Wood duck question

[b.man]

Just picked up a copy of Oregon Hunter magazine (Nov/Dec issue) and in it there is an article about hunting wood duck in filbert orchards. According to the author of the story the birds tend to flly into the orchards around dusk and feed on fallen filberts. I have never heard of this before. Does anyone else have similar experiences with these birds. Sounds a little far fetched to me !

[Wak]

Never heard of it either.

[FISHIN FUN]

I HAVE SEVERAL FRIENDS THAT HAVE ORCHARDS & THE WOOD DUCKS CAN EAT LOTS OF NUTS IN A NIGHT ! REAL PROBLEM -
FF

[WildHawg]

It's true, and quite a sight to see. Near Independence, they come in in droves to a friends filbert orchards. They are particularly attracted if there is any standing water in the filberts, or very close by.
Problem is...it is always just after shooting light, making hunting them illegal.
When I was a bit younger and more foolish, the population did get thinned.
Umatilla has a similar phenomenon in the cornfields. Right at dusk, ducks by the thousands leave the river and head south to the fields. If you lay down at the right spot, they will literally land on top of you--I caught a nice mallard drake that way once--believe it or not. :grin:

[bigshark]

b.man

I haven't read the story but I can tell you for certain those woodies love filberts aka hazelnuts.

[1pump]

How can a little duck like a woodie eat a filbert? The shells are hard for me to crack, let alone a duck. Looks too big to swallow whole.
I'm going to be up all night wondering about this. :whazzup:

BTW, moose turds during winter look just like filberts. Can't say if they taste the same, though. :tongue:

[northriver1]

Wildhog has it right. To shot wood ducks in a orchard you need to be an outlaw.

[Bill Monroe]

We used to hunt woodies in Muddy Creek, south of Corvallis. Hunting was best when it flooded a little and they could get into the oak for the acorns...woodies love nuts, but I'm not sure how they crack them. I do know that the muscles of bird gizzards are pretty strong and have lots of acid...strong enough that gulls make mincemeat (so to speak) of bones. I've heard about the filberts before, too...woody hunting is usually pretty good around Newberg, where there just happens to be a lot of filberts...

[crabbait]

I grew up with filbet orchards out back. "Legal" hunting back then was as long as you could see them. We used to get a lot of woodies with their crops full of filberts.

Best was when we would be walking out with our birds and it was too dark to shoot. Often the ducks would come bombing down through the trees close enough that you could feel the wind from their wing beats. Suddenly they would realize that they were not alone and off they would go.

Growing up, we hunted the filberts and edges a lot. We found pheasant, quail, ducks, opposum, racoons, gray diggers gray and red squirrels and occasionally deer.

[b.man]

I should clarify that the author of the article on wood duck hunting stated that sometimes there are occasions where the birds will arive minutes before the end of legal shooting hours thus affording an opportunity to shoot. No intent to suggest un-lawful hunting :depressed: . Also as was suggested it is believed they swallow 'em whole :whazzup:

[duckcall]

They have a "weep weep" sound. Not real talkative. they don't seem to respond to calls. We hunt a pond in the middle of an orchard. Last Satruday we had several buz us just after shooting time. Had to protect ourselves! Got two! They are among the best eating.

[norms duck dog]

i hunt woodies on t river last year 1 woodie had 7 nuts in him . thet eat them whole . when youngetr used to hunt them in filbert orchard woul come in by the droves

[skein]

So do they make any noise while they're in the orchards, as in duck-talk? Would calling have any effect of bringing them in early enough to legally shoot?

Skein