sea ducks are some of the hardiest creatures I've seen

[mazzgolf]

This season is the first time I've gone out on the ocean going after sea ducks. Now that I've been on several sea duck hunts, I have to say sea ducks are some of the hardiest animals out there. Very few times have I seen a sea duck go down and fold on a single shot. Granted, this has something to do with the distances of the shots - we're shooting 30 or 40 yards most times (hunting out of a Duck Water, so we aren't close to the decoys like you would be if hunting from a layout boat). Many have needed follow-up shots. Sometimes you end up playing wack-a-mole as they continue to swim and dive trying to get away. You can almost hear them say, "BaZINGA!" when they see you, dive, and popup 50 yards away (for those that watch the Big Bang Theory, you'd get that. lol)

Check this one out. This bird takes one on the rear (from my buddy who was sitting on my right) -- takes another shot to get it to fold.

Anyway, sea ducks are very fun to hunt. Just make sure you bring a lot of ammo

 

 

[jerseyhunter]

About how far out are you?

[gregtpal]

I never went for them but my buddies tell me to use large shot sizes like 2 & 4 and bring way more ammo than you think reasonable (3 boxes & maybe another box for your buddy who didn't bring enough)

[mazzgolf]

1 hour ago, jerseyhunter said:

About how far out are you?

Something like a mile out. I never looked at the GPS, so don't know exactly - but it's about a mile give or take. My buddy just drives the boat out and where ever we see the birds flying, we stop and set up the dekes.

39 minutes ago, gregtpal said:

and bring way more ammo than you think reasonable (3 boxes & maybe another box for your buddy who didn't bring enough)

I've never gone through as much ammo as I have on these sea duck hunts. If you are where the birds are, you will easily shoot 1 or 2 boxes - I can see someone having to dip into a third box depending on how good (or not) you are and how many birds are flying  

[SPEARFISH]

SOunds fun.  Never tried

[TroutandBucks]

Its my favorite duck hunting a great time 

[tpr1921]

I agree, as they were the hardest duck for me to totally knock-out.

[vdep217]

Set your decoys closer to the boat you don't have to set them that far out.  Also I know it's mire expensive but use heavy steel or tungsten and you will see better results 

[Trophy8]

Good stuff. Use 2's or bb.

[Brett523]

I have been saying this about buffleheads all season and people can’t believe me when they see a tiny little duck and I tell them it takes multiple shots with a 12ga sometimes to finish them!

[mazzgolf]

38 minutes ago, Brett523 said:

I have been saying this about buffleheads all season and people can’t believe me when they see a tiny little duck and I tell them it takes multiple shots with a 12ga sometimes to finish them!

True dat! We've been seeing that also this year with the buffleheads when hunting the bays. They are amazing! You'd never believe it until you saw it.

[Integracingsr]

What’s the camera setup you’re using for that video?

[mazzgolf]

3 hours ago, Integracingsr said:

What’s the camera setup you’re using for that video?

ShotKam... I have the gen3 model --> https://shotkam.com/products/shotkam

Edited January 13, 2023 by mazzgolf