I often hunt Monday afternoons because of my schedule. What to expect.....
Easiest walk out you ever had coming from morning only hunting.
Setting decoys in daylight is so easy.
warmer temps. Shooting time ends with plenty of light left to pick up.
You will see tons of birds while picking up your decoys 'cause they will fly best a half hour after sun set.
DO NOT MOVE when working birds is much more important than dusk of first light.
Expect ducks and Canada Geese if you have um. Use you BEST decoys you have and a bit less of them than you think you need.
Bring training bumpers and work the dog through your decoys as you will have down time.
All the shooting is the last 40 minutes except random traveling feeders.
Have fun
　
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Don't be surprised if you see most of the bird movement just after LST.

 

Around here you have to hunt the roost if your hunting during the last 2 hours of light. Forget about calling and motion decoys all that mess, be where they want to be and hidden. Its open water on lakes in my neck of the woods in a layout boat.

 

Afternoon shoots are always the best on cold days. If you're hunting the roost then you want a cold day with heavy overcast because this will cause the birds to move to the roost before LST is up. If you're hunting in a feeding area, i like a cold, clear day. I've had some bang up shoots in the afternoon, but i've had more slow hunts than barrel burners.

Good luck.

 

If you add a 30 mph wind to the heavy overcast sky then you just descibed todays weather.Im undecided on whether to hunt a private property with 5 nice ponds or go to the local big water lake .Both have been good producers with birds roosting on them as of late. The birds are pouring in here.Local conservation area went from 5000 ducks on sunday to 20,000 on tuesday

 

down here we rarely do it as it's bad policy to shoot roosts and run the birds out of the area.

 

It might be dark by the time you get back to the truck.

 

It depends on what you are hunting to me. Are you truly evening hunting say3:30 to LST or from lunch on to LST? I hunt both ways i.e. I get off at 12 on Wed and evening hunt some weekends. I usually don't do much roost shooting because I hunt every day of season and get my fill before work every morning. I love the midday hunts though. The birds are usually stragglers looking for other birds and evening feed.

On midday it is best like said before to find good cover and let the decoys do the work.. I hunt the coastal marsh here on Wednesday afternoon so 99% of the time in the winter the wind is blowing and decoy movement is great. It is a great way to hunt relaxed and not have to worry about jerk strings and calling every group that flies through because most of the time, if they are coming in, they are coming in.

 

Just in case make sure someone knows where you are and when to expect you back, you could spend a long night waiting for help or have a very long walk if you experience mechanical problems and no one knows where to find you.