Okay, so possibly I used to be being only a little dense when my editor wrote and requested if I’d be curious about doing a bit titled ‘The Finest Late Season Duck Hunts.’ Self-explanatory, proper? Nicely, I wanted extra.
He responded: “Mainly, if I known as you final minute and was like… Hey! I must get in a single final good duck hunt this 12 months. The place ought to I am going?”
My response? Come January, there’s nonetheless a whole lot of wonderful duck looking, and much more nice goose looking, available. However, the very first thing you have to ask your self is, – Am I in search of amount? Or am I in quest of a so-called bucket record fowl (like a totally colored-up cinnamon teal, a drake surf scoter, or a good-looking black duck)?
Let’s check out a number of the finest duck hunts available because the 2025-26 waterfowl season winds down, preserving each choices – amount and high quality – in thoughts. I’m going to go only a bit heavy on the Pacific Flyway. That’s as a result of so most of the states right here provide a duck season lasting rattling close to or till the top of January, 2026. Give that some thought the subsequent time you’re planning an away-from-home, end-of-season duck hunt.
PACIFIC FLYWAY
The Columbia River for Bucket Record Birds
The Columbia River has all of it – sea geese within the estuary; tidally influenced divers; and puddle geese, together with Eurasian widgeon and lovely pintails. Additional upriver, there are back-bay mallards and widgeon. And whereas I received’t say there are canvasbacks to rival the Mississippi’s famed Pool 9, there’s loads of them whipping round too. You’ll even discover redheads and goldeneyes in case you work the waters of Kittitas County. What the Columbia doesn’t have is far in the way in which of walk-in or shoreline entry. There’s some, however not a ton. It is a boat hunt. You’ll want a dependable, massive boat with an skilled captain on the helm, for the Columbia is something however forgiving.
The Snake River for Mallards and Goldeneye
“Late season birds on the Snake are completely different than another ‘late season’ birds I’ve run into,” says Jordan Murdoch, nationwide gross sales supervisor for Rig ‘Em Proper, and an Idaho resident. “These birds appear to be much less pressured and extra keen to cooperate by way of working an expansion. It’s not unusual to search out teams of 500 to 1,000 mallards in a 100-yard stretch of river loafing mid-day or roosting in a single day. We’ve had tornadoes of geese in January, and it will possibly rival the Arkansas woods by way of pure mallard looking enjoyment.”
The Snake has motion for the diver freaks as effectively. “There are tons of frequent goldeneyes, with the potential for Barrows (goldeneye) as effectively, which is tremendous neat.”
The Nice Salt Lake for the Final Blended Bag
Canvasbacks. Redheads. Goldeneyes. Ruddy geese. A smorgasbord of puddlers, together with cinnamon teal. Canada geese. Snow geese. Tundra swans. It would sound too good to be true, however in case you’re in search of all or any of those birds, plus a number of the most spectacular drake northern shovelers on the planet, then head to Utah’s Nice Salt Lake. Acquired a buddy with an airboat? I’d extremely suggest doing the coffin blind hunt with 400 to 600 silhouettes on the flats. I’ve carried out it a handful of instances, and you’ll not be disillusioned. No airboat? You are able to do a conventional format hunt on Farmington Bay, concentrating on an all-drake seven-species day by day bag. After which there’s Ogden Bay, Howard Slough, and Salt Creek, if it’s a walk-in hunt you’re after.
Learn Subsequent: The place to Hunt Geese: 4 Underrated States for Freelance Waterfowlers
CENTRAL FLYWAY
Texas for Teal and Pintails
I like teal. All the time have. September blue-wings. December green-wings. Salt Lake cinnamons. However regardless of half a century of chasing teal geese, I’ve but to shoot a stunning fully-feathered drake blue-wing. I nonetheless dream of that purple head, jet-black invoice, and crescent moon.
In case you’re a teal lover like me, and wish to shoot them along with a lights out duck hunt, get with Steve Biggers, proprietor of Rocky Creek Retrievers in Texas. “We get a reverse migration over the last two weeks of January,” Biggers instructed me. “If somebody’s trying to shoot a trophy blue-wing, they should come again these final two weeks of the season. I name it Teal Season 2.0. These are Smithsonian (Museum) trophies. You may go to Mexico, however it’s simply simpler to come back to El Campo.”
Additionally price contemplating is Pintail Searching Membership simply to the north in Garwood, Texas. True to their identify, they put hunters on loads of winter pintails — together with teal, divers, spoonies, and cranes. Their guides and canine are wonderful, the lodge has a hunt membership vibe, and the gunning is phenomenal.
Haskell County, Texas for Speckle Stomach Geese
Haskell County, Texas, residence of Justin Hill and his Ranger Creek Goose, whose web site proclaims his county, together with neighboring Knox County, will winter roughly half 1,000,000 specklebellies and lesser Canadas. That’s quite a bit. “We actually began getting specks within the Nineties,” Hill instructed me. “Our (space of operations) is small, about 30 sq. miles, and we winter the overwhelming majority of the specks coming down from Alaska. There might be instances through the 12 months after we’ll have 125,000 specks proper right here.”
