DUCKS WHEN THE WEATHER SIZZLES

Saltwater-Marsh Ducks

EDITOR'S NOTE: Like most duck hunters throughout the nation in the warm weather of this past few seasons, I didn't hear the whistling wings of waterfowl gliding out over the marsh, the constant quacking of mallards as they fed in acorn flats or the whistling of wood ducks as they came in to roost at night. Instead, the ever-present hum of mosquitos' wings -- millions of them -- overpowered all the other sounds. However, while this past year brought unseasonably-hot weather and many areas didn't see as many ducks as they'd seen in other years, the sportsmen who knew how, where and when to hunt quacks still found numbers of webfoots and took limits of ducks, even though they may have killed over their limits of mosquitos.

After cranking our outboard motor, Rod and Eli Haydel and I traveled about two miles from the shore into the marsh. When we pulled our aluminum johnboat under a blind made of thatched-marsh grass, especially built to fit the boat, we stepped out of the boat and onto planks 1 or 2 inches under the water. The planks distributed our weight to keep us from sinking down into the sucking mud of the marsh. As we walked to our blind, we flushed hundreds of coveys of mosquitos that lurked in the grass looking for juicy skin in which to drive their needle-sharp bills. After arriving at the blind and using Yard Guard to eliminate the militia of mosquitos that stood armed for combat around us, we stepped down into the three fiberglass boxes with seats in them. Then we pulled the mosquito-free thatched marsh grass over the blinds to ready for the morning's hunt.

We hunted from a blind the Haydels had utilized for many years. Sunk in the mud in the marsh grass with a little pocket of open water in front of the blind where ducks could land, the blind sat along a historical route on the Mississippi Flyway that the ducks took from the rice fields to the saltwater marshes each year. Because of the warmer-than-usual weather and still winds, Eli Haydel used a diving-duck decoy tied to a string running back to the blind to create wave action. "I can pull on the string to make this little go-go girl decoy dive and turn her bottom side up," Eli Haydel said. "By jerking the string, I can simulate a feeding duck and create a little wave action on the water. Then passing ducks will think my decoys are feeding and moving on the still water."

Two or three flights of gadwalls passed over our blind without giving us a second look, even though the Haydels called with the mastery bred from many generations of duck hunters. Later in the morning as three mallards came over the blind, the Haydels began to talk duck. "They're turning," Eli Haydel said. "Don't move." Although the ducks made a pass over the blind, they still flew out of gun range. When the greenheads had their backs to us, the Haydels both gave hailing calls, almost stopping the ducks in midair and causing them to circle back over the decoys. "Stay still, John," Rod Haydel said. "They'll need to go out and come back again if we want to take them." As the ducks approached the blind, the Haydels gave feeding calls. While flying straight ahead, the ducks looked down at the decoys and saw the diving decoy on a string moving around and appearing to feed. As the mallards started to leave, the Haydels once again cranked up their clear, plastic calls and lured the birds back toward the blind for the third and final trip.

As the ducks approached the decoys this time, they had their wings set and their feet outstretched. Just as they frantically began to beat their wings to land on the water lightly, Eli said, "take them." Two mallard drakes dropped. Although we continued to shoot, a male and a susie started escaping. With one shell remaining, Rod made a 45-yard shot and cartwheeled one greenhead in the sky. "Being able to make long shots like that one is why I like to shoot Bismuth shot," Rod said. "The shells may cost more, but you really can reach out and touch a duck much more effectively with Bismuth than you can with steel shot."

As Eli's dog retrieved the ducks, I talked with Rod about how to hunt these hot-weather saltwater-marsh quacks. "Today we've called more to the flights of ducks than we normally will in hot weather," Rod said. "Usually when the weather gets really hot, the less calling you have to do to bring the ducks in, the better the ducks respond. During warm weather, don't try to blow the reed out of your call. Use more feeding calls and only a few loud hailing calls. The ducks generally will feed in dry rice fields at night or early in the morning and then fly to this marsh at daylight. However, this year the abundance of rain has kept the rice fields flooded. The ducks can stay and feed in the rice all day. Even though we may get some duck movement early in the morning, we'll have some of our best hunting later in the morning. As fishermen and duck hunters start moving around in the marsh, they'll flush the ducks unintentionally. Then the birds will have to find a place to light down."

TOMORROW: FRESHWATER-MARSH HUNTING