Although I haven't tried it, it seems like a kayak would be ideal for float-hunting. These crafts are quiet, easy to maneuver and lightweight. A friend also uses his float tube to drift rivers for ducks. The tubes have a low profile, can be purchased in camouflaged colors and are stable.

Because you're floating down a river when conditions are probably cold, if not on the edge of extreme, you should take safety precautions. Wear a life jacket. The inflatable SOS-type suspender life jackets are great. You hardly know you have them on, they won't restrict your shooting and they're there when you need them. Bring along a waterproof bag with a change of clothes, something with which to start a fire and a cell phone. Better safe than sorry.

Most of the shooting will be at close range. It seems there are two types of waterfowl that use the rivers -- ones that have played the game and swim ahead before jumping out of range and others that choose to hold tight, slipping behind a logjam or vegetation before flushing. Those are the birds you usually get a chance at. Generally, those shots will be between 25 and 35 yards. Ideal loads are 12-gauge, 2 3/4- or 3-inch shells of 2, 3 or 4 shot for ducks and No. 1 or BB loads for geese. Improved cylinder choke is a good choice. Quick-handling, shot-barreled shotguns are preferred in the action of your choice. A third shot often comes in handy to dispatch cripples before they get into heavy cover or disappear around the bend.

Most of the ducks that remain during the waning days of the season are hardy varieties like big red-legged mallards, black ducks, goldeneyes and buffleheads, but you might be surprised. More than once I've shot wood ducks on the last day of the season when there were 10 inches of snow on the ground. Wood ducks are commonly referred to as "summer ducks" for their propensity to migrate early at the first hint of fall, but there must also be a thick-skinned variety that migrates though Michigan. Canada geese can commonly be found using rivers and streams during the late season. It's especially exciting to sneak up on a flock of honkers and have all hell break loose when they discover they've been had.

Southern Michigan has plenty of slowly meandering streams and rivers that attract late-season waterfowl. The problem is that there just isn't that much public land to which float-hunters can gain access. But there are exceptions.

"Portions of the Grand River offer some opportunities," claimed Joe Robinson, avid waterfowler and wildlife biologist at the Pointe Mouillee State Game Area. "I've shot some wood ducks on the Grand River where it flows through the Portland State Game area."

Another possibility might be the Grand River where it traverses through the Ionia State Game Area, but you would need to secure permission from the landowners on the north side of the river. Farther downriver, the Grand flows through the Grand Haven State Game Area. A tributary of the Grand, the Flat River offers some float-hunting opportunities where it flows through the Flat River State Game Area.

My son, Matt, and I did a short float on the Flat River several years ago during the late goose season. It had been cold, so the river was one of the last pieces of open water left and my friend, Greg Runnels, said the geese had been using it. Runnels waved us off after launching the canoe and said he'd meet us at the next bridge.