Page 53 - South Mississippi Living - January, 2020

Kevin Toncrey, John N. Felsher and Daniel Felsher show o the redhead drake and scaup they bagged while hunting with Robert Brodie of Team Brodie Charters in Mississippi Sound near Moss Point, Miss.
blinds. When placed near a grassy island, the boat resembles part of the land or looks like an island itself. When ducks appear, waterfowlers can stand up to fire over the blind or lower one side of it to shoot.
“We go to the ducks,” Brodie advised. “With the boat blind, we can easily pick up the decoys and move to another spot. At times, we’ll make a hunt and see birds flying to another area. We’ll pick up the decoys and move. Sometimes we tow long lines of decoys to the new spot. I normally hunt with about 150 decoys in a mix of species.”
Sportsmen who venture into Mississippi Sound could bag any waterfowl species that winters at the southern terminus of the Mississippi Flyway. In open waters like Mississippi Sound, waterfowlers primarily bag diving ducks. Redheads frequently comprise a major portion of the bag, but hunters might end up with several species during any day on the water.
“We mostly shoot redheads,” Brodie said. “We also shoot buffleheads and both greater and lesser scaup. We shoot an occasional canvasback. It’s possible to take a sea duck like an oldsquaw or scoter. Every now and then, we’ll get pintails, teal, a mallard or other puddle ducks. Over the years, we’ve also killed gadwalls, shovelers, wigeons, even wood ducks. We’ve even knocked down a few blue, snow and Ross geese.”
The Mississippi duck season runs through January 31. Hunters can take home up to six ducks per person daily, but some species have more restricted limits. For more information, visit the Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries, & Parks website at mdwfp.com.
Before hunting anywhere, coastal waterfowlers might want to check with the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources at 844.937.6367 or dmr.ms.gov.
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