Walk In Duck Hunting Trip

[bigbassin]

Tentatively thinking of planning a trip somewhere within say a 12 hour drive of Atlanta for a solo duck hunting trip the week of Christmas. All of my duck hunting to this point has been in Florida out of a boat (used to have a little John boat, but currently boatless). I honestly don’t believe walk-in hunting is even a realistic option anywhere in Florida on public, however there is plenty of it on private.

My questions are:

- Do people actually hunt public walk in and have success? Or is the boat just hiding behind the camera in the videos folks post?

-Anything different you’d do walking in vs a boat? First thought would be number of decoys needs to be cut down a good bit

My biggest concern by far is that I drive 6-12 hours one way and then find out that without a boat duck hunting really isn’t possible (which would be the case everywhere I’ve ever seen in Florida). I do understand the amount of ground I could cover would be significantly reduced vs a boat, that doesn’t bother me but if I can’t even walk in the marsh it would be an issue.

I’ve also considered buying a canoe off of Facebook marketplace for the week then just reselling it at the end of the week, so that would be an option.

 

[BigDuckHunter]

I’m not real familiar with your neck of the woods, but I think you’d likely be disappointed. There certainly are places you can duck hunt without a boat, but one of the unfortunate truths about duck hunting is the more accessible the spot is, the worse the hunting generally is because it gets more pressure. Walk-in public gets more pressure than easy boat in which gets more pressure than shallow marshes that require special boats which gets more pressure than big, scary water.

There are some places that you can find some birds if you’re willing to work (I’m talking wading an hour in thick mud to find a spot) but more spots like that will be a bust than won’t and you still might run into a bunch of pressure when you get there. It seems the young unemployed/semiemployed have all the free time in the world to scout and hunt.

I think your best bet at having a good hunt or two is to spend 5 days of your week off working and then go on a guided hunt for two days.

 

[DuckDawg22]

Walk-on refuge hunting is a staple of California duck hunting. Guys get super creative with their pack rigs but a good rule of thumb is if you can't fit it in a jet sled, it doesn't come. Half dozen decoys is all you need if you're in the right spot, but I have no idea what sort of access you'd have in GA. You don't need a massive spread to kill ducks

 

[Clovis]

I have thought about doing the same thing buying a canoe on craigslist for a week in Florida fishing the everglades and the selling it back-haven't done it yet. There was a really good Fur Fish & Game article about minimalistic walk-in duck hunting without a dog a few years ago. The author used a jet sled to move decoys and gear and a fishing rod with a big treble hook to snag ducks he couldn't reach wading. He seemed like he had it figured out. How about a packraft or belly boat? It seems like a long walk to water that can't be accessed any other way should get you some decent opportunities if the water is good.

 

[Macintosh]

No idea the access there, but there’s something to be said for “in between” spots, ie too wet to get there on foot, too dry to get there in a “boat”. You can get an inexpensive 10 or 12’ sit on top kayak and paddle from tractor supply or similar for $350. It’ll carry about as much as you’d pack in, but its easy to throw in the back of a truck, doesnt require a trailer, can be dragged across fields and shorelines without damage, and allows access to places that only a very small boat can possibly reach. Most canoes are a pain to deal with in a pickup by yourself, pain in the wind if solo, but a small one (14’ or less) would be maybe even better. You can tow a jet sled behind a kayak if you need a bit more room.

 

[as.ks.ak]

No idea the access there, but there’s something to be said for “in between” spots, ie too wet to get there on foot, too dry to get there in a “boat”. You can get an inexpensive 10 or 12’ sit on top kayak and paddle from tractor supply or similar for $350. It’ll carry about as much as you’d pack in, but its easy to throw in the back of a truck, doesnt require a trailer, can be dragged across fields and shorelines without damage, and allows access to places that only a very small boat can possibly reach. Most canoes are a pain to deal with in a pickup by yourself, pain in the wind if solo, but a small one (14’ or less) would be maybe even better. You can tow a jet sled behind a kayak if you need a bit more room.

This. I spent my youth hunting ducks and geese in KS…as a poor college kid, I’d be more successful than the boat guys by finding pockets of birds on refuge borders, or fringes. If you scout properly, and there’s a huntable number of birds in the area, you can find great success thinking outside the box when it comes to access.

I can’t count the number of times we walked 1-2 miles on dikes with 6 decs and 2 boxes of shells. We’d shoot our limit in 1/4 the time it took us to walk in and out. A jet sled and a stubborn will for success will kill many birds.


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[Fowl Play]

Wood duck hunting is almost exclusively walk in, and doesn’t require decoys. Just scout out some holes. There are plenty of places to walk in hunt within that radius you have, just requires boot leather. Search out places that are long hauls by boat, but maybe only a mile or two by foot. Or places so shallow it requires more specialized boats to get to, etc.

 

[DuckDawg22]

The author used a jet sled to move decoys and gear and a fishing rod with a big treble hook to snag ducks he couldn't reach wading.

I hunt from a Jon boat with no dog and keep a 9 ft surf spinning set up with a tennis ball on the end for this exact purpose. Treble hooks grab everything but the duck, but I saw some guys using the tennis ball method to retrieve RC boats at a park lake one time and the light bulb went off. The braid is thin enough to work its way into the feathers and will grab it no problem.

 

[Clovis]

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I hunt from a Jon boat with no dog and keep a 9 ft surf spinning set up with a tennis ball on the end for this exact purpose. Treble hooks grab everything but the duck, but I saw some guys using the tennis ball method to retrieve RC boats at a park lake one time and the light bulb went off. The braid is thin enough to work its way into the feathers and will grab it no problem.

Can you say a little more about how this works? Do you just cast over the duck and reel back and it grips the bird?