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Waterfowl hunters are birds of a different feather.
Rising long before the sun hints at making a rosy appearance to slog around in muck fit for a water buffalo while hauling around a gaggle of decoys in often less than stellar conditions may seem bird-brained to the average human. But for the average waterfowler, there's no place they'd rather be than right in the thick of it, patiently scanning for bright plumage and cautiously listening for whistling wings this time of year.
I still have yet to meet a casual waterfowl hunter. Perhaps they exist somewhere, but for the next couple of months, the guys and gals you might happen upon in any form of duck blind think it's downright daffy to not be in their favorite hunting spot when the birds are humming along -- no matter the weather. And though the crafty veteran duck hunter may be able to instinctively look at a small group of birds floating on the horizon and declare them to be wigeons or gadwalls without hesitation, properly identifying these birds can be tricky. The novice duck hunter, even one who has been in the blind for a couple of seasons, may not be able to decipher right away what type of waterfowl is loafing toward them until they make a pass over the decoy spread.
This season, Texas remains in the Hunter's Choice Bag Limit, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service program aimed at protecting certain species from overharvesting, while keeping open opportunities available for burgeoning ones. Under the regulations, hunters are allowed to harvest five ducks, no more than two of which may be scaups, redheads or wood ducks. There also is an aggregate bag of which hunters may only take one pintail, hen mallard, canvasback or dusky duck. The long and short of it is hunters must know without a doubt what variety of duck they're pointing a shotgun at before they squeeze the trigger.
With this in mind, here's a quick look at some ways to distinguish one duck from another as the season passes into December.
* Plumage: The fall and winter plumage of ducks is more brilliant than at other times of the year, which can work to the advantage of hunters. Birds that have shed dull feathers for brighter ones this time of year are easier to spot and correctly identify, and males boast more striking colorations than females. Some ducks sport colored heads, which can ease the identification process greatly. Mallards also are known as greenheads and they along with redheads are the easiest ducks to classify based solely on their front features.
* Size: Teal are the smallest ducks hunters in Texas to see and though the early season was in September, there might still be some cruising around. Though most ducks are similar in girth, some species are slightly larger than others. For example, a canvasback drake and a redhead drake may have somewhat similar coloration, but a canvasback is larger, which could help distinguish a difference.
* Flight patterns: Some ducks such as mallards and pintails fly in looser formations while teal and others tend to fly in tighter bunches. Other ducks such as wigeons seem to be more nervous in flight than some ducks while mergansers tend to fly lower to water than some of their counterparts. There's no hard and fast rule to flock size, but with practice you'll be able to pick out certain nuances that would give away what type of bird you were looking at.
* Silhouette: Not all ducks are built the same, which again is an advantage. For example, pintails have a more pronounced set of tail feathers than a mallard does while shovelers have a more pronounced bill than other ducks. As with the other factors, practice is the best way to get good at correctly calling waterfowl based on their shape.
* Noise: Not all ducks simply quack like you would think. Some such as canvasbacks and mergansers may make almost a croaking noise while the different species of teal and pintail offer up whistling peeps. The sounds of waterfowls' wings in flight also have distinct rhythms. One example would be the canvasback's rapid, noisy flying as the fastest of ducks.
Waterfowl hunting is not always the easiest of pursuits but the good days really are great and the slow days aren't really all that bad, and with more time in the field will come better results when it comes to identifying ducks up close and far away. There's still plenty of time to brush up on your skills after you've brushed up your blind.
Will Leschper's e-mail address is wleschper@yahoo.com.
