Boat blinds are popular with ringneck hunters. Bobby Caldwell uses binoculars to identify ducks at a distance. Differentiating between scaup and ringnecks is critical, as scaup have been subject to reduced bag limits. Photo by Mike Marsh.

November is a difficult month for North Carolina outdoorsmen. The deer rut is in full swing in the coastal counties, small-game seasons are open and nearly all species of saltwater and freshwater game fish are biting. However, a more recent phenomenon drawing hunters and anglers into waterfowl hunting is the long November duck season.

I can remember when the November segment of duck season was three days long, then a week long, until now it runs several weeks, usually from the second week of the month through Thanksgiving weekend. It was much easier to decide what to do in the "bad old days" of a short waterfowl season in November. You got your gear ready, then hunted every one of those days until the early duck season was over.

I happen to live in southeastern North Carolina, where good duck-hunting waters are far from legendary and, more accurately, are few and far between, at least when compared with the vast stretches of duck waters of the northeastern sounds, rivers and lakes. Even the inland reservoirs have more open water available for hunting than the scant puddles of impounded water acreage in the southeastern part of the state.

Nevertheless, there is one location that routinely draws ducks and hunters. Like any other place, it can be a spotty source of waterfowling fun. But it's relatively easy to gain access to and sometimes has an impressive number of ducks. Constructed in the 1970s as a cooling water source for the Progress Energy (then it was Carolina Power and Light Company) L.V. Sutton Steam Electric Generating Plant, Sutton Lake not only is an excellent place to fish, it can be an excellent place to hunt ducks.

Despite what most waterfowl hunters believe, November is consistently the top month for the number of waterfowl in the state. Aerial surveys by the North Carolina Wildlife Commission have proved this fact to be true. Many species are in the state at this time. However, some, such as canvasbacks, brants, black ducks and pintails, have been off-limits to hunting in recent Novembers, so hunters must watch carefully for regulations and bulletins on these species.

For these reasons, and because hunting and fishing seasons for just about everything else are also open, many hunters defer their waterfowl hunting until the "real" duck season comes in December, or until the deer season goes out in January.

Warm weather is another thing that keeps duck hunters off the water. Mosquitoes and biting gnats are nuisances until the first frost and it's hard to get enthusiastic about rolling on a pair of neoprene waders that are so warm they make you feel like a steamed oyster if the air temperature is much above freezing.

So, what is it that may induce hunters to check out the 850-acre lake in New Hanover County in November? If you guessed ringnecks, you've rung the bell and we have a winner!

Sutton Lake has very little puddle duck habitat in and of itself. But the Cape Fear River is nearby and puddle ducks, such as teal, mallards, gadwalls and widgeon visit the lake later in the season.

I've seen many diving duck species at some time or another at Sutton Lake. Indeed, it's the only place I would even recommend any waterfowl hunter in the southeastern part of the state could have a chance at a redhead. Sometimes there are good numbers of redheads. However, that usually happens when the weather turns exceptionally cold, not in November. In January, lesser scaup make a showing. Sometimes there are thousands, sometimes only dozens, and sometimes, none at all.

Last year for example, was a particularly good season for ruddy ducks, with many flocks of them. But coots, which are normally quite numerous, were low in number and scaup did not make a good showing.

However, in November, for whatever reason, diving ducks can swarm the lake. Some of these diving ducks are lesser scaup or "bluebills" as most coastal anglers call them. But many are ring-necked ducks, or ringbills as some hunters call them. Last November, hunters saw good numbers of ringnecks at the lake.