First time hunting flooded timber

[Groundcheck HC]

Bought track of land couple years ango and seems one of the hardwood drains a long time ago had its creek dammed up by beavers. I figured there were ducks in it and actually had a wood duck set off one of my game cameras swimming in the water. last week when I deer hunted by it for the first time. A dog had chased deer and one of the deer ran across the pond and spooked up about 25 ducks. My question is how do I go about hunting it as far as set up, time of day, what else type of duck they would be. I have duck hunted marsh and prairies for teal so I am familiar with duck hunting just not timber. Thanks for any feed back.

 

[paulito]

If the ducks are there, they want to be there so you don't have to do much at all but hunt it. I probably wouldn't even fool with decoys the first go around. Time of day woudl be up to you but i woudl hunt mornings versus the roost. Also, this is georgia so don't go hunting it every chance you get. If its a small hole i woudl maybe hunt it once every 2 weeks or so depending on if and how much shooting happened.

 

[mguthrie]

Just go stand by a tree close to the center. Get there WELL before daylight. Like paulito said, hunt it sparingly. We hunt our beaver ponds on Saturdays only pretty much.

 

[Groundcheck HC]

Ok cool, do I have to worry about spooking them get down in there in the morning? I truely only want to do it once just to experience it, if I actually even follow through with doing it.

 

[paulito]

don't go plowing through the water like a crazed water buffalo but if you ar early you should be fine. You wil likley bump some birds out but it happens. just get in and have fun. if its a small hole it will likely be fast and furious right at first light and then over in less than 30 min. if i had to guess.

 

[mguthrie]

Ok cool, do I have to worry about spooking them get down in there in the morning? I truely only want to do it once just to experience it, if I actually even follow through with doing it.

If they’re in there in the morning then you have a roost. You may get some shots if you can sneak in. Don’t try to hunt it in the evening. Wood ducks generally don’t come back to roost until after legal shooting light. I learned this the hard way many years ago tagging along with some buddies who knew better but didn’t inform me.

 

[mguthrie]

Get in there early and hunt it. If everything goes right you’ll be hooked. FYI. Duck hunting can get very expensive if you get addicted to it

 

[leroy]

If they’re in there in the morning then you have a roost. You may get some shots if you can sneak in. Don’t try to hunt it in the evening. Wood ducks generally don’t come back to roost until after legal shooting light. I learned this the hard way many years ago tagging along with some buddies who knew better but didn’t inform me.

But catch a cloudy, foggy day and it can be a legal fun fast and furious evening.

 

[Core Lokt]

What time of day did you see the ducks? If after daylight they came in from where they were roosting at. That would be my determining hunt time factor.

That said, I have a friend that has some wet holes in HW and the woodies come to them just before or right at shooting light. They don't roost there.

Hopefully your spot isn't a roost.

 

[MudDucker]

I've shot flooded timber all day long at times with birds floating in at regular intervals, but daybreak is the best.