The legalities you need to know
When you want to have a good hunt the when and there where are important. Here are some pointers that we laid out for you when finding that when and where.
When hunting fields, you want to find a spot where geese or ducks would want to land to eat and rest while you can also be concealed. Usually pushing your layout blind against a line of corn or against a fence line with tall grass can be very helpful in allowing your concealed layout to be much more hidden. You can essentially hunt any type of field or open terrain in areas where ducks and Canada geese live and migrate through and to. This includes grass, hay, corn, beans, and mostly any other crop.
When scouting for a field to hunt, a great way to start is by asking friends and family if they know any farmers that own fields. Like in business, a warm introduction to someone is always better than walking up to their door cold. However, that brings me to my next point, the cold walk up.
Go out and drive around looking for fields that provide some of the things you are looking for when it comes to concealment and open field.
We try to use an off-season tactic in finding ideal spots to hunt and gaining permission before season comes. Then when it’s time to hunt and the birds arrive, we drive out to all the fields we were given access to and find one with birds in it. Often times, in the process of doing all this, we will drive by a new field that holds tons of birds and we try to get access to that field in the mean-time. When asking a landowner for permission to hunt it is extremely important to be respectful of their response no matter what. Unfortunately, many hunters give us good guys a bad name. From bringing more people than promised, leaving a huge mess, and killing illegally, farmers and landowners may have been put through the ringer.
Hunting fields can be a tricky thing as far as timing. We typically try to be out at sunrise with everything set up just in case. An extra hour hunting with your best friends never hurt anyone! When water hunting, it’s common to have first light be a great time to shoot your limit of ducks. With fields, ducks might be first to the party, geese can be sporadic. Be patient. Wait until 10 or 11am to call your hunt if things aren’t moving in. Sunset can also be a great time for ducks and geese!
When hunting water, there are many different tactics to concealing yourself. Some of this comes from what type of water you’re hunting. Some guys prefer to stand in the reeds up to their waist as they feel this is how they’re most concealed. That works! Another option for areas with deeper water would be a boat blind. Whether you make a boat blind pretty naturally in the field by pushing the boat into the tall reeds and bending grasses into and around your boat. Create shooting lanes, cover your open items and motor with camo burlap. This can work well! If you’re timber hunting you will usually have the chance to stay hidden behind trees.
When scouting for water to hunt, you can start narrowing down the places you want to scout in person by doing a little pre-scouting at home. Hop on the DNR website and find WMA’s, WPA’s, other areas you can hunt. You can also use google maps to find lakes nearby you that look promising.
Mark these spots out on a map and then jump from spot to spot looking for concealment opportunities, birds, and access points for a boat or walk in. Make a list of properties that seem promising even before the season.
This will help to give you specific places to check while the season is going.
When hunting water, the name of the game is who can be first! Guys sleep in their boats to secure their spot. Now I’m not saying this is what you have to do, and it all depends on how populated of an area you live and hunt in. If you live in a major city, there may only be a handful of hunting spots nearby. GET THERE EARLY.
We arrive to our spots usually 2 hours before shooting time. If shooting time is 6:45, we’re there at 4:45. First light and last light are typically the best times to hunt water. Sunrise and sunset have proven to be most effective in hunting success.
The gear you need at a cost you can afford
Duck Hunting 101
When you decide to start hunting It could seem like you need a pile of cash. If you approach it the right way, you can get the gear you need at an affordable cost.
We put together a lis of things you should consider when starting and a few quick links to so affordable gear.
You don’t need a high tech shot gun to get started hunting. A lot of times you might have an old family gun laying around somewhere that could be useable! You’re just looking for a 12 or 20 gauge shot gun. Best if the barrel is 26 inches or longer. If you need to buy a gun, we recommend a Mossberg 500 or a Remington 870 to get you going. Both guns can be found for under $300 if you time it right. Both guns are extremely reliable and have been used by duck hunters for, well, ever.
This is a good spot to skimp on when starting out. Whatever you can find! Check your local thrift store or goodwill. Walmart has cheap camo as well! As you go along you will want nicer camouflage but when you’re starting out you shouldn’t worry about what pattern is what and how nice it is. Just get what you’ve got and get out there. If you hunt colder climates make sure to have enough warm clothing to keep you from freezing up as well!
You don’t need anything special! Find a cheap call and buy it. Just start practicing. Don’t bring your calls in the field until you feel confident and even then, keep it simple. You don’t have to call to get birds to land if you’re in an are they would want to be in! Check out our video on 3 beginner duck calls!
