A Bad Hide But Lots Of Mallards | Virginia Duck Hunting 2023

Coming off a big freeze up in Virginia last season, Chase and I headed out to a swamp spot that he has permission on in the hopes of finding some mallards, black ducks, and woodies that were looking for open water and fresh food. We were greeted by an extremely foggy morning but that seemed to keep the big duck flying and we were able to pick off a few even with a subpar hide. Wade saved us with a couple excellent retrieves and we ended the morning with a classic mixed bag for the Virginia swamps. Hope you enjoy!
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[@tristancrowley910]

When your favorite hunting youtuber is back uploading🥹

[@HokeOutdoors]

I appreciate you watching brother! One of the real ones 👊🏻

[@flugee01]

the ole fart call .09. Blowing out of both ends.

[@HokeOutdoors]

Works about 90% of the time!

[@wayne_vt]

Glad to see some vids rolling out again! Getting me absolutely ready for early season!

[@HokeOutdoors]

Thanks for watching! When does y'alls season open up?

[@jermm5863]

@@HokeOutdoorsSeptember 15th sc

[@davemuli2711]

Great hunt. That blind would not have worked in my area! 5 sticks in front of you, boat on shore 10 yards way and a no face paint. I have to basically be invisible to get they to come in. 🇨🇦

[@HokeOutdoors]

Thanks Dave! What kind of fowl are y'all mainly chasing up there? This kind of blind works well on wood ducks & teal from my experience but isn't quite enough to hide from big ducks or geese

[@turkeyhunter7617]

Def enjoyed this video 👍🦆

[@HighPrairieSportsmen]

Black ducks are so cool! Hopefully will bag one someday. Another good hunt buddy.

[@HokeOutdoors]

They're always a treat, even back east where we get them a good bit. All you gotta do is hop on a flight and we'll go chase them

[@tyronsilver_2489]

come to jersey coastal zone it’s practically all we have here

[@andrewsharp4066]

I'm always jealous of the black ducks you harvest.

[@HokeOutdoors]

They're always a treat!

[@AlluvialOutdoors]

same

[@TooManyHobbies]

This video is giving me the itch!!

[@HokeOutdoors]

Almost time to scratch that itch! Gonna be going out for early goose at all this year?

[@AbuSaeed219]

The best channel for hunting waterfowl without a doubt😻

[@HokeOutdoors]

Thanks brother!

[@user-tw9us5ef3b]

hadyah rafraf hudhaf akhuk min aleiraq😊

[@austin.aesthetics]

Love this video,PLEASE do more with jump shooting videos,man those are my favorite videos on here ! Your really helping out your fellow novis,NC hunters.

[@HokeOutdoors]

Gonna try to do some jump shoots this season in VA or elsewhere across the country, one of my favorite types of hunts for learning a new area!

[@ricktaylor3196]

Glad to see you back posting great videos!!

[@HokeOutdoors]

Thanks Rick! Got plenty more coming over there next few weeks!

[@slyflyby]

Another good one Thomas...have done lots of hunting in the fog in Louisiana! Like the soft calling particularly the drake mallard whoot. Blind isn't so important since ducks can't see us so clearly either. Wade did a great job; wait till Leroy begins to roll!

[@HokeOutdoors]

Thanks Don! The fog definitely helped the hide early on, once it started to burn off it really felt like we were sitting out in the open though. Wade has certainly come into his own the last couple seasons too!

[@bangbol005]

Happy with what we have

[@HokeOutdoors]

Can’t complain!

[@Hester5114]

It’s already that time of the season aye? You got me excited to hit the duck blind 🔥

[@HokeOutdoors]

Right around the corner now!

[@nasserkuzbari2205]

Great video as usual..Keep them coming...

[@HokeOutdoors]

Thanks Nasser! More coming soon!

[@virginiaswampboys199]

👍..Black Ducks Rule!

[@HokeOutdoors]

I don't think I could ever get tired of them!

[@wesleysmith6018]

Amazing vids. Keep them coming!

[@HokeOutdoors]

Thanks brother! Got more coming soon!

