Public Land Ducks?

[dsayer]

I've got some nice property to hunt on the Wabash outside of Attica for deer, turkey, and waterfowl, but I was thinking about trying a North Zone property or two before the South Zone opens back up. I'm considering the usual suspects, Willow Slough, LaSalle, Kankakee, ect. Just looking for advice on any of those properties. I saw on the DNR website that drawings begin daily at 4:30 at Willow Slough and Kankakee. How many guys are showing up most mornings? Do I need to get there before 4:30 to get in line? Thanks in advance!

[featherduster]

First of all you should check to make sure the day you intend to hunt is not a reserve draw day.
Second and most of all.......... why waste your time the duck hunting up here right now SUCKS.
If you do intend to hunt you will need to be there at least by 4:00am Chicago time so that you can review the blind location maps and ask questions before the draw.
Good Luck.

[joeyb]

We've never done real good at Willow Slough. Although we never have drawn real well there, and that's the main reason. We've done better launching and hunting the Kankakee River. Last time we went up they had a full house and we drew 10th or something. It is nice they give you a boat and blind. But it's not worth it if the ducks aren't there. We broke ice, hunted 2 hours, and left after not seeing a single duck. We did well on the river afterwards.

I hunt a TON of public land. I've had some of my best days on public land. Good luck!

[crisiscowboy]

Looking for info on the goose pond and surrounding properties? any advice? what is needed as far as the draw, do all in the hunting party have to be present at the draw?

[duff]

For goose pond you have to have everyone present at the draw. They have draws for Sat-Sun/ Mon-Tue/ Wed/ Thurs-Fri so you typically get 2 days at one draw. Second day is hunted until noon only. Limit of 15 shells per hunter. Max party size is 3 and parties of 2 & 3 get priority over singles.

There are about 30 or so spots to hunt regardless of which areas are open. Green-Sullivan is first come first serve. Not sure about Minnihaha

[crisiscowboy]

Thanks duff

[joeyb]

Goose Pond to me seems very unreliable. Hard to get info, bird count, etc. Always had some sort of issue there. Anywhere you hunt is going to be a long walk, so pack light. Last time we were there the DNR Officer didn't show up for the draw. So we all just talked it out and went. Call to make sure someone will be there otherwise it's a waste of time. We've shot ducks there though.

[crisiscowboy]

Anyone have any suggestions on public land near Vincennes?

[duff]

WABASH RIVER... Patoka NWR (snakey point), Glendale F&W, Turtle Creek

Find a wad of geese and start knocking on doors for corn fields. Shouldn't be too hard.

[moose1am]

I've hunted Willow Slough once but that was way back in the early 1970's. And I lost the knurled knob or barrel screw to my Remington Model 870 Wingmaster that morning and didn't know I had dropped it on the floor of my buddies frat room before we left to go hunting. I only found out that I was missing the thing when we arrived at the check station and I tried to put my shotgun barrel onto my shotgun. Our frat house rules didn't allow guns so I took my apart to keep the brother's off my back about having a shot gun in the house that day. Can't shoot anything when the barrel won't stay on the gun. Unfortunately for my two other hunting partners there were no ducks or geese flying that day.

I went out hunting with one of them before and he took me to an area that held hundrends of ducks on this shallow flooded forest area. There was duck weed on the water and it made the ice covered water look green as it was so thick. We called in ducks that were coming into the area. There were hundrends of ducks out in the middle of this lake and they were way out of shot gun range. These ducks were calling to all their friends but my friend managed to call a few ducks into our decoy setup. It was sparce as the ice was 2" thick and we have to use a canoe to make some open water before shooting hours. That was a lot of work and dangerous too. But we managed to make a short canal out to a area where we broke the ice to make a spot for our decoys. He shot one duck that must have been 70 yards out and it fell down onto the ice and slid a ways on the ice. We saw a red fox run out from the woods onto the ice and snatch up the duck. It would have taken up two days to get their in our canoe having to break the ice all th way there. So that duck helped to feed the local fox population. LOL

That's about all I know about Willow Slough. It's a good drive from Purdue University where I lived back in the early 1970's.

Most of the F&W area that have waterfowl hunting will have a public draw that starts very eary in the morning. I'd be there by 4 am and make sure that you have a party of three hunters with you. Parties of three or more get first pick in the draw over parties of two or just one hunter.

Nov 7, 2011 18:01:35 GMT -5 dsayer said:

I've got some nice property to hunt on the Wabash outside of Attica for deer, turkey, and waterfowl, but I was thinking about trying a North Zone property or two before the South Zone opens back up. I'm considering the usual suspects, Willow Slough, LaSalle, Kankakee, ect. Just looking for advice on any of those properties. I saw on the DNR website that drawings begin daily at 4:30 at Willow Slough and Kankakee. How many guys are showing up most mornings? Do I need to get there before 4:30 to get in line? Thanks in advance!