Let me start by saying I am not an "experienced" duck hunter. I started duck hunting about 6 years ago, and hunted several times that season with a friend, and a few times by myself. So I am not very knowledgeable about duck behavior. Due to working out of state, I have not duck hunted since then, and am wanting to start again with my son.

I went to a private lake I hunted in the past today, and it was loaded with ducks at around 11 am. Unfortunately after speaking with the owner it is leased and not available this year. Late this afternoon (5-6 pm) I scouted numerous smaller ponds in the area that I do have access to, and did not find any ducks. Question is did I wait too late in the day to scout, or are the ducks just not on the smaller ponds. Should they be there between 5-6 if they were there earlier in the day. Is there a better time of the day to scout. Should I try to throw out a few decoys on one of the ponds in the morning and see what happens, or just travel 1.5 hours to a bigger lake and take my chances there where I saw ducks flying yesterday?

Best time to Scout is from 7:30-11 am.

If I see birds on any of my spots anytime during the day they're almost always there the next morning. With that being said all tanks are different

Some ponds are for early morning drink only. Others are for feeding in the mornings. Others are for loathing in the afternoon. And last group are the ones used for roosting. And, I am sure I am missing one or two....

I do my best scouting during the split when the ducks aren't pressured. You will find out where the want to be. If you hunt public lakes, it is very easy to use your regular boat and binocs to scout at a distance.

I wish I had a drone to follow the roosting mallards that pile out of a 1/4 acre timber hole to wherever the hell they go to every morning

Scout the time of day that you plan on hunting, That'll give you the most accurate report. Just because they're there in the afternoon doesn't mean its a morning spot. and vise-versa.

x2

excellent advice

^