# How do you like to scout for waterfowl?



## J_marx22 (Sep 14, 2015)

I'm curious to see the different ways people on the forum might have to scout for waterfowl. I found one of my best spots by accident last year and I have found a few others by glassing for them but that doesn't always pan out. So my question is what is your favorite way to scout the public wma's?


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## Tall Tines (Apr 16, 2017)

I've found my best spots on WMAs by showing up around 10 at night the night before the opener, drive my boat out and find the guys who are already set up and waiting for shooting hours. Usually those guys pick the best spots first, so I just slide in around 50-75 yards from them, up wind, and just hunt there. Usually have pretty good success with that method. It helps if I have more mojos and decoys than they do too. That's how I find the best spots. Another way, is to add every duck hunter in the state on Facebook and instagram and just look at the back ground in their hero pile photos. Then use google earth to determine exactly where they were set up. Then just beat them there the next weekend. Both methods work fairly good, and you don't have to spend hardly any time or money on fuel for actual field scouting


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## goosefreak (Aug 20, 2009)

specifically WMA's. For me, scouting is done over a long term period of time.. if you hunt a particular WMA for 10+ years, you learn where the birds go or don't go and that is a behavior that never changes from what i'v seen. usually it is where people are unwilling to go.. The question is can you get to them or how do you get to them..

I'm one who pays attention to birds and their flight behavior wherever I may be even if I'm just passing by on foot or boat. I take mental note of it, so for future reference if I have to fall back on that information I'm not completely going in blind. 

I'm not talking about mental notes of just a few birds, I'v got to see a consistent flight habit over a few years before it goes into the memory bank 

BUT, if I go looking for a "new" spot. I fall back to one of my "mental note spots" and I take 4 decoys and I start walking. I may walk 200 yards or 2 miles.

Binoculars will be the most common used tool but, I dont use them any more because after hunting A WMA for years and years, I know where they will be.
Again, question is, can I get to the birds or how do I get to the birds.. 

And at the current rate I am eating PB&J's, I may have a harder time getting to them this coming season.


Outside WMA's I use a pair of 15's with a window mount or tripod ALOT... I find the birds and when I do I try at all cost to hunt those birds the very next day. I notice birds outside the WMA's move around more often.

Birds on a WMA seem to me to favor a few particular spots and they bounce around from one to the other as if going in a circle..

If you find birds and hunt them the next day mimicking the same behavior as the day before, you will kill piles of'em... and more often


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## JuniorPre 360 (Feb 22, 2012)

Bike, boat, extra gas, GPS, and some decent binoculars. Drive everywhere there is public land for you to hunt. Every now and then, you'll come across a small hidden out of the way spot that nobody has even seen for years. Stop by frequently to those areas and see what's going on. I also pay attention to the weather here and up north of us, water movement, and watch migration reports.

Also, don't hunt like the crowd around you. I had found a spot that had ducks pouring into it last year. Everyone was complaining about no ducks, I think they were all in this spot. I got there an hour before they were scheduled to come in, and there were 6 trucks in the parking lot, all with boat trailers, and 2 were still launching. As soon as they left, the ducks all came in and I was maybe 1/2 mile away from my truck with 6 decoys and a bucket.


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## Pumpgunner (Jan 12, 2010)

Honestly, just getting out and exploring and trying to be observant. Some of my best spots I've found purely by accident, or by being in the wrong place and watching the birds go to the right place. Can't beat boots on the ground or miles on the road!


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

I get on hunting forums and say, "I'm not trying to get anyone's honey hole, but...."


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## SCtransplant (Jul 31, 2015)

I like to have a few places in my back pocket and hunt accordingly to the wind and weather. 

Hunting style is a lot different out here from what I'm used to, I typically go find them and set up on them the next day.


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## JuniorPre 360 (Feb 22, 2012)

colorcountrygunner said:


> I get on hunting forums and say, "I'm not trying to get anyone's honey hole, but...."


Yes, I have a different screen name for the waterfowl, big game, upland game, and fishing boards. I always start out claiming I'm new to Utah, new to hunting, or new to the area and don't know what I'm doing. Works every time!


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

JuniorPre 360 said:


> Yes, I have a different screen name for the waterfowl, big game, upland game, and fishing boards. I always start out claiming I'm new to Utah, new to hunting, or new to the area and don't know what I'm doing. Works every time!


It also helps if you claim to be a vet, a chick, a young kid whose dad doesn't hunt, or a dutiful son taking his dear old daddy out for what will likely be his last hunt.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

You will be amazed at what a sexy Avatar, a naughty username and the words "love to hunt and fish" will get you. A bunch of horned up guys ready to spill their mouths with information I tell you.:shock:


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## BRL1 (Sep 12, 2007)

8 foot A-FRAME ladder set up in the bed of the truck makes a great glassing platform.
Can see farther and a different angle. Have found a few new places this way.

Or have stood on the top of my Cherokee for the same thing.


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## JerryH (Jun 17, 2014)

BRL1 said:


> 8 foot A-FRAME ladder set up in the bed of the truck makes a great glassing platform.
> Can see farther and a different angle. Have found a few new places this way.
> 
> Or have stood on the top of my Cherokee for the same thing.


 The ladder trick works well for hunting in the Phrag also. I no longer have any need for 3 1/2" shells!!


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## NVDuckin (Apr 18, 2016)

Fowlmouth said:


> You will be amazed at what a sexy Avatar, a naughty username and the words "love to hunt and fish" will get you. A bunch of horned up guys ready to spill their mouths with information I tell you.:shock:


Brb, creating a new account now...


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