Just outside the city, in the magnificent San Francisco Bay is some of the finest Surf Scoter hunting you’ll find, and on this hunt, two hunters were rewarded with a magnificent treat.
Sitting in the middle of San Francisco Bay, daylight was slow to come. Glowing lights of skyscrapers danced along the shoreline as long lines of cars pushed headlights across bridges. My buddy, Austin Crowson, and I were in no rush. We had the best view of the city. It was a unique sight for a waterfowl hunter.
“With this wind, I’m going to nose the boat into the spread, so Austin, be ready to shoot left, Scott, you, right,” noted Melynda Dodds, owner and operator of California Guide Service. I hunted with Dodds last December and had an excellent two days of shooting aggressively decoying surf scoters. At the end of that trip, Dodds mentioned she also offers hunts from layout boats. Right then, we made plans for a return hunt.
California’s Oldest Banded Surf Scoter
Once shooting light came and the incoming tide accelerated, scoters began to move. We agreed to shoot only drakes, something we often do on our many puddle duck hunts back home. I hunt with Crowson more than anyone. We shoot a lot of ducks together.
A pair of surf scoters came in. Crowson nailed the drake inches over the decoys. Then a single came in low to the right. I dropped it with a 20-gauge.
We were halfway through our seven duck limit when a big flock approached head-on. They banked in hard, turning directly over the middle of five lines of decoys set in a ray pattern from the anchored boat. Then the flock split. Crowson swung left, and I went right. “Take ‘em!” yapped Dodds. We emptied our guns. I dropped a nice drake on the first shot, missed the second shot, but dropped another drake on the third shot.
Crowson folded a drake on his first shot and winged another on his next. A few seconds elapsed. I watched both my birds to make sure they didn’t dive. Follow-up shots are common when hunting these tough ducks, but not necessary this time. Both were dead on the water.
I turned to Crowson to see how he’d done. Just then, he shot. The upright head of the second drake was clearly visible as it bobbed on the water. A pellet caught it in the back of the head. The shot was every bit of 80 yards, maybe more. When batting cleanup, you take follow-up shots when an opportunity presents itself. The shot was impressive. We released the anchor line and motored to gather ducks. The tide was moving, carrying the birds away. I had two birds to go.
It took a bit to reach Crowson’s second scoter. When Meghan Dodds’ assistant scooped it up in the net and grabbed it by the foot, a shiny piece of metal glistened in the morning sun. Celebratory hugs and high fives followed, and actually continued for two days. I love California Guide Service.
The surf scooter Crowson shot wore a band. “The only other banded surf we’ve gotten was from a sanctuary recovery program,” Dodds shared. Crowson’s was the first federally banded surf scoter to grace Dodds’ boat.
Crowson wasted no time reporting the band. By the time we dropped anchor to finish off our morning limits, the results were in. Two weeks later, Crowson received an official certificate of appreciation from the U.S.G.S.
Crowson’s surf scoter hatched in 2006. It was banded on August 5, 2007, 11 miles southeast of Juneau, Alaska. Crowson shot the drake on December 3, 2025. The 19-year-old duck appears to be the oldest banded surf scoter ever taken in California. Prior to that, a 15-year-old was reported to be the oldest surf scoter on record in California.
According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service—as confirmed by the U.S.G.S.—the oldest banded surf scoter on record is 22 years old. It was banded in 2004 in Labrador, Canada, and shot in 2025 in New Jersey.
Crowson’s a band magnet. He shoots a lot of banded ducks, purely by luck. He’s not a hunter who scouts areas for days with a spotting scope, searching for a banded bird to target. It’s a 100 percent chance. He hunts a lot and shoots many birds, thereby increasing the odds of taking a banded duck.
Last winter, Crowson and I hunted a slough where he shot a banded wood duck. A few days after taking the banded surf scoter in California, Crowson shot a banded mallard, back home in Oregon. Every time Crowson plucks a band from the sky, I encourage him to buy a lottery ticket. He hasn’t…yet.
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Layouts On The Surf
Crowson and I had hoped to hunt from layout boats each of our two days with Dodds. The weather report showed stiff gusts for day one, so we hunted from Dodds’ 25-foot, custom-built, Bankes Boat. It’s a luxury liner of duck boats. Crowson and I weren’t complaining.
But the winds never materialized on day one. In fact, it was dead calm all morning. The report for day two was calm winds. They were not. It was the opposite of calm; much worse than day one was even predicted to be. But it didn’t matter. Crowson and I were determined to shoot surf scoters at point-blank range as they dove into the decoys, no matter how many waves slapped us in the face.
Given the conditions and situation, we took turns hunting from one layout. Crowson was up first. Surrounded by three lines of a dozen decoys each, Crowson bobbed in the bay, awaiting daylight. Again, we wanted to pick drakes. Due to the dark skies, Crowson didn’t pull the trigger until fifteen minutes into shooting light because he couldn’t tell the drakes from the hens. Hundreds of surf scoters flew in and out of the decoys.
Twenty minutes later, Crowson finished up. He got a Scotch double, which included a hen. We razzed him on that, but he has the band to fall back on.
It was my turn. Before I could load my 20 gauge, surf scoters were landing in the decoys. Waves crashed over the layout boat. There was a sponge lying next to me for bailing, but there was no time for that.
Guns & Loads
On our surf scoter hunt, Crowson shot the newBenelli SBE3 featuring the Advanced Impact (AI) system in a 12 gauge. Crowson is a lifelong Benelli shotgun user. He is a crack shot.
Crowson used Baschieri & Pellagri Dual Steel in size 2 + 3 shot. The 1-1/4 ounce payload moves at 1,425 fps, and is one of the best performing steel blends I’ve shot. Crowson agrees.
The SBE3 20 gauge AI picked up where the Cordoba left off. On the scoter hunt, I shot Winchester’s Final Pass, a 2 1/2 + 4 steel shot blend that travels at 1,300 fps. I’ve shot a lot of ducks with this affordable steel load. I was impressed with its knockdown power and how far and tight the pattern traveled with the AI system. It handled the tough scoters just fine.
Crowson and I both shot factory full chokes. While all of our initial shots were close, between 15-30 yards, we had some follow-up shots that saw us head-shooting ducks beyond 60 yards on day one. Seeing how a pattern performs on the water is a luxury for duck hunters and removes all guesswork as to how a load travels. This is where you see the direct impact of Benelli’s AI system and how lethal it truly is.
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