Outdoors Angle: Waiting On The Ducks

The Flag Outdoors Expert Steve Carney has your weekly Outdoors Angle right here!

     Here we sit a couple of weeks after the duck opener heading into what I call the "lull" period in waterfowling. The local birds have been bumped around and we are waiting for the mystical migration hoping for better things.

     Back in the day, migrating ducks would always come south by the calendar. You could almost set your calendar dates as to when the redheads, canvasbacks and ringbills would come through the northwest and the Dakota's. For decades the migration was consistent. Nowadays, the migrations are totally dictated by the weather, just like fishing actually.  We are dependent on Mother Nature to provide cold fronts and gusty northwest winds to move birds south. There have been times we have had 70 and 80 degree temperatures into late October and even early November and the ducks sit in Canada and don't migrate until December. It seems every season is different but there is no doubt the weather calls the shots.

     As we get into mid-October, my decoy choices change now incorporating some diver decoys along with my puddler decoys. Always remember to segregate the decoys into separate sections, divers in one group and the puddlers somewhat shallower in their own grouping. If you have ever watched waterfowl on the water, they have a tendency to stick to their own and rarely mix. Leave a gap in the middle for the ducks to land and you should draw both diving and puddle ducks.

     Here we go heading into my favorite month of the year, October. There is so much to do!

Steve Carney is The Flag WZFG Outdoors expert. He can be heard every Thursday morning at 8:05 on AM 1100 WZFG. Check out his weekly podcast on am1100theflag.com and hear his Outdoors Angle reports every Friday on AM 1100 WZFG. You can also visit stevecarneyoutdoors.com for more information.