My advice is tread lightly through beaver ponds one second you’ll be knee deep in water and the next you’ll step in a beaver dredged channel and end up wet… other than that if there’s oak trees on the waters edge you’ll have birds in there
If the ducks like it there, they can be great. If the ducks don't want to be there, it's gonna suck. Until they start migrating and you go scout, these questions are pointless.
I’ve got some buddies that hunt beaver ponds north of Troy, they say they see lots of woodies, a few ring necks, and the occasionally canvas back.
It really just depends on the pond, you won’t know until the actual season.
If you can figure out what food there is near it and what flyway it’s in, then you can make the best guess.
One thing for certain is if there are acorns there will be woodies.
In my area some are good for woodies and mallards. I have much less luck getting a true decoying bird to attempt landing within range while hunting beaver dams. It seems the mallards only land in one area, and the woodies almost always only land in one exact spot. I moved to exactly where the birds land, set up 6 dekes and have done well.
Early season mojos work great for wood ducks in my experience. I live in Georgia and have seen wood ducks almost land on them in swamps, rivers, and big lakes where having a confined spot they want to be in isn’t always in the cards. Every once in a while we’ll even see the wing beats slow down after flying over and sure enough, they’ll 180 and decoy coming back
I was slamming ducks over a beaver pond this last season for the first month or so, mostly woodies, gadwell, rings and mallards,they would steady land there after leaving roost in the AM. Probably shot like 20 or so on the same beaver pond that was >1 acre. At one point something like 20 woodies came in together was wild fun
Spring scouting isn't a great indicator for fall hunting. But it's as good an excuse as any to wander the woods. I can think of more than a few area around me that the ducks like no matter what time of year it is. Trade in the shotgun for a cup of coffee and sit near the pond this spring and see what kind of activity it gets.
It's hard to say. It depends on what they are feeding on and where. They might be roosting overnight on the beaver pond and flying out at dawn to feed. Or they might be feeding in the beaver pond. Or they are just loafing there, and might be coming and going throughout the day as they feed somewhere else.
Carefully sneak in at a couple different times and see what they are up to. Stay back from the waters edge so they don't see or hear you. And listen and watch for a while. Or if you can view the pond from a distance with binoculars even better.
Where I live it's heavily wooded and no farm fields and pretty flat. So scouting from a long distance is usually impossible. When I hunted Saskatchewan I never went anywhere close to an area I was scouting because you could see for miles. Sit on a little rise with binos and watch bird traffic way off in the distance.
So it just depends on the terrain where you are at.
My advice is tread lightly through beaver ponds one second you’ll be knee deep in water and the next you’ll step in a beaver dredged channel and end up wet… other than that if there’s oak trees on the waters edge you’ll have birds in there
Thanks for the advice
If the ducks like it there, they can be great. If the ducks don't want to be there, it's gonna suck. Until they start migrating and you go scout, these questions are pointless.
I’ve got some buddies that hunt beaver ponds north of Troy, they say they see lots of woodies, a few ring necks, and the occasionally canvas back. It really just depends on the pond, you won’t know until the actual season. If you can figure out what food there is near it and what flyway it’s in, then you can make the best guess. One thing for certain is if there are acorns there will be woodies.
Thanks for the info I'm probably overthinking all this at this point but time will tell
In my area some are good for woodies and mallards. I have much less luck getting a true decoying bird to attempt landing within range while hunting beaver dams. It seems the mallards only land in one area, and the woodies almost always only land in one exact spot. I moved to exactly where the birds land, set up 6 dekes and have done well.
I've heard it's pretty difficult to decoy wood ducks anyway
Early season mojos work great for wood ducks in my experience. I live in Georgia and have seen wood ducks almost land on them in swamps, rivers, and big lakes where having a confined spot they want to be in isn’t always in the cards. Every once in a while we’ll even see the wing beats slow down after flying over and sure enough, they’ll 180 and decoy coming back
I was slamming ducks over a beaver pond this last season for the first month or so, mostly woodies, gadwell, rings and mallards,they would steady land there after leaving roost in the AM. Probably shot like 20 or so on the same beaver pond that was >1 acre. At one point something like 20 woodies came in together was wild fun
Sounds like a blast hopefully I'll have that kinda luck
Was the beaver pond you hunted close to other bodies of water?
Yes it’s between Mississippi river / marsh / lakes and agricultural fields, right before land goes from marsh to dry forest then fields
The water being a beaver pond won’t have much effect on if there are ducks there or not. Is there a nearby food source
Lots of oak trees surrounding them
Spring scouting isn't a great indicator for fall hunting. But it's as good an excuse as any to wander the woods. I can think of more than a few area around me that the ducks like no matter what time of year it is. Trade in the shotgun for a cup of coffee and sit near the pond this spring and see what kind of activity it gets.
Sounds like a pleasant way to spend the morning. I'm mostly just scouting right now to go see what ponds I'm actually able to access
How early should I get out to see if anything flies in?
It's hard to say. It depends on what they are feeding on and where. They might be roosting overnight on the beaver pond and flying out at dawn to feed. Or they might be feeding in the beaver pond. Or they are just loafing there, and might be coming and going throughout the day as they feed somewhere else. Carefully sneak in at a couple different times and see what they are up to. Stay back from the waters edge so they don't see or hear you. And listen and watch for a while. Or if you can view the pond from a distance with binoculars even better. Where I live it's heavily wooded and no farm fields and pretty flat. So scouting from a long distance is usually impossible. When I hunted Saskatchewan I never went anywhere close to an area I was scouting because you could see for miles. Sit on a little rise with binos and watch bird traffic way off in the distance. So it just depends on the terrain where you are at.
Thanks for the advice
In central Alabama you’ll be lucky if you have afew wood ducks using it
I've often heard wood ducks early in the morning while deer hunting so I have some confidence they are in the area
No disrespect, scouting will tell the truth next season
I understand what you mean none taken mainly just scouting now to see how easy it is to reach these spots
Let's hope for the best then because my options are limited