Foray into duck hunting!

bluesclues said:
Last season was my first season to hunt ducks. Well sort of... 1 week into the season I had to go away with work for the remainder of the season.

Anyways, my experience was pretty limited. Mostly sneaking up on some ducks in the marsh and then shooting a couple as they heard me and flew away. This resulted in 2 ducks (missed the third shot) in my first 45 minutes of ever hunting ducks. Two days later I got one more duck using the same method.

Needless to say. I am hooked and decided to persue it this season. So I asked for and got a new Mossy 835 in mossy oak (thanks to my wife). And I just received 12 Higdon decoys (St Lawrence Outfitters) and a GK mallard slayer duck call.

I am pretty excited for the upcoming season and plan to be around for it.

To my fellow duck hunters, got any tips? Any duck hunters in the Trenton Ontario area?

And yes, my wife said that she would take away my new call if I continued to practice in the house:p

Thanks
Steve
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For calling practice, you can go out into the local marshes or parks and listen and mimic their calls. Buy yourself a tape of calling and practice in your car while driving around. Good luck on the rest.

DF:D
 
bluesclues said:
Ontario Gunner, what is all the expense? I do understand gas to from hunting spots and scouting trips out of season.

Thanks.
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New Beretta Extrema II $1500
New laydown blind $300
2 dozen fullbody geese $700
4 new decoy bags $200

$1200 in sask for snows,, thats fuel and use of guide service and tips.

And im flying back to ontario thursday.. I just made a deal on some more goose decoys,,, going to cost me minimum of $550 to purchase them and get them back to alberta.
 
Waterfowling is a progressive expense. I started out really cheap. Old pump shotguns, used decoys etc.

I recently upgraded from a canoe (horrible for shooting from BTW), to a 10' fibreglass boat (free off Kijiji), and a 5 horse chrysler that runs great ($50 on Kijiji). I usually buy used as it saves a lot of coin. I dont have tons of money to spend on hunting so I need to make every penny count!!
 
Blues. You got everything you need the next dollar you spend will not make it anymore fun or any more rewarding (game bag wise).

a light canoe, 12 gauge and a set of waders are the only 'need' items. I love a big set up a boat ride away but poking around in waders/canoe in water boats can't get to yields alot of great shooting through out the whole day.

P.S if you like folding mallards your gonna love it the first time 50 geese lock wings 20 yards over head.
 
david doyle said:
Blues. You got everything you need the next dollar you spend will not make it anymore fun or any more rewarding (game bag wise).

a light canoe, 12 gauge and a set of waders are the only 'need' items. I love a big set up a boat ride away but poking around in waders/canoe in water boats can't get to yields alot of great shooting through out the whole day.

P.S if you like folding mallards your gonna love it the first time 50 geese lock wings 20 yards over head.
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You're right. I started that way -- minus the canoe. Dad still talks about the day I stripped off to skivvies in Nov to retrieve a Ring neck at Desroches Pond. BUT ..... a flat bottom boat with a motor, a semi with the ability to interchange loads from 2.75 to 3.5, and nice insulated neoprenes make the day easier on mind and body. Not to mention a DOG!!!!! I spent the first 20 years of my waterfowling career dogless -- never again. With a dog you are never really hunting solo and he/she does a lot of work that you don't want to or can't do.

Anyway Blues, I started like you have. A gun, a couple of decoys and a real interest for the game. Just be warned -- it can be like CRACK. Soon you're trying to justify just how valuable the 25 ft Goliath deep water duck boat with the 300 Yamaha will be to your dry-land acreage. The wife bought the need for the Benelli SBE --- I need to make a pond to "justify" the boat I guess.;)
 
The 25' is a bit excessive, unless you want 5-6 buddies along for the ride or guiding like most of the eastern coast US guys. We've been looking for awhile for either a bankes, tdb or duckwater in the 15-19' range somewhere on the west coast WA/OR becuase that'll be the cheapest route to go. Theres nowhere near as many duck boats on the west coast and then even fewer up here.

Waterfowling doesnt have to be expensive at all. Its up to the person on how much they want to spend on their hobby. And in my brothers and my case, its worked out to alot over the years. Between the two of us:

You get so many decoys which leads to getting an encloser trailer $3k
Those decoys 4dz DSDs around $3k
Duck decoys floaters, fullbodies, mojos $1k
Geese silos, shells $400
Calls $1500(two lanyards worth and then some)
Waders, camo, jackets, clothing dont know figure but easily a couple grand
Guns 3k just for the ones we use every day, more for all the rest we have
Gas not alot, blessed with alot of property and good local area.
Blinds 1k 4-5 FA laydowns
Boats 2k - two momarsh fatboys
Brant decoys a few hundred
Shells multiple cases between me, my brother and dad
Taxidermy - 2-3k alot of birds done


And I wonder where all my money goes when I see my T4. I would like to think you would get to a point where you figure you dont need anything new, and we're sortof there but theres always something. More shells, new waders becuase of leaks. The newest decoys, better bigger boats. It never ends :D
 
After reading these posts I have realized that there are definitely some passionate waterfowlers out there. I am sure that I am on my way there and, like my other shooting and hunting hobbies, the expenses can add up. Although, as already mentioned, some of the finer things are going to have be collected over the years...

