Watch the Wild Fowling Display as demonstrated by Chris Green the complete countryman, using a number of different techniques. An excellent demonstration by a complete professional.

History of Wildfowling

Waterfowl hunting (also called duck hunting, goose hunting, or wildfowling) is the practice of hunting ducks, geese, or other waterfowl for food and sport. In many western countries, commercial waterfowl hunting is prohibited, and duck hunting is primarily an outdoor sporting activity.

Many types of ducks and geese share the same habitats, have overlapping or identical hunting seasons, and are hunted using the same methods. Thus is not uncommon to take several different species of waterfowl in the same outings.

Calls
In old times, a duck call was a very simple woodwind instrument. It had a barrel, a sounding board and a reed. Hunters would grunt into the call while saying "hut", "quit" or "ut". With the improvement of calls and calling techniques the best callers are able to use no voice. The most prevalent and hunted duck in the United States, the mallard, makes the well known "quack" sound many associate with ducks. Other species make many different sounds, ranging from high-pitched whistles to very low, grunt-like quacks.

There are calls for almost all species of ducks. Pintails, teal, wood ducks, diving ducks and other ducks including the calls of both the male, or drake and the female, or hen.

Calling can be highly effective, but at the same time, poor calling will usually cause birds to be wary of the sounds and they will flare off. Duck hunters who are poor callers often educate ducks because they associate shots with that kind of calling, commonly found on public hunting areas.

In many species, the call of the drake (male) is different from that of the hen (female). Mallard drakes make a lower pitch, longer quack than the hen mallard. This call is often used while feeding and when a mallard drake is landing. It gives the other birds a heads up. The quack of a mallard drake requires voice and is replicated by humming into a special whistle-like call. This whistle is often called a 6-in-1 whistle, due to the fact that it can replicate six different duck species sounds.

In teal, the drakes make a call of short bursts of a high pitch whistle. The "teet! (pause) teet! (pause) teet!-teet!" or any other order of repetition. This call can be made by blowing short bursts of air into the "6-in-1" whistle. 

The majority of duck sounds such as quacking people have heard and are familiar with comes from females, or hen, mallards. Hen mallards are extremely vocal and this is probably why the number one call for duck hunting in North America is a hen mallard call.

Dogs
A duck hunter with three mallards. A Labrador Retriever and duck decoys are visible in the background.

Duck hunters quite often employ a dog to retrieve downed birds. Most often hunters use retrievers, though Spaniels and some versatile breeds can also fit the bill. The use of a dog provides a number of advantages. As duck hunting often takes place in cold wet locations, the use of a dog frees the hunter from potentially dangerous forays into cold water to retrieve the bird. Such efforts can be dangerous for the hunter, but are managed by a dog quite easily. It also allows for the recovery of wounded birds that might otherwise escape. A dog's acute sense of smell allows them to find the wounded birds. The use of a dog prevents waste and ensures that a higher percentage of the birds shot end up on the table.

Wildfowling in Europe and the UK

Wild ducks and geese are hunted over foreshores and inland and coastal marshes in Europe. In Britain, the sport is known as wildfowling. Birds are hunted with a shotgun, and less commonly, a large single barrelled gun mounted on a small boat, known as a punt.

Only certain 'quarry' species of wildfowl may legally be hunted in the UK, and are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. These are Mallard, Wigeon, Teal, Pochard, Shoveler, Pintail, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Tufted Duck, Canada Goose, White-fronted Goose (England and Wales only), Greylag Goose and Pink-footed Goose. Other common quarry targets for the wildfowler include Common Snipe, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Coot and Golden Plover.

An intimate knowledge of the quarry and it's habitat is required by the successful wildfowler. Shooting will normally occur during the early morning and late afternoon 'flights', when the birds move to and from feeding and roosting sites.

Wildfowling has come under threat in recent years through legislation. Destruction of habitat also has played a large part in the decline of shooting areas, and recently in the UK "right to roam" policies mean that wildfowler's conservation areas are at risk. 

In UK wildfowling is largely self-regulated. Their reppresentative body, WAGBI (Wildfowlers Association of Great Britain and Ireland), was founded in 1908 by Stanley Duncan in Hull. This Association changed its name in 1981 to become the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) and now represents all forms of live quarry shooting at European, national and local levels. There are also many wildfowling clubs around the coast of Great Britain, often covering certain estuary areas where wildfowl are found in large numbers.

Regulations, sportsmanship, and safety

Waterfowl hunting is highly regulated. In most western countries, hunters are required to obtain a hunting license and face strict limits on the number of birds that can be taken in a day (bag limits) and the total number of birds a hunter can possess (possession limits). 

In the United States, hunters must also purchase a federal duck stamp and often a state stamp. It is illegal to shoot ducks from a motor vehicle, a moving boat, or to shoot sitting or swimming ducks; this is also considered unsportsmanlike and possibly unsafe. Many practices that were once common in commercial duck hunting before the turn of the century, including laying baits such as corn, use of live ducks as "decoys," and use of guns larger than a 10-gauge, are now prohibited. In most areas, shotguns that can hold more than two or three shells must be modified to reduce their magazine size. Legal hunting is limited to a set time period (or "season"), which generally extends from fall to early winter, while birds are migrating south. 

It is also considered good sportsmanship to make every possible attempt to retrieve dead or injured waterfowl the hunter has shot. Shooting before birds are within range is also considered poor form, as this often merely injures the birds and may drive them away before other hunters can fire.