Some Pretty Crazy Stuff!!!!
 

Wow is about all i can say after what I saw today! I was driving out to one of the local lakes to see if people were ice fishing, and near the docks there was a big 10 X 10 Ft. hole in the ice. And there were hundreds of ducks in and around it. I was prob. only 10-12 yards away in my car, and they couldn't care less. But here is the crazy thing... the ducks in there were not all normal ducks. There were prob. 50 or so reg. looking mallards and hens and then prob. about 10 large black ducks that i have never seen before. There were also some big white goose looking things with huge orange beaks, unlike anything i have seen before, and the craziest thing of all was about 4 duck/goose mix birds. They had orange/yellow feet/legs, and they looked about the size of a goose but with mallard kind of markings. I can't explain it, it was insaine!


So with that out of the way i have another question. I am wondering if i couldn't go to another side of the lake, away from houses and mix some Tide with water and throw it out on the ice to look like water, and then put 20 or so duck decoys around. Do you think this would work? Does anyone have any other ideas on how to fool the ducks???

Thanks! Please respond with any ideas, or if you have ever seen any of the crazy looking ducks!

Idaho

RE: Some Pretty Crazy Stuff!!!!
 

some people might have some thing to say about putting tide on ice for fish health reasons maybe im wrong but you might want to see if thats ok to do that or legal. a way you might get ducks to come on ice might be to throw some grain on the ice then put out some decoys i heard it worked for this one guy i know. good luck with it

RE: Some Pretty Crazy Stuff!!!!
 

I use black plastic sheeting and sit decoys on the plastic .
I use a piece 20x 30 .
You will need to use ice or snow chunks to hold it down and a few in the middle
I use 2-3 doz duck or 18 goose decoys
I use a laydown blinds covered in white. Or you can lay on the ice in white clothes ,some even sit on white plastic chairs if the ice is rough
Paint your gun white
Lots of times the birds will hover over the plastic and not land ,but an easy shot.
You will laugh so hard it hurts the first time you watch a duck try and land on the plastic.
Ducks doing cart wheels is funny

RE: Some Pretty Crazy Stuff!!!!
 

thanks for the tips, the black plastic idea sounds a lot easier, and possibly more enviroment friendly. I think i would just lay on my back with white cloths, and cover my gun with a towel or something. Thanks, i will try it out next week and post some pics.

RE: Some Pretty Crazy Stuff!!!!
 

throw some grain on the ice and hunt over it...get caught and the authorities might throw you in a cell for a while. that's baiting.

RE: Some Pretty Crazy Stuff!!!!
 

yeah i thought the idea about grain sounded a little fishy. I will read my regs to see what it says, but I would guess that baiting with unatural grain would be illegal.

RE: Some Pretty Crazy Stuff!!!!
 

buddy, the federal laws are strict and will ruin your life. there are a lot of horror stories about guys who lost thier cars, guns, licenses, etc because of baiting waterfowl, and a LOT of these guys werent even the ones who baited... they were just in the vicinity of bait. don't even think about it , it's not worth it!

try the tarp idea

or get dynamite... (JUST KIDDING)

good luck
moose

RE: Some Pretty Crazy Stuff!!!!
 

I've heard of people using grape kool-aid and throwing that on the ice like you were planning on doing with the Tide. That'd probably work.

RE: Some Pretty Crazy Stuff!!!!
 

LMAO! I heard this story about this guy and his buddy who drove their car out onto the ice and threw a stick of dynamite to get a hole, and their yellow lab ran out after it and brought it back, they started shooting at it to scare it off, but all they did was confuse it... so the dog ran under the new car... blammmoo. Noooo, I think i will stay away from the dynamite thank you! :eek:


Grape kool aid might do the trick. The tarp idea sounds really good though too.

RE: Some Pretty Crazy Stuff!!!!
 

round here when we are huntin mergs .... we go to the baitshop and buy a doz minnows .... toss em on the ise edge and let the guns roar ;):D but wait .... thats baitin too :(

RE: Some Pretty Crazy Stuff!!!!
 

lol, yeah you might want to be careful with that idea.

RE: Some Pretty Crazy Stuff!!!!
 

Those goose sized birds colored like mallards are more than likely Rouens. They are tame ducks that were developed by selectively breeding mallards for larger size. The other odd sized , colored birds are hard to identify without a picture or more description.

RE: Some Pretty Crazy Stuff!!!!
 

hmmm.... would they be legal to shoot? Do they fly around like reg ducks? When i am sitting over my hole if and one comes by, would it be legal to take?

I am going to hunt saturday through monday, and i will drop by where they were hanging out and take a few pictures of all the weird looking ducks. Quite a sight to be had.

RE: Some Pretty Crazy Stuff!!!!
 

I don't know if it is state law but I'm pretty sure around here any tame ducks or geese must have their flight feathers pulled so if the ducks you are seeing fly then I would think you could shoot them if that type of bird is not protected.

RE: Some Pretty Crazy Stuff!!!!
 

well i am heading out tomorrow, my dad talked to a client who gave him good advice on where to try. So i have to go get a new hunting license for this year, and then i will head out

RE: Some Pretty Crazy Stuff!!!!
 

this is a secret dont tell anyone (lol) Take a chainsaw cut chucks out of the ice make sure they are small enough to lift and clear a hole about 10ft wide so there is open water. Im not sure how much ice you are talking but i do this all the time with about 3 in. of ice... The ducks with come in as if they are on a string. Keep your calling to a minimum.

RE: Some Pretty Crazy Stuff!!!!
 

I thought about cutting a hole like you said ,but have 2 problems.
The largest hole we are aloud to CUT in Ohio is 12" for ice fishing. ( talked to the DNR about this and about breaking thin ice to place decoys (1" or so ) and they look at any hole cut in ice that is safe to walk is a fishing hole and thin ice is just that thin ice)

The other is with all the snowmobiles out on the ice and people walking out to fish or hunt .
If some one snowmobiled or walked into the hole and drowned or was hurt the person cutting the hole would be liable ,both to get sued and arrested for neglance or homicide.

So IMO cutting a large hole like you say is a REAL BAD IDEA !!!!!

RE: Some Pretty Crazy Stuff!!!!
 

yeah, i don't think there are going to be snowmobiles on 1-3 inches on ice, and if they are, i think that hole in the ice is the least of their problems. You would have to make sure to mark it somehow.