# Northeast Ohio Waterfowl Hunting



## JohnTheDeer

Hello all,
Im just going to give a brief introduction to myself. I am a college biology student going into my Junior year. Me and one of my buddies have taught ourselves how to do everything from fishing to deer hunting to bowfishing. Last year, I had my first experience with waterfowl hunting when he was picked for lottery hunt at Magee Marsh. We went into that hunt not really knowing what to expect. We ended up having a great time even though we didn't shoot anything. This year we are looking to get more in to waterfowl hunting. I have done some research trying to find places where we could go whenever during the season which helped out a little but I still have questions. We are not able to go out that much with our schedules being different, but when we have time it would be nice to know where to go.
Any help from you guys would be greatly appreciated. We are in the Ravenna area and are looking for places to go within a reasonable drive. We do have 14ft aluminum boat and kayaks that we could take out if they are needed. I signed up for the LaDue lottery hunt and some others but as most of you know, the odds of being picked are slim. Can you hunt there during the season without being picked to or are there ways of obtaining a permit to hunt there?
I also found that Walborn and deer creek have waterfowl hunting zones. I think I understand the blind hunting zones where you just sign up for the day you want to go and you have that blind for a day. Please correct me if i'm wrong. 
The part that i'm still a little confused about is the open waterfowl hunting rules. Can anyone send me a link to the rules about that or help me with my confusion? I might sound stupid but do people just drive around shooting at ducks and geese? Or do you just find a place to anchor or beach the boat and stay in your place?

Thanks for all the help. Both of us really appreciate it.


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## snag

At deer creek it's open hunting no drawings , no blinds, wallborn pay for blinds for the day. , la due is open last I heard south of rt 422, you could go out to grand river wildlife area lots of marshes and ponds . They also have drawings for half day hunts on ponds only u can hunt. No charge. No blinds . Make ur own that morning. I had gone to those and have done fairly good. Also in Ravenna area.


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## JohnTheDeer

Thanks a lot. How does the open hunting work? Can you drive the boat around and search for ducks? Can you get to spots form land? And/or is it more of setting up along the shore or out in the water and waiting for them to come to you? Do you have to be a certain distance form the road and buildings just like for deer hunting? Do you have to keep a certain distance from other shooters too?


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## snag

JohnTheDeer said:


> Thanks a lot. How does the open hunting work? Can you drive the boat around and search for ducks? Can you get to spots form land? And/or is it more of setting up along the shore or out in the water and waiting for them to come to you? Do you have to be a certain distance form the road and buildings just like for deer hunting? Do you have to keep a certain distance from other shooters too?



No , no , yes , yes and yes. Most places u can't walk into , need boat for decoying and retrieving ducks. State laws apply for distance from roads and buildings , common courtesy applies on safe distance from other hunters. Only walkabout duck hunting would b at grand river walk to ponds and swamps and jump shoot.or set up with a few decoys. I wouldn't boat around looking for ducks, wouldn't do much good scare them for someone else , or get other guys mad.


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## derekdiruz

I hunt west branch a lot.. If you're not going on the weekends it's fine. Even to say the weekends aren't fine is wrong.. The only bad days I've had there are opening days. Most of the time too people never sit in their blinds. I hunted last year not 15 foot from a blind almost every day and didn't see a single person, weekend or weekdays..


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## mchewyw

derekdiruz said:


> I hunt west branch a lot.. If you're not going on the weekends it's fine. Even to say the weekends aren't fine is wrong.. The only bad days I've had there are opening days. Most of the time too people never sit in their blinds. I hunted last year not 15 foot from a blind almost every day and didn't see a single person, weekend or weekdays..


I hunt WB a lot too, do you have a blind out there this year? Opening day is hit or miss, depends on how the local birds fly.


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## derekdiruz

mchewyw said:


> I hunt WB a lot too, do you have a blind out there this year? Opening day is hit or miss, depends on how the local birds fly.


Nah, I don't have a blind. I have a blind on my jon and canoe. I wanted to go to the blind drawing this year and chose not to. In the past I've sat in blinds if no one shows up after morning light lol. Just nice to sit outta the sleet sometimes haha


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## chuckNduck

derekdiruz said:


> In the past I've sat in blinds if no one shows up after morning light lol. Just nice to sit outta the sleet sometimes haha


 If your sitting in someone's blind, you're breaking the law. You MUST have written permission to hunt from another person's blind, someone who paid $50 for the rights to build it, and hunt out of it! I understand that there are a lot of people who are drawn for those spots that rarely hunt them, and it's frustrating, as I haven't drawn one for 3 years in a row, and see the same guys drawn year after year that I know won't hunt out of them much, if at all past the openers, but it still doesn't give you right to trespass. Plenty of shoreline to freelance from on the South shore. Stay out of other people's blinds.


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