Drab Drakes
10-07-2008 | 07:44 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Fork Horn
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 452
Likes: 0
From: Southern Wisconsin
Drab Drakes
Went out for the opener this past weekend and did decent. 2 ducks and a goose on saturday night and me and 2 buddies shot 6 on sunday morning. All of the ducks we shot were mallards, and all but 2 were hens. Ever single one of the drakes were identical to hens in flight, and when we picked them up you could probably count the number of green feathers on there heads on one hand... Are all drakes like this at this time of year? Right after they molt? It makes me think they're all juveniles with their lack of curles....you would thinkthere has to be some feathered out drakes somewhere out there. It just is a little dissapointing walking out to pick up a duck and knowing that, hen or drake, it'll look basically the same.
10-07-2008 | 09:28 PM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,441
Likes: 0
From: down in a hole
RE: Drab Drakes
Thats "eclipse plumage" working for ya. It gets to me because during early teal season, even though i didn't get out that much, i still shot a couple of greenwing/bluewing teal drakes. I know they would have been nice mounts in their winter plumage. But nonetheless, a duck is a duck.
10-09-2008 | 06:08 PM
#4
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 108
Likes: 0
From: Mukwonago,Wisconsin
RE: Drab Drakes
ORIGINAL: DuckHuntin247
Went out for the opener this past weekend and did decent. 2 ducks and a goose on saturday night and me and 2 buddies shot 6 on sunday morning. All of the ducks we shot were mallards, and all but 2 were hens. Ever single one of the drakes were identical to hens in flight, and when we picked them up you could probably count the number of green feathers on there heads on one hand... Are all drakes like this at this time of year? Right after they molt? It makes me think they're all juveniles with their lack of curles....you would thinkthere has to be some feathered out drakes somewhere out there. It just is a little dissapointing walking out to pick up a duck and knowing that, hen or drake, it'll look basically the same.
Went out for the opener this past weekend and did decent. 2 ducks and a goose on saturday night and me and 2 buddies shot 6 on sunday morning. All of the ducks we shot were mallards, and all but 2 were hens. Ever single one of the drakes were identical to hens in flight, and when we picked them up you could probably count the number of green feathers on there heads on one hand... Are all drakes like this at this time of year? Right after they molt? It makes me think they're all juveniles with their lack of curles....you would thinkthere has to be some feathered out drakes somewhere out there. It just is a little dissapointing walking out to pick up a duck and knowing that, hen or drake, it'll look basically the same.
10-10-2008 | 05:56 PM
#7
Nontypical Buck
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,441
Likes: 0
From: down in a hole
RE: Drab Drakes
Ducks have to molt twice a year... once in the summer to get their "eclipse plumage," and then a shortly after just in time for the migration they molt to get their "breeding plumage." This link should answer all of your questions: http://www.greenwing.org/teachersguide/summer01/summer01moreabt.html
