“ A big part of the history of duck
hunting is diver duck hunting. I worry that interest in diver ducks is diminishing. While it seems like there are all kinds of young hunters in the mix today, the diver duck crowd seems to dwindle each season.”
O
Waterfowl world
Jason Mitchell
We need more interest in diver ducks. Here’ s why.
One of the things I find most interesting in our outdoor world is how much duck hunting has changed. Field hunting ducks has become so popular. Today, duck hunting for many people involves enclosed, aluminum trailers, hundreds of full body decoys and spinning wing decoys. Of course there’ s a tradition of field hunting mallards, but that history doesn’ t seem as rich as water hunting.
When we were kids, we actually made goose decoys out of sheets of waste aluminum from printing presses by folding a cut out piece of aluminum into a cone. We also used tag board. We shot ducks over those decoys all the time.
Growing up in North Dakota, I didn’ t know anyone with a duck boat. Ducks were something that were shot while you hunted geese in the field. Some of my favorite memories of hunting ducks when I was a kid involved the wildlife management areas around Lake Audubon and Lake Sakakawea. There were
Bottom, huge numbers of fall bluebills traditional visitors in the fall at Devils Lake. Above, a pair of drake bluebills in their spring glory. At right, ringbill drakes, relatively uncommon in the Dakotas. Bill Mitzel photos.
food plots of standing crops left for wildlife. Late in the season when everything started to freeze over, mallards would pile into those little patches of standing wheat or barley. Of course, spinning wing decoys completely changed the game for field hunting ducks over the past 25 years.
Waterfowl hunting has such a rich history. From live decoys to sink boxes and punt guns, human beings have long been captivated by ducks and marshes. There’ s a passion that perhaps only a Lab would understand.
Duck hunting makes me nostalgic. I love to look at old pictures and hold old decoys in my hands. I realize mallards are king of the marsh and how some hunters will only target them, but I appreciate all ducks. The quintessential and classic duck hunt in my mind takes place on water with a strong wind blowing at your back, as you sat or stood on a point. Throw in a few big snowflakes and some ice on the decoys that bob in front of you, cattails or pencil reeds
Page 12, Dakota Country, September 2025 www. dakotacountrymagazine. com