# Where to hunt Waterfowl



## awelker

hello all!

I am located in North Canton and I am looking to get into waterfowl hunting in the area. 

I have hunted in other states with family, but I'm looking to get started here. 

I realize the season is over, but I want to plan for the year and scout things. 

Any suggestions?


----------



## James F

In early spring you can see the migration of large flocks of ducks returning to their favorite waters. I hunted public marshes. Killbuck Creek was one of my favorite places, there is a drawing for the first few weeks and some of the other places use the drawing system, Magee Marsh is well worth the trip. As is Mosquito Creek. Locally Beach City is an early season gem, you will have to carry in your gear but you won't need too many decoys, just go in with about 7 ducks and maybe a few geese. Do your homework and don't be afraid to ask for permission, all they can say is no. There are many other places that will fuel your addiction! Some of my best hunting came from places that were just a little larger than a mud puddle. Shooting some clay's in the off season will keep you sharp and ready. Jump shooting in small creeks and streams are similar to Grouse hunting, ask your Doctor if your heart is healthy enough for this much excitement.Most of the drawings are held in late June or mid July. Keep an eye on DNR's website along with the Ohio division of wild life. There are several Waterfowl sites out there, and here on ogf, and then there's Waterfowler's Anonymous! .Good luck. And be safe!


----------



## awelker

Thanks for the response!

I like the idea of less decoys at beach city. I'm trying to stay cost effective (well as much as possible). 

How is water depth there? Easy and safe to wade?


----------



## awelker

I've also never been involved in a drawing/lottery. 

How do those work?

Sorry to sound stupid/ignorant


----------



## awelker

What decoys do you recommend?

Black duck? Teal? Mallards? Wood ducks?


----------



## Perch-N-Quackers

Don't go to beach city without a dog or canoe. You won't get out of the mud if you walk out a little ways and will have no way to retrieve birds.


----------



## James F

Mallards for the bulk of your set,I like to have some teal and wood ducks for the early teal season. Black ducks are as good as Mallards. I had a lot of decoys and I rarely set them all, I also used a few confidence decoys, Coot's or something that would usually be seen hanging out with Mallards, they are kind of like an early warning system. Get a few calls and don't break the bank on them, I like the wooden ones myself. Don't over do it on the calling, a hail and some feeding chuckles will do the trick.also some butt feeders are a plus for your set.Experiment in the off season, but back off e few weeks before opening day. Waterfowl are very smart, and Not color blind. Look up decoy setting, you want them to come into the wind, it should be blowing in your face. You can get most of what you need in the market place. I can't hunt any more because of a work injury, and I sold all of my gear last summer. I may have some weights and a few other items. I live just past Green town. Once the weather cooperates I'll see if I can find them and let you know what I have.


----------



## James F

I'm about to hit the sack, but feel free to pick it up tomorrow.Any thing I can do to help others is good for me, I enjoy sharing and if it helps you get started that's part of the fun too.


----------



## awelker

I'm headed out to buy some decoys tonight. 

Saw a few places have them on sale right now. 

What do you think would be a good start? 6 or 12 mallards? 6 teal? 6 black ducks?

Or am I way off on those numbers?


----------



## Carpn

Mallards and blacks or just mallards for now. Teal and woodies aren't real smart and will decoy well to just mallard decoys. Teal and woodies usually just buzz the decoys.


----------



## awelker

Thank you!


----------



## awelker

So if I get 12 mallards and 6 black? 

Would that suffice to get me started?

I'm sure there are different schools of thought. And eventually I will get more. I'm just trying to have a base to star with.


----------



## Carpn

That would work. If ya can't round up black ducks I wouldn't sweat it . Start with mallards and build from there.


----------



## awelker

Thanks for you help. I truly appreciate it!

I loved hunting for them out of start. But my cousins did all the leg work. Haha. I just kind of watched and learned. Now I want to get into it for myself here at home.


----------



## awelker

Out of State**


----------



## awelker

Is there a good place where I wouldn't need a dog and I could just wade myself to whatever I need (bird, decoys, cover). 

When we hunted in Illinois the whole area we were in never came above my belly button. It was awesome. Not sure if there's anything like that here?


----------



## derekdiruz

most of the places around here I've found you need a boat of some sort. best purchase for solo hunting though I had ever used was a canoe. It's simple enough to retrieve birds with, but also small enough to hide and you can throw it in the truck bed or on the car! Because there's no outboard though, you have to launch in smart places.


----------



## Flathead76

awelker said:


> Out of State**


If I were to go out of state I would go again to hunt in Manitoba. It took us 26 hours to get there. It's really not that expensive if you split it with 3-4 guys. Last time we stayed at a bed and breakfast and got to hunt all of thier land. Cost was 80 dollars a night split between us. I did the whole trip for under 500. There is so much land that the only hard part is figuring out who owns it. Once you do that it's game on time. People have no use for waterfowl especially snow geese tearing up thier barley fields. We found a field that had probably 10-15k snows pounding it. We got permission to hunt it the following morning. When we got there the farmer had taken his back hoe and dug a pit blind for us to shoot from. He also had coffee waiting. He literally begged us to kill more every morning. In the evening we would hunt ducks. We had tornados of birds hammering our decoy spreads. One nice thing about there is that shooting times are an hour before sunrise to an hour past sunset. Also a duck is a duck limit wise. The one evening I killed 8 drake canvasbacks. We killed grouse and Huns mid day. Hare season is open with no limit. The hares were all white so they were like shooting volleyballs bouncing through the brush. They also have jack rabbits if you want to kill a few of those as well. After that trip I gave up on waterfowl hunting in Ohio.


----------



## DHower08

Flathead where abouts in manitoba was this


----------



## !!! trigger happy !!!

DHower08 said:


> Flathead where abouts in manitoba was this


Canada


----------



## DHower08

Good call trigger. Since manitoba is in canada


----------



## !!! trigger happy !!!

Sorry about that haha i ment to ask if that was in canada.


----------



## Flathead76

DHower08 said:


> Flathead where abouts in manitoba was this


North Lake Winnepegosis.


----------



## Weekender#1

Why not go for rides in the evening, last hour of light. Instead of looking for deer look to the sky, you will be amazed on the amount of ducks and geese in the air, watch where they land and knock on some doors. Right now not much due to the warm weather. It is still late season for goose.


----------



## Lucky1313

Awelker- I have a dozen Avery "hot buy" mallard decoys that you can have if you're interested. Nothing wrong with them, just don't use them any longer and they are taking up room in my basement. I live in Avon, Oh, but work in Broadview Heights and my office is right off of Interstate 77, which would be closer for you to pick them up. Let me know.


----------

