Baiting NC Ducks

JONOV

Twelve Pointer
I apologize if this is a can of worms best left under the boat seats...

But, all over the web reading about NC duck hunting, people make comments about Golden acorns, little yellow decoys, or outright accusations of shooting corned ducks.

Is it sour grapes? Or really that common?

Everywhere I’ve lived before baiting was more or less unheard of. Illegal, but not at all common that it would cross anyone’s mind.
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Well in a state where baiting is so common it is on their mind. And quite frankly many don't know how to hunt without it when it is legal. As for migratory birds it happens in those states where it isn't mentioned, trust me.
 

ScottyB

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
It's kind of funny to go to the coast on a paid hunt and sit amongst 7 or 8 blinds and only about two of them have ducks flying right to them and the rest have 0 birds.......I'm not accusing anyone and have no idea that they were for sure corned but I have been in the sound around Davis a few times in recent years and have yet to pull the trigger on a duck......I will stick to the woodies in the creeks....I have no plans to ever bait a duck.....but I have been hunting creeks and ponds in Nc for a right long time and some of the rookie hunters on here that are turning out the birds they claim to be......does raise my eyebrow ....
 

darkthirty

Old Mossy Horns
For what it’s worth, I’d love to know how many pounds of corn is in reelfoot lake right now. I bet it’d blow your mind. So it’s not just a Carolina thing.
Heard stories about guys pulling up to combines with their boats on the trailers and having corn augered straight out of the combines till it fills up the boat. Broad daylight. I know guys that know about every hole on that lake and they’ll flat out tell you if you ever hunted with more than 2 or 3 different guides on reelfoot, there’s a dang good chance you hunted over bait and didn’t know it.
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
For what it’s worth, I’d love to know how many pounds of corn is in reelfoot lake right now. I bet it’d blow your mind. So it’s not just a Carolina thing.
Heard stories about guys pulling up to combines with their boats on the trailers and having corn augered straight out of the combines till it fills up the boat. Broad daylight. I know guys that know about every hole on that lake and they’ll flat out tell you if you ever hunted with more than 2 or 3 different guides on reelfoot, there’s a dang good chance you hunted over bait and didn’t know it.
The pros like milo, it isn't as easy to see from aircraft yet waterfowl love it. Years on the job proved that.

Corn shows up like a crapper in the fog unless the water is the consistency of chocolate milk from the air.
 

darkthirty

Old Mossy Horns
The pros like milo, it isn't as easy to see from aircraft yet waterfowl love it. Years on the job proved that.

Corn shows up like a crapper in the fog unless the water is the consistency of chocolate milk from the air.

These aint pros. Hahaha
But a buddy told me there were some guys who had a blind near the refuge and they’d go to a bakery and get truckloads of bread. They said it looked like foam from the air. FYI. Bread ain’t just for park ducks. Wild birds will eat the he!! out of it too..............
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
These aint pros. Hahaha
But a buddy told me there were some guys who had a blind near the refuge and they’d go to a bakery and get truckloads of bread. They said it looked like foam from the air. FYI. Bread ain’t just for park ducks. Wild birds will eat the he!! out of it too..............
Everything likes bread I guess. I get it from the bread thrift store. Goats will eat it to they look like they are gonna pop. Coons love it, if I have a dog that is a picky eater and won't put on weight I will give them white bread with their food and it will pile the weight on them just like it does me. I can only imagine ducks would, heck I know they do. When I had tame ones they used to snarf it when I would feed it to the fish in my pond.
 

Soilman

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I spoke with a game warden just last week at an educational field day for Beaufort County schools. We talked about that very subject. He said that once the weather turns cold, the water in the sound turns clear from an airplane. He said the whole bottom of the sound runs yellow. I commented that it really ticks me off that folks do that, then some law abiding hunter comes along and gets caught for something he wasn't aware of. The GW stated that they try to watch and catch the folks who are dong the baiting. Not sure I'd want to test his statement, though.
 

JONOV

Twelve Pointer
Well in a state where baiting is so common it is on their mind. And quite frankly many don't know how to hunt without it when it is legal. As for migratory birds it happens in those states where it isn't mentioned, trust me.
I believe it does, no doubt about it. But it doesn't seem to be an open secret, or as rampant.

I spoke with a game warden just last week at an educational field day for Beaufort County schools. We talked about that very subject. He said that once the weather turns cold, the water in the sound turns clear from an airplane. He said the whole bottom of the sound runs yellow. I commented that it really ticks me off that folks do that, then some law abiding hunter comes along and gets caught for something he wasn't aware of. The GW stated that they try to watch and catch the folks who are dong the baiting. Not sure I'd want to test his statement, though.

WOW...Although if someone were relying on guiding for income and clients that didn't want to know, the motivation would be strong to cut corners.

It's kind of funny to go to the coast on a paid hunt and sit amongst 7 or 8 blinds and only about two of them have ducks flying right to them and the rest have 0 birds.......I'm not accusing anyone and have no idea that they were for sure corned but I have been in the sound around Davis a few times in recent years and have yet to pull the trigger on a duck......I will stick to the woodies in the creeks....I have no plans to ever bait a duck.....but I have been hunting creeks and ponds in Nc for a right long time and some of the rookie hunters on here that are turning out the birds they claim to be......does raise my eyebrow ....
See, that's the thing...I haven't hunted ducks as much as some people here have, and I've hunted very little in North Carolina, but I'm not a rookie either. I have seen the phenomena you speak of elsewhere, where baiting isn't happening. I've hunted on the same small-ish lake with three or four groups of four guys, and one group limits out at 8:30, one gets halfway there, and the rest don't see much.

