Who Still Carry Out Morning Duck Flighting ?

[marsh man]

Although my aging body is no longer up for morning duck flighting it seem to me this form of wildfowling is no longer as popular as it once was , I am out taking my dog for a walk every morning at a time where I would see someone still on the marsh or ready to come off and with only a few weeks left of the inland season left I can honestly say I haven't seen a single soul , yes I have heard shots from the other side of the estuary and most , if not all of those shots would had been at the big numbers of geese lifting off of there roosting grounds .

Maybe I had the advantage of living close to the marshes and could often leave my house before it got light and be back in time to go to work , this was way before the big numbers of geese put paid to a lot of duck shooting and if you caught the right morning you could get some very good shooting as well as total blanks , one of the most memorial morning flights I had which was also my personal best was when I got 17 Pintail  yes Pintail on a early morning flight and still off in time to go work , now I doubt you would get them in season and with some fowlers in a lifetime , for the times they are a changing .     MM

[edenman]

I still do yes. I have noticed a decline in the amount of guys as well. Normally on the low tides on my local estuary there would be guys out all over the place keeping the ducks going and most guns getting a shot. Nowadays I’m mostly out by myself and if you’re lucky you will get a fair flight of ducks over you. I appreciate folk get older and the mud isn’t for them anymore but the younger guys don’t have the hunger for it 

[bishop]

Im going to be the same as many older fowlers  in a few years .My hips are almost worn out. The spirit is willing etc etc .I have greylag here behind the house ,on the fields   ,most mornings. Their raucous calls inevitably takes me back to my younger years when greylag literally ruled the roost . In those vibrant days of my youth the further out on the mud you went  the more the  estuary made you feel alive .My old man in this picture taught me the fowling ways. You never unlearn the right way to do something although it seems so many cocky wee sheits are about these days who believe they know it all in a few seasons with their shotcams and big bag selfies.I actually feel sorry for them.

Edited December 11, 2023 by bishop

[marsh man]

12 minutes ago, edenman said:

I still do yes. I have noticed a decline in the amount of guys as well. Normally on the low tides on my local estuary there would be guys out all over the place keeping the ducks going and most guns getting a shot. Nowadays I’m mostly out by myself and if you’re lucky you will get a fair flight of ducks over you. I appreciate folk get older and the mud isn’t for them anymore but the younger guys don’t have the hunger for it 

Well done you and I am glad a few people still get enjoyment from morning duck flights , I fully appreciate in this modern world that time is often at a premium and not everyone can go before they go to work , and then if you got the odd morning where would you sooner go , around the edge of the marshland where a few 1000 geese are roosting , or sitting around one of the many flooded marshes hopping for the odd shot at a duck?, another branch of fowling that also seem to be waning ( excuse the pun )  is flighting under the moon  , or is it ?

[edenman]

Moonflighting up here is in rude health as far as I can see. It is a commitment if you have family or a job. BUT you get back what you put in.

[marsh man]

30 minutes ago, edenman said:

Moonflighting up here is in rude health as far as I can see. It is a commitment if you have family or a job. BUT you get back what you put in.

The first signs when people find that fowling is not for them is when you ask them if they have been and they say no I haven't had the time , well shooting under the full moon and a few days either side of it was made for the people who haven't really got the time , dead easy to get home from a days work , have your tea and then slip away to where you intend to go , get in two or three hours shooting then make your way back home , if your good lady have turned in she will find it refreshing when your ice cold body come in contact when she is all lovely and warm , sort of a win win situation 

[nic]

morning flight is my preferred time, even when you do not get a chance of a shot, you see the world wake up and come alive..... owls hunting over the marsh, otters moving and their young playing.....and on my local marshes, far less people than the evening flights

 

[scolopax]

Probably 90% of my flights are mornings. On my local estuary late November through to mid January can be completely dead, for example last flight I saw five ducks, and they were dots in the middle of the estuary. Not much point going for a moon flight if there are no birds on the marsh (they move to big inland floods as soon as the river valleys are inundated). Takes a cold spell to shift them back to the salt.

