I'm a former duck hunter. Its that way because the isn't water in the ponds anymore. No water, no ducks, and I'm not driving for several hours to be in the same wetlands area as everyone who knows the ducks are there vs where they were when we were kids.
I loved jumping ponds with my dad. We always got something. I used a bolt action Savage .410 gauge with a fairly long barrel, or so it seemed at the time, and it was my lucky gun.