hunting on ice

[hillbillyboy]

This saturday i will be hunting an area that today had enough ice to where in most places i could walk across it. I am thinking saturday of breaking a small hole in the ice and filling it with decoys and a quiver magnet or 2. The question i have is, do yall think it would be better to stand off to the side or try and put my layout blind on top of the ice on a piece of plywood or something?

[duk_cmdr]

in my opinion...if your spot is gonna be frozen between now and Sat morning (solid enough to walk across all week)...birds will have moved somewhere else and wont even give it a 2nd look. you'd be better off hunting bigger (more open) water

BUT if you feel like birds are still using it...and you just need to bust a spot for them on Sat., then go for it...and opt for whatever gives you the most concealment. (i'm guessing stand off to the side). you should probably brace yourself for the train wreck as it ought to get down right nasty in there once you give em open water to land

[primacyone]

I'd be off to the side for mulpitle reasons, not the least of which would be so that I would consider my rear end safe and dry! I dang sure wouldn't want water over my waders this Saturday.

But yea, you'd probably get a lot better concealment off to the side.

[redneckhunter17]

i see your location says durham county, we hunted a certain impoundment in that area this mornin and the ice was thick enough to walk over three and a half feet of water. it took two of us 30 minutes to break a 20 foot diameter hole. we hunted till nine and didnt see a single duck. we didnt even see the seagulls this mornin, but we did have a blast basically skating on the ice. i believe the birds have high tailed it out of here or are stickin to the lakes/rivers, but best of luck to ya. we didnt see a thing but still had fun

[agreenchicken]

Even if you bust the ice more than likely it is going freeze back around your dekes, but its better than sitting at home! Good Luck!

[hillbillyboy]

would i be better off hunting my creek?

[agreenchicken]

Yea go to the creek!

[sloughslogger]

Good advice. I was going to the creek this weekend. The marsh is locked up solid.

[Camel Toe]

If you have open water in an area that holds birds right now it will be loaded up. It's been cold, but if there is even a small amount of current it will probably be open and holding birds...

CT

[hillbillyboy]

there was approximately 10' by 8' in the middle of the swamp that was open, but it had a pretty swift current. any particular things to look for when deciding where to hunt on the creek? I was thinking of just finding the spot with the least amount of trees around it.

[obx-dux]

>>> Good idea to use a wading staff. Not a place to float your hat.

[Camel Toe]

any particular things to look for when deciding where to hunt on the creek?

For once I'm not trying to be a smart azz, but I'd look for birds.

CT

[QuakAttack]

I was about to say the same thing Camel Toe. There is no magic voodoo to duck hunting. Be where the ducks want to be!

[obx-dux]

>>> Ditto

[NCheavyHittR]

Bein everybody is on the topic of ice, ive been on two different creeks the past two days- both were froze pretty well, enough to refreeze around the dekes and where the boat had come in before the sun came up, one of the creeks bein at the mouth of the river (neither one of these creeks are small)- with that said, what would be my best option while everything continues to freeze up? with the sound not being an option, and the swamps about 2 to 4 inches thick, and the river partially beginin to freeze- seen a few birds, but none were willing to commit to the ice- any suggestions would be great-

[Jimbob]

Hunt the edges of the ice.

[hillbillyboy]

i've seen ducks all up and down my creek, i just cant decide where to sit.

[sloughslogger]

Ok, so I tried the creek next to the frozen marsh and saw nothing this past Sarturday. Not a wasted day as far as I was concerned but did not see even a shadow of a duck. This weekend I'm busting holes in the ice on the marsh and using about 4 decoys where I saw ducks before. I don't see I have anything to lose.

Last year I did this and knocked down a woody. It crashed on the ice and started running. I was able to get it before it got to the creek. If the marsh had not been frozen there was a good chance it would have dived and not come back up.

[Turnem N BurnEm]

I was about to say the same thing Camel Toe. There is no magic voodoo to duck hunting. Be where the ducks want to be!

You're wrong Q-A! There is magic voodoo, I used it last Friday. 7 wigeons and 5 teal. The guys hunting in the blinds across from me witnessed my voodoo.