And when you’re having fun with that Texas hospitality, be certain that to pencil in an additional day for a crane hunt over decoys, which is one other of Hill’s specialties.
Beaver Dam, Mississippi for the Southern Mallard Expertise
Sure, sir. This one’s going to set you again just a bit bit, however for the worth you get to spend a pair days surrounded by the ghosts of the late 1800s, together with that of the legendary outdoorsman and author, Nash ‘De Shootinest Gent’man’ Buckingham. After all you’ll even be capturing mallard geese and a number of the most good-looking drake gadwall ever to grace a strap. Set amongst generations-old cypress, the brief boat trip to the blind is an expertise in and of itself. And as to your hosts, Mike Boyd and his son, Lamar, house owners of Beaver Dam Searching Providers, each are the very definition of the ‘southern gentleman.’
Stuttgart, Arkansas for a DIY Journey
Right here’s the plan, except you already stay inside a brief distance of Stuttgart. Persuade a pair buddies to take trip, hook up the boat, load the truck, replace your onX Maps subscription, and head to the 34,000-acre Bayou Meto WMA. Or the White River NWR (160,000 acres). Or the Cache River NWR (68,000 acres). That is conventional inexperienced timber mallard looking at its best, and given the correct situations, an entire lot of arduous work, and slightly luck, this might very effectively be a hunt to recollect. Providing his recommendation on Bayou Meto is Invoice Cooksey, four-time Tennessee State duck calling champion.
“Examine the hell out of maps and obtain them to an app that doesn’t require a cell sign to work,” he stated. “In case you’ve by no means been in flooded woods, you WILL get circled as a result of all of it seems the identical.”
Don’t count on to point out up as an out-of-stater and shoot limits out of the gate. There might be loads of native strain right here from locals who know the water a lot better than you. However in case you’re up for an inexpensive journey and a giant problem, you’ll discover it right here.
Ideas for Searching January Geese
Give attention to the disguise. You should disguise effectively to shoot late-season geese, it’s simply that easy. Step again and take an in-depth essential take a look at your disguise. An excessive amount of? Too little? Soften the straight strains by including a bit extra reed canary grass? Overhead cowl is essential; so, too, is the flexibility to sit down nonetheless. A buddy in Tennessee cuts two or 3 times the comb he’ll want for the season, tucking the surplus behind the blind to age; when, mid-season, he refreshes the disguise, the ‘new’ cowl blends completely. The small print matter.
Attempt micro-spreads. No, it’s not going to work for everybody in every single place, however because the season winds down, I begin working the smallest decoy spreads doable. I deal with looking the ‘X,’ and use life like fakes. Make investments the time scouting and slender that ‘X’ to the smallest space doable. A bend within the river. A puddle inside a puddle. Put your duck hunt underneath a microscope; that’s the place you wish to be. For decoys I’m packing six to eight Dave Smith Decoys’ Maxima Mallards anchored with EZ Dekes’ Texas Rigs. The DSDs look eerily actual, and the Texas rigs let me choose up and transfer rapidly, if want be.
Learn Subsequent: Finest Duck Decoys, Examined and Reviewed
Transfer when it’s a must to. Which brings me to flexibility. Keep in mind what I stated about placing the ‘X’ underneath a microscope? I do know it’s psychologically powerful to get arrange after which understand it’s a must to transfer. It’s a ache within the butt, I do know, however don’t hesitate to select up that small, simply relocated unfold, and transfer to the place the birds really wish to be.
Spend money on an Previous College jerk rig. Sure, digital gurglers, squirters, splashers, swimmers, and spinning wing decoys can be found; nevertheless, not all states enable their use. These old fashioned jerk rigs are authorized in every single place, they require no batteries, and so they at all times operate.
Use Smooth and Easy Calling. Day-after-day is completely different. Each duck is completely different. However for probably the most half, I discover that late season birds reply extra positively to minimalistic easy calling. No theatrics. No stage performances. Suppose ‘The Paralzyer’ by the late Phil Robertson, an elemental three-note run with the primary QUACK drawn out a bit. That, and dealing these January greenheads with the drake mallard’s unmistakable DWEEEEK sounded out on the late Buck Gardner’s 6-in-1 whistle. Watch how the birds react and base your calling on that.
Last Ideas
Duck season doesn’t must be over in December. In some locations, regardless of the coolness within the air, it’s simply getting downright sizzling. However many of the simple duck looking is gone now. Head in the correct route with the correct climate and a few luck, and also you’ll take pleasure in a shoot such as you dream about.
In some instances you’ll must pay an clothes shop a fairly penny to get in on the sport. In others, you’ll must pay in arduous work and days of scouting. However the alternatives are nonetheless on the market.