Again, whatever you can find/afford. Check craigslist for some old used decoys. Search for deals. My first decoys were a 12 pack of economy mallards that I bought on sale for $30!
This is a simple one, but it’s almost necessary. You will be up and going before the sun is, so you’ll need light to see what you’re doing at times! Cheap headlamps or flashlights are just fine!
This is dependent on where you hunt and if you’re hunting water or fields. Almost all hunters tend to experience both at times but there will commonly be one or the other you hunt more frequently. It’s very difficult to be a water hunter without a boat of some kind. That doesn’t mean there aren’t options! Check craigslist for an old aluminum boat! Often times, I’ve seen old 12ft boats for less than $200 on craigslist. You can also use a canoe or a kayak for hunting. Lots of hunters just buy a cheap trolling motor and throw it on a little jon boat or a canoe and this can work well!
If you think you might be doing more field hunting then you could skip the boat and get a layout blind. A layout blind is a blind you lay inside on the ground in some type of field or area while waiting for birds to come in. You can find a cheap run and gun layout blind for around $100 if you look around on the internet. Otherwise, check craigslist or ask a friend if has any buddies with an old one laying around!
Get something you can afford! Might be something at a garage sale, or in your dads box in the garage. Otherwise, expect to spend at least $100 on waders. Neoprene is a safe bet, 5mm is better than 3. Thinsulate might be necessary for guys in color areas. In Minnesota, we hunt temps down to 0 degrees breaking ice, so we look for thinsulate around 1000gram or more. The warmer the area, the less you need.
Doesn’t need to be camo. Just something you can bring a few simple items in along with some ammo! If you have an old backpack or drawstring bag that will work for now! Hell, Conor’s first blind bag was a lunch box!
The legalities you need to know
When you decide to start hunting the first thing you will need to do is make sure you have all of the licenses and stamps needed to legally hunt. I know it would be lovely for this to be a simple item such as a ‘duck license”. Unfortunately, it’s not quite that direct.
Every state has different regulations and rules about hunting.
Some states hold special seasons and add on seasons for different birds.
For instance, in MN we have an early goose season. In order to hunt early goose you need all of the license/stamps above but you must also buy an early goose stamp.
Another stamp most guys choose to buy is a pheasant stamp. A cheap add on and worth it if you want to pheasant hunt or happen to scare one up duck hunting.
Watch the video for a quick tutorial demonstration.
These 3 questions always baffled me when I was starting out. With this article, I’m going to try and answer some of these questions for you.
You can sound like multiple ducks by presenting your air differently into the call.
The way you can present your air differently is by constricting or opening your throat so less of more air is being able to come out. Another way to do this is by playing with where your tongue is sitting in your mouth when you’re blowing the call.
The lower your tongue sits in your mouth, the louder, deeper, and raspier the noise.
The closer your tongue is to the roof of your mouth, less air is able to escape into the call. This produces your quieter and younger sounding duck noises.
Having your tongue extremely close to the roof of your mouth can make it easier to do a Cajun squeal as well.
It works for him because of how he presents his air. This is very true when someone who uses a double reed tries a single reed for the first time. Half the time it’s because you’re not forcing enough air into the call.
Watch the video for a quick tutorial demonstration.
First thing I can tell you is to TRY OUT EVERY CALL POSSIBLE. Go to your local outdoors store, have them open the case and try every call possible.
Then when you have found a couple calls that sound great with the way you call, look at the bottom of the insert. You will find that the quieter the call, the smaller the bore is, and that the louder the call, the larger the bore is.
If you’re looking for a timber call, you’ll most likely want a smaller bore. If you’re looking for a louder, trafficking call or open water call, you’ll want a larger bore.
These different calls both have their day in the field. In my opinion, when you’ve mastered your air presentation, you can make a louder call sound quiet. So, I’ve always had louder calls on my lanyard. It’s a complete bummer when you’re using a quiet call on a windy day and the birds can’t even hear you.
I’ve also found that double reed duck calls are naturally more quiet and take less air to break over the reeds, whereas single reeds take more air and are much louder.
The calls that are shown in the video are acrylic duck calls. In my opinion, acrylic, makes a cleaner sound than polycarbonate or wood. I’ve found that over time, my wood calls tend to change their tone during 5-10 years of use. Much of this is because they expand and contract faster when wet and in changing temperatures.
