. One paddle upstream, one down stream and push the ducks to each other. ahve to make sure to shoot high though. Don't want to be trying that with Dick Cheney.
I live in Abbevile county also, For a begining duck hunter I would suggest the beaver swamps south of abbeville around Parsons mountain,I have been duck hunting for 30 yrs and the hunting has really went down hill in the past few years, In this area it is mainly due to private corn ponds springing up all over, also the refuge that the corps of engineers built near Russell dam really sucks up a lot of ducks every winter. Sorry I couldnt paint a better picture
Check out scducks.com