NC Duck Hunting...A couple questions

JONOV

Old Mossy Horns
So, while I've continued my trip to NoDak since moving down here, I haven't done any hunting in NC.

This fall, I hope to change that. I have a new dog, and have been missing it. When I moved down here, there was a minor learning curve with Deer hunting. Things are often done through clubs, some places have more dogs, timber company leases, etc, make for a slightly different landscape.

With Duck hunting, how do you guys do it? Do you lease an impoundment or land with a pond/swamp? Hunt at a club? Is it a deer hunting club with a swamp, or exclusively for duck hunting?

Assuming you aren't in one of the counties with stiff reg's regarding blinds, is water/swamps accessed from a public launch pretty well fair game?

I'm not cyberscouting here, just looking to prepare as best I can.
 
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nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
If you can find private land with swamps you will be waaaaaaaay ahead of the game and waaaaaaay less frustrated than fighting the crowds on public waters. That being said some public waters aren't near as bad as others.

I have been out of the waterfowl hunting crowd for years but It was pretty bad then, I still see some of it via fishing now so I am still familiar with it.

If you deer hunt the ideal situation would be find a club that has both. They aren't all that plentiful but they are out there and quite frankly usually when you find them they are the best buy around. I was in one on the NC/SC line for years that was deer, duck, turkey and small game. I never saw anyone messing with the ducks and it had a buttload of places on it, but many of them weren't for the faint of heart. I am guessing that was exactly why for the most part it was untapped. The dues were extremely cheap for amount of land.
 
If you are willing to put your time in you can find some places on public land that you will likely not see another person in. Better keep the lips tight and make sure you're not followed. If someone sees you coming out of a hole with a strap of ducks then you'll likely not have any birds next time you go in. It is unfortunately what public land hunting has come to since duck hunting has become the cool thing to do. A club is the best way to go but the cost of joining a "duck club" in NC can be astronomical (at least in my eyes). A deer club that has some swamps and beaver sloughs would be ideal.
 
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bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
Like has been said, if you can find large, private unhunted swamps you can do well, killing woodies all season and other ducks here and there as they migrate. But if your not hunting on the coast, killing ducks consistently is difficult and takes just as much scouting as hunting. Swamp/lake/pond hunting inland is not like a flyway hunt, your not going to see birds moving all day back and forth like they would on a flyway. You find the birds BEFORE you hunt, and get on the X. Otherwise your wasting your time. It's not like ND, the migrators have very little reason to stop and mostly stick to the coast. And you can't drive around looking in fields to scout, cause thats just not where they are in NC. You need to hike in to a swamp/pond to scout, or launch a boat on the big lake. You really got to love it here, I have a lot of respect for people who consistently kill ducks legally in NC. They usually are broke and either have a really good relationship with their wife, or a really bad one. Not totally kidding on that.
 
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I'd say the relationship with the wife is the biggest struggle each fall HAHA. Constantly have to remind her it's only 60 days or maybe a little more if I can find some geese for the early season.
 

JONOV

Old Mossy Horns
I'd say the relationship with the wife is the biggest struggle each fall HAHA. Constantly have to remind her it's only 60 days or maybe a little more if I can find some geese for the early season.

Haha...She might come with on a duck hunt if I had a boat...She does like to see the dog hunt.
 

woodmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
find ducks,,,,,

hunt ducks,,,,

little right around my homesite,,,,so I travel some,,,,,,in close I can get on wood ducks mainly,,,sometimes a flock of others that got lost,,,,,,,,down in SC I have some decent holes,,,,,,competition though,,,,

in NC - good luck,,,,think non-standard, non-traditionally, and hunt when others can't,,,,,,,,

bought all I can say on that,,,,,,,
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
find ducks,,,,,

hunt ducks,,,,

little right around my homesite,,,,so I travel some,,,,,,in close I can get on wood ducks mainly,,,sometimes a flock of others that got lost,,,,,,,,down in SC I have some decent holes,,,,,,competition though,,,,

in NC - good luck,,,,think non-standard, non-traditionally, and hunt when others can't,,,,,,,,

bought all I can say on that,,,,,,,
Tight lipped rascal. :cool:
 
Also, get ready to experience some of the most junior of the junior commanders that I have seen...outside of public ground in Arkansas, Tennessee or Louisiana. I mean kids that go hunt without a single decoy and have zero intention of doing anything except pass shooting/ sky busting every group of birds they see. Drives me nuts when I see it and when they're close enough to me to effect my hunt.
 