When I've seen the pictures of a rookie with a big old tailgate shot, typically I think "Daddy's access." Meaning, access to a nice impoundment, equipment, boat, etc...When I was in college there were two groups of guys that always did well. One had a trailer full of full bodies and family connections to the best hunting land, and the other a boat that allowed him to run up the Minnesota River in the dark and get out there where most people couldn't/wouldn't even with a john boat. It wasn't "fair," but it they weren't doing anything wrong either. I would scout and scout and scout and never get permission...he would scout and not even have to ask.
 

robertc

Eight Pointer
My ex-wife and I built a pond literally in our backyard. No hunting allowed on this pond, fishing only. We put out corn to feed the the pair domestic mallards. Spring of the year, the wood ducks would just fill up the pond along with mallards and geese. You couldn't keep corn in the water or around the edges. Being a duck hunter,I learned a lot watching their feeding and mating habits and enjoyed watching the woodie's off spring hatch. I can really see where corn would put Bird's at a blind location. The question is as always, is it worth the chance of getting caught and having your name plastered around as being an illegal Hunter? Not to mention the fine you going to have to pay.

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nchunt101

Ten Pointer
To be clear I do not bait ducks-- not worth the ticket and hassle. That said the person who taught me to hunt and fish was from Hyde county and bating ducks was in his blood. He could kill just as many legally but baiting was in his blood. The same thing goes with a lot of folks I know down east in Carteret County. I don't know if this is the result of the cut throat attitude they have about duck huntin or the kiss my :donk:donk:donk attitude that is so commons down east. I know part of it is family tradition---most of them had market gunners for grandfathers/great grandfathers.
 
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Quackman

Twelve Pointer
Baiting duck is just part on NC tradition. Those with impoundments are allowed to do it legally. I don't care what anyone says hunting an impound is a baited field.
I love hunting my buddies impounds but realistically we are just hunting a baited field. The regs say normal agricultural practices but I dont know many farmers that flood corn or beans for the hell of it.
 

Downeast

Twelve Pointer
If you hunt the coast, especially with a guide, you are hunting over the influence of bait. It's just good business. It is so blatant that you don't even need to brush or even dull the new plywood on the blinds. But I wouldn't worry to much about it. Enforcement by the state is almost nonexistent. Sadly, our GW's are just not set up to seriously work illegal baiting downeast. With their flashy trucks, boats and uniforms and restrictions on hours and mileage by the time they get on the road every outlaw and renegade is on the phone telling the world where they are. Oh sure, they catch a few dummies with no plug, no stamp, or shooting a little late every year, but the big boys with the corn keep right on hunting. Sorry, but that's just the way it is.
 

Jlewis74

Old Mossy Horns
I am sure this is not true. but a good ol boy from down east who worked at a boat dealership who serviced the local GW boat, decided he was going to be smart and use the GW boat to go bait his favorite spot. Figured no one would ever notice if he was in that boat. All was fine until he got to the ramp to launch and the GW was there with his coworker in another boat and his was loaded with corn. Like I said, I am sure its not true but could see it happen.
 

brucesmith0817

Six Pointer
I duck hunt a little after deer season to have something to do like all the others duck hunting a rich man sport I got a swamp close to where I deer hunt an they have got to have loads of corn in it there wore them out this morning I got a 25 acre lake in front of one of my tree stands an a small beaver swamp at the head of it didn't see a duck this morning an they must have shot 50 to 60 times this morning mostly before legal shooting time .I m not real smart but I would bet my last dollar it's full of corn they been shooting it for years

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nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I duck hunt a little after deer season to have something to do like all the others duck hunting a rich man sport I got a swamp close to where I deer hunt an they have got to have loads of corn in it there wore them out this morning I got a 25 acre lake in front of one of my tree stands an a small beaver swamp at the head of it didn't see a duck this morning an they must have shot 50 to 60 times this morning mostly before legal shooting time .I m not real smart but I would bet my last dollar it's full of corn they been shooting it for years

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk
A good rule of thumb is if one place is shooting inordinately more than surrounding areas that are basically the same you can count on something being fishy. Waterfowl, doves it doesn't matter.
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Purina look on the ingredients, the first thing listed will be ground whole yellow corn. Yet it is the #1 seller people are dumb enough to feed to their dog.
 
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bryguy

Old Mossy Horns
not saying how I know, but corn soaked in molasses turns brown and disappears on the bottom of the sound behind Ocracoke. The stories of baiting down east are legendary. My family is from down around Aurora and some of the stories I heard as a small child.........
 

shurshot

Ten Pointer
Being able to see bait from the air certainly has it’s advantages from an enforcement standpoint but what they tend to look for is the large, packed in concentrations of birds feeding like it’s their last meal. It’s not hard to spot. Doesn’t matter if baits visible or not to the LEO, the birds are the real tell-tell sign.
 
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