Acrylic, wood, and polycarbonate calls all have their uses. Acrylic being the loudest and sharpest (clean). Wood ranges from loud to quiet based on what company made the call, what wood was used, and how they designed the call as a whole. Polycarbonate, from what I’ve used, is an in-between call, and typically will be easier on your wallet.
These bibs are awesome guys. They’re very comfortable and durable. I’ll give you a quick pros and cons list of these layout bibs in case you are considering purchasing them in the near future.
Bibs are usually quite baggy and tend to get caught under your boots at times, these are the perfect size for my body type. Size Medium Tall ( 5’11’”- 180 lbs.) Needless to say they’re quite comfortable and I can sprint in these things. Make sure you check your measurements on the Sitka website. If you get it right, yours will be as comfortable as mine.
Wind Proof and Water Proof: This is obviously a necessity if you’re a hunt in any condition type of guy. -30 degree weather with a 20-mph wind didn’t even phase me.
Indestructible cloth: As I have stated in other reviews, I am extremely tough on my gear. I have already ran into barbwire fences several times and have not ripped these bibs…how is that even possible? Walking around and kneeling in frozen tilled corn fields have not even scratched the surface of these bibs. **Bonus** Burs don’t stick to this material!
Easily my favorite feature. When getting in or out of your layout blind or fixing decoys or even picking up shells at the end of the day your knees and ass are not sore anymore!!
These bibs run around $545 retail and that really hits the wallet. I would recommend finding a deal, getting an older version, or getting them slightly used to cut down on cost. Here is a link to an earlier version that costs a little less.
The pockets are garbage, they’re so tight it’s impossible to put anything in them. They scratch your hands and that starts to hurt when you get cold. Completely worthless!
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We have tried a lot of different decoys over the years, but decided to give AvianX a try this year. We have had a successful season and our decoys were a huge part of that. Check out what’s good and what’s bad with AvianX!
Avian X makes some of the most durable decoy bodies we’ve encountered. One issue for many waterfowlers is constant issues and concerns with decoy scratching, paint chipping, and lots of paint fading. After a full season with these decoys we can assure you they are BUILT TO LAST. We put our decoys through literal hell, and the Avians have withstood it all.
We run into the constant size battle with decoys. Some are small and unrealistic while other times we find decoys that are simply annoyingly large. These Avians are the best representation of the mallards you wish you were shooting all year. Nice, solid, up north mallards. Not to mention, we can’t find a better paint scheme on a hen. Every coy maker focuses on those green heads but often times the hens are overlooked. Not the case here!
We can’t forget about the different packages that these decoys come in. Preening, resting, sleeping, surface feeding, active…no package left behind. Variety can be very effective in amping up the level of realism in your spread.
Our one complaint comes with the decoy holes for rigging. If you Texas rig, they especially poses a small issue. The decoy hols that are on the bottom are left slightly open for more traditional decoy rig in order to adjust depth. As we use Texas rigs this means we had to rig up on the base of the keel. Not a huge deal but just something to note. Nevertheless, one man’s issue is another man’s ideal. In this case those of us using an older style of rigging might love this!
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Watch the video for a quick tutorial demonstration.
The greeting call is such a fundamental call in a duck hunters bag of calls. It is my go to…. no B.S, nothing special, but highly effective. This call, perfectly imitates what real ducks on the water are doing. They aren’t screaming at ducks the second they come over the water. They’re just minding their own business and enjoying the spot they are loafing in.
If I were to tell any duck hunter in training how to call, it would be to not watch any videos. I’d tell them to go to a spot and listen to ducks who are in a safe environment.
This call runs in line with the feeding chuckle. Yes, use it every once and awhile to call in the ducks you don’t see. BUT this call is most effective when you have those ducks that skirt the decoys just out of shooting range. If they come to check out your spread and decided to keep flying, throw this call at them and usually you can get at least one to turn back.
You will not hear the same greeting call over and over from ducks in nature, so replicate what they do. You will hear soft, loud, LOUDER, fast, slow, and different pitches. Try each combination out and try to mix it up
Experiment with the different tones you can make with your call by presenting your air differently into the call. When you get the general cadence down, start with a long note that has consistent air and repeat shorter spurts as the notes drop (ranging from 2-10 notes depending on the bird).
When Not to Use It
This is not a good call to just do over and over again, especially if it is the same cadence and the same number of drops. You are going to sound like a recording and that’s never good. Mix things up, point your call in a different way, or do a different number of dropping notes.