thinking about tryin some bay duck hunting. What is the deal with public hunting on bays for ducks? is it hunt anywhere you find? or like get permits ahead of time. also what are the preferable spots for ducks like redheads and bluebills in the bays? and whats the amount of decoys that should be used?

not sure if you need the APH permit but do be careful about not stepping out of the boat onto land, as much of it is private, and you can be prosecuted for retrieving birds from even the shore as well as sending dogs up to get birds too. Just a pretty fine line here to walk. depending on the body of water i.e. bay need plenty of decoys; back lack or marsh smaller size spread. just make sure to have enough to get the attention of any ducks passing by.

If you are new to that type of hunting, to stay out of trouble, you pretty much need to talk to the game warden in your area due to the varied rules, regulations, and unwritten etiquettes depending on where you are.

As RJH said, I think very large spreads of decoys is the norm for diver hunting the bays.

The bay has changed just like everything else. There are places inundated with water that are still privately owned. You can get in a boat load of trouble not knowing where to go. Contact local authorities and begin from there, or pm me where your going and if it is the lower coast I can give some pointers.

Where are you talking about hunting?

We average 12 dozen decoys minimum on the bay we hunt to remain nameless.

Good luck.

You mentioned bluebills.. Are these good to eat? The guy that taught me to duck hunt told me they were trash birds.

Blue bills are good in gumbo. If you season anything enough it can taste ok, but if you think you are just gonna throw one on the grill and serve it up...


I think that bay ducks generally taste a lot worse than most ducks you shoot away from the coast. The coastal diet is nasty.