Duck hunting is the practice of hunting ducks for food and sport purposes. commercial hunting is mostly prohibited and duck hunting is primarily an outdoor sporting activity.
Many types of ducks and geese share the same habitats and are hunted using the same methods. It is not uncommon to take several different species of waterfowl on the same outing.
Wild ducks have been hunted for food, down and feathers around the world since prehistoric times. Ducks, geese and swans appear in European cave paintings from the last Ice Age, and murals in Ancient Egyptian tombs show men in hunting blinds catching ducks swimming in a trap.
By the turn of the century, commercial hunting and habitat loss caused duck and goose populations to decline in North America. The Lacey Act of 1900, which prohibited the transportation of poached game across state lines, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, which prohibited the possession of migratory birds without permission (such as a hunting license), marked the beginning of the modern conservation movement. .
In 1934, the US government passed the Migratory Bird Game Stamp Act, better known as the Federal Duck Stamp Act. This program required hunters to purchase a special stamp in addition to a regular hunting license. Program revenues provided the bulk of funding for duck conservation for many decades and funded the National Wildlife Refuge’s purchase of 4.5 million acres of land for waterfowl habitat since the inception of the Program.
Duck hunting season is generally in the winter and fall. At this time of year, the birds have finished raising their young and are migrating to warmer areas. There are three items that almost all duck hunters use: a shotgun, a hunting blind, and decoys. Lures are used to lure birds within range, and the blind hides the hunter. Once the birds are within range, the hunters blindly rise and shoot the birds before they become spooked.
The most commonly used weapons are 12-gauge shotguns. In many areas, it is illegal to use buckshot and larger buckshot to catch migratory birds. 10-, 16-, and 20-gauge shotguns are also used. Taking birds with a rifle is illegal due to the inherent danger of firing long-range bullets into the air.
Duck hunting with lead shot, along with the use of lead sinkers in angling, has been identified as a major cause of lead poisoning in waterfowl, which often feed on the bottom of lakes and wetlands where lead shot accumulates. In the United States, all shot used for ducks must be lead-free. Steel is the cheapest alternative to lead, but steel has a much less effective range than lead due to its lower density. 30 to 40 yards is considered the maximum effective range for duck hunting.
Although steel is the most widely used shot, many hunters do not like its shooting properties. Steel is less dense than lead, therefore its effective range decreases due to a faster decrease in velocity. Many companies have improved steel shot by increasing the muzzle velocity and making more consistent shot or pellets. In recent years, a number of companies have created non-toxic “heavier than lead” shot from tungsten, bismuth, or other elements with a density similar to or greater than that of lead. These shells have more consistent patterns and longer range than steel shot.
Originally, a duck call was a very simple woodwind instrument. It had a barrel, a soundboard and a reed. The hunters grunted into the call while saying “hut”, “quit” or “ut”. With improved calls and calling techniques, the best callers may not use voice. The most prevalent and hunted duck in the United States, the mallard makes the familiar “quack” sound that many associate with ducks. Other species make many different sounds, ranging from high-pitched whistles to very low, growling-like croaks. There are calls for almost every species of duck. Pintails, teal, wood ducks, diving ducks, and other ducks, including calls from both the male or duck and the female or hen.
In many species, the call of the duck is different from that of the hen. Mallard ducks make a lower and longer squawk than the mallard. This call is often used while feeding and when landing a mallard. The quack of a mallard duck requires voice and is replicated by humming in a special whistle-like call. This whistle is often called a 6-in-1 whistle, due to the fact that it can play six sounds from different species of ducks.
In teal, dragons make a call of short bursts of a high-pitched whistle. The “teet! (pause) teet! (pause) teet!-teet!” or any other repeat order. This call can be made by blowing short bursts of air into the “6 in 1” whistle.
Most of the duck sounds that people have heard and are familiar with come from female or hens, mallards. Mallards are very vocal and this is probably why the number one call for duck hunting in North America is the Mallard Duck call.
There are numerous types of structures that qualify as duck shutters. Blinds can be temporary or permanent. They are very effective at concealing hunters and making their movements undetectable. For overwater hunting, the types of hiding places are almost limitless. Many of these permanent shutters look like a small shack with an opening facing the water and a part of the sky.
Often, creating a temporary natural blind as a method of concealment is a hunter’s best bet. This is done by using native grasses or natural vegetation and material and simply hiding in a tree, grass clump, or bush. More sophisticated natural blinds may have large logs or branches propped together or tied with string. Temporary shutters are common in protected and public areas where a permanent shutter is not permitted. Temporary blinds can be very simple and usually require a three-dimensional enclosure to hide hunters from the circling flocks.
With the growing popularity of boats in duck hunting, many have turned to using boat blinds. Boat shutters are used to hide a hunter when he hunts from a boat.
Duck season takes place in the fall and winter, where the weather can be harsh. Waterproof clothing is essential for duck hunting. Most duck hunters hunt over water and stand on the water or in a boat. To stay in the water and stay dry, the hunter must wear wading boots. Waders are waterproof pants that have boots attached to them and are completely waterproof. Typical waders are chest-high, but in shallow water waist-high and knee-high waders are sometimes used. Duck hunting can be a very cold sport and the hunter must be well insulated from the cold. Ducks also have great vision, which requires hunters’ clothing to be well camouflaged.
Duck hunters often use a dog to retrieve downed birds. Most of the time, hunters use retrievers, and sometimes spaniels. The use of a dog provides a number of advantages. As duck hunting often takes place in cold and wet places, the use of a dog frees the hunter from having to wade into cold water to retrieve the bird. This can be dangerous for the hunter, but is easily handled by a trained dog. It also allows for the recovery of injured birds that might otherwise escape.
Duck hunting is highly regulated. Hunters must obtain a hunting license and face limits on the number of birds that can be taken in one day (bag limits) and the total number of birds a hunter can own (possession limits).
In the United States, hunters must also purchase a federal duck stamp and often a state stamp. It is illegal to shoot ducks from a motorized vehicle, a moving boat, or to shoot sitting or swimming ducks. Many practices that were once common in commercial duck hunting before the turn of the century are now prohibited. In most areas, shotguns that can hold more than two or three shells must be modified to reduce magazine size. Legal hunting is done only “in season”. It is also considered good sportsmanship to do everything possible to retrieve dead or injured waterfowl that the hunter has shot.
Many states require hunters, including duck hunters, to complete hunter safety courses before they can obtain a license.
