Which part of GA has the best duck hunting/Flyway?

[WaterwackerSiah]

Clarification: I am not asking what part of GA has the best public land hunting, but rather what part of Georgia has the highest potential/ most ducks to fly along it.

If you were to own duck hunting land in any part of Georgia, and put a duck imoundment there with the expectation you could attract, Mallards, Gadwall, Teal, Wigeon etc where would you want to be?

1. North of Atlanta
2. South West (Albany Area)
3. East Georgia (Clarks hill, Savannah River)
4. South East Georgia (Savannah and below)
5. South GA (Valdosta Area)

I know most people will immediately say/think: "Mississippi River", "Haven't you heard ducks don't migrate through GA, and if they do its only woodies" etc etc

But, bear with me. I have first hand experience of seeing large numbers of gadwall, WILD mallards, and teal in East GA so I know its possible (even though more rare than other states. So if you had to say, where would you want to be and why?

 

[buckpasser]

My limited experience with East GA has shown me many many more times the mallards and really all puddle ducks than my home area in SW GA. We get quite a few divers here, but very limited amounts of puddle ducks.

 

[across the river]

As I have gotten older and the drives west get longer I have considered this often more recently myself. I’ve got a couple of spots that are both fairly small, but have often wondered if you put the time and money into it if you could consistently pull birds week after week in numbers that more than a couple of people could hunt. I have talked to a bunch of people (some on here) that have jam up places to hunt in Ga, and even the biggest and best of them are hit or miss. There are times and years they do really well and have good numbers, and times the birds aren’t there. I think it is going to be hit or miss year to year regardless of where you build it. If money was no object, build multiple ones in different areas.

 

[WaterwackerSiah]

As I have gotten older and the drives west get longer I have considered this often more recently myself. I’ve got a couple of spots that are both fairly small, but have often wondered if you put the time and money into it if you could consistently pull birds week after week in numbers that more than a couple of people could hunt. I have talked to a bunch of people (some on here) that have jam up places to hunt in Ga, and even the biggest and best of them are hit or miss. There are times and years they do really well and have good numbers, and times the birds aren’t there. I think it is going to be hit or miss year to year regardless of where you build it. If money was no object, build multiple ones in different areas.

Which area is your "home base"? What type of species do you get?

Building multiple ones in different areas might be ideal, but money AND time would have to be no object. As spending the time to plant these areas, move equipment around to manage the land, and let alone the time needed to scout the spots every couple of days in the season would not be very practical.

I think ideally you have 500-1000+ acres along a river that has standing swamp, timber that floods every winter, 1 or two duck impoundments, and a few "diver" ponds. The more work you put toward that land the more ducks will use it year after year, lowering your risk of having a complete "off" year, but rather have years where some spots are great and some don't have the ducks.

 

[Mexican Squealer]

If there are no ducks, you will have no ducks. We are now in the stages of off YEARS (this one and last) in most places in the south and many places on the Miss. flyway, including my place in SW Louisiana that has been automatic for the last 15 years (till last year and rapidly gone down hill the past 5).

 

[across the river]

My buddy in Arkansas

Which area is your "home base"? What type of species do you get?

Building multiple ones in different areas might be ideal, but money AND time would have to be no object. As spending the time to plant these areas, move equipment around to manage the land, and let alone the time needed to scout the spots every couple of days in the season would not be very practical.

I think ideally you have 500-1000+ acres along a river that has standing swamp, timber that floods every winter, 1 or two duck impoundments, and a few "diver" ponds. The more work you put toward that land the more ducks will use it year after year, lowering your risk of having a complete "off" year, but rather have years where some spots are great and some don't have the ducks.

I have a buddy in a lease in SE Arkansas that encompasses thousands of acres and they aren’t hitting on much of anything this year. Last year was off as well. There are no guarantees with ducks anywhere especially in Georgia. If you go into it thinking you are going to hammer them every year and week, you are going to be disappointed.

