Diver Duck Hunting

When it comes to duck hunting perhaps there is no greater thrill than that of a flock of divers blazing across the blocks as you try to keep up with their feverish pace.  It isn't easy shooting, that is for sure, what with the strong winds, wavy waters and quick flight that diver duck hunting normally entails.  That doesn't mean that you should be distraught and skip it entirely.  There are scores of duck hunters that live for this exact hunting style and long for the strong northwest winds that accompany divers on their migration south.

When we talk about diver duck hunting we are talking about hunting a very specific species of ducks that have very specific ways in which they relate to water, food and the like.  For this reason it is important that we take these into consideration when we decide what sort of a duck decoy spread we want to place out and where we would like to set up our duck blinds.  Diving ducks have their feet set very far back on their bodies which enable them to dive to impressive depths in search of food.  It is this exact same feature that makes it so hard for them to start flying from sitting on the water.  While a puddle duck will simply spring off the water and into flight, a diving duck needs to get a long start, almost running on the water in order to gain altitude.  This is one of the many reasons that they are often seen out in the open water, which allows them to get out and about without much trouble.

It is a good idea to know what we refer to when we are talking about diving ducks.  If we turn to Wikipedia we see the following as a list of species within the diving duck family(among others):

Canvasback
Great Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Redhead
Ring Neck Duck

I would add a few to this list and include bufflehead, goldeneye, and the ruddy duck.  Of course there are the great list of sea ducks as well which include such beautiful birds as the spectacled eider and harlequin, but for this article I'll assume we mean freshwater waterfowl.  As can be seen the list is still pretty diverse.  That doesn't mean that your tactics need to be crazy diverse, however.

Where to place your duck blind while out diver duck hunting

When it comes to divers you should almost always target the center of the lake.  You want to be as far out in the middle of the lake as you can possibly be.  For this reason a common location that people target for their duck blinds are long points and reed islands.  This of course assumes you can hunt in a layout boat, where you quite literally are in the middle of the water.  If on a point try to be as far out on that point as is possible.  Divers often make a beeline for the very tip when they make their approaches.

What duck decoy spread should I use when targeting divers?

When targeting diver ducks the classic "J" pattern is a staple.  It is for great reason, the spread flat out works.  If you have a chance I would start here with your spread.  Test other patterns as you get more savvy.  The key thing to remember with the "J" pattern is that you want the lion's share of your decoys (think 75% or so) to be in a large group at the bottom of the "J".  The long line that is the tail of the "J" you want to be sporadically spaced out for a long ways to increase visibility and give them a line to fly down.  Putting your furthest decoy out 75 to 100 yards is not unheard of for divers (you would be remiss from doing this targeting puddlers, however).

So pack up your canvasback decoys and head out to your favorite large body of water.  Hunting diving ducks is fun and addicting.  If you doubt me, find an old codger that still gets up way too early in the morning to chase them and look at the glee in his eyes as he recounts the tales of great diver hunts from years gone by.  And you don't even need your duck calls to have a successful hunt!  I would suggest bringing a fair amount of duck decoys, however!