Hunting Mid-Season Stale Ducks

We have all been there before. Duck season is at the halfway point. Opening day excitement has worn off. That sweet spot we call “mid-season” is upon us and, with it, comes...stale ducks! If this were a movie, we would now hear menacing music.

So, what are stale ducks? Honestly, I hadn’t heard the term until I was in my thirties. I now know the telltale symptoms of stale ducks in the first few minutes of a hunt.

They begin to circle just close enough that you think they might decoy but just far away enough that doubt creeps in. They start to “bump and run” whereby they cup their wings and dive toward the decoys then pull up about sixty yards out for yet another pass. When you blow your call they either snub you or beat a path in the opposite direction. They begin to frequent off-the-beaten-path areas that offer less pressure from predators, both wild and human.