 

[jdgator]

If there are no ducks, you will have no ducks. We are now in the stages of off YEARS (this one and last) in most places in the south and many places on the Miss. flyway, including my place in SW Louisiana that has been automatic for the last 15 years (till last year and rapidly gone down hill the past 5).

Do you think these off years are temporary or permanent? My place in SE LA has also been dismal...

 

[Mexican Squealer]

Do you think these off years are temporary or permanent? My place in SE LA has also been dismal...

That’s a good question and one I wish I could answer. It makes you wonder when places that historically have had ducks year end and year out continue to have few birds. I guess time will tell.

 

[Semi-Pro]

Poll fail...... they cant all be the best!

 

[WaterwackerSiah]

If there are no ducks, you will have no ducks. We are now in the stages of off YEARS (this one and last) in most places in the south and many places on the Miss. flyway, including my place in SW Louisiana that has been automatic for the last 15 years (till last year and rapidly gone down hill the past 5).

I am not sure what you mean by no ducks. Are you referring to breeding numbers? As far as I know those numbers are up except for the Atlantic flyway mallard (hence the limit change) and black duck of course. Last year was a very wet year in my part of GA (east). The Savannah river flooded all season so ducks were in spots that usually didnt exist (cow pastures, corn fields, oak flats) so that explains the year being off as far as private holes that usually produced.

This year with all the rain I wonder if we haven't hit a similar problem. I cant speak for the rest of the south, just my theory for my area.

 

[across the river]

I am not sure what you mean by no ducks. Are you referring to breeding numbers? As far as I know those numbers are up except for the Atlantic flyway mallard (hence the limit change) and black duck of course. Last year was a very wet year in my part of GA (east). The Savannah river flooded all season so ducks were in spots that usually didnt exist (cow pastures, corn fields, oak flats) so that explains the year being off as far as private holes that usually produced.

This year with all the rain I wonder if we haven't hit a similar problem. I cant speak for the rest of the south, just my theory for my area.

Like anything else it is about supply and demand. While some birds move South for the winter regardless(i.e. blue wind teal), a large number do not move South until they have to because either the food runs out or everything gets frozen over. If it is 60 degrees with no snow cover above the Mason Dixon line, like it is now, then there is no reason for the birds to go anywhere else other than where they are. If a Mallrd is sitting in Illinois eating corn in shorts and a T shirt, why is he going to fly to Georgia to eat duckweed from a beaver pond. He isn't, he will stay where he is at until the water freezes up or the corn is gone. Couple that with the fact the the entire Eastern part of the country has gotten a bunch of rain, then there are plenty of places North of here for them to stay and the ducks just aren't making it down here in numbers like they have in the past. It isn't just Georgia. Now if a big snow storm came through and there was snow cover all the way down to Kentucky and Tennessee, then that would push a ton of birds below the snow line. That reduces the amount of ground availble for them to feed on, and pushes them down to where there is open water and available food. Regardless of what you build in Georgia (or any other state for that matter) and regardless of how good the hatch is, if the weather doesn't force the birds to migrate South, the majority of them won't and you will have "no ducks" on your place. With duck hunting it isn't necessarily"if you build it they will come," because the may not leave Missourri and Iowa if they don't have to. Some ducks will ultimately make it here, but again it is supply and demand. If there isn't a lot of demand for a duck hole in Georgia, because there aren't that many ducks flying thorugh, it doesn't matter how much food you have available for them. They have plenty in Ohio to eat, so they just stay there.

 

[ghadarits]

I’ve extensively hunted NE. GA on big water, back water and beaver swamps. I’ll have some mallards and ring necks usually 3 or 4 hunts a season in NE GA. In middle GA Washington and Emanual counties it’s woodies and ring necks consistently with mallards in one specific hole but very few for me. In SW GA it’s a bunch of different ducks but I don’t have private water there and it’s too far from me to go consistently to dial it in better. If I had to pick one place to hunt it would be NE GA.