[@francishamard7706]

De très belles images de chasse. Mon rêve que j'ai abandonné en 2000 mais que j'espère reprendre un jour. Merci.

[@ethanbillins6162]

Always a great day when Thomas uploads

[@HokeOutdoors]

Thanks brother! Lots more videos coming throughout the month!

[@FkHunting07]

my fovv bro came back with a awsm hunting videos ❤❤ ✌ nailed it tomas..❤

[@sabatier2002]

I can't wait to move up to Virginia! I am eager to get my JK Armament 12 gauge suppressor and use it for waterfowl. This could also protect the lab's hearing! Let me know if you want to link up to test this and other NFA items once i'm up there. I sent you an email about sponsorships!

[@HokeOutdoors]

Just saw your email, I'll get back to you this evening once I finish up with work!

[@sabatier2002]

@@HokeOutdoors Looking forward to it!

[@X-Fowls]

Awesome video good marsh hunt reminds of where I hunt at

[@HokeOutdoors]

There's something pretty magical about a good swamp hole!

[@ryanpaynter5870]

Love the VA videos!

[@HokeOutdoors]

Thanks Ryan! Got a few more VA hunts from last season that I haven't posted yet!

[@Hawker493]

Black ducks are the top😍 why you don't use a camo net to make a simple and fast blind? I've always 6 meters of it in the same bag of the decoys

[@HokeOutdoors]

We haven’t had great luck with camo netting in the past so we typically just use natural stuff to build blinds

[@Hawker493]

@@HokeOutdoors which kind of problems have you had? I usually use the net on the inside and vegetation on the outside of the blind, so the net covers where there are gaps in the vegetation... Otherwise the net can move a lot with the wind and I hate that, also ducks I think🙃

[@jordansiddons4047]

I hunt in Indiana north zone and I’ve been seeing more and more black ducks every year

[@HokeOutdoors]

Do y’all see many hybrid mallard x black ducks up there?

[@RDReynoldsOutdoors]

Now that's some thick fog

[@HokeOutdoors]

Some of the thickest I've ever seen at first light!

[@samlewis8183]

It's almost September and you know what THAT means: Another one of Thomas' river float Goose hunts where they shoot so many honkers their kayaks cross the weight threshold and take on water🙄LOL

[@HokeOutdoors]

Haha unfortunately I’m gonna miss out on that this September. Headed up to Alaska in a couple weeks!

[@kyletrahan9661]

Let’s do a hunt swap I need a good black duck for the wall!! SW Louisiana here

[@HokeOutdoors]

Would love to make that happen this season, just not sure how much I’m gonna be back on the east coast quite yet

[@Yellowlab247_NC_Outdoors]

Good stuff, I always enjoy my Virginia hunts. A little bit of latitude makes a lot of difference.

[@HokeOutdoors]

It’s crazy how a lot of the big duck migration stops with us, not to say that NC doesn’t get plenty of birds too though!

[@Yellowlab247_NC_Outdoors]

For the piedmont of NC, it 100% does! East of 95 you start getting back into the big ducks November on, but here we MAYBE get them every 5 years. Why I started hunting where "Lovers" go about 8-9 years ago. @@HokeOutdoors

[@anthonylacorte5811]

I like your hunts like this because this is how I hunt with my buddies. The fog was spectacular, always enjoy a foggy morning in a swamp hole. Last season my hope was to kill my first black duck. Hunted salt marsh several times with no luck. On the last day of the season in one of my swamp holes I killed a mallard black hybrid!

[@HokeOutdoors]

Thanks Anthony, congrats on the hybrid! It's always a treat when you get something like that in an area where you least expect it. Did you enjoy hunting the salt marsh or is the swamp your preferred area?

[@anthonylacorte5811]

@@HokeOutdoors I definitely enjoy the salt marshes, but here in SENC I went around 10 times to the salt it’s a little over an hour drive and we just don’t have the ducks. I saw one flock of 3 black ducks and a flock of gadwall, the rest is all hooded mergansers , which are a beautiful bird, but I’d rather just watch them decoy and not shoot them. It’s hard to want to keep driving an hour when I have plenty swamp holes good for a couple mallards and some woodies. Excited for a 4 mallard limit this season!

