why drakes
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: NW Ohio , 5 min from Ottawa National / Magee Marsh
Posts: 2,051
RE: why drakes
YES
The hen are the ones that lay and sit on the eggs and are very vulnerable during nesting season to predators.
If you want to shoot ducks next year let the hens fly !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The hen are the ones that lay and sit on the eggs and are very vulnerable during nesting season to predators.
If you want to shoot ducks next year let the hens fly !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#3
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Southeastern, Wisconsin
Posts: 259
RE: why drakes
ORIGINAL: johnch
If you want to shoot ducks next year let the hens fly !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you want to shoot ducks next year let the hens fly !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#4
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: indiana USA
Posts: 436
RE: why drakes
as far as the let the hens go ....we do if at all possible .... but im not ashamed to admit that we shoot a fair amount of hens during a course of a season .... hard to pass em up on slow days and if a pair comes in we try to take em both .... kill the flock and ya wont have smart birds are our theory ... lol .... and here is sumthin to think bout .... ya cant sex a goose in flight ... many many many females are killed a season ...still we have loads of em .... just sumthin to think bout .... but all in all ... i agree with the pick out the drakes when at all possible .... plus they look purty on the straps in the pix ya take at the end of a hunt .... lol
#7
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 43
RE: why drakes
Well im kinda both ways on the shot the drakes thing. Me and my hunting partners dont really get that much of a chance to pick out drakes in a flock. For one thing we never really get to shot at flocks so we just take what comes in just say if there is two ducks coming in we shot both but in a flock of about 6 or 8 we try to take drakes and if we get them we go for hens. i really dont think with our average of about 40-45 birds a year will hurt the population anyway
Thats my views on the situation you can like it or hate it.
Thats my views on the situation you can like it or hate it.
#8
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Champlin, MN
Posts: 288
RE: why drakes
For one the hens lay the eggs so without them we wouldn't have young ducks but you need drakes for this too. Mostly predators take many more hens throughout the year because they are much more vulnerable sitting on their eggs. They need all the help they can get so if you can, pick out a drake.
#9
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: dell rapids south dakota USA
Posts: 441
RE: why drakes
There is a reason to concentrate on drakes. Usually hens are outnumbered by drakes by a considerable margin in most species and one drake will mate with several hens after his mate begins sitting on eggs. In geese the sex ratio is very evenly split in most species much different than ducks. My old partner and I used to have a deal whereby anytime one of accidentally shot a hen Pintail or Mallard we would put a buck in the pot and donate to DU or other conservation organization at the end of the season. Also it makes a much more interesting day in the marsh when you can identify before you kill a duck also makes the day last a little longer. Isn't this the reason we go out in the first place?
#10
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: indiana USA
Posts: 436
RE: why drakes
well dr ..... thats true ...and i agree .... but its easy to say these things if ya live in a great area to waterfowl ... most of us arent as fortunate as you to live in a great waterfowling state .... granted we have sum great shoots here from time to time ... but its nuthin like other arteas i have hunted .... sum days ya have to take what ya can get .... and yes i agree .....about out there having fun .... but shooting a few hens throughout season is not so bad in my opinion .... ALOT of birds migrate throught here at night so we dont even get a crack at em ....also ... if everyone passed up hens ...i would think the numbers would explode and there wouldnt be enuff food to keep em all on full and flying their routes .... what im saying is ... the numbers are great at this time on almost all of the species ....so we must not being too bad by shooting a few hens