Pothole Puddle Ducks

Ducks and duck hunting are divided into two separate categories. First let's look at the ducks. There are two types of ducks that frequent our air and waterways each fall. There are puddle ducks and there are divers. Puddle ducks like shallow marshes and creeks, while divers prefer larger, deeper and more open waters. Puddle ducks are typically birds of fresh, shallow marshes and rivers rather than of large lakes and bays.

It is logical that these two types of ducks would prefer different types of habitat to use on a regular basis. Divers like open water. That does not mean you will not shoot puddle ducks in open water, even though they prefer small, more secluded pockets of flooded timber.

It is the puddle duck's preference for shallow, flooded areas of timber that caused the pothole to become such a popular duck hunting spot. A pothole is an open area of water, usually only a couple of acres that is in or at least partially surrounded by brush or trees. Puddle ducks love places like this to rest and feed. Some of my finest duck hunts have been while shooting potholes.

Plans For The Opener

The plan for opening weekend of duck season was set. John Caldwell, at The Break had almost a dozen client hunters coming in for the first day. There would have to be quite a few limits filled before we could hunt, so we both decided we would just guide on Saturday and hunt together on Sunday, after most of the hunters had headed home.

Saturday was pretty slow for everyone. They got some shooting and a few ducks, but a five-duck limit was hard to find. John and I decided that we would try a pothole that laid beside a cornfield on the second morning. Earlier in the week, while he was setting decoys in front of the potholes only blind, he had seen Mallards and Canada Geese using the spot. We were hopeful for a good shoot.

We motored to the blind well before daylight. Even then Woodies and Mallards could both be heard overhead. There was not much wind and the temperature was around 40. These were not ideal waterfowl conditions, but this time of year you take what you can get. Because the blind did not yet have a dog ramp installed, we had no retriever with us. John would do our fetching with the boat. We were set about 20 minutes before shooting time.

Wood Duck Squeals

Wood Duck squeals rang through the timber on the east side of the pothole, which is lined by several acres of big hardwoods. The west side is many hundreds of acres of corn. South of the blind is a flooded marsh that extends almost to the Mississippi River. The water depth in the pothole is about four feet and the blind faces the north.

The blind itself has an almost flawless design. All of John's blinds on The Break are great, but this one's my favorite. The blind has a small porch that runs along the back and both sides. This makes getting out of the boat, into the blind and vice-versa, very easy. The boat slip is covered and camouflaged with willows, as is the blind itself.

The inside layout is great, too. It is big enough for four hunters and is equipped with propane heat. There are shelves for gear and shells and notches for guns. This keeps them ready, but safe. Much thought and work went into this blind. It is quite obvious that duck hunters built it.

A Nice Spread

Several dozen duck decoys and a bunch of Canada floaters surround the blind. As you put together a blind and decoy spread, you never really know what the birds can see from their angle. Your assumption is if they come in close enough to shoot, it must be OK. On that day I am sure it looked good.

Our first customer of the day was a Woodie. That was predictable. He zipped by the decoys on my side. Take 'em! John shouted. I did, but it took two shots. I was not unhappy about that though. Many times I have missed the first duck of the year completely. With no wind, we just let the duck lay. We would go out and pick it up when we had a few more down. Our next volley was Green Wing Teal.

We were both sitting when three teal flew low and directly over the blind. They were flying north, away from us. We both hit our calls at exactly the same time. The teal turned like they had hit a brick wall. Their quick 180 was now bringing them back right at us and six feet off the water.

Green Wing Projectiles

As the three Green Wing projectiles arrived at the outer edge of our blocks, we both stood and fired. There was no talking. No one said, Shoot! or Take 'em! We both simply stood at the same second and both fired two shots. Splash, splash, splash, is what we heard next. All three teal went down hard.

Now ducks could be seen flying in virtually every direction. We saw flocks of divers out over the river. Most of the ducks interested in the pothole were understandably puddle ducks. Mallards were working our decoys now. There were about one-half-dozen birds, three of which were drakes. John and I were both doing close-in calling with our Lohman duck calls.

As the small flock banked around the west end of the blind, their wings were set. Their glide path brought them to within 20 yards of the front of the blind. All three greenheads splashed after the shooting. With seven ducks on the water, John decided to collect them. We certainly did not want to misplace a harvested duck. He was back in the blind in a matter of minutes.

Our next excitement came when another Green Wing Teal buzzed the blind on John's side. Again our calls turned the speedy little duck and he flew straight back to meet John's steel. That teal gave John his five-duck limit. Two Mallard drakes and three teal are not too bad. We were both pleased, but I still had two ducks to go.

A Flock Of Teal

Earlier that morning I had seen a flock of about 30 teal west of the blind over the corn. John had not seen them and gave me continuous grief about making up the sighting. As the flock of at least 30 Blue Wing Teal blasted over our decoys, his tone changed. Call! Call! he said. We both hit comeback calls and the flock of blue-winged bottle rockets turned on a dime. As they made their pass, I dropped the lead bird.

Good shot! John yelled. But why did you stop? You still need one bird. The answer was easy. The teal were knotted-up so tight, the chance of killing more than one bird with my second shot was very high. I did not want to take that chance. Besides, I said. I want to end the day with a greenhead. I did not have to wait long.

A lone Mallard hen examined the decoys, set her wings and glided in. As she landed just in front of the blind, my gun was still in the rack. Good boy, I heard John say softly. I knew he was grinning. I continued to call as the Suzie swam among our blocks. What a set-up!

Mallards Dropping Like Rocks

I just caught a glimpse of the flock as they circled the blind. It was 20 mallards, and maybe more, but they were behind me. I readied my gun as John handled the calling, expertly. His Model 400 ST was truly sweet and Mallards began dropping from the sky like rocks into our blocks.

I got on the first duck in. It was brown. I swung to another. It was brown, too. I swung to a third duck. Brown! They're all hens! I remember saying out loud. I lowered my gun to get a better look at the whole flock. There were several ducks already down before I could positively identify a drake. One shot and the morning ended with a very close. splash.

I looked at my watch. It was 8:30 a.m. We managed two limits of puddle ducks in about 1-1/2 hours. Four Mallards, five teal and a woodie. It was the truest definition of pothole puddle ducks.