It’s raspier and has a quicker cadence for the hen gray’s quacks, and there’s a burst of air with a high tongue to create the drake’s unique dink … dink-dink sound. One is to learn the subtleties of using a traditional, single-reed mallard call in a gray duck manner. That said, ’fowlers have a couple options when it comes to calling gadwall. Bill got ’em close, and three of us did the rest. On a hunt years ago in Arkansas, I listened to a friend of mine - a four-time Tennessee state calling champion - use an ordinary single-reed to duplicate both the hen gray’s subdued quacks, as well as the drake’s nasally dink … dink-dink, while blowing a 6-in-1 style whistle and speaking, as it were, to the handful of sprig in the flock. When it comes to calling gadwall, a single-reed mallard can serve well. Battery-powered or no, motion is almost a must when it comes to fooling gray ducks. So, too, can the Coot Confidence pack from MOJO Outdoors TM, a new introduction consisting of four traditional stand-alone coot decoys, plus a pair of Rippler motion decoys. An old-school jerk cord can do the trick, imparting natural motion to the entire spread. Two, gadwall are fidgety birds - always moving, moving, moving. Two decoy tips for targeting gray ducks: One, grays are - for whatever reason - fond of rubbing elbows with coots, so tossing six to eight coot blocks in a tight knot slightly off to one side of the main spread can make the rig more attractive. Which decoys? Several excellent companies currently offer great-looking gadwall decoys however, the best I’ve used have been Greenhead Gear’s Pro-Grade FFD fully-flocked gadwall. Additionally, if you’re packing them into the hole on foot, you’ll also be thinking about how many you want to strap to your back, right?Īs an estimate, I’d venture to say 24 to 48 individually rigged decoys ought to do the trick in most situations. How many? That depends, I reckon, on the setting. Yes, it’s possible to kill gadwall over an all-mallard or mixed mallard spread however, if one’s looking specifically to target gray ducks, then gray duck decoys are in order. Good news for ’fowlers all ’round, eh? The spread On a positive note, while other puddle duck species (perhaps most notably the northern pintail) have shown a downward trend in population over the last decade, gadwall numbers have continued to increase steadily since roughly 2005. To be brutally honest, few ’fowlers purposely target gadwall, instead taking them as the aforementioned bonus ducks or incidentals, along with other puddlers thus, they’re often seen on duck straps in all of the above habitats, along with any number of others. Geographically, gadwall are found in all four major migration corridors, though they’re most common in the southernmost portions of the Central and Mississippi flyways. In years past, I’ve killed gray ducks on sheet water, saline and brackish tidal marshes, big river systems, equally large lakes, pasture ponds, warm-water sloughs, beaver swamps, intentionally flooded corn and in green timber. Vague though it may be, gadwall are where you find them. He’s a touch heavier than his lady friend, tipping the scales at 2 pounds, if not a little more. In flight, you’ll see not just his give-away white speculum, but his attractive chestnut-and-black wing coverts as well. The drake gray duck is quite the dapper fellow, with his all-black bill, scalloped black and white chest feathers, gray back and sides, snow-white belly and yellow legs. She’s a mottled brown overall, with a dark spotted bill and a smaller speculum than her mate. The hen is, indeed, a drab little thing, weighing between 1.5 and 1.75 pounds, give or take. Their claim to fame is the fact they’re the only North American puddle duck that shows a wing speculum in flight. Both the drake and hen gadwall (or grey duck as they are often called) are pretty plain characters. No, he’s no drake wood duck or harlequin, but he’s a dandy nonetheless. The truth is that at the peak of breeding plumage, a drake gadwall is, to me, one of the most handsome ducks in North America. The gadwall duckĭucks Unlimited (DU) describes the gadwall as a “medium-sized duck characterized by a general lack of bright coloration.” Sounds a bit dreary, and nondescript, eh? Trust us - nothing could be further from the truth. Today, we’ve got a meeting with a duck deserving every bit of respect as any greenhead or long-tailed drake pintail however, a lot of ’fowlers look at the gadwall as just another bonus duck. This week, Slayer Calls brings to the ’fowling public the first in a continuing series of blogs designed to introduce you, both formally and informally, to the duck and goose species hunters will encounter as they throw spreads and sit blinds from Chesapeake Bay to the Columbia River - and everywhere in between. Hunting gadwall ducks : Everything you need to knowīy M.D.
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