Ice and Duck Hunting

[cat_IT_guy]

Alright, so a little background.... Im an admittedly novice duck hunter, but Im really enjoying my first season. I hunt a flooded field, about 2-3 feet deep water. The blind is maybe 50 yards from dry ground.

Well it has been pretty cold around here for the better part of the last week, so I knew to expect some ice, but figured it would be thin enough that I could break it pretty easy with just my body weight. Wrong! I arrived early this morning to find what I estimate at 2-3" of ice. I was able to break a little by the edge, but after spending 20mins and working up a sweat to break 5 feet, I knew my hunting plans for the day werent going to work out. As I was by myself, and it was about 15 degrees with a windchill around 0, I wasnt about to take any chances.

So on to the question.... what do my fellow High Roaders do about ice on the pond while duck hunting? The best option sounded like one of those electric motors that keeps the water moving all the time, but thats not an option since the pond is a good 600 yards from the nearest electric. A quick search turned up the following options - chainsaw with veggie or no oil (to prevent slick on the water) or sledgehammer. Chainsaw sounds like it would be fastest, but a lot more inherent risk than sledgehammer. What do you all do?

 

[MtnCreek]

What do you all do?

Wait for your ponds to ice over so the ducks come down here.

 

[Gunnerboy]

I carry an axe when its icy, cut my trail to the blind cut 2 small 12-18' pond openings and toss 2 or 3 decoys in each than around noon go home with my limit.

 

[Patocazador]

If you can't bust the ice, put a piece of visqueen out on the ice and prop your decoys up on it. It looks like open water from way up.

 

[birdshooter]

Take a five gallon bucket and push it down in front of you to break the ice as you walk the perimeter of your hole. Once you get this broken, push the big sheets of ice underneath the ice around your hole. It is a lot of work but can be productive if there are still ducks in the area. Don't go out real early because the ducks likely won't fly until late morning or mid day.

If the ducks in your area have moved on. Don't waste your time. Trust me.

 

[JC98]

We use an ice eater or a 4 wheeler to bust ice. Sounds like your water is too deep for a atv. Is a generator to run the ice eater an option? If not using a hammer or saw every morning is a lot of work.

 

[WayBeau]

When there's that much ice, I've found that ducks will go to even the smallest patch of open water (20'+). If you can get your hands on one or two, throw a couple of motion decoys in there. They'll keep the surface of the water moving enough that the ice won't form as quickly. You may have to go out once or twice to break up a skim layer of ice, but that shouldn't take you too long.

Be glad you're not hunting on moving water. Nothing like trying to get your decoys back when they're snatched up by a rogue sheet of ice floating down the river.