Duck Hunters

[ruichi]

Hello Duckhunters!
I've been trying to get back to duck hunting, although we know it is still broken in Layton.
But I have some doubts about some things. I've seen different opinions about this issues at different times, and I would like to hear about your experiences.
As of now, do the ducks spook if you fast travel to a tent right next to the blind in the shore of the lakes/river?
Can duck need zones be destroyed by hunting too many ducks? Or they keep coming to the decoys like geese? Should we tripod instead to avoid that?

Thanks for the help!

[Striker]

Ducks do not keep coming to decoys like geese. In my experience, they don't come at all anymore. You have to spot them swimming on a lake or river then sneak in and shoot them. Those that fly away do not come back. Yes, they will spook if fast travel to a tent that is near a blind, or when a puma sounds off nearby in you are in PF. Also, you cannot establish a need zone by investigating feathers along the shore. Some form of Duck wrk was listed among the things the devs intend to do.

[Lenny Rat]

Funny what works for folks. Different strokes. I have 6 setups throughout Layton in different regions.

I place 2 sets of roughly 15 decoys each about 35-40 meters apart and then place my tripod on the shore between them. I then set up my tent as close as humanly possible behind the tripod.

I get my shotgun prepped and loaded in my hand before I travel. When I fast travel in I will hear the ducks before the spawn load screen finishes (if they are there in any quantity). I can immediately sprint to my tripod, climb it, and get a bead just as they start to spook. Easy, peezy, lemon squeezy.

In a few spots I use a blind instead of the tripod. In those locations, as long as I keep my blind literally 3 feet in front of my tent, I can crouch walk into the blind and stand up without spooking them at all.

[ruichi]

Thanks for the answers. As i thought, a lot of different experiences. I will try it and see what suits me better. But it is interesting to see how players could find a way of succeed adopting different tactics, even when the feature is broken ☺️

[ruichi]

Today's update: " Fixed Mallards (Layton Lake) so that they no longer spawn only at a few lakes".
Let's try it out.

[R_One_]

Hi, i tested mallard duck and teal hunting after the patch ... find it quite disappointing as there is no more theft, using a hunting blind and calling it almost useless .

Hunting with a gun is no longer fun like with geese. All you have to do is move around the map and stay at a distance of 150 meters, make a shot then wait for the animals to calm down and start again.

Do you have the same experience?

[MetalMind85]

Yes, the ducks DLC isn't working at all. I bought it almost 18 months ago and is still broken. I'll submit a ticket for refund. Don't get me wrong, the DLC is crazely cheap, it is not about money. But collecting money for something that is broken since year and half and not fixing it is above all forms of decency.

[[FtUC]Keirkof]

The mallards in Layton Lakes have been much improved, just as it says in the development notes. On Layton, I have recently seen flocks of ducks land in lakes and around decoys while hunting for other animals. When you find droppings or feathers along the shores, the need zones *do* register.

Just keep in mind that other reserves have other ducks that are _not_mallards_, and may not have been fixed.

[R_One_]

you have recently seen flocks of ducks landing in lakes and around decoys while hunting other animals. Yes me too ... But have you tried to approach or seek to hunt in shelter? you should try, it only works very badly, there are too few flights of birds ... You cannot approach within 100 m without them taking off and if you stay in a hunting shelter, you remain a terrible time without seeing anything.

[Dragon Leftovers]

Today I snuck up on a flock and got very close and killed 5 when they left the water. I don't have any duck dlc but I've killed more ducks since the Layton update than I ever have. 3 more this morning when I fast traveled to a tent and caught them flying overhead and 4 yesterday that flew over my hunting stand.

[Old Fox]

in LL the hunting ducks is working very good now. Blinds and decoys are working ducks are coming in a good number, so i really don't understand some of the post above. I have 4 places with decoys and i had travel in all of them and hunt ducks ( yesterday in 30 min rt i hunt morre than 30 mallards )

[ruichi]

Originally posted by Old Fox:

in LL the hunting ducks is working very good now. Blinds and decoys are working ducks are coming in a good number, so i really don't understand some of the post above. I have 4 places with decoys and i had travel in all of them and hunt ducks ( yesterday in 30 min rt i hunt morre than 30 mallards )

My experience too. I have 5 setups in different lakes and rivers. I keep fast travelling between them and there is always ducks there. I put the decoys and blinds close to the need zones.

P.S. I came to the conclusion that you can spawn close to the ducks in a tent, prone, as long as they don't see you. Put it behind some trees, rocks or tall weeds and they don't spook. It's the line of sight that matters.

[R_One_]

We agree, there are ducks set down when you arrive at the spots where you have set traps. But once in a hunting station, there are very few bird flights, it is often necessary to wait a long time before the ducks pass again, yet I have put the hunting stations in areas of need.

I'm not saying it's completely buggy, hunting with the 22 LR is much easier, you just have to walk along the water's edge to shoot at 150 m and wait for the animals to calm down to kill all the herds . I made about 50 ducks in 2 hours with this method.

But rifle hunting lacks fun, waiting several tens of minutes or more to hope to see a flight go by, it's quite discouraging.

If I take the example of the flight of geese on Hirschfelden, this gives a much more active hunt. there is a lot more passage.

[Old Fox]

Originally posted by R_One_:

We agree, there are ducks set down when you arrive at the spots where you have set traps. But once in a hunting station, there are very few bird flights, it is often necessary to wait a long time before the ducks pass again, yet I have put the hunting stations in areas of need.

I'm not saying it's completely buggy, hunting with the 22 LR is much easier, you just have to walk along the water's edge to shoot at 150 m and wait for the animals to calm down to kill all the herds . I made about 50 ducks in 2 hours with this method.

But rifle hunting lacks fun, waiting several tens of minutes or more to hope to see a flight go by, it's quite discouraging.

If I take the example of the flight of geese on Hirschfelden, this gives a much more active hunt. there is a lot more passage.

you are not hunt correctly ducks, it must be waiting for them in a spot ( near water ) with decoys , callers and inside a water blind. This way i hunt several flocks in the same spot ( +/- 10 min ), and than i change the location. I use the 20G shotgun and the .22LR ( for the escape ones )