Kayak Duck Hunting

[bigbassin']

Anyone duck hunt out of a kayak?

 

Thinking about getting into duck hunting next season, kayak would be my only form of boat to do it.

[clayton86]

Only way I hunt ducks. I target divers usually went for puddle ducks the only time I made it out this past season due to work schedule and just a little ammo left from last season. Got a 5 year old banded black duck which was awesome. 

[bigbassin']

1 minute ago, clayton86 said:

Only way I hunt ducks. I target divers usually went for puddle ducks the only time I made it out this past season due to work schedule and just a little ammo left from last season. Got a 5 year old banded black duck which was awesome. 

Still need to learn my ducks...mallards and coots are the only ones around me I can pick out at shotgun range.

[JimT]

bought an Old Town Bigwater recently primarily with the idea of hunting ducks from it. we have a couple of GSPs that I use for upland hunting, and either of them will probably make good duck dogs as they both love to swim. Trying to figure out how to configure the kayak for the fall to include decoys plus the dog. I know some folks will tow a jet sled behind them for decoys, I may play with that a bit. Would love to hear more about what folks do equipment-wise and technique-wise.

[bigbassin']

4 hours ago, JimT said:

bought an Old Town Bigwater recently primarily with the idea of hunting ducks from it. we have a couple of GSPs that I use for upland hunting, and either of them will probably make good duck dogs as they both love to swim. Trying to figure out how to configure the kayak for the fall to include decoys plus the dog. I know some folks will tow a jet sled behind them for decoys, I may play with that a bit. Would love to hear more about what folks do equipment-wise and technique-wise.

I was figuring something similar on the sled to carry decoys.

 

I think a dog on a kayak wouldn’t go well, figured a rod with a snagging hook and a 1 ounce weight would be my duck retriever. WCS, I can just wade out and grab the duck...if I even get one.

[JimT]

1 hour ago, bigbassin' said:

I was figuring something similar on the sled to carry decoys.

 

I think a dog on a kayak wouldn’t go well, figured a rod with a snagging hook and a 1 ounce weight would be my duck retriever. WCS, I can just wade out and grab the duck...if I even get one.

 

I'm envisioning this more as a decoy setup for puddlers, and hiding the kayak (and the dog) in the weeds along the shore or in the shallows. I know a lot of guys will use kayaks as layout blinds for divers, I've never been big on diver hunting and usually prefer to goose hunt fields in the late season when others are diver hunting on the big water. It will all be a big learning experience this fall!!

[bigbassin']

1 hour ago, JimT said:

 

I'm envisioning this more as a decoy setup for puddlers, and hiding the kayak (and the dog) in the weeds along the shore or in the shallows. I know a lot of guys will use kayaks as layout blinds for divers, I've never been big on diver hunting and usually prefer to goose hunt fields in the late season when others are diver hunting on the big water. It will all be a big learning experience this fall!!

I had planned to use the kayak as a blind, just throw some camo on top and back up to the grass line.

 

Are puddlers too spooky for this? 

[JimT]

12 hours ago, bigbassin' said:

I had planned to use the kayak as a blind, just throw some camo on top and back up to the grass line.

 

Are puddlers too spooky for this? 

 

not at all, I think that should work fine. being along the grass line should help to blend it in a bit 

[gim]

On 3/29/2021 at 7:35 PM, clayton86 said:

Got a 5 year old banded black duck which was awesome. 

Ya that’s cool when you get a banded bird and find out where it originated or where it was banded. I have harvested a drake mallard and a drake wood duck with bands. The wood duck was banded near Bemidji, MN and the mallard was banded near Baltimore, MD on the Chesapeake Bay. I shot both of them in Central Minnesota.

[bigbassin']

Finally got to give kayak duck hunting a go with teal season opening today.

 

 I got one blue wing teal, my first duck ever. 
 

Pulled a jerk string as it was flying by and it circled right into the decoys.
 

The two other ducks I saw, 1 wood duck and 1 teal both flew by within 30 seconds of me putting up my blind. I hadn’t had a chance to even pull my shotgun out of the case yet.

 

A lot of fun, I’ll be back out there tomorrow morning. As far as hunting out of the kayak, no stability issues at all, honestly didn’t notice any boat movement while swinging/shooting.

 

Only slight issue I had was my range of motion was limited. I could comfortably swing the barrel on anything to my left, couldn’t seem to have my blind stay out of my way swinging from 12:00 to 2:00.

[TnRiver46]

On 9/18/2021 at 1:34 PM, bigbassin' said:

Finally got to give kayak duck hunting a go with teal season opening today.

 

 I got one blue wing teal, my first duck ever. 
 

Pulled a jerk string as it was flying by and it circled right into the decoys.
 

The two other ducks I saw, 1 wood duck and 1 teal both flew by within 30 seconds of me putting up my blind. I hadn’t had a chance to even pull my shotgun out of the case yet.

 

A lot of fun, I’ll be back out there tomorrow morning. As far as hunting out of the kayak, no stability issues at all, honestly didn’t notice any boat movement while swinging/shooting.

 

Only slight issue I had was my range of motion was limited. I could comfortably swing the barrel on anything to my left, couldn’t seem to have my blind stay out of my way swinging from 12:00 to 2:00.

Congrats!!!

[Terrance Waters]

I have duck hunted out of an Ascend FS 12t for about five years now.  It's stable and I enjoy it.  Kayaks are easy to conceal in the marsh grass.  I've installed a gun rack  which helps.  Organization is the key to duck hunting from a Kayak. Congratulations on your hunt. 

[bigbassin']

On 9/22/2021 at 9:48 PM, Terrance Waters said:

I have duck hunted out of an Ascend FS 12t for about five years now.  It's stable and I enjoy it.  Kayaks are easy to conceal in the marsh grass.  I've installed a gun rack  which helps.  Organization is the key to duck hunting from a Kayak. Congratulations on your hunt. 

Any pictures of your setup? I have room to improve on the organizational side of things.

 

I was thinking of doing some sort of rack to keep the gun dry instead of sitting in a puddle of water at my feet. Not a huge deal with freshwater, but I would not want to hunt the salt with my current setup.

[Terrance Waters]

I'm not very tech savvy so I'll ask my wife to help me with pictures.  I hunt in the salt marshes on Rhett's Island in Darien Ga. so, yeah you're right it's important to have a rack to keep the gun dry.