Duck disapointment

[Karhumies]

Well, i just had a doozy of an evening.

Here i was sitting in my swamp overlooking the bigger pond when after 3 hours of nothing i manage to call over a nice flock of fat mallards.

I let them come in closer and closer then when in good range for my full choked mossberg i shoot the left one, then the next one. Both hit the water. One in front of me, one behind a floating bit of weeds.

the first one revives and starts darting to shore, so i hit it again in a big splash. Aaaaaaaand its gone.

So is the other one.

Both ducks just vanished where they fell like they sank to the bottom. An hour of combing the lake and not a tuft of feathers.

Anyone have this happen to them before? Any ideas on where a duck like that could pop up again? i might go back to look in the morning if there is any remote chanse of finding them. Its not a big place. Only about 60cm deep pond 100x500m in the middle of a floating peat labyrinth.

 

[WalkedUp]

Yes, they dive underwater. Pop up metres away, dive again. Pop up. Then find a quiet corner to get out and do a runner or hide in brambles. A thermal spotter is useful. I’ve spent many an hour chasing ‘stone dead’ ducks with a single dog, fortunately the old dog would chase them under water and now I use two so eventually the duck’s luck runs out.

 

[Pedro]

Mallards injured so that they can't fly will dive under water and pop up some distance away. So it's always likely they might have climbed out of the pond and waddled off. Little dips and clumps of vegetation are favourite places to seek refuge, or back onto the pond if they think the coast is clear. A visit back in daylight may well solve your riddle. But beware, even the best swimming dogs won't catch a duck on the water and if one gets close, they'll go submarine and surface elsewhere. So take your gun when you go back. Of course in the meantime they could have expired. If you have to shoot them in the pond, beware of pellets ricocheting off the water, so ensure there's nothing beyond your shot.

 

[Freeforester]

A good discipline is not to shoot at the duck, but at the ‘snipe’ ahead of its beak. Better eating that way too.

 

[Karhumies]

Not really any ricochet risk. Its middle of nowhere Finland. the pond is just a slightly larger opening in a Giant maze of floating peat islands that will swallow a man never to be seen again. Its the kind of place that likely has some bodies that where never found hidden in the blood red water.

plenty of places they could have gotten ashore sortof, l picked the "pond" because i dont have a dog at all and it gives me a good bit of open water

they fell here

 

[Karhumies]

A good discipline is not to shoot at the duck, but at the ‘snipe’ ahead of its beak. Better eating that way too.

These came straight at me, low flying. i was waiting for high flyers, hence the full choke. but ended up giving a few quacks on my call and i heard a quack back at me. They had been 80m in front of me on one of the floating peat clumps. The first one looked like it got hammered from the sky, it ragdolled and went feet up at first. Second one had a more controlled descent.

 

[Freeforester]

No dog, eh?

 

[Karhumies]

No dog, eh?

I wish... convincing my wife is the trick.... I have been known to swim in 5 degree water or knee deep in mud to retrieve game. But this swamp genuinely swallows people. If i cant reach from my kayak its gone. This is my first year duck hunting. Always been a land predator.

 

[WalkedUp]

No dog, eh?

Mystery solved

 

[WalkedUp]

I wish... convincing my wife is the trick.... I have been known to swim in 5 degree water or knee deep in mud to retrieve game. But this swamp genuinely swallows people. If i cant reach from my kayak its gone. This is my first year duck hunting. Always been a land predator.

Invite me over and I’ll pick up for you!

 

[Freeforester]

Hope there’s enough dry land for potatoes to grow.

 

[Karhumies]

Invite me over and I’ll pick up for you!

ha, how far are you from central Finland

 

[Karhumies]

Hope there’s enough dry land for potatoes to grow.

Most farms are in the west and south. Over here there are some rye fields and livestock. mostly just forest and swamps

 

[mudman]

A wounded duck on water will head for land, a wounded duck on land will head for water.

