No Mallards, No Problem: Early-Season Ducks on a Forgotten Pond

No Mallards, No Problem: Early-Season Ducks on a Forgotten Pond

Some hunts come with sky-blacked mallards and geese that shake the treeline. Others come with mosquitoes, teal buzzing like bottle rockets, and a shotgun slick with pond muck. The latter don’t make the magazines—but they’re the ones I remember. This was one of those hunts. A tucked-away cow pond. A pair of spinners. An opening weekend that came and went without limits—but delivered a memory I’d never trade.

🗺️ The Spot: Forgotten Water with Fresh Feathers

It was an old cattle pond, maybe 40 yards across. Hidden by scrub and barbed wire in a patch of marginal ground the local farmers had long ignored. We’d scouted it in August. Watched teal drop in like rain for three mornings straight.

It wasn’t public. It wasn’t posted. Just permission from a handshake and a promise to shut the gate.

🌅 The Hunt: Low Light, Low Expectations, High Reward

We set two spinners in the shallows and a loose pod of teal decoys in a shallow curve. No blinds—just camo and a stand of wild sunflower for cover.

Legal light hit, and for 15 minutes, nothing moved.

Then they came. Fast. Low. Bluewings and greenwings, slicing over the treetops in tight formations. We missed a lot. Hit a few. Smiled like fools after every pass.

“It wasn’t about bag limits. It was about being there when the sky cracked open.”

💥 The Birds We Took, and the Ones That Got Away

We scratched five ducks between two of us. All teal. All taken under 30 yards. One shot apiece on the first two, then a double that surprised even us. The fifth? A lucky trailing bird that circled back and paid the price.

We lost two. Marsh grass too thick, dog too green, shooting a little rusty.

Still, every bird felt like gold.

🧠 Lessons from the Low-Pressure Water

• Scout overlooked water – Forget the big lakes and big blinds. Hit the maps, and glass hidden water

• Teal love sun and wind – Even a 5mph breeze made our decoys dance

• Spinners work magic in early season – Especially on birds that haven’t seen pressure

• Sit still. Real still. – You get one pass. Maybe two. Movement costs birds

• Don’t wait for mallards to feel like a duck hunter – Teal will teach you more, faster

“It’s not the birds you hit that make you a better hunter. It’s the ones that blow past untouched.”

🧢 What Worked in the Weeds

We packed out before 8:30AM. Five birds. Coffee still hot. Tired dog. Smiling faces.

The pond didn’t make the map. The hunt didn’t make a limit. But it made my season.

“Some water is sacred not because of what it holds—but because of what it gives back.”

Find your pond. Earn your birds. And never overlook the humble hunt.