Hole in ice hunt.

[WhitewaterDuck]

For all you serious duck hunters with more experience than I have....my pond went from few ducks because of shitty weather to frozen solid in two days. I've been scratching out some woodies and a few free heads on a creek, and I have a good group of Blacks in there again, but they are tough to get at. It's been above freezing for two days and rained all day yesterday, so I came to pond hoping for open hole. It's solid 2+" and snow covered! I busted out a hole as much as I could handle...and it's getting late. Hoping there are some flyway, flyby ducks that will give my blocks a look. Is this hole big enough, or am I just pissing in the wind while enjoying the beauty?

[Moonlight Hunter]

If everything else is frozen up, open water is always a good thing. Walk a semi-circle from the bank as far out as you can go. Once you have broken a wide perimeter, walk right down the middle of it. Push each ice sheet underneath or over top of the ice on either side, and you have an open hole without a bunch of slush.

[WhitewaterDuck]

[MolliesMaster]

Beat me to it with a picture.


Don't think that one will be big enough to bring in any real groups.

[WhitewaterDuck]

And will ducks fly in the snow? Silly ? I know, but damn if I know!

[WhitewaterDuck]

Yup. Hoping I can get a few small groups or pairs or singles to give it a glance. Pond is 8" of water and 1 foot of muck, so this is the most frustrating ice breaking I've ever done. It's thick as shit, but it breaks up in small chunks. Ducks usually hit here in groups of 6 or less. Figured it would be worth seeing what will happen vs ambushing the creek again. Enough big water open still for creeks to be thin on ducks still, but that's going to change in a hurry. Figured this was last chance to hunt this spot for the year and I'll be hitting the creeks for the next three weeks anyhow. I can sure see em cupping in in my mind though!

[Duck cutter]

regardless of whether or not you kill ducks, you have a beautiful view

[MolliesMaster]

I can sure see em cupping in in my mind though!

If I had a dollar for every time I've thought the same.

It might work, you won't know unless you stick it out. You could always chainsaw a few blocks out instead of busting it up and getting the slush.

[duckman88]

That hole is a little small but should be fine if the groups that come in are singles or pairs. I would try and get rid of as much of that chunk ice as possible. In the future try and but the ice in pieces as large as possible and slide them up under the ice around your hole. If you have the funds/interest you could also look into getting an ice eater but I figure you need to have a lot of ice and hunt a lot to justify that kind of purchase.

[codeman216]

It's worth a shot. Can't kill em on the couch so at least you are out there trying


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[scswamprat]

Blacks you say...

Have gun...will travel.
I also know how to Break ice.


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[mudflat]

Seen them run a boat motor all night long at Reelfoot to keep the hole open.

[Griffin]

Way too small and that chunk ice needs to go.

[skrimp]

Some of the best hunts I've had were when it's been snowing. The ducks get stupid.

[Griffin]

Some of the best hunts I've had were when it's been snowing. The ducks get stupid.

This. I shot mallards in a strong snow storm in Alaska. Only open hole for miles. You could do jumping jacks and they would still land in the decoys. I killed my 8 green heads and watched the show for hours. Partly for love of ducks and partly so I could see to drive home

[mello_collins]

take a rake with you to get most of the smaller chunks out

[Glenn]

take a rake with you to get most of the smaller chunks out

Yep. We used to use a hay fork too.

[Relentlous]

Looks miserable. The cold that is.

[WhitewaterDuck]

Rake...great idea. It's going to 5 tonight and will be single digits and highs not getting out of the lower 20s for 9 out of next ten days, so I won't be getting back to this pond again this year. I will have something set up, be it ice eater with deep cycle battery's or a 6 hp outboard added to the blind next year to keep this place open. If I had a decent hole I could have kept open, hunting there right now would make me look like a world champion caller! That said, it was simply a beautiful sit in the snow today. As for the black ducks, I only hunted 7 days last year, and the weather has sucked from beginning of last year through last week. So in those 7 days and through a handful of hunts this year, 12ish woodies have died; one bull sprig has died; 10 mallets have died; one gadwall died; and 5 black ducks have died! Thought it was a freak thing last year, but two weekends ago, my nephew folded the only duck to swing into the pond, and it was a big drake black which is currently sitting at Shane's awaiting his magic. I'm sending him 3 from last year as soon as I figure out how to tell Abby how much it's going to cost without her leaving me. I jumped those blacks off the creek Sunday am and thought "drake woodies" at first because they were so damn dark, and as they rose up and got sky behind them, it was obvious that it was a friggin gaggle of blacks...again! I don't understand why this pocket of them is here, but I'm not going to stress over it too much! Anyhoo...if this cold snap is enough to freeze up the three bodies of relatively big water that are close by and off limits to hunting, my creek spots will turn flat stooped ridiculous. I didn't have any access back in 13 during the "polar vortex" winter, but every bridge you drove over that had any semblance of a creek under it would give you a chubby. Ducks were flat packed and stacked in any decent sized area of flowing water. Since I've had some access, we've had Al Gore "I told you so" weather until now. Hope I can post up some carnage kill pics over the next week in the field report forum. Thanks for the replies and Ideas.

[Catdaddy]

Don't overlook afternoon hunting.

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