Headed out to the NH salt marsh this am in a pretty thick fog. I dodearly love stomping around the marshes in pre-dawn, and the pea soup made it even more fun. Just carefully mind your step. After about a 10 minute walk to the main creek, I heard some birds just downstream
and began seeing some birds flicking through the air. Two mintues to go, read the watch. I walked away from the creek, up along parallel
to the creek, and back to the creek at a crouch. I wound up strolling right into the living room of 4 black ducks. They got up
noisily, and I swatted one back down. The flash at the muzzle was pretty impressive in the low light. I got out my telescoping rod and surface plug, and retrieved the bird, filling my black duck limit. I then went home to climb back into bed with my wife with a smile. I could have stayed to fool around and look for some greenwings, but as I had to work, called it a morning. From out of bed to back into bed, 50 minutes had passed. Convenient for my addiction to be able to get in a quick fix inside an hour, for sure. Anyway, good fun, that.

It's not everyone's cup of tea, but I do dearly love jumping ducks, especially in the marsh. Calling birds into the blocks is especially satisfying, but to me there is something deliciously eerie and exciting about stalking about a salty bog in the dark with a 12 bore, murder on your mind. Add in the lights of the nuke in the distance, and it can get really surreal...

Anyone else enjoy jumpshooting as an aside to calling/decoying birds?

Just go down the river in a canoe or kayak or through a marsh and get your birds.

Kamo Gari:

There was a beaver pond that mallards used located on the edge of woods when I was a boy. (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth) I would sneak through the woods, crawl on my belly about a hundred feet or so on coming out of the woods, jump up as the ducks in the air inevitably would spot me and sound a warning. I always fired at the rising ducks on the pond and never at the ducks overhead. (I guess I was just programmed like a lioness concentrating on one animal out of the herd) Sometimes I got a bonus after the quick first shot and had a confused duck fly back over me. If I dropped it, it often fell in the woods behind me and my English cocker (who sat in the woods) would get them. Very rarely a bird fell in the pond itself and he got them too.(Ironically, I never tried to use him for grouse hunting) I also would jump mallards by walking along a brook and that was as challenging a piece of wingshooting as I have ever experienced (with the exception of ruffed grouse) More often than not the bird went up with brush between it and me or that the bird simply was so quick on the jump off the water that by the time I had the shotgun up, it was heading for safer parts!

I admire the fortitude of guys who sit in a blind and call in ducks. Me, I preferred to move around. In fact, ducks in general are not for civilized people to hunt. I prefer a bird who likes to get up at a civilized hour (the sun at least a quarter above the horizon), likes dry feet and never goes out when it's raining, sleeting or snowing. In short, I refer to the king of gamebirds, the ruffed grouse! No arguments, please. Gentlemen do not argue about such sacred things.

Not really a fan of it, BUT if I'm getting to a pond late I'll drop my decoys and sneak in and jump it, then go back for my gear and call 'em in the rest of the hunt.

For a real jump shoot try ducks feeding on left over grain on a hillside.I have bellied snuck close enough that I have had ducks behind me. When they seem ready to rise wait for them to jump and spread their wings and then have at them. Shoot for a few seconds and pluck for hours.

Kamo

We have a "Duck Pond" on our deer lease.
If ducks are around if you get there before day light, you can get them at the crack of dawn as they fly in.

However many times I am hunting deer or pigs, so I go by around 10am and "jump" them.

Also a river is the southern boundary of our lease. There are several places you can sneak up and "jump" the ducks.

It is loads of fun, and I love doing it.

Also my wife and I really like to eat ducks.

I most always hunt them with a drilling... just in case I see a big deer or a wild pig.