[Krico woodcock]

14 hours ago, bishop said:

Im going to be the same as many older fowlers  in a few years .My hips are almost worn out. The spirit is willing etc etc .I have greylag here behind the house ,on the fields   ,most mornings. Their raucous calls inevitably takes me back to my younger years when greylag literally ruled the roost . In those vibrant days of my youth the further out on the mud you went  the more the  estuary made you feel alive .My old man in this picture taught me the fowling ways. You never unlearn the right way to do something although it seems so many cocky wee sheits are about these days who believe they know it all in a few seasons with their shotcams and big bag selfies.I actually feel sorry for them.

That's a tight block of a labrador 

[Poor Shot]

I much prefer morning flights. It's generally easier to collect shot ducks in increasing light than pitch black, even with a good dog. 

The weather has been very poor so far this year with very infrequent ideal weather, wind and tide combinations. I've had a few trips out which resulted in me sat watching a perfectly flat calm sea with ducks roosting on it 200+m out despite the met office promising strong winds which would have pushed the ducks into the marsh. 

Now the weather has improved slightly it's peak game shooting season and I don't have the time to get to the marsh. You can almost guarantee that February will be cold but calm for the entirety of the remaining season. 

If only I were retired and I had all the time in the world.. 

[marsh man]

Some interesting replies and glad some fowlers still make the effort to go in the mornings to try and bag a duck , I tend to forget that not everyone live close at hand , have the time to go and above all have a good supply of wildfowl om your shooting grounds , going back even before my time the estuary held a lot of wildfowl , when the weather turned hard and the Broads froze over the numbers increased ten fold with the fowl making for the open water , no such thing then as a hard weather ban and the punt gunners made a fair living when times were hard , with all the activity on the estuary the fowl used the marshes a lot more for a bit of peace and quite , when I came on the scene I was pally with someone who rented the local marshes near my house , before they altered the county boundaries we could shoot on a Sunday as part of these marshes were in Suffolk, although apart from the ones who done a bit of wildfowling anyone else couldn't give two moneys **** , this was a time when both mornings and evenings were very good , double figures bags were not uncommon and a mate of mine would stop shooting when he got a dozen and just watched the duck while having a smoke , as the years rolled by the estuary became a reserve with restricted shooting , punt gunning was banned in 1968 and the fowl started to spend more and more time on the reserve , now when the numbers reach there peak around Christmas time it is not unusual to see 15 / 20 thousand of mixed wildfowl on the estuary with nearly as many Pinkfeet geese using the R S P B marshes , so you can fully understand that when a fowler have to plan a morning flight he would stand more of a chance to bag a goose than a duck and I cannot see it changing anytime soon , or if in fact ever .   MM ,  

[Scully]

17 hours ago, bishop said:

You never unlearn the right way to do something although it seems so many cocky wee sheits are about these days who believe they know it all in a few seasons with their shotcams and big bag selfies.I actually feel sorry for them.

The younger generation just do things differently, that’s all. They have different ideas, a different outlook and different priorities.  

[m greeny]

Love morning flights I go on every day off I have and also go between 12 hour night shifts because its the best part of any day. Waiting watching anticipating at what the growing daylight will bring.

 

 

[Svenandolaf]

I would always choose a morning flight over an evening. I do generally see more duck in the evenings but once the duck have finished in the mornings the geese will move, I see less in the evening. My eyesight is better in the mornings and the marshes are much quieter: I’ve been surprised by how many more fowlers there are in the evenings as I often have the marsh to myself in the mornings. 

[Krico woodcock]

I use to do a good bit of morning duck flighting, still do but not as often.  It's all on inland,  fresh water though.  So all to do with water levels, floods etc. Can be very hit and miss, but if you do your homework,  and all comes together,  nice bit of sport can be had. When I was younger, late teens,  20s, I use to do a morning flight,  do another few spots for duck,  then go woodcock,  snipe shooting for rest of day before finishing up with a evening flight,  that would be most weekend Saturday and Sunday, in the heart of the season,  I might not be long home from pub/ club before heading out again for morning flight!  But marriage, kids , getting older puts a end to that crack. I still do alot of shooting but not to them extremes. This shooting is a addiction,  and if your bit by the bug bad,  you'll do what you can to get out and make the most of the short season. 

