# Shooting the roost



## ucfireman (Nov 26, 2019)

I am not a waterfowl hunter yet, but have a question. 
I have been told the reason you don't shoot a pond in the evening is to give the ducks a place to roost. That sounds fine but, if you go in while dark and set up before sun up then shoot them when they fly off. Are you not doing the same thing? Shooting them where they sleep? 
Again not wanting an argument just trying to understand why its set up this way.


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## tucker80 (Nov 26, 2019)

Usually by the time it's legal light the birds have left roost and you're seeing them at feeding and loafing areas. Shooting a roost too much the birds will leave. Plus when they fly in the evening its typically after legal light.


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## across the river (Nov 26, 2019)

As mentioned when they are flying in at night it will be past legal shooting light.  If you shoot a roost at night they won’t be back for a while. As also mentioned by tucker they will typically be gone by legal shooting light in the morning.   I have seen places where ducks roost but other ducks will also come into to feed.  In that case you can usually catch some coming in like any other place.  If it is strictly a roost pond it is probably tough to hunt legally and have any success.


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## kevbo3333 (Nov 27, 2019)

I’ve noticed the wood ducks have started  flying 10-15 min after legal shooting light so far this year, which is great. You can shoot them flying out of the roost but I wouldn’t do it to often or they will find a new roost pond.


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## ucfireman (Nov 28, 2019)

I have a little beaver swamp area that ducks use some. Don't know how much as I don't go in there that often but have jumped some out of it while deer hunting and seen ducks flying overhead in the evenings and also mornings. I'm pretty close to the Chattahoochee river and have a good creek. I did see a duck in the creek last year, first for me, don't know what it was it flew off and scared me, I was deer hunting. 

I know most folks get to their spot way before daylight. How early do ducks start flying? If I jump some out will others fly in? I don't know if its a roost area or feeding area, I do have trees all around it and it has tall grasses around the edges, not very deep.


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## across the river (Nov 28, 2019)

If it is private land you don’t need to get there any earlier than you have to because you aren’t fighting for a spot. Legal shooting light is 30
Minutes before sunrise, so just give yourself enough time to get set up.  They will be wooducks so they will be there early and will have flown in or not within 30 minutes so you will know one way or another pretty quickly if the are coming in.

If it decent sized the you might want to ease in there one morning and just watch to figure out where they are going.  Then set up the next morning in that spot.   If it is really small and you can shoot anything coming in it probably won’t matter that much when you set up.


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## ucfireman (Dec 17, 2019)

I was looking at the regs and saw that most places say 30 before sun up to 12 noon. There are a few places that say 30 before until sunset. 
If shooting the roost is frowned upon why do they let you hunt till dark?
These are all WMAs, public lands. 
Anther question. Is shooting a bird on the water unethical? Unless its injured?


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## king killer delete (Dec 18, 2019)

Duck hunting legal shooting time is 30 minutes before sunrise to sun set. Not 30 minutes after sunset. As said in some earlier post some WMAs shooting hours are different. Read your regulations and pay attention. Roost shooting is like being on drugs. Being on the x birds flocking in your face the temptation is great to brake the law. It is I feel one of the worst things you can do in a wood duck swamp. I have heard   and read of people shooting a roost and the game warden standing at the truck when they come out. No Duck is worth you going to jail or getting in trouble for. Now it is a very different thing to hunt open water like I do in the ocean and stop hunting at the legal time.


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## king killer delete (Dec 18, 2019)

ucfireman said:


> I was looking at the regs and saw that most places say 30 before sun up to 12 noon. There are a few places that say 30 before until sunset.
> If shooting the roost is frowned upon why do they let you hunt till dark?
> These are all WMAs, public lands.
> Anther question. Is shooting a bird on the water unethical? Unless its injured?


Wood ducks will fly into a roost as long as they can see. If the moon is up I have seen them fly into a roost an hour after sunset.


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## king killer delete (Dec 18, 2019)

ucfireman said:


> I was looking at the regs and saw that most places say 30 before sun up to 12 noon. There are a few places that say 30 before until sunset.
> If shooting the roost is frowned upon why do they let you hunt till dark?
> These are all WMAs, public lands.
> Anther question. Is shooting a bird on the water unethical? Unless its injured?


 dark is not sun set. Dark is normally 30 minutes after sun set.


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## king killer delete (Dec 18, 2019)

"*Sunset*" is the opposite. It occurs the moment the disc of sun completely disappears below the western horizon. Technically, "*dusk*" is the period of *twilight* between complete darkness and sunrise (or *sunset*). In common usage, "dawn" refers to morning, while "*dusk*" refers only to the evening *twilight*. This is roost shooting time is after sunset.


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## king killer delete (Dec 18, 2019)

Deer hunting legal hunting times are different than 
Waterfowl legal hunting times


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## king killer delete (Dec 18, 2019)

You know hunting saltwater is really different than shooting a wood duck swamp or hunting wood ducks on the rivers. Most of the time i set up on salt water in daylight. Salt water is a all day thing and boat and ship traffic moves birds.


