Duck, Duck, Corn

Brenden Gallagher for SPLIT REED


Corn is an important crop across many parts of North America, not only for its commercial value but for the hunting opportunities it presents hunters of different species, such as deer and waterfowl. Across much of South Dakota, this is true and it is especially important for migrating mallards and those who pursue them. Alex Russo has spent years chasing mallards in cornfields and has a few key insights on how he gets it done at Flatland Flyways. 

 
 

Why Corn?

“Especially in places like the Dakotas where it gets really cold, corn is such a crucial part of a mallard's life or any duck that feeds on grain. It’s got carbohydrates in it that provide energy and help them to migrate. When it gets really cold they can't just eat something like smartweed in a body of water and get enough nutrients and energy from it to migrate far enough or generate enough body heat to survive really cold temperatures. Hunting corn is different from down south where the style is to not hunt the field but to hunt the water, well up here we don't want to hunt the water we want to hunt the fields. I would say when it hits the mid-20s to low 30s, that's when we see things really start to switch and when birds really want that corn, you’ll get your ducks in corn earlier too but as far as it being consistent that they feed every day at this time or they're doing this or that, that happens when it gets a little cooler out. That being said this year, a drought year, a lot of our big waters holding ducks but we don't have a lot of small bodies of water so they cant feed on shallow water food sources so we’ve been noticing these oat and wheat fields with feeds anywhere from 500-5000 mallards and it's not even September. What that tells me is that we are going to crush them because they go to the big water and they have to come off and feed. This year I think they're going to hit fields a lot more but on an average year I think the ducks really start hitting the corn and beans mid to late October”.

Across the Dakotas, there is a mix of crop types that are available and beneficial when it comes to migrating mallards as noted by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, “small grains such as barley and wheat that are harvested prior to fall migration can be used by mallards and other waterfowl. Dry legumes such as peas and lentils are also routinely consumed by migrating mallards and are beneficial for building fat reserves. Soybeans are a poor waterfowl food and are not suited to meet the nutritional needs of mallards or other waterfowl. In some cases, eating raw soybeans can kill ducks due to impaction. Corn is a great food that is high in carbohydrates, but it needs to be available during migration”.

 
 

SoDak Kern

“I’d say the average height of our corn is 12-14 inches but we’ve got some friends that are farmers and they use a chopper head so the corn is a lot shorter between 6-8 inches tall but we do get pretty tall corn out here. That makes it so you get a lot of corn leaf and husks so it's really dirty corn in the rows so we’ll bring metal rakes and rake up the rows. This year we bought corn ghillie blankets and we zip tied them to the tops of the doors, the boot bags, and the back of the blind so that when we butt all of our blinds up, we can rake up real corn husks and scatter it between and put it on the boot bags so you don't have to re-stubble every single time you have to go out there”. 

 
 

“One of the other things we started doing is running a lot of full bodies. I ordered 50 dozen GHG full body mallards so we split it up 25 and 25 per trailer and we started setting basically a teardrop like a snow goose spread and we put our blinds in the corn, and stubble the crap out of them. On a light wind day, we’ll have our decoys out 10-20 yards from the boot bags but on a high wind day we have them right up at the feet of the blinds and you just make a packed U shape. At the bottom of that U, you just trickle in a little 2, 5, or 15 pack and make a little tail or arm and then we also use 10-15 Lucky Ducks every single time we hunt on different height poles and we sort of stagger them to look like a three-pack landing on this arm or a two-pack landing in the hole. What we actually noticed was we were getting ducks hunting fields that did not have a duck in them that year at all. A lot of the time too, ducks are like snow geese, and they want to get to the front of the flock so a lot of times when we set it up like that with the little gap between the decoys and the blinds those ducks actually want to hop over the Lucky’s and land in between you and that gap to get in front of that decoy spread”. As many have said before and as Alex has always lived by, stubbling is the number one principle and your hunt will be as good as your worst blind/panel. “Every strap should be stubbled and even sometimes if you want to mix in a brown or greyish grass from a ditch, alternate that every other strap and then fill the empty straps with corn. What that does is make it more like a ghillie so on cloudy days it's a lot more of a three dimensional cover versus just corn stalks and corns very forgiving on sunny days because corns got so many shadows in it you almost can't screw it up unless you're completely pie-faced or doing something ridiculous. 

Calling in Corn 

“If we’re hunting the X we call very, very minimally. If they're coming to the field and they see you a lot of times I just won’t blow the call and I’ve had clients get upset that I wasn't calling. You just let them work and then maybe as they are doing their final pass you might throw out a few calls but nothing loud and then also a feed chuckle, which you could feed chuckle the birds all the way in if you really wanted to. Even trafficking mallards in a field we might rip on our loud calls to get them to break down but the minute their wings break down we’ll shut up and we’ll just let them work in. One of the reasons we shut up is because their wings are cutting the wind and making that ssshhhhsshhhh or woooooosshhh sound and we want the clients to hear that!”.  

I think I can speak for every waterfowler when I say the sights and sounds of birds breaking down and working your spread is one of the greatest privileges we get as hunters whether you pull up and crush a banded bird or end up whiffing on a hen mallard, the interaction between you and the bird is something all of us can appreciate. So take these tips into your next cornfield hunt or try something new with your spread and your setup you might just end up with a pile of mallards in your lap. 

 
 
 

Click on Brenden to find him on Instagram

Hunting StoriesCorey MulhairComment