BigBass123
Senior Member
Got out today for teal opener in Florida, first time duck hunting.
Went in West Central Florida on an undeveloped lake. This was a solo trip on the kayak.
I got to the ramp pumped up for my first duck hunt at 4:45 AM. I tried to keep the gear as light as possible being as I was in a kayak. Camelback with water, shells, and a couple of calls, homemade pop-up blind, and 18 decoys were what I brought with me.
Doing my dry run of loading the kayak up last night took me all of 3 minutes. Loading it up in the dark while it was floating next to a dock seemed much harder for some reason.
Park the truck and I’m ready to go. No one else at the ramp.
There’s two cuts out to get to the lake, long way (~500 yards to get to the main lake, curves north into the lake where as I want to go South, well-maintained) and a short cut (~100 yards straight south to the main lake, fallen logs, spatterdock and matted hydrilla, 15’ wide cut between cypress).
My game plan is to save on the 1/4 mile of paddling and take the short cut even if I may bump a log or two.
I flip on my headlamp and have 5 sets of gator eyes reflecting back at me in the first 50 yards down that cut. I decide I don’t mind the extra paddling and head out the long way. Ended up being a good thing too, coming back with daylight the grass was so thick in that cut I wouldn’t of been able to paddle out.
Done some bass fishing in the past on the lake, which is how I decided where to setup. The area I chose to hunt had grass matted to the surface I figured the ducks could eat. Perfect little 10’x10’ cut along the shoreline 20 yards from where the grass began that was full of relatively spread out cattails. I figured this would work nicely as cover to pull my kayak with it’s pop-up blind into.
First two ducks I see, 1 wood duck and 1 teal, both flew by within 30 seconds of me putting up my blind. I hadn’t had a chance to even pull my shotgun out of the case yet.
About 15 minutes after shooting light, a blue wing teal flies by from behind me.
I pulled a jerk string as soon as I saw it and it circled right into the decoys. I was able to get that one, making it my first ever duck.
Stayed for about two more hours, didn’t see any other ducks.
A lot of fun, I’ll be back out to try a different lake tomorrow. As far as hunting out of the kayak, no stability issues at all, honestly didn’t notice any boat movement while swinging/shooting.
Went in West Central Florida on an undeveloped lake. This was a solo trip on the kayak.
I got to the ramp pumped up for my first duck hunt at 4:45 AM. I tried to keep the gear as light as possible being as I was in a kayak. Camelback with water, shells, and a couple of calls, homemade pop-up blind, and 18 decoys were what I brought with me.
Doing my dry run of loading the kayak up last night took me all of 3 minutes. Loading it up in the dark while it was floating next to a dock seemed much harder for some reason.
Park the truck and I’m ready to go. No one else at the ramp.
There’s two cuts out to get to the lake, long way (~500 yards to get to the main lake, curves north into the lake where as I want to go South, well-maintained) and a short cut (~100 yards straight south to the main lake, fallen logs, spatterdock and matted hydrilla, 15’ wide cut between cypress).
My game plan is to save on the 1/4 mile of paddling and take the short cut even if I may bump a log or two.
I flip on my headlamp and have 5 sets of gator eyes reflecting back at me in the first 50 yards down that cut. I decide I don’t mind the extra paddling and head out the long way. Ended up being a good thing too, coming back with daylight the grass was so thick in that cut I wouldn’t of been able to paddle out.
Done some bass fishing in the past on the lake, which is how I decided where to setup. The area I chose to hunt had grass matted to the surface I figured the ducks could eat. Perfect little 10’x10’ cut along the shoreline 20 yards from where the grass began that was full of relatively spread out cattails. I figured this would work nicely as cover to pull my kayak with it’s pop-up blind into.
First two ducks I see, 1 wood duck and 1 teal, both flew by within 30 seconds of me putting up my blind. I hadn’t had a chance to even pull my shotgun out of the case yet.
About 15 minutes after shooting light, a blue wing teal flies by from behind me.
I pulled a jerk string as soon as I saw it and it circled right into the decoys. I was able to get that one, making it my first ever duck.
Stayed for about two more hours, didn’t see any other ducks.
A lot of fun, I’ll be back out to try a different lake tomorrow. As far as hunting out of the kayak, no stability issues at all, honestly didn’t notice any boat movement while swinging/shooting.
