"Public places can be tough, but most people are lazy," McCrary said. "It's work, but sometimes it pays off."

He said you have to get out and look for ducks. Scouting is just one key to the homework puzzle. McCrary utilizes maps to learn the lay of the land and water.

"You'll want to get a duck's-eye view," explained McCrary. "See what they see."

By that, he means getting airborne. If you can afford to buy gas to travel to out-of-the-way duck holes, you can afford some airplane fuel. If your hunting group pitches in, it's not that expensive. He said you could do a flyover of your entire hunting area in about an hour and a half. What you learn from the air about natural flight patterns and hidden holes can be cross-referenced with a good topo map and a plan of action put into place.

McCrary said some of the big duck-drawing areas like Kentucky Lake have a lot of overlooked opportunities. Kentucky Lake, for example, is loaded with creeks feeding that river system and the creeks are often loaded with ducks. McCrary carries a small spotting scope during the season when scouting a new area.

He said to never go by what you think looks good - go to areas that the ducks think look good. You can tell if a spot looks good to ducks: The ducks will be using it. With the spotting scope, he can watch them from a distance without spooking them and be there the next morning to greet them.

"I guarantee you could get by with just two decoys," McCrary said about packing light. A lot of times getting back into an area can be a hike or a trudge down a muddy sandbar. His trekking essentials include his shotgun, necessary shotgun shells, a good dog, and a dozen decoys or less. Mallard decoys are the most universal and McCrary said he gets it done with them for puddle ducks as well as divers. If you find a spot that ducks like, you won't need many decoys.

McCrary said what makes public hunting best is when you find the ducks and there's no one else there to mess things up. Then you've accomplished something. Going against the grain of traditional duck blind hunting makes you learn. McCrary said not to let the zero days bother you and to remember the good days because you'll always have your memories when the hunting is slow.

J.R. Adkins, a Knight & Hale Pro-Staffer from Rogersville, still finds what he's looking for on the Holston River, but he looks at another aspect of what ducks need from their environments. In doing so, Adkins has applied a little water strategy for taking black ducks and other species on the river. His key for hunting ducks between flyways is to find where the birds like to go after they feed.

"Most fields don't have gravel," Adkins explained. "Ducks need gravel."

That's why he's keying on backwater resting areas near gravel bars and shoal situations. Adkins' success isn't happening on the main river. He's hunting forks of rivers and sloughs on the tributaries to the Holston River. These narrow, overlooked bends and forks are where he's killed respectable numbers of ducks the last three years when everyone else was wondering where the ducks were.

Adkins doesn't time all of his hunting around fronts, but takes particular notice of northern winds that blow ducks in. He'll definitely be on the water the day after a big northern push comes through.

An important element in making this kind of hunting last the season is to avoid overshooting the holes. He said he might spend four days a week watching and scouting areas for duck movement and then hunt them two days per week. The holes can be finicky and assuredly aren't places you can pound on a daily basis.

Many of the birds Adkins is putting in his sights are pushed from the main river by other hunters. He's learned that a lot of the incoming flight birds are drawn to these spots by the resident ducks using them. If you push out your local ducks by overshooting the hole, you'll limit your success.

These little hotspots draw blacks, mallards, woodies, teal, widgeon, gadwalls and shovelers into Adkins' gun range. He said it's usually close-quarter shooting that doesn't call for the big duck loads like No. 2s or BB shot. Adkins loves what the Hevi-Shot loads in a No. 6 can do to ducks decoying into his holes. Most of his shots are well within 35 yards, and the small shot size doesn't tear up ducks' breasts destined for the smoker.

His little river or creek gear includes only the essentials. Adkins packs a light field bag, his calls, shotgun, and only a dozen decoys that include a couple or three goose floaters as confidence birds.

Developing a new strategy for duck season doesn't mean burning down the old faithful duck blind or selling your dozen upon dozen decoys on EBay. It's simply approaching this waterfowl season with a new work ethic. Going the extra mile may not mean a limit of ducks every day, but it could make the difference between shooting and looking at bluebird skies.

Finding little water and the ducks that it holds means getting mobile and becoming nomadic. The mobile duck hunter lightens his load from gear to decoys and does his homework to see what areas will be holding the birds based on current conditions and the lay of the land.