# waterfowl with a current



## PARK92 (Apr 21, 2012)

so i have some private land i will be hunting this weekend on the maumee river. its my buddys land and i have never been there before so im going in pretty blind. ive never hunted any water with a current and i know in this particular stretch of the river there is a pretty good one most of the time. when, or more like if, we get any birds down, what would be the best way of retrieving them? i have no dog and no boat this year. there will be 3 guys hunting. the current will have them downstream in no time. should we always have one guy set up downstream a bit so he can in a way meet the birds there? that was my only idea. any pointers, tips, etc.?


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## firstflight111 (May 22, 2008)

with no boat or dog to hunt water is a bad idea .. 
take a fishing rod ..find someone with a good dog ..find someone with a boat 


the group i am in we have 10 dogs always have a fresh one to hunt day after day with no down time .


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## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

Like ff111 said, a fishing pole that will cast a weighted treble hook/snag rig a good distance at a minimum. Should have a dog or a kayak to hunt it. Not sure if there are riffles downstream, but that would work too.


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## JimmyZ (May 18, 2004)

We use to have a spot to hunt on the river. Always had dog to retrieve. The river is so low shouldn't be a prob. We were down river of some other hunters & use to make me mad seeing greenheads float down river. Get them in close enough to retrieve or don't shoot.


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## Agitation Free (Jul 11, 2010)

If you can find a place close down river that someone can wade across, and he can see where the birds drop, have them near shore with either a fishing rod (as suggested) or a net with an extendable handle. If the hunter that is retrieving is not in sight, use 2 way radios to inform him that birds are down. The reason I suggest close is because sometimes the current will wash the birds to shore and if you guys lose sight, they might be hard to find. Every half hour or so switch with the guy down stream. If you take a dog (good idea) make sure he's got a vest and never forget that he's your best friend. Good huntin'. [email protected]


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## PARK92 (Apr 21, 2012)

yea well if someone could please buy me a dog or a boat just so i could go hunting ill let you. we got it figures out without any of that. long pole and hikin the waders up worked fine. 
firstflight, ive been hunting over water with no boat or dog for the last 5 yrs.


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## Nelliboy2 (Apr 11, 2011)

I have 4 boats, soon to be 4. 30 dzn floaters, and a yellow lab reporting for duty. I don't mind you can use me strictly for my stuff, just let me blast at a few lol.

um how deep is the river you are going to be hunting? wadable I hope. if it is set your spread up stream of you, shoot the birds up stream and as soon as you empety take off running. thats what we do alot ( I mean the dog can only grab one before they float by). I usually run out to pick them up while one guy ones down stream on the bank.


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## firstflight111 (May 22, 2008)

PARK92 said:


> yea well if someone could please buy me a dog or a boat just so i could go hunting ill let you. we got it figures out without any of that. long pole and hikin the waders up worked fine.
> firstflight, ive been hunting over water with no boat or dog for the last 5 yrs.


that's awesome ..but it so much nicer to have a dog that you can work ..dont have to worrie about loosing birds. where you can hunt or you'r shots so the birds land where you can get them ..just saying ..and you don't have to spend a lot on a dog just alot of time on the dog ...


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## PARK92 (Apr 21, 2012)

the river has a 3 ft drop off obout ten ft off the bank putting it at obout 5-6 ft deep right off the bank basically. im 5' 6". too deep for me. and i agree having a boat and dog is nice, but i dont think they are necessary to waterfowl hunt, nice to have tho.


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## firstflight111 (May 22, 2008)

PARK92 said:


> the river has a 3 ft drop off obout ten ft off the bank putting it at obout 5-6 ft deep right off the bank basically. im 5' 6". too deep for me. and i agree having a boat and dog is nice, but i dont think they are necessary to waterfowl hunt, nice to have tho.


no but it just means you can hunt and dont have to worrie about it ....to kill bird with no way to get them is a bad deal ...my buddy got a shelter lab and trained him hes great to hunt with ..and yes i have hunted with out dog before too .but never will again i will always have 2 dogs ...maybe i could hook you up with a pup real soon i know of some that are on there way any day now ..


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## PARK92 (Apr 21, 2012)

man i appreciate that a ton! i would love a hunting dog, let me know if you come up with anything.


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