5 Late Season Duck Hunting Tips

Florida decoy and concealment strategies for January waterfowling.

January 12, 2026 By Ian Nance

So late in the season, I’d figured the mid-January Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge hunt would quickly degenerate into a casual trip with a few buddies to unwind from the family holidays. If we found a couple of ducks, wonderful. If not, well, those are the breaks. Let’s hit the bar.

Fortunately, a member of our party arrived early and had located teal within the unit we’d drawn, so the local pub would have to wait. Still, we weren’t willing to sleep in the trucks at the gates hoping to beat everyone else to the ramp the next morning. When the refuge opened, though, we had the unit to ourselves, and our luck only improved from there.

What unfolded was a memorable hunt as waves of blue-winged teal rolled through our decoys, certainly welcome but unusual for January. Our limits efficiently reached, we stowed the shotguns, and enjoyed flock after flock buzz the blind and settle in the fakes, which we later loudly recounted that evening at the aforementioned bar, speaking of a buzz.

You never know with ducks, quite frankly, but by January general enthusiasm for waterfowling dwindles. After all, the hunting scene is rough. The waterfowl have generally taken a pretty good beating and are skittish. Fresh birds on cold fronts are typically unanswered prayers. The will to drag oneself from comfortable sheets to battle weather and folks at the 3 a.m. ramp simply erodes, and the “I just ain’t that mad at ‘em” mentality blossoms.

It’s this mentality that opens the door, however, to some successful late-season hunts as the frenzy of the first month-and-a-half dissipates. In fact, I’ve had some of my best hunts after the New Year. Florida is unique to other states in that we have a variety of resident and non-resident fowl to hunt and loads of unfrozen waterbodies to scout. The duck numbers might not always be strong year-to-year, but one opportunity or another remains throughout the season.

So, for those of you not ready to call it a year, here are some thoughts and tips for Florida's late season duck hunting.

1. Reduce the Decoys

It’s a widely accepted practice that by the late season, hunters should trim their decoy numbers around pressured birds. Lose the spinning-wing decoys, or use remote control models if you must, but creating water movement with a jerk rig or similar device is considered the stronger play as ducks become wary of flashing plastic wings. Decreasing the number of standard decoys helps, too. By January, ducks on the lakes and rivers have been scattered by hunting pressure and natural inclinations, and smaller packs of them feeding and loafing are more realistic. If anything, increase your spread with coot decoys and limit the number of duck fakes you toss. A lighter load also allows for more mobility in the event one spot isn’t paying off.

Large flock of coots on a Florida pond — Enhance your spread with coot decoys, as coots remain in large groups through the winter. (Ian Nance photo)

2. Hide Better

Palm fronds are common blind material for Florida duck hunters because they’re readily available, create quite the canopy cover, are easy to use in a boat or from shore, and they’re green, which is great when the surrounding vegetation is also green. They start sticking out like sore thumbs when the surrounding foliage has died. We call it “Green Blob-itis” as ducks quite obviously begin flaring from such blinds. The fronds will still work in a pinch, but in as much as possible, use the surrounding vegetation for blind material the later you get into the year. Or, even better, ditch the boat blinds, and wade or kayak into natural vegetation, lowering your profile and blending into your natural surroundings.

Duck hunter conceals himself behind mangrove tree — Using existing natural vegetation for blinds often has less impact than hauling in palm fronds. (Ian Nance photo)

3. Hunt Later in the Morning

Many late season hunters skip the early morning rush to hunt in late mornings and into the afternoon, especially on larger lakes. They often have their choice of spots, and the dawn skyblasting that flares birds has petered off. Notably on windy days or when other users like bass fishermen are cruising, the ducks will get up and trade from place to place. The shooting isn't as intense as the morning sits of early season, but steadily picking off singles and doubles will reach a bag limit, as well.

Florida hunters display bag limit of blackbelly whistling ducks — Whistling ducks move around more during the winter as water sources dry. Check out drying flag lily ponds and depression marshes. (Ian Nance photo)

4. Hunt Other Duck Species

This advice reminds me of when my wife has anxiety, and I kindly tell her not to worry. If it were only that simple, but as I said in the intro, there are many different duck hunting scenarios Florida hunters can experience. I enjoy January for sea duck hunting. These don’t often receive the pressure inland flocks do, and it’s a wild experience, even if it’s simply bluebills piling into the decoys and you can only shoot one or two. In the past I’ve saved wood duck holes until the last week of the season. Whistling ducks tend to move around more as marshes dry in the winter, reliably retreating to a stable water source. Yes, public water teal and ringers play tough, but other species are still in the mix with some planning, research, and exploration.

And on that note...

Hunter holds up a lesser scaup duck — Switch to coastal duck hunting for other species, such as this lesser scaup or bluebill. (Ian Nance photo)

5. Stay Mad

Dedicated duck hunters keep grinding, logging windshield miles and boat motor hours exploring new places and seeking out the birds. I mentioned wood duck holes above. Florida’s Wildlife Management Area (WMA) system has millions of acres with marshes and ponds that hold woodies and can be hunted once deer season is finished. Aside from this, I don’t know that there are too many public access secrets in Florida’s waterfowling anymore, but I do know that the best hunters keep scouting and hunting and are successful long after others have put away their shotguns for the year. They stay mad at 'em, so don't be mad when they're posting pile pics on social media.