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Hydemarsh

Six Pointer
It would be easier if 4 of the best 5 counties in NC allowed the great unwashed masses to hunt in those counties on public water. Our legislature gave away a right we all share and that is to hunt the sounds, bays and rivers of NC's great coast. Write a letter to your representative. There is plenty of room to spread out NC coastal hunters, however the SHL and county game commissions keep us out.
 

darkthirty

Old Mossy Horns
Duck hunted NC for 13 years, including the coast. Now in club in Arkansas.....The end

Ding ding ding. Winner winner chicken dinner!!

I love my home state and love down east and private swamps every once in a while, but it won't hurt my feelings if I never duck hunt NC again. I hunt west TN and it's truly amazing to watch a true migration happen before your eyes. For example, kill 3 ducks on Thursday, and that night Missouri gets a snowstorm and the next morning we kill 10 limits out of the same blind.
 

bryguy

Old Mossy Horns
Advice on NC duck hunting.....don't mess with it. I have not hunted here in 2 years other then some wood duck shoots on my farm. It just isn't worth the hassle and stupidity you have to deal with here for what meager birds we get.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

JJWise

Twelve Pointer
I'm gonna be trying it on public lands this year, creeks swamps, lakes, impoundments or anywhere else I can find. I'm not waterfowl crazy, i mostly deer hunt and usually only go after birds 5-10 days out of the whole season. I have a new dog I wanna try out, and if I can just shoot a woodie or 2 a few times this season I'll be perfectly happy.
 

Hydemarsh

Six Pointer
So, while I've continued my trip to NoDak since moving down here, I haven't done any hunting in NC.

This fall, I hope to change that. I have a new dog, and have been missing it. When I moved down here, there was a minor learning curve with Deer hunting. Things are often done through clubs, some places have more dogs, timber company leases, etc, make for a slightly different landscape.

With Duck hunting, how do you guys do it? Do you lease an impoundment or land with a pond/swamp? Hunt at a club? Is it a deer hunting club with a swamp, or exclusively for duck hunting?

Assuming you aren't in one of the counties with stiff reg's regarding blinds, is water/swamps accessed from a public launch pretty well fair game?

I'm not cyberscouting here, just looking to prepare as best I can.

Hi, the fishing has slowed down so I thought I would add some data to the conversation. Before I do, my observation is that there is really good duck hunting in NC in the areas affected by the flyway especially when there is good weather on a good moon phase (just like anywhere else.) according to USFW harvest reports North Carolina is the top harvest state in the Atlantic flyway by a wide margin. I looked at the last five years of data (2011 to 2015). NC averaged 322,00 birds. the best year was 2012 with 391,00. Next closest was SC with an average of190,000; again 2012 was best year with235,000). Maryland averaged 112,000 with 2012 at 123,000. this state is showing a downward trend every year. NY was very similar to SC.

I also looked at Tenn which averaged 216,000 with 2013 as its top year at 229,000 and Kansas with an average of221,000 and 2013 at 265,000.

Arkansas was obviously heads above these with well over a million birds every year.


If someone is disgusted with NC hunting and they live in the piedmont and recommends Tenn then I am puzzled by that. The Flyway areas of NC produce more bird than the flyway areas of Tenn and are not as far to drive. In addition, NC has a tremendous variety of birds. NC could be an even better place if the public was allowed to "do it yourself" hunt in the best counties. NC's top counties for waterfowl harvest are:

Hyde - no blind laws.
Dare - very corrupt blind laws.
Currituck _ blind laws
Pamlico - Very, very corrupt blind laws
Carteret - very , very corrupt blind laws
and Sampson - (go figure) - no blind laws
 

Gus

Six Pointer
Active duck hunters:
NC......31,700
TN.......7,900

Ducks per hunter per season:
NC.....9.8
TN.....25

Buffs,Ruddys,fishducks:
NC.....36,000
TN.......5000

Have hunted both. Would not trade home (NC coast) for wTN but they got a lot of good ducks and a whole lot less hunters.But they also have limited water compared to NC. That's why most of the blinds are built to hunt 10 folks-just not enough water for folks to only hunt 2-3 to a blind. That's bout the only thing I don't much like about hunting over there.
 