 

[ghadarits]

Like anything else it is about supply and demand. While some birds move South for the winter regardless(i.e. blue wind teal), a large number do not move South until they have to because either the food runs out or everything gets frozen over. If it is 60 degrees with no snow cover above the Mason Dixon line, like it is now, then there is no reason for the birds to go anywhere else other than where they are. If a Mallrd is sitting in Illinois eating corn in shorts and a T shirt, why is he going to fly to Georgia to eat duckweed from a beaver pond. He isn't, he will stay where he is at until the water freezes up or the corn is gone. Couple that with the fact the the entire Eastern part of the country has gotten a bunch of rain, then there are plenty of places North of here for them to stay and the ducks just aren't making it down here in numbers like they have in the past. It isn't just Georgia. Now if a big snow storm came through and there was snow cover all the way down to Kentucky and Tennessee, then that would push a ton of birds below the snow line. That reduces the amount of ground availble for them to feed on, and pushes them down to where there is open water and available food. Regardless of what you build in Georgia (or any other state for that matter) and regardless of how good the hatch is, if the weather doesn't force the birds to migrate South, the majority of them won't and you will have "no ducks" on your place. With duck hunting it isn't necessarily"if you build it they will come," because the may not leave Missourri and Iowa if they don't have to. Some ducks will ultimately make it here, but again it is supply and demand. If there isn't a lot of demand for a duck hole in Georgia, because there aren't that many ducks flying thorugh, it doesn't matter how much food you have available for them. They have plenty in Ohio to eat, so they just stay there.

And they’ll go right back north if it warms up they don’t always keep going south. I think a big percentage just fly past GA and go straight to FL never stopping in GA.

 

[BaldofPate]

I don't think it really matters where you are in the state. As we know our bird numbers are dependant on the weather to the north of us, and their concentration, or lack of, will be affected by water levels and
rainfall in a particular area. That being said we need to remember we are waterfowl hunters in one of the worst duck hunting states in the entire country. Asking whats the best place or flyway in GA is like asking what's the best part of any UGA football season. It has its anticipation and high moments, and can give you hope at times, but in the end it just lets you down. You can't be a waterfowl hunter in GA for an extended period of time and not love it, you just have to make peace with reality.

 

[WaterwackerSiah]

To address a few points:

1. Where you are in the state DOES matter. I have heard of private areas around the Atlanta area and Millen area have huge numbers of woodies come in along with ringnecks, but they wont see a gadwall or mallard but once in a blue moon or none at all.

2. However, where I hunt (east GA) we get the woodies yes, but I have limited out on gadwall multiple times, and have seen very large groups come through this area. Same state, but different results.

As highlighted before in this topic and other topics the ducks change over the years along with their patterns. This used to not be the norm for the area. There used to be a much larger population of mallards that would come through this area, but no gadwall. The gadwall have made a comeback and adapted to the food in the area (primarily duckweed it seems) but the mallards have demised. In 20 years it could be a whole different story.

 

[BaldofPate]

I'm not disputing that some areas around the state hold more birds than others. That is obvious. What I am saying is it doesn't matter how good a spot is in GA, its only going to be so good, and really isn't comparable to the numbers the other flyways have.

 

[across the river]

To address a few points:

1. Where you are in the state DOES matter. I have heard of private areas around the Atlanta area and Millen area have huge numbers of woodies come in along with ringnecks, but they wont see a gadwall or mallard but once in a blue moon or none at all.

2. However, where I hunt (east GA) we get the woodies yes, but I have limited out on gadwall multiple times, and have seen very large groups come through this area. Same state, but different results.

As highlighted before in this topic and other topics the ducks change over the years along with their patterns. This used to not be the norm for the area. There used to be a much larger population of mallards that would come through this area, but no gadwall. The gadwall have made a comeback and adapted to the food in the area (primarily duckweed it seems) but the mallards have demised. In 20 years it could be a whole different story.