[flippermaj]

I used to do more morning duck shooting than goose shooting but I always had to wait for a low tide at dawn to be able to get on the mud and get to grips with the ducks.  Over time as I have got older I seemed to have moved more towards flighting the geese as it's easier from an access point of view and there just seem to be way more geese than ducks where I am.  Having said that I mush prefer the ducks.

So I decided to try a morning flight at a nice remote spot that I used to go to regularly but haven't visited for 7 years.  The reason for the lack of a visit is that this place takes some getting to and can be a bit hit or miss.  It's a 40 min drive, a 20 min bike ride and another 20 min walk across the mud, may not seem much to some but I am spoilt and can get to my local bits in 30 mins in total.  Anyway a bad back over the last few years has put me off the bike ride part of the trip but with some improvements on that front and low tide coinciding with dawn and a good gale I decided to set forth.

It was blowing a hooley and I couldn't even get the hide\netting to stay up, I ended up with just a mini bit wrapped around  4 canes to give something to break up my silouette.  I almost thought it would be too windy for the duck to move but luckily I was proven well wrong.   Packs of widgeon and mallard were all over the place and made for some tricky shooting in the gale and half light but it was great to be there in among it all in a proper remote bit of the shore.  I should have done better but managed 2 Widgeon and 2 Mallard so I was very happy with that.

The bike ride back is a right dog, all up hill but I made it!  No 4x4 for me!!!

[edenman]

You got the reward for your effort, well done! 
 

Your a man after my own heart, getting way out in the mud is what I love best 

Edited December 16, 2023 by edenman

[harrycatcat1]

1 hour ago, flippermaj said:

I used to do more morning duck shooting than goose shooting but I always had to wait for a low tide at dawn to be able to get on the mud and get to grips with the ducks.  Over time as I have got older I seemed to have moved more towards flighting the geese as it's easier from an access point of view and there just seem to be way more geese than ducks where I am.  Having said that I mush prefer the ducks.

So I decided to try a morning flight at a nice remote spot that I used to go to regularly but haven't visited for 7 years.  The reason for the lack of a visit is that this place takes some getting to and can be a bit hit or miss.  It's a 40 min drive, a 20 min bike ride and another 20 min walk across the mud, may not seem much to some but I am spoilt and can get to my local bits in 30 mins in total.  Anyway a bad back over the last few years has put me off the bike ride part of the trip but with some improvements on that front and low tide coinciding with dawn and a good gale I decided to set forth.

It was blowing a hooley and I couldn't even get the hide\netting to stay up, I ended up with just a mini bit wrapped around  4 canes to give something to break up my silouette.  I almost thought it would be too windy for the duck to move but luckily I was proven well wrong.   Packs of widgeon and mallard were all over the place and made for some tricky shooting in the gale and half light but it was great to be there in among it all in a proper remote bit of the shore.  I should have done better but managed 2 Widgeon and 2 Mallard so I was very happy with that.

The bike ride back is a right dog, all up hill but I made it!  No 4x4 for me!!!

Respect 🙏 🤲 very well done ✔️ 👏 

[London Best]

Brilliant stuff @flippermaj, well done and good write up. Thank you.

[marsh man]

Excellent report on your morning flight , some of the best places are the ones where it take a great deal of effort to get to and even then it can still be hit and miss , but part of the joys of wildfowling is being in remote places , this can come at a cost as you need to have a good fitness level and as the years roll on the everyday aches and pains start to kick in and this is when you start to look at the easier options so you can on with the addiction of wildfowling , so make the most of it while you can as like they say , you never know what is around the corner .     MM

P S     Nice photos by the way 

[greenshank1]

On 16/12/2023 at 15:48, flippermaj said:

I used to do more morning duck shooting than goose shooting but I always had to wait for a low tide at dawn to be able to get on the mud and get to grips with the ducks.  Over time as I have got older I seemed to have moved more towards flighting the geese as it's easier from an access point of view and there just seem to be way more geese than ducks where I am.  Having said that I mush prefer the ducks.

