When to scout for waterfowl?

[Bowtie747]

What time of day do you guys scout for birds? Either ducks or geese. I’m new this year to it and I can’t seem to think what makes the most sense as to time of day.

To me 10ish? Seems to make sense since they would be where they wanted to end up after the morning flight. But again I know nothing.

Can anyone give me some pointers on how to scout? Thanks and no I’m not asking for spots I’m asking for help finding my own.

 

[Raghornklr]

Burn fuel, lots of it.
Try to Get there around the same time frame you want to hunt the next day and pay attention to where the birds are coming from and leaving to after you find them.

 

[nettereo16]

I get there before first light before work to scout see where theyre going for the first flight without spooking them. When I have more time scouting mid morning like you said can be good too as they’re hanging out where they want to be. Just be careful not to flush them if you can. I use binos and tripod and try to get up high if possible

 

[LongWayAround]

It depends what you are trying to accomplish.

Are you trying to find them in dry, harvested fields?

Are you trying to find them on public water?

If the weather is mild and warmish, they're feeding patterns are much different than if it is bitterly cold. A snow storm or other major weather change also affects it.

For example: it's about 50° here, geese go out to feed about 8:00-9:00 am and back the roost about 11:00 in the morning. In the evening, they're feeding 2:30-dark. If it were snowing, they probably go out in the morning and feed all day. Bitterly cold, they go out once at the warmest part of the day.

Ducks are about the same, except geese are "lazier."

A mid-day roost, often called a "loaf" is possibly not the same spot as they're overnight roost.

 

[Gman12]

Where we hunt in timbered swamps in Va the best time to scout is at daylight in the morning. We try to see where the majority of the birds land so that we can try to be on the "X" the next morning. Sometimes if we are off 50 yards it could be the difference between shooting a limit and barely pulling the trigger.

 

[Bowtie747]

I believe im aiming for the mid day roost spot because ive heard you don’t want to hunt their actual roost. But again i have no clue what im doing.
I do plan on taking pretty detailed notes along the way.

 

[KurtR]

I hunt dry fields almost all the time. Sunrise and and right before sunset is the time we scout up here unless there is some kind of weather that moves them early or late. Find the roost and sit back and watch then the chase is on follow them to the x makes it better with some on spotting and a driver so you dont have to do both. Make sure the tank is full i put more miles on from september to december than the whole rest of the year combined

 

[Macintosh]

Any of you ever do PM hunts as sort of a “scouting hunt” for the next morning? Between lack of daylight this time of year, schedule and proximity to hunting areas/difficult access to get visibility, Ive found it extremely tough to scout in a pinpoint way. About the inly thing that has seemed to work with all the above is a saturday PM hunt with an eye toward finding a location for Sunday morning. Of course, the wind changes, ice blows in, etc sometimes…but this is what Ive been able to manage. You folks that have lots of experience with this, what are your thoughts on this strategy?

 

[Raghornklr]

Any of you ever do PM hunts as sort of a “scouting hunt” for the next morning? Between lack of daylight this time of year, schedule and proximity to hunting areas/difficult access to get visibility, Ive found it extremely tough to scout in a pinpoint way. About the inly thing that has seemed to work with all the above is a saturday PM hunt with an eye toward finding a location for Sunday morning. Of course, the wind changes, ice blows in, etc sometimes…but this is what Ive been able to manage. You folks that have lots of experience with this, what are your thoughts on this strategy?

Sounds like you run the risk of over pressuring a spot and educating birds out of it. I don't try and hunt a spot more than once a week. Will rotate through and vary days and times at different places.

 

[Macintosh]

For sure that could be. Generally it's been "this spot looks like it should be good on paper, I'll set up here", and taking what comes that afternoon...but doing so in a general area that allows me a good shot at seeing where the birds actually want to be, which generally isnt where I set up. This is all on public water that gets a hunter or three on it somewhere pretty much every morning and every afternoon, so it's not like it's a pressure/no pressure situation. Also due to private land, and size of water bodies, a lot of the areas in question arent realistically visible or accessible from anywhere unless you are actually out there in a boat in the vicinity of where you think they'll be.
Is a hunter setting up a couple hundred yards away, maybe getting lucky and taking a bird or two, something that will spook birds out of a general area like that?

 

[Kurts86]

I see zero issue hunting an evening in what you think is a good spot and adjusting the following morning based on that. A move of only a few hundred yards can make a huge difference.

Scouting fields on the prairies is different than public lakes/marshes in that you almost have to hunt to scout. In some cases areas maybe closed to access during certain hours or the only way to see is from a boat on the water. Managing pressure is not something I would worry about in what you are describing.

 

[FoggyScope]

I've had the best luck scouting at the time of day im hunting. Seems they have different morning and evening patterns sometimes. In montana my late season is river hunting so sometimes i do a scouting hunt and try a stretch of river and dont set up decoys, just start at shooting light and float down and stop here and there for a bit in the morning and hide and see what shows up places. Do a half hour and move on. Maybe bring some binos with. Then it gets you places you cant see from a truck and its more interesting and maybe you even get a bird. (If youre starting out and hunt over water a cheap canoe was easily the best thing i bought).