You are making way too many generalizations. A bird flys hundreds to thousands of miles to get to Georgia, so a hundred miles in the grand scheme of things isn’t really significant. What ducks you get in a spot depends in large part on what else is around and your spot. If you are close to a major river or lake then you will typically get more variety than you will if you are in the middle of nowhere, just because there will generally be more birds historically migrating down the river system. Ive got a pond and a beaver pond not far from each other as the duck flys. You get 90% wooducks with the occasional puddler on the beaver pond, and 90% ringnecks on the other pond that has deeper water. That has nothing to do with where they located. I have a buddy with a small pond in the center of the state that may have killed 5 ducks in 10 years that isn’t a wood duck. That is simply because there is no lake or river system close by, and the pond isn’t that big. What he gets that aren’t wooducks and are lost stragglers. His buddy has a large place not to far from him with a bunch of food and water. They get all kinds of different birds because of the size of the place and the birds already have a history there. I have a buddy on the opposite side of him with a place that has historically produced a wide variety of ducks and they kill way more black ducks there than any where in Georgia I’ve seen. Three places fairly close all get different results. You can’t just generalize that this area is better that that because one buddy only kills wood ducks in one spot and another buddy kills gadwalls in another. It isn’t that simple.

 

[Throwback]

I can assure you west central Georgia isn’t in the running

 

[rnelson5]

Areas with major water sources like river systems will be your best bet no matter what part of the state. Birds navigate river systems and will naturally find suitable habitat along them. It’s not rocket science. A duck needs three things in the winter. A place to roost, a place to eat, and place to loaf. That is a tall order for any single property owner to have here. If i had the money and was dead set on having a piece of waterfowl property here, I would start by getting among the largest amount of habitat I could find concentrated in one area.

 

[WaterwackerSiah]

I'm not disputing that some areas around the state hold more birds than others. That is obvious. What I am saying is it doesn't matter how good a spot is in GA, its only going to be so good, and really isn't comparable to the numbers the other flyways have.

I see your point, and definitely agree. We are talking about peanuts compared to everywhere else, and a micro flyway almost.

You are making way too many generalizations. A bird flys hundreds to thousands of miles to get to Georgia, so a hundred miles in the grand scheme of things isn’t really significant. What ducks you get in a spot depends in large part on what else is around and your spot. If you are close to a major river or lake then you will typically get more variety than you will if you are in the middle of nowhere, just because there will generally be more birds historically migrating down the river system. Ive got a pond and a beaver pond not far from each other as the duck flys. You get 90% wooducks with the occasional puddler on the beaver pond, and 90% ringnecks on the other pond that has deeper water. That has nothing to do with where they located. I have a buddy with a small pond in the center of the state that may have killed 5 ducks in 10 years that isn’t a wood duck. That is simply because there is no lake or river system close by, and the pond isn’t that big. What he gets that aren’t wooducks and are lost stragglers. His buddy has a large place not to far from him with a bunch of food and water. They get all kinds of different birds because of the size of the place and the birds already have a history there. I have a buddy on the opposite side of him with a place that has historically produced a wide variety of ducks and they kill way more black ducks there than any where in Georgia I’ve seen. Three places fairly close all get different results. You can’t just generalize that this area is better that that because one buddy only kills wood ducks in one spot and another buddy kills gadwalls in another. It isn’t that simple.

I think we are trying to say the same thing.

"What ducks you get in a spot depends in large part on what else is around and your spot."

That is why I raised the question of the topic. All I know is my area, and the patterns here. I am less familiar with other lakes, rivers of GA and was curious what the rest of the state has seen through the years.

I am firm believer that if you built 10 identical duck ponds of the same size, same food, same depth etc around the state (or anywhere in the US) that there would be vast variance of species and numbers.Even if these spots were right next to a major river and lake. Some spots would have all woodies, some would have a mix teal and woodies, some may have mallards and woodies etc etc. However, if you took the average of all the holes in your area, the theoretical question is where would you have the highest average. Obviously we will never know the "true" answer, but just something to discuss.

Like you said at your buddies one spot there seems to be black ducks that come there year after year. That's the type of stuff I wanted to hear and find interesting.