New York, United States
• The early season (1st split) of our duck season in October is prime time for early migrating birds. Wood ducks are our most popular birds in the bag in early October, but most hunts will have bags that also consist of other species, such as mallards, blacks, green and blue winged teal, pintail, wigeon, and sometimes the occasional diver! We have even harvested Brant during our early season duck hunts! Trophy drake wood ducks with spectacular plumage are very common, and are usually the target of most of our early season hunters. We spend a lot of time hunting both private leases, and public water during the early season. Most of our public water during the early season is hunted from privately leased shoreline. There are times, when the conditions are right, where a field hunt can present itself as well. Our area of the state is a "Flyway Highway", and when these early migrators move through and mix with our resident ducks, the gunning is very good and makes for a fast paced hunt!