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## AntWalton03 (Dec 19, 2019)

I have deer hunted for years, but just recently (last two weekends) started duck hunting. In the regs, when I seen "half hour before sunset" I quit reading and assumed it was the same as deer hunting with 30 minutes after sunset as well. Found out the hard way, that was not the case!


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## across the river (Dec 22, 2019)

AntWalton03 said:


> I have deer hunted for years, but just recently (last two weekends) started duck hunting. In the regs, when I seen "half hour before sunset" I quit reading and assumed it was the same as deer hunting with 30 minutes after sunset as well. Found out the hard way, that was not the case!


How much did it cost you?


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## AntWalton03 (Dec 22, 2019)

across the river said:


> How much did it cost you?




$250


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## across the river (Dec 22, 2019)

AntWalton03 said:


> $250


Seems to be the default number regardless of where you go.  Had a couple of buddies get a ticket in Arkansas a couple years ago for not signing there stamp.  It was $250 as well.


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## king killer delete (Dec 23, 2019)

AntWalton03 said:


> I have deer hunted for years, but just recently (last two weekends) started duck hunting. In the regs, when I seen "half hour before sunset" I quit reading and assumed it was the same as deer hunting with 30 minutes after sunset as well. Found out the hard way, that was not the case!


Your not alone I have so many deer hunters tell me the exact same thing. If you are going to be a duck hunter you need to know everything. Game wardens know what they know I was checked at the ramp last year by a game warden that knew allot about wood duck hunting and nothing about the birds we hunt on salt water. He was very nice and he knew his stuff. But you need to know the regs inside and out and know your ducks. Good luck and welcome to a great sport .


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## buckpasser (Dec 25, 2019)

I got checked by a couple state guys at Seminole years ago that didn’t appear to be able to classify all the ducks that we had killed that morning. One commented that he sure as —— wouldn’t be on that lake freezing his butt off if he didn’t have to, and “never understood duck hunters”.  It was somewhat insulting to be checked by such a jackleg.  The same warden used to bum stuff off of us at GFC. He was always wanting a handout, then busted one of the County Rangers for no life jacket in the ankle deep river we fished. The next firepot he borrowed was one part diesel, one part gas, eight parts water.  I’m sure he had a fun burn day. 





king killer delete said:


> Your not alone I have so many deer hunters tell me the exact same thing. If you are going to be a duck hunter you need to know everything. Game wardens know what they know I was checked at the ramp last year by a game warden that knew allot about wood duck hunting and nothing about the birds we hunt on salt water. He was very nice and he knew his stuff. But you need to know the regs inside and out and know your ducks. Good luck and welcome to a great sport .


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## ucfireman (Dec 26, 2019)

The term "roost". Does it refer to trees? or pond or lake they rest on?
Also, it it considered un ethical to jump ducks from a pond midday and shoot at them?
I jumped a couple the other day and scared the poopoo out of me, Ill be ready next time.


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## flatsmaster (Dec 26, 2019)

Roost can be any of those depending on duck but refers to where they sleep .... I had a slough in Ms that woodducks would roost in ... gone just before or right at shooting light and pour back in about 15 min after legal shooting in evening ... jump shooting ducks to me there is no sport ... see them sneak around pond and kill them ... if u see some come back the next morning and set up ...once you have some  open up and go feet down you won't get any enjoyment jump shooting ducks ... if feet in ur face doesn't make a difference you prolly won't think much of duck hunting ... my 2 cents


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## paulito (Dec 27, 2019)

nothing wrong with jump shooting birds. can it be easy.....yes. You can also stalk along for a long ways only to get busted and never get a shot. 

for me there is nothing better to get the fire burning in a young hunter than having them sit and watch a good roost spot. sitting and watching birds pour in and interact with each other......doesn't get any better. 

as far as shooting a roost, it can be done and not mess up your spot but it takes much more discipline than a lot of duck hunters have. If we shoot it, it will only be once or maybe twice a season. we typically also stop shooting before the legal end. typically if you have good roost spot, the bulk of the birds coming into to roost will be arriving AFTER legal shooting hours.


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## Hooked On Quack (Dec 27, 2019)

Jump shooting Woodies is harder than stalking a deer.  Old friend told me a long time ago Wood duck shooting is a lot like sex, don't last long, but it sure is fun.


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## Throwback (Dec 27, 2019)

It’s not just ducks that legal shooting hours end at sunset it’s all migratory birds


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## king killer delete (Dec 28, 2019)

ucfireman said:


> The term "roost". Does it refer to trees? or pond or lake they rest on?
> Also, it it considered un ethical to jump ducks from a pond midday and shoot at them?
> I jumped a couple the other day and scared the poopoo out of me, Ill be ready next time.


I have been duck hunting for 58 years now and have hunted all over the world . Roost shooting refers to hunting a pond or swamp late in the afternoon on into evening. Roost shooting or shooting a roost has always meant that you were shooting ducks where they were resting during the hours of darkness. Jump shooting from a boat not under power or sneaking up on a pond in mid day is jump shooting as far as unethical I have never heard that jump shooting is considered unethical. Now running a motor or being under sail is considered unethical and illegal. If you are paddling a boat or a skiff or you are polling a boat it is not illegal and jump shooting a pot hole out west is not illegal or unethical.


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