Thoughts?

[sowgabuckstalker]

So I have good little woodie hole here in S ga usually covered up w/ them. We shot this hole for the first time this season Saturday morning, right at first light all you could were wood ducks and big groups flying over and around but would never commit. There must have been 200 duck come in there and over 30 were killed. Not a single woodie, ALL were mergansers? what in the world? Thoughts? I will say we had to drain this pond this summer to rebuild/repair our dam but the pond has been filled back up since September. Anyways just curious to hear yalls thoughts. Didnt even know we had that many mergansers around my hole.

 

[Nitram4891]

 

[sowgabuckstalker]

Huh?

Thanks for any thoughts on this. Just wondering if gansers run woodies off? or such?

 

[Mexican Squealer]

I wouldn't think they ran them off. I have very few woodies right now but the fresh flood in the river swamp is loaded. Acorns everywhere

 

[tradhunter98]

Killed 30 ganzers?

 

[BaldofPate]

You must've had an army down there to legally kill 30 fish eaters. Tell me, how are you going to cook those wonderful morsels of goodness.

 

[tucker80]

They'll make great dog bumpers.
I wouldn't think they'd run them off. But I have heard they will invade a woodies nest.

 

[sowgabuckstalker]

Lol ? Are you guys being serious? 8 shooters.

 

[BaldofPate]

You can only kill 2 hooded mergansers a day in Ga. When the regs say 5 mergansers a day the remainder can only be American mergansers. Am I wrong?

 

[tucker80]

2 hooded is correct.
He didn't say hooded, but...you have a point. I personally don't shoot the things.

 

[Nitram4891]

Lol ? Are you guys being serious? 8 shooters.

That's a big pile of mergansers, lets see the tailgate pic!

 

[BaldofPate]

Might want to burn those pics. I'm too poor not to know the individual species limits and what I am actually shooting at.

 

[across the river]

Lol ? Are you guys being serious? 8 shooters.

Yes, they are being serious. You can legally kill two hooded mergansers (which is what you killed on a inland pond in Georgia) per person. You would need 15 guns to be legal killing 30 mergansers. If anyone asks you had 15 people hunting.

To answer you original question, mergansers will absolutely take to a pond, especially if there are a bunch of little fish in it. If it filled up in September there is likely little to no food in there for wood ducks. Whatever aquatic vegitation you had before is likely gone since the dam blew out. If nothing was planted, then what food would be there for wood ducks? Nothing. If there is no food, you won't get many ducks. You now probably have a bunch of small fish in there from the creek filling it back up and no aquatic vegetation that wood ducks want to eat. Thats why you have (or at least had before you shot them all) a bunch of fish eaters and no wood ducks.

 

[sowgabuckstalker]

I see what y’all are saying and sorry to stir up any commotion. Points taken all around.

Wood ducks were there this morning. Picked up 13 and 4 teal and 6 ganzas , 1 hooded. Happy hunting and happy holidays to all.

 

[Nitram4891]

I see what y’all are saying and sorry to stir up any commotion. Points taken all around.

Wood ducks were there this morning. Picked up 13 and 4 teal and 6 ganzas , 1 hooded. Happy hunting and happy holidays to all.

Wheres the pics???? We want to see dead ducks man! Nice hunt!

 

[kennethc68]

Send pics before DNR confiscates them for evidence.

 

[JimEdJrBoy]

Not to jump on the "you did something wrong" bandwagon, but trying to help...

When you say 6 ganzas, 1 hooded, I assume you mean 5 hens & a drake. They are all hooded mergansers, as that's the species. You can kill 2 a day, male or female.

However, if you're somewhere killing common or redbreasted mergansers... Ignore my comment.