Competing with rafted coots???

[Jackson]

In the last decade hydrilla has taken over our lakes. It's great for the fishing and has attracted more and more waterfowl each year. However, the aquatic weed seems to grow in huge mats out in the middle of the 8-10 foot deep flats of the lake. Competing with the thousands upon thousands of coots with a hundred or so decoys has proven impossible. We've tried everything short of sink blinds which are now illegal. Our latest attempt to solve this problem is the Avery Quick-set blind. Has anyone else come across this same dilemma and if so, what are you doing to hunt those birds rafted out in the middle?

[Rusty Hallock]

I am an avid diver hunter on the Chesapeake Bay. The best way to hunt the rafted birds is to scout the birds and set up in that spot. I have a 19' Lowe jon boat with an Avery Quick Set. The birds I hunt will spend a lazy day in a river where they can't be hunted. At the end of the day, the birds will raft up on big water to spend the night. I set up with strings of divers and wait. I normally have very good shooting the last 45 minutes of shooting. You already have taken the first step by purchasing a Quick Set Blind. The second step is to find the rafted birds and then determine what time of the day they will be gathering. All you have to do is be ready when they arrive. Good Luck - TINY'S TWO CENTS

[Jackson]

Thanks Tiny. Interestingly enough, puddle ducks do the same thing on our lake. They all hang out together... and that's usually wherever the coots have been pushed to. They stay out there all day long. If they get up, they go about a mile down the lake and drop right back down. It's some kind of frustrating. Unless flushed, the birds are usually where they're going to roost for the night by an hour before dark. We do a lot of hunting in beaver ponds and the like and I have a lot of experience shooting birds coming to roost; however, we tried to use those techniques to no avail in this situation. Thanks for the advice though. It will be interesting to see what kind of luck we have with the blind. I'll let you know.

[Brett Beinke]

I have ran into that situation many times as well. It can be very frustrating watching all those birds drop into the coot. It would take a lot of coot decoys to compete but that may be your best bet. If there are two areas that they focus on try to hunt in the niddle of them. Ducks will usually fly back and forth sometimes allowing you an opportunity. If it is very windy, hunt upwind of them. Ducks make a lot of mistakes in a heavy wind. Good Luck!

[Scott Moates]

Jackson, to be successful in that situation is very difficult. In years past, I have hunted the Tennessee River using the Quick-Set, we would sit in the bottom of the boat and just raise the tops to give us a low-profile blind. We would also carry as many decoys as possible, mostly coots, hen mallards and divers. At times, when the wind was out of the south and the sun was out, we would have good success, the ducks could not see as well and would decoy right in. Try using the Quick-Set in a low profile position and see what happens.