Ok I know it's tradition to duck hunt in the mourning but I was wondering if anyone has ever had any luck hunting the evening on big public reservoirs?

Ok I know it's tradition to duck hunt in the mourning but I was wondering if anyone has ever had any luck hunting the evening on big public reservoirs?

For Teal...Often. Some of my best teal hunts are in the late afternoon. Morning or evening I am still hunting the same water for teal. Regular big Duck season roost theory does not apply.

Here is the deal. The pattern of ducks for the most part is that ducks have a place they roost at night, and a place where they feed during morning, and most of the time they will hang in that same spot all day. So most of the time, ducks sleep all night in spot A, then at first light they head to spot B and they stay there all day till sunset and they fly to spot A to roost.

So, lets say you got a spot were ducks like to be all day, and say that spot is holding 100 ducks. If you get there in the afternoon you are just going to scare all 100 ducks off. And x% of those ducks will not come back. But if you get there early morning, shoot the first 4 ducks that come in to feed, and get out of there with your limit, then when the other 96 ducks come they will land and that hole will be good for next morning. In addition, with 96 ducks on the hole, it will attract new ducks during the day and 96 could grow to say 115 ducks..

In addition, as said, ducks do most their flying in the morning, and when they find a spot they like, they will hang there all day unless they are disturbed. So morning is best because 1) ducks fly more in the morning and 2) less chance of messing up a feeding spot.

The fastest way to blow ducks out of an area is to hunt them in the evening. Sure, lakes are large but with pressure in the morning combined with pressure in the evening, they will not stick around long.

I would not say it does not apply at all. I say it does apply, but does not apply as much.

What in the hell are you talking about? Does it apply or not??

Guy ... does your initial response apply to big ducks Nov - Jan also? It's not been my experience.

So if you have water that is a roost and teal are going to move any way do you hunt the roost?

Here is the deal. The pattern of ducks for the most part is that ducks have a place they roost at night, and a place where they feed during morning, and most of the time they will hang in that same spot all day. So most of the time, ducks sleep all night in spot A, then at first light they head to spot B and they stay there all day till sunset and they fly to spot A to roost.

So, lets say you got a spot were ducks like to be all day, and say that spot is holding 100 ducks. If you get there in the afternoon you are just going to scare all 100 ducks off. And x% of those ducks will not come back. But if you get there early morning, shoot the first 4 ducks that come in to feed, and get out of there with your limit, then when the other 96 ducks come they will land and that hole will be good for next morning. In addition, with 96 ducks on the hole, it will attract new ducks during the day and 96 could grow to say 115 ducks..

In addition, as said, ducks do most their flying in the morning, and when they find a spot they like, they will hang there all day unless they are disturbed. So morning is best because 1) ducks fly more in the morning and 2) less chance of messing up a feeding spot.

It seems to me this approach is more applicable to private hunting than for big public reservoirs. If you hunt the same public spot repeatedly this is probably pretty sound logic but there is an underlying assumption that you can control when a given spot is hunted. I think hunting ducks in the morning is the best time but not the only time. If you can get in the pattern you can decoy ducks late afternoon to early evening without shooting them off the roost. JMO.