Both ducks had at least broken wings. Hit water and immediately dive, swim under water as far as they can usually a couple of feet under. When they surface they keep most of there body under water with often only top of head head and little of the back above water. Sometimes they will take a breath and dive again. They will get to the bank, and either get out and walk away from water, or tuck right into the bank side in any vegetation. They are extremely good at hiding.

Go back quietly today and look on the water to try and see them, they will not spend all night hidden, just long enough for them to think the danger has gone. Shoot again from a close as possible. Sitting ducks are hard to kill.

 

[Smellydog]

Steel shot by any chance? Large pellets size maybe?

Can't recommend shooting ducks over water without a good dog sir. Short of a rifle of course.

 

[Karhumies]

Steel shot by any chance? Large pellets size maybe?

Can't recommend shooting ducks over water without a good dog sir. Short of a rifle of course.

What else is legal..... I litterally have no other choises other than not hunt. I suddenly lost 99% of my hunting territory this august. All i have now for this season is a state permit for the swamp. Local club owns the rights to basically everything including what used to be my land. Fel on financial difficulty and had to sell it, new owner prompty leased it exclusively to the hunting club. Who in turn kicked me out for no longer having land.

But yea, RC camouflage hyperfast steel no 3 from a mossberg Xfull 2-BB choke. On the patternboard that translates to full with no3 Range about 40m, didnt want them coming in too close with that choke and a frontal shot, risk raking them bow to stern.

 

[Smellydog]

What else is legal..... I litterally have no other choises other than not hunt. I suddenly lost 99% of my hunting territory this august. All i have now for this season is a state permit for the swamp. Local club owns the rights to basically everything including what used to be my land. Fel on financial difficulty and had to sell it, new owner prompty leased it exclusively to the hunting club. Who in turn kicked me out for no longer having land.

But yea, RC camouflage hyperfast steel no 3 from a mossberg Xfull 2-BB choke. On the patternboard that translates to full with no3 Range about 40m, didnt want them coming in too close with that choke and a frontal shot, risk raking them bow to stern.

I'm sorry you fell on hard times.
Been through that myself.
I lost some beautiful lands also and still upset about it...!

As many know here I have little faith in steel but will be testing smaller shot this season.... maybe.
I think if you had smaller pellets you may of stuck heads and necks more successfully, irrespective of pellet counts.
If my testing fails this season as miserably as last season using #4 steel on pheasants I'll have to be an outlaw for the sake of the birds!

 

[Karhumies]

lead is legal on land here but not near water. And bismut etc... hard times and all that.

I feel i have exhausted my shot options a bit. I got some duck with BB shot from the mossberg 835 Xfull choke, Lucky hits mostly, the BB size seems to smack them pretty good even on a chest hit and will completely disable a wing or break a neck. But Range is tricky, In my gun they have a pattern sweetspot between 40 and 50 meter outside of wich they become hard to hit and can get too damaged to eat or its too mutch of a luck game due to the low pelletcount.

4 seems the smallest i can buy local so thats what i have been using. But iam waiting for a restock on bioammo blue for my SxS. I have had succes with size 5 of those in the past on other birds like black grouse. unfortunately the lead ban does apply when they are within a certain distance or water.

welcome to my swamp.... it stretches as far ad tje eye can see.

Out of curiosity, do you have such landscape in the UK? i carry around a small inflatable boat on my back just to get around. (nordfit kayak, highly recomend!!!!)

ordinarily i stick to the highlands if you can call em that, pine forest and such. But i lost all my land rights when i sold my property and moved to the swamp (nobody wants to live here so a large house costs as little as 7000 euro). Government sells small game permits to the swamp.

 

[Smellydog]

Out of curiosity, do you have such landscape in the UK? i carry around a small inflatable boat on my back just to get around. (nordfit kayak, highly recomend!!!!)

Not really no, just a coastline and all the small boats are gobbled up by illegal immigrants....

 

[Karhumies]

I sm used to polar forest. But i now have to adapt to this BS

wathever looks like dry land will swallow a man whole, even trees are deceptive, they grow on floating slabs of peat. Cant say i enjoy myself so far. I feel like natures bloodbank and perpetually smell of farts.