It happens every duck season. Hunting has been going well. New birds are showing up with each cold front. Ducks and geese are moving and feeding in predictable patterns, and the shooting is steady.
And then a warm spell sets in. The wind shifts to the south or southwest and diminishes to a gentle breeze. Windbreakers are more appropriate than heavy parkas. Hand warmers are long forgotten. And for many hunters, the shooting simply disappears.
Skies that were buzzing with waterfowl a few days earlier now have far less traffic as ducks and geese respond to the balmy conditions. Hunters curse the warm weather and hope for a return to conditions that are appropriate to the season.
So what's a duck hunter to do? Stop hunting until the north wind returns? Absolutely not. Waterfowl still fly when its warm and hunting can be worthwhile for those who know how to adjust to the temperate conditions. The seasons are too short to head for the sidelines!
There are two types of warm spells. The first is two or three warm days in the midseason. This is just a temporary warm stretch when ducks don't feed as much and are in a loafing mood. When a spell like this comes along, ducks don't burn a lot of energy, so they don't move around as much looking for food.
I find that when ducks do feed during a warm period, they gravitate to soybeans, moist-soil plants and invertebrates. And, when feeding during a warm spell, ducks are usually in a relaxed mode, scattered broadly instead of bunched up tightly. Typically there will be several feet between each bird.
To match these feeding patterns, I often change locations to hunt pver the right type of food and use fewer decoys than normal. I'll put 20 or even 30 feet between each decoy. This presents a contented look that is more natural to ducks in warm weather.
The second rtype of warm spell is an extended period when there's no change in weather patterns – hence no new birds – for several days running. The main problem here is that you are hunting the same old educated ducks. They've been called to and shot at until they are extremely spooky. So, tou have to change things up and give these ducks something they haven't seen in a while. If most hunters are using five or six dozen decoys and a wing spinner, I might try setting out only a half dozen and a jerk string. Or I may add ione fully body snow or Canada goose decoy for increased visibility instead of a wing spinner. I don't think ducks respond to a wing spinner as well in warm weather as they do when it's cold.
If it's warm and windy I may take an opposite approach.
During a warm spell, a more likely scenario is for the wind to tail off to a light breeze or nothing at all. This is a duck hunter's worst nightmare. If I'm hunting from a permanment blind or pit, I'll figure out some way to add motion to the decoys. I'll set out a couple of ice eaters or mallard machines in my spread to make ripples on the surface. Or, if I'm freelancing and hunting over a portable set-up, I'll rig a simple two-decoy setup with a jerk string . There has to be movement. If the surface of the water looks like a sheet of glass, you're done for the day!
When it comes to calling, I think less id better in a warm spell – single quacks, light chatter and sort three to five note greetings or comeback calls are used. Once you get the birds' attention and they start working I call very little – just enough to give them condidence that everything is okay.
Ducks don't move as much in warm weather, so hunters must figure out when they are moving and be ready to hunt during those times.
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Always pay close attention to weather forecasts when planning a duck hunt. One of, if not THE best duck hunts I ever had took place during an extended warm spell in December, a few years ago. I was hunting with Kermit Henning, Gerry Putt, Tim Flanigan and Dennis Sxchardin with guide, Norm Haddaway on a creek just off of the choptank River, near Tilghman Island. We started the hunt in shirt sleeves, then the edge of an expected front moved in and we endured a light, cold rain with the wind steady out of the north. The rain turned to driving snow, which soon changed to hail. The sky around our off-shore water blind was full of ducks. And, earlier the evening before, over dinner we had discussed calling off the hunt! Luckily, we had studied the forecast and decided to "tough it out. Thank goodness we did! As soon as that front approached the ducks took to the wing.
