Page 96 - South Mississippi Living - December, 2023

SPORTS & OUTDOORS
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Ignored Birds Make Great Sport for Novice Hunters
story and photos by John N. Felsher
“Shoot,” I yelled as birds headed in all directions, running across the water frantically trying to get airborne. “There’s another one just starting to patter across the surface. Fire! Here comes a straggler. Get him!”
In seconds, my son pumped out three rounds from his shotgun. Fortunately, other birds didn’t travel far. We watched as they landed across the brackish bay about 200 yards away. We picked up our birds and took a brief break to let the coots calm down again before our next stalk. We repeated this procedure until my son bagged his limit of 15 coots.
Sportsmen can hunt coots during the regular Mississippi waterfowl season, but most people just ignore them. Not really a duck, but a member of the rail family, coots look like black or slate gray chickens with white pointed bills and lobed, rather than webbed feet. Although they enter brackish or salty systems, coots thrive in freshwater marshes like those in the Pearl or Pascagoula River deltas. They also like
sluggish river backwaters and large lakes where they often raft up in huge numbers.
Coots sometimes swim into duck decoys, but they don’t really respond to calls. Therefore, sportsmen must go looking for them. Federal law prohibits people from shooting at migratory birds from boats moving under power, but people can paddle after them. Canoes and kayaks make excellent coot hunting platforms.
This type of hunting offers an outstanding way to introduce children to waterfowling. Young hunters easily grow bored when ducks don’t fly. In a great spot, youngsters on a coot shoot can see terrific action in a short time.
When paddling up coots, put the youngster in the boat bow ready to shoot while the adult takes the backseat. The adult paddles, positions the boat for the best, safest shots and serves as spotter. Solo hunters can stretch shotguns across their laps or put them in another convenient, safe place for easy access. When boarding or exiting a boat, always unload the guns.
96 | December 2023
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