By the way, if the guys that were across from me are reading this, dont sky blast when I call birds off of you. Its too bad since your hole is where the ducks WANTED to be.

[hillbillyboy]

Ok, so I tried the creek next to the frozen marsh and saw nothing this past Sarturday. Not a wasted day as far as I was concerned but did not see even a shadow of a duck. This weekend I'm busting holes in the ice on the marsh and using about 4 decoys where I saw ducks before. I don't see I have anything to lose.

Last year I did this and knocked down a woody. It crashed on the ice and started running. I was able to get it before it got to the creek. If the marsh had not been frozen there was a good chance it would have dived and not come back up.

I am in the same boat as you, didnt even see a duck, i had an owl that i think was trying to hunt my decoys in a tree behind me, lol.

[cgDucknBuck]

By the way, if the guys that were across from me are reading this, dont sky blast when I call birds off of you. Its too bad since your hole is where the ducks WANTED to be.

Dang, i was wondering who that was that found my hole

[QuakAttack]

I was about to say the same thing Camel Toe. There is no magic voodoo to duck hunting. Be where the ducks want to be!

You're wrong Q-A! There is magic voodoo, I used it last Friday. 7 wigeons and 5 teal. The guys hunting in the blinds across from me witnessed my voodoo.

If I am not mistaken, most folks call your voodoo "corn". You would be surprised at what corn in the water does to birds. Congrats on the successful hunt though.

[hillbillyboy]

i hear a parody of smoke on the water comin up...

CORN ON THE WATER!! dah dah dum.. duckies in the sky haha

[Turnem N BurnEm]

Nothin wrong with hunting a field with corn in it, thats why its called a flooded CORNfield. By the way, those other guys have a flooded cornfield in a better location than mine. Theres actually miles and miles of flooded cornfields where I hunt. If corn is voodoo, then I guess I hunt in little Jamaica. Lots of voodoo.

[QuakAttack]

I never said there was anything wrong with it. Why are you getting so defensive? I was just making the point that it may not have been voodoo that enticed the birds to your spot but instead the yellow gold in your hole. A quick question though. You keep saying the other guys hole is a lot better than yours. Is it really a better location or are you just trying to make yourself feel better by saying that they have a better hole but you killed their birds?

[Turnem N BurnEm]

They have a nice hole, the ducks have to come over their field from the roost to get to mine. They have also "laid over" the standing corn in their field, which helps them. But I do have a witness that I pulled a lot of birds from them that looked committed to them. Perhaps it was coincidence. But I do think you're trying to get me riled up so I will drag you out there this coming weekend and prove it lol. You know all you gotta do is ask.

[QuakAttack]

Well hell, sounds like an open invitation to me. I would hate to intrude though since your wife is going with you this weekend. Sign me up for the last weekend of the season.

[jm69749]

Now you know if you bring some, you have to bring enough for the whole class!

[QuakAttack]

My moto is "come one, come all!"

[hillbillyboy]

went this morning, we couldnt get the boat into the lake at the ramp, so we sat a swamp, which ended up being more frozen than the lake. Had fun ice skating though lol. saw about 300 canada's from the parking lot of the diner we ate breakfast at

[primacyone]

Hope you can make it back out tomorrow hillbillyboy and have some better results. You've put some good effort lately to come home with just an ice skating story. At least you've had the "experience" now.

[hillbillyboy]

worst part was, my buddy ended up messing up his ankle real bad falling on the ice. he will be good to go monday though. I'm heading to ohio this evening for the weekend then will be back monday or tuesday to head to hyde county if my buddy can get off work.

[IGOTTEM2]

Bein everybody is on the topic of ice, ive been on two different creeks the past two days- both were froze pretty well, enough to refreeze around the dekes and where the boat had come in before the sun came up, one of the creeks bein at the mouth of the river (neither one of these creeks are small)- with that said, what would be my best option while everything continues to freeze up? with the sound not being an option, and the swamps about 2 to 4 inches thick, and the river partially beginin to freeze- seen a few birds, but none were willing to commit to the ice- any suggestions would be great-

That's what happened to our hunt......ice.