[@PalmettoFowlHabit]

Man I'm hoping I can bag a Black this season

[@HokeOutdoors]

Hope you can make it happen! NJ or NY would be your best bet if you’re gonna travel at all

[@jacobherrmann8140]

Can’t wait for opening day! October 7th in NYS!

[@HokeOutdoors]

Do you hunt the early goose season up there at all?

[@jacobherrmann8140]

@@HokeOutdoors, September 1st we will do a few float trips down a few rivers. I’m northern NYS. Finger Lakes gets most the migration. I’m sure they hammer them in the corn down there!

[@user-tw9us5ef3b]

mumkin makbasuh tasnae alkhartush😊

[@Will97675]

I want to bag a black duck some day. You don’t really see them in Texas, or at least in my part of Texas.

[@HokeOutdoors]

They’re a cool bird! Gotta be on the east coast to get them though for the most part

[@alexarno6752]

I hunt in NC and I’ve only ever seen black ducks mixed in with mallards.

[@HokeOutdoors]

Interesting, we typically see the black ducks in pairs or small family groups by themselves uo here

[@shanehamilton6708]

Awesome video! Love the foggy morning. Do you hunt the teal season? I live in south Mississippi on the pearl river and I’m getting fired up looking for that first group of blue wings. Probably about 3 more weeks 👍

[@HokeOutdoors]

Thanks Shane! I have tried hunting the teal season in VA and NC the last few years without much luck. We just don't get much of a teal migration over here and they move through very quick when they are around. Do y'all get a good teal migration over there?

[@shanehamilton6708]

We absolutely do. You might go a couple of days without seeing a bird and then they’ll be all over you for three days and then it’s real slow for a couple of days and then they’re all over you again for three or four days.

[@nolanminor6761]

VA duckin'

[@HokeOutdoors]

Back to the roots!

[@jeremy28135]

Thomas, (or everyone): beside the color, is there any other tell you look for when you ID a Black Duck from a Mallard or a Mottled in flight?

[@HokeOutdoors]

The color would be the main identifier. They can be a little bigger than mallards but it's usually not noticeable in flight.

[@rippinlipstv8459]

what drake whistle do you use?

[@HokeOutdoors]

Polk patterns teal whistle

[@obomanationstation1905]

what part of va are you in

[@OG_GAINGER]

Lets set a hunt up together man im from yorktown got alot of areas to hit just let me know

[@BartonOutdoors]

Yo was that a fart?

[@HokeOutdoors]

Gas station burrito + energy drink is a bad combo

[@BartonOutdoors]

@@HokeOutdoors been there e

[@hmoobv4j154]

Duck season? Sorry i thought it was on Oct lol

[@HokeOutdoors]

Last seasons video that I didn’t post

[@hmoobv4j154]

@@HokeOutdoors ahhhh makes more sense now haha thank you

[@camdennichols6229]

What marsh is this at in VA?

[@HokeOutdoors]

This is a private spot, just a little swamp hole tucked back in the woods (that they built a neighborhood around..)

[@eley.19]

What time of year was this?

[@HokeOutdoors]

Last January

[@TristanBapst]

I would still rather shoot off my left foot than hunt with a dog😂

[@HokeOutdoors]

Would've lost 1 bird for sure and probably a second without Wade this morning. They certainly add another level of complication to a hunt but the amount of birds they find that would otherwise be lost makes up for it and then some in my opinion

[@MartellOutdoors]

That's mixed with a mallard not a pure black duck

[@HokeOutdoors]

What makes you say that? I didn't see any white above the speculum on that bird which is typically the indicator I look for

[@MartellOutdoors]

@HokeOutdoors look at its wing theirs white on each side. Pure black ducks have no white

[@MartellOutdoors]

Still cool though I'd be happy with it never shot a mixed or pure

[@jackstrawwichita571]

That calling sounds horrible