So I decided to try a morning flight at a nice remote spot that I used to go to regularly but haven't visited for 7 years.  The reason for the lack of a visit is that this place takes some getting to and can be a bit hit or miss.  It's a 40 min drive, a 20 min bike ride and another 20 min walk across the mud, may not seem much to some but I am spoilt and can get to my local bits in 30 mins in total.  Anyway a bad back over the last few years has put me off the bike ride part of the trip but with some improvements on that front and low tide coinciding with dawn and a good gale I decided to set forth.

It was blowing a hooley and I couldn't even get the hide\netting to stay up, I ended up with just a mini bit wrapped around  4 canes to give something to break up my silouette.  I almost thought it would be too windy for the duck to move but luckily I was proven well wrong.   Packs of widgeon and mallard were all over the place and made for some tricky shooting in the gale and half light but it was great to be there in among it all in a proper remote bit of the shore.  I should have done better but managed 2 Widgeon and 2 Mallard so I was very happy with that.

The bike ride back is a right dog, all up hill but I made it!  No 4x4 for me!!!

Well done 👍 

[harrycatcat1]

On 11/12/2023 at 19:17, marsh man said:

Although my aging body is no longer up for morning duck flighting it seem to me this form of wildfowling is no longer as popular as it once was , I am out taking my dog for a walk every morning at a time where I would see someone still on the marsh or ready to come off and with only a few weeks left of the inland season left I can honestly say I haven't seen a single soul , yes I have heard shots from the other side of the estuary and most , if not all of those shots would had been at the big numbers of geese lifting off of there roosting grounds .

Maybe I had the advantage of living close to the marshes and could often leave my house before it got light and be back in time to go to work , this was way before the big numbers of geese put paid to a lot of duck shooting and if you caught the right morning you could get some very good shooting as well as total blanks , one of the most memorial morning flights I had which was also my personal best was when I got 17 Pintail  yes Pintail on a early morning flight and still off in time to go work , now I doubt you would get them in season and with some fowlers in a lifetime , for the times they are a changing .     MM

I have been mulling over your question for some time  because I used to love morning flights.

 

I didn't start wildfowling until about 2008-9 ish (in my early 50's) as a late starter. Being 2 hours away from the nearest marsh I'd not really heard about wildfowling on the coast until I got the tinternet and looked on shooting sites and thought I'm going to try that.

 I enjoyed morning flights on different marshes on the wash, I was never the most productive at harvesting fowl but enjoyed the sights, sounds and smells of the marsh. I used to go out with Big Mat off here and Ayano3 occasionally and have a good laugh. The 1st September trips were memorable. 

Covid scuppered trips to the marsh and then I was diagnosed with heart disease and a general decline in health has meant that I have not resumed morning flights or any flights on the marsh for that matter. 

If I'm honest it's the 2 hours drive to the marsh and 2 hours home is not something that helps. If it was only half an hour or so I would be all over the marsh like a rash. I have recently sold my decoys motherline etc to a local lad just starting out.

It just seems that anything nowadays is a struggle and 4 hrs driving puts the mockers on it.

I think that you have to be a certain type of person to enjoy wildfowling and I certainly miss the sights, sounds and smells of the marsh. Will I ever go again? I'd like to say, never say never. I am still a member so you never know.

I still get geese over local fields but it's just not the same 😩

[London Best]

I, too, am 2 hours drive from the Wash. 

I remember the first time I fell completely submerged in a creek. I was young and still stupid enough to carry on. I was pretty cold by the time the flight was over and will never forget driving the 2 hours home in my underpants. 
That day I learnt to take a change of clothes and a towel.

[marsh man]

3 hours ago, harrycatcat1 said:

I have been mulling over your question for some time  because I used to love morning flights.

