A big part of the charm of hunting wood ducks is the many ways in which they can be hunted. Name any hunting method -- whether it's pass-shooting, jump-shooting, drifting, decoying or calling -- plenty of bag limits of wood ducks have been filled by that method.

The first order of business, however, is locating the birds.

Wood ducks are notorious for flaunting legal shooting hours in the hunter's face. On a typical morning, their flight from the roost begins about 45 minutes before dawn. In a typical evening, they take wing in their densest numbers long past closing time of 30 minutes past sunset and continue to roost until it's black as a pitch kettle.

Nevertheless, finding a roost is high on the agenda of seasoned wood duck hunters. At roost, woodies are the most gregarious of waterfowl, packing tightly into waters so tiny it would seem there was landing room for no more. It could be the upper end of a flooded lake, greentree impoundment on public land, beaver pond, natural sinkhole, Carolina bay pond or overgrown farm pond. It's certain it will have flooded trees and it's guaranteed the same roost will have wood ducks every year.

Finding a roost can be difficult or easy. The easiest roosts to find are near larger waterways that can be navigated with boats or near roadways with bridge crossings. By traveling by boat or a vehicle and watching flocks of ducks winging, the hunter can establish a direction of travel. It may take several scouting trips to identify a roost location.

Although the hunter may not actually be able to drive or paddle to the roost, his ears will tell him where X marks the spot. Squeals of hen wood ducks are audible at a half-mile. Buzzing calls of drakes can only be heard at shorter ranges.

But if the roost proper cannot be reached by wading or paddling all is not lost. Pass-shooting a roost is actually best done from a distance.

Wood ducks are not especially fearful of gunfire during early segments of the season. Later, if they've been hunted regularly, a shotgun blast will send most of the birds away from the sounds of shooting.

Taking up a position 100 yards away along the exit route is a top tactic. Any closer and the shooting may sufficiently alarm the ducks so they veer along a different flyway. Hunt from much farther and dispersion can make shooting spottier. However, only by hunting the area will the hunter learn how close is too close, how far is too far. Some excellent shooting can be had hundreds of yards from a roost if features such as creek channels, high banks or low places in forest canopies create aerial pathways.

These hotspots can occur over dry land, which is a positive for hunters who don't have dogs. When they occur over water, a good retriever can be worth his weight in woodies.