Hydemarsh

Six Pointer
Active duck hunters:
NC......31,700
TN.......7,900

Ducks per hunter per season:
NC.....9.8
TN.....25

Buffs,Ruddys,fishducks:
NC.....36,000
TN.......5000

Have hunted both. Would not trade home (NC coast) for wTN but they got a lot of good ducks and a whole lot less hunters.But they also have limited water compared to NC. That's why most of the blinds are built to hunt 10 folks-just not enough water for folks to only hunt 2-3 to a blind. That's bout the only thing I don't much like about hunting over there.


I agree, my only point was that NC in certain areas is not a bad place to hunt ducks. In addition I cannot hunt in blinds with more than 3 people, 95% of the time it is 2. just finished my own impoundment in Hyde so I can hunt by myself. I like to see ducks work.
 

JONOV

Old Mossy Horns
It would be easier if 4 of the best 5 counties in NC allowed the great unwashed masses to hunt in those counties on public water. Our legislature gave away a right we all share and that is to hunt the sounds, bays and rivers of NC's great coast. Write a letter to your representative. There is plenty of room to spread out NC coastal hunters, however the SHL and county game commissions keep us out.

How exactly do those laws work? Is it that you have to be in a permanent blind, and if you build a permanent blind, local s#!+#e@ds burn them down? That was what my Uncle-in-law was telling me about a few areas.
 

Gus

Six Pointer
"local s#!+#e@ds"?
Yep, outsiders with that attitude toward the locals get their blinds burnt down regularly.
 

Hydemarsh

Six Pointer
How exactly do those laws work? Is it that you have to be in a permanent blind, and if you build a permanent blind, local s#!+#e@ds burn them down? That was what my Uncle-in-law was telling me about a few areas.

Here is how they work:

In Pamlico, with the exception of Pamlico point, most of the land is private. while NC law does not give a landowner any special riparian rights, local legislators got a "local law" passed that says if a landowner has a blind on shore then no one can hunt 500yards in any direction on public water (even if the blind is unoccupied). that gives the blind owner about 2/3 mile of shoreline and off shore foe approx. 1/3 mile. as you can guess the land owners have blind placed so that no one can hunt close to shore. In Dare county the locals the got the legislature to establish a "game commission". It give a group of locals the power to determine who can hunt where in Dare county in public water. There are fixed blinds which require commission permits and float blinds which also require a permit. To my knowledge a non local has had no chance for years of getting either type. Supposedly anyone can apply but they had a very mean spirited gatekeeper that finally retired a couple of years ago.

there is almost 1200 square miles of public water in Dare county that you cannot hunt except with someone who has apermit. permit holders essentially get the spot for life.
 

JJWise

Twelve Pointer
Back home we had some good duck hunting but I didn't hunt them that often. In WV we have hundreds of thousands of deer hunters (and still an overpopulation of deer), but only about 300 duck licenses are sold annually. It's hard hunting, the absence of flat fields and water make it difficult to find a good place to hunt, and there's not a lot of big flyway action. But the absence of pressure makes it pretty good if you can find an area where waterfowl want to be. Goose hunting is more viable than ducks in most places. I'd never heard any sort of blind laws like that, that sounds like some shady legislature to me. Hopefully I can find some water in or around Craven co to hunt that's not already overcrowded, it doesn't need to be a duck Mecca, just bring in a few for a shot.
 

Hydemarsh

Six Pointer
Back home we had some good duck hunting but I didn't hunt them that often. In WV we have hundreds of thousands of deer hunters (and still an overpopulation of deer), but only about 300 duck licenses are sold annually. It's hard hunting, the absence of flat fields and water make it difficult to find a good place to hunt, and there's not a lot of big flyway action. But the absence of pressure makes it pretty good if you can find an area where waterfowl want to be. Goose hunting is more viable than ducks in most places. I'd never heard any sort of blind laws like that, that sounds like some shady legislature to me. Hopefully I can find some water in or around Craven co to hunt that's not already overcrowded, it doesn't need to be a duck Mecca, just bring in a few for a shot.

lots of swamps and rivers/streams all over the state that hold ducks. depending on how far you are from Hyde county, it can have good public water hunting and there are no blind laws. probably one of the best counties on the Atlantic flyway. not as much pressure in the western part of the county.
 
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