Righ now, I have quite a bit of info to digest.
Going to the range to pattern the Mossy with some different loads. And planning to take the dog out scouting some area's this weekend. She's not a hunting dog but, she is my girl.

Thanks for all the tips and knowledge passed on here. I look forward to anything else that can be passed along and hear some good stories. Plus, as I have learned that this can potentially get expensive, any reviews of stuff that really worked well and what you would stay away from and why. Thanks again to all that have posted and I look forward to reading more.
 
If your going to pattern your gun,, get some of those winchester xpert rounds doing 1550 fps.. I was diehard Kent Fasteel shooter for years and years before I was given a few boxes of the cheapy shells.. That is the only thing I buy that is cheap by waterfowling standards,, but they knock the poop out of ducks and geese!
 
Learn how to set up a decoy pattern. It doesn't have to be perfect, but you need to follow a few basics.

Until you've become VERY good (listen to tapes of good duck callers) with the duck call, use it very sparingly. It probably frightens away more birds than attracts.

Practise wingshooting. Skeet field is great for this.
 
I have been reading up on decoy patterns. This seems to be a bit of learn on the fly from what I have seen so far. Depending on what website I visit or who I've talked to, there seems to be a different way to do it and everyone believes theirs is best. I have seen everything from leaving a pocket for a duck landing zone to randomly scattering 2 dozen decoys within a 50 meter radius. I will play with it and ofcourse take up some offers I have received to go out and learn from others...

As far as the call goes, I am going to practice out in the area I plan to hunt this coming season and see if I can't just call a few in.

All tips are appreciated, and hopefully in the not too distant future I can return the favor to new guys getting into this.

Keep 'em coming.
 
That's where scouting comes in. Of course there are the standard, V and Ws and what not, but looking at what the birds are doing is the easiest way to decide on how you want to setup.

An example, last year I was hunting on a popular public marsh and while there are tons of ducks, they were all rafting up in the middle of the marsh just out of gun range. No amounts of mojo and calling and j hooks are bringing them in. On the next hunt, I brought a buddy and dropped somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 dekes in a tight raft about 30 yards off out blind. These birds saw the setup and were just bombing in left and right, we got our limit in about 20 mins.

A lot of the setup will have to do with the wind as well. As the wind change through out the day, you will have to pick up and readjust your spread even if you are hunting the same spot.
 
If you're where the ducks want to be (i.e. a watering pothole) you often don't even need to call, or put out a specific spread. Sometimes even decoys are optional. If you are where they don't want to be -- no amount of the above will entice them in. The gear we use is to get more birds into the middle ground areas that are best for us, if not the birds.

One tip for low decoy hunting is to find a long lake or swamp with peninsulas and/or channels. Simply watching the flight patterns of the birds will let you know where they like to fly over -- setting up there will give you some decent shooting on passing birds. A couple of dekes helps to keep them low as it reassures them.
 
Had kinda a funny tonight. My son and I were walking the dog along the river where there are usually ducks along the boat launch area. I brought my new duck call along. Sure enough there were a couple of ducks about 30 meters out. I decided to try my new call... well the ducks turned around and started paddling away from us. My 6 year old son decided to give the call a try and... sure enough the ducks turned back around and started paddling towards us. They didn't come too close but it was pretty cool. The boy is a natural! lol

More practice needed for sure...lol
 
Calling is over-rated. If you are in an area with a ton of hunters with lots of spreads, calling makes a difference. If you are in the west and have your pick of areas to hunt, the call should be used very sparingly. Get their attention. When they are coming -- shut up. Most of the calling on waterfowling vids is for the viewer, not the bird.
 
sjemac said:
Calling is over-rated. If you are in an area with a ton of hunters with lots of spreads, calling makes a difference. If you are in the west and have your pick of areas to hunt, the call should be used very sparingly. Get their attention. When they are coming -- shut up. Most of the calling on waterfowling vids is for the viewer, not the bird.
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X2

I call for fun,..but in good areas where you are not competing for birds,..a dozen decoys has always been my friend...even without calling.

I live for waterfowl hunting and suggestions would be...

good camo, stop looking up so much, get a duck hitch
 
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