Diver Duck Hunting

Most of my days afield are in some form of stubble field or shallow pothole, but every once in awhile I like to get deep and get some chance at some divers. While many people I know grew up in MN and it was a way of life, it wasn’t something I did very often growing up. Without a boat or a dog, most of the time it’s a failed attempt without there being an ethical option to retrieve the birds. But when it all comes together with a good dog, it’s game on.

I was on my way home early Saturday morning from a good outing in a stubble field. Myself and 3 of my friends got into the canadas pretty good and were out of the field early. Since we had a lot of time before the cafe stopped serving breakfast, I took the backroads home. I took a gander at one of my favorite diver lakes and sure enough, it was littered with ducks. And not only did it have common divers such as bluebills, redheads, and buffle heads – it had a lot of canvasbacks. We have a good, small lake in the backyard of the farm we stay at in Saskatchewan that we hunt every fall; but I don’t rarely get the opportunity in North Dakota.

I picked up my cell phone and phoned John Devney from Delta Waterfowl. He was out scouting at the time and was finding some good options, but the word canvasback got his attention and he decided to head up to my hunting house. After gearing up and a short drive, we were able to drive down to the lake, just 150 yards from the point we planned to hunt. When we came over the hill, it erupted with various ducks and a few canadas. We quickly setup and then they came. I’ve never had that many canvasbacks in my face, ever. I’d guess we had easily 20 flocks come right down the shoot and down the string of diver floats. And mixed in was many redheads along with a handful of other species. It reminded me of the video game for the PC, Browning Duck Hunter. There was redheads and cans mixed together and we were very careful when we pulled. With the Hunters Choice waterfowl management plan, we were only able to harvest one canvasback a piece, but that was okay with me. I saw enough flocks in a 30-minute time period where I got my fill and was on the road to scout for the next day.