Increase Opportunities for Duck Hunting Success with Trail Cams

A big storm was forecast, and with it more than three inches of rain. My buddy and I hiked to a slough on the river and set three cellular trail cameras pointing over water that was barely ankle deep.

The storm hit the following afternoon, and within 24 hours the river came up 11 feet. More rain fell than expected. When the river began rising, wood ducks quickly moved in, followed by green-winged teal and ring-neck ducks. When the river hit its peak, it floated logs onto each shoreline, and when those logs became jammed with preening and roosting mallards, it was game on.

Two days after the storm hit, four of us hiked to the slough. We tossed a dozen floating decoys into the hole and spread another dozen silhouettes on the logs. In less than 90 minutes we were leaving with mixed-bag limits. Three days later, the river was falling but still high enough to attract ducks, and we pulled a three-man limit.

THE SETS

Two years ago I switched from non-cellular trail cameras to Moultrie Mobile cellular cameras for waterfowl hunting. While I learned a great deal from the video footage captured with the non-cell models, they barely increased my hunting opportunities. By the time I pulled the cards and decided to hunt a spot, the birds were gone. With cellular cams, immediate information is relayed, and that has changed the game.

When setting trail cameras for ducks, target fluctuating water levels, food sources and the migration. As water rises and falls, it attracts ducks. It might be roosting cover they seek, protection from a storm or food they can now access due to ideal water levels. Track weather patterns and set trail cameras in places you predict ducks will stage on rising and falling water levels.

Many waterfowl hunters throughout the West hunt ducks on dry land, not just water. In the Pacific Northwest, some grasses and clovers start flourishing in December, and wigeons, mallards and pintails flock to the green morsels. In drier habitats, stubble fields attract birds. By placing trail cameras on food sources, you’ll know exactly when birds find it.

As the season progresses, ducks continue migrating south. Running trail cameras allows you to track bird numbers as they rise or wane. You’ll notice different species showing up, too. Finding birds is only one part of the equation. Being ready to hunt them is another.

THE GAME PLAN

Before the season, my buddies and I stash decoys in brush near many places we’ll potentially hunt so we’re ready to roll when the ducks arrive. The key is mobility and timing. One slough we hunt sees a lot of public pressure on the river that feeds it. Rather than be burdened with hauling lots of decoys in the morning of a hunt, we have decoys hidden in two places. Once trail cameras confirm where the ducks are, we know exactly where to be and the decoys are already out there. This eliminates having to make multiple trips in our kayaks and Marsh Rats.

With cellular cameras we’ve learned the places ducks frequent every year and have discovered new places they use each season. Sometimes ducks only use a spot one season, as something changes the following year.

In addition to the stashed decoys, we also haul a few dozen dekes in our trucks and trailers all season as we uncover ways to access new potential hunting locales. We’ll use Marsh Rats, kayaks, decoy carts and mountain bikes to reach most areas. We incorporate floating decoys, full-bodies and silhouettes. What we use and where and when we use it often depends on what’s being seen on the cameras.

FILM STUDY

All of our trail cameras are set to video mode because a video captures sights and sounds still photos can’t. This reveals just how many birds are in an area—even what species.

Last season, a buddy picked up American wigeons on camera but heard the shrill call of a Eurasian wigeon out of frame. The next day he hunted the spot and added some of the new Big Al’s Eurasian wigeon decoys to his spread. He shot a limit of seven ducks, all wigeons, including a prized Euro.

Unsure how to arrange your decoy spread for these short-notice hunts? Let the birds help. Simply mimic what’s seen on the camera footage. Over the past two seasons, the number of decoys we use has been greatly reduced. We’ve shot a lot of ducks over no more than a dozen floaters and a smattering of silhouettes.

When trail cameras revealed how many ducks sit atop logs to roost and preen, I picked up some 12-inch circle-top landscape fabric stakes, painted them flat black and inserted them into slots in my mallard silhouettes. We simply tap the staked decoys into roosting logs and we’re set. The elevated silhouettes greatly increase the visibility of a spread.

We hunt a lot of wigeons. When these little lawn mowers show up by the thousands to graze on freshly sprouting grass, they fidget around like first graders in a soccer match. In order to create movement in the decoy spread, I fit some Big Al’s wigeon silhouettes to Higdon’s FLATS Motion Silhouette stakes. Mixing in two dozen moving silhouettes with three dozen stationary ones has pulled in ducks like crazy, and from a long way off.

Most of the time we’re hunting ducks as soon as they show up on camera. Getting on them when water levels are alluring and food not yet exhausted is key.

In small creeks and sloughs, we’ll often let duck numbers build before hunting. We start shooting early in the morning with sub-gauges, trying to get birds fast and with little disruption before the majority of birds arrive. This lets us hunt it again a few days later. Based on what cell cameras reveal, we’re now hunting spots five or six times a season rather than only once or twice.

With primetime duck season upon us, learn where birds are and understand what attracts them. From there, success comes down to being ready and flexible.

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• This article was featured in the November 2025 issue of Game & Fish magazine. Click to subscribe.

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