 

I didn't start wildfowling until about 2008-9 ish (in my early 50's) as a late starter. Being 2 hours away from the nearest marsh I'd not really heard about wildfowling on the coast until I got the tinternet and looked on shooting sites and thought I'm going to try that.

 I enjoyed morning flights on different marshes on the wash, I was never the most productive at harvesting fowl but enjoyed the sights, sounds and smells of the marsh. I used to go out with Big Mat off here and Ayano3 occasionally and have a good laugh. The 1st September trips were memorable. 

Covid scuppered trips to the marsh and then I was diagnosed with heart disease and a general decline in health has meant that I have not resumed morning flights or any flights on the marsh for that matter. 

If I'm honest it's the 2 hours drive to the marsh and 2 hours home is not something that helps. If it was only half an hour or so I would be all over the marsh like a rash. I have recently sold my decoys motherline etc to a local lad just starting out.

It just seems that anything nowadays is a struggle and 4 hrs driving puts the mockers on it.

I think that you have to be a certain type of person to enjoy wildfowling and I certainly miss the sights, sounds and smells of the marsh. Will I ever go again? I'd like to say, never say never. I am still a member so you never know.

I still get geese over local fields but it's just not the same 😩

Great write up Harry and I fully understand why you can no longer take part in what can be quite a physical sport that is often in harsh conditions , if I had to travel two hours to get to my fowling grounds I think I would have called it a day years ago , like everything else in life the local marshes have changed beyond recognition ,  where once we had the odd marsh with enough water for duck shooting , now it would be easier to say we only have the odd marsh that wouldn't be a lot of good for duck shooting , more so this year with all the rain we have had , over my side of the estuary we have around  5 miles long by about a good mile wide of very good marshes, so picking the right marsh is always going to be hit and miss , but then again if you know the marshes well and can go a few times each week you will often drop lucky along with a number of blanks , but as I need to take my dog out each afternoon  it was never any problem to take my gun along , as it only take a few minutes to get down to the marsh you can leave it till the street lights start to come on and after sitting near a good splash of water for half an hour it is then time to head back , the dog have had a good run , you might had been lucky and got a few duck and often back home in around about an hour . Two hours to drive there and then two hours back ? no I am sorry Harry it wouldn't be for me .

GOOD LUCK with your health issue , at least you can look back on those good mornings and leave the not so good in the back of the memory bank 

[harrycatcat1]

1 hour ago, marsh man said:

Great write up Harry and I fully understand why you can no longer take part in what can be quite a physical sport that is often in harsh conditions , if I had to travel two hours to get to my fowling grounds I think I would have called it a day years ago , like everything else in life the local marshes have changed beyond recognition ,  where once we had the odd marsh with enough water for duck shooting , now it would be easier to say we only have the odd marsh that wouldn't be a lot of good for duck shooting , more so this year with all the rain we have had , over my side of the estuary we have around  5 miles long by about a good mile wide of very good marshes, so picking the right marsh is always going to be hit and miss , but then again if you know the marshes well and can go a few times each week you will often drop lucky along with a number of blanks , but as I need to take my dog out each afternoon  it was never any problem to take my gun along , as it only take a few minutes to get down to the marsh you can leave it till the street lights start to come on and after sitting near a good splash of water for half an hour it is then time to head back , the dog have had a good run , you might had been lucky and got a few duck and often back home in around about an hour . Two hours to drive there and then two hours back ? no I am sorry Harry it wouldn't be for me .

GOOD LUCK with your health issue , at least you can look back on those good mornings and leave the not so good in the back of the memory bank 

Thing is though, I enjoyed it that much that I am now peed off that there seems to be that many hurdles in front of me trying to prevent me going. You are right though the two hours drive means that you can't get to know the marshes and flight paths as much as you would like. 

I know there are members on here that are a lot older than me but still get out on the marshes and I doff my hat to them 👍

I am still planning and scheming to get out again at some stage. Its really like an addiction, not because I want to shoot lots of birds but just to soak in the atmosphere.