Hunting Tips/Equipment Review

Lurking in the shadows

                As many waterfowlers that hunt public ground know, every little bit helps. Knowing where you are hunting, how to call for the area, decoy placement tactics, and how to blend in with your surroundings will make the difference between another day on the lake not having to clean your gun, or a nice limit of green heads. Mastering these tactics takes lots of trial and error, but once you get it down, everyone will be asking you how you do it.

                I would like to talk a bit about concealment. Everyone thinks you have to have a perfectly camouflaged blind, with new grass on it. I beg to differ. I’ve sat out there on the lake and looked across and saw blinds that looked like beacons on the water. They stand out. If I can see them without a problem from 500 yards away, what do you think the ducks see? I saw one of these guys at the dock after we finished hunting and asked him how he did. He said “for some reason the ducks would get about 100 yards gliding in and flare all of the sudden.” I told him it’s probably because he was sticking out like a beacon on the water. He then asked my “why do you say that.” I told him that the brand new grass on his blind was shining, almost blinding. Discouraged he walked away.

                All too often, hunters think they know what the ducks are thinking. They think “I have the best looking blind out here.” But the ducks don’t come to the prettiest looking blind. They come to the blind that doesn’t look like a blind at all. They come to the blind that looks so much like the shoreline that they can’t tell the difference. That difference can make or break your day on the lake. My blind isn’t the best on the lake, but I take extra time ensuring that my blind looks as much like my back drop as possible. I buy new grass mats every year and “season” them. By "season", I mean, I get them wet and throw them in the bottom of my boat under my decoys to mold and darken in color. They may not smell great but they blend better for sure and they don’t shine either.

                The next thing I like to do I lurk in the shadows. I try to pick a spot where I can hide my boat in the shadows. This accomplishes two things. First it greatly helps my camouflage. And second, it puts the sun at my back, blinding the ducks as they come in. They usually don’t even know I’m there till I pull the trigger. We use this tactic all season long, even if it means a less than desirable wind. I’d rather have shadows to hide in over a slick in front of me with the sun in my face any day.  

                Tactics and strategy are key in making your hunt successful. Try hunting the shadows, and if you do it right you’ll have success like us.

Bigger spreads can be beneficial when hunting migrator geese. The big problem when you up-size your spread you greatly increase cost. For those hunters that can't afford $300 plus per dozen for good full body geese, cheap shells or silhouettes may be an option. One of the biggest things to remember is movement in your spread. Geese don't stand in fields like statues. They are constantly moving around. Some big full body spreads look great to us, but when wary geese get close they seem to flare. It just doesn't look natural sometimes. Adding silohuettes can add motion and depth to your spread for less money than buying motion full body decoys. You can probably buy 3 dozen silhouettes for the price of one dozen full body decoys. Try it out next time and I'd bet you see more geese closer to the kill hole.

Crank the volume for flaring birds after you shoot. I like to run my e-caller in a manner that when it's time to shoot I turn the volume to zero. After the shot I like to crank the volume for a "comeback call" and some times it suceeds in bringing some back for a second shot. Give it a try.

Now that the season is over, clean those decoys before you store them. Inspect them and order parts now.

Calling

Don't just throw those calls back in your bag til' next season. Take them apart and clean them before you stor them. When your cleaning them, take the call apart and inspect all of the major components. If you find something is worn out or damaged you can order the parts now. It's alot easier to order someting in February for next season than ordering it the week before the opener.

When storing your ammo after the season is over, throw some of those silica packets that you get when you buy a new pair of shoes in the box. The silica packet will keep moisture from getting to your shells and hopefully prevent those old ammo mis-fires next season.

When there is snow on the ground throw the layout back in the trailer and rough it. Put on you camo whites and hunt without the blind. In my experience the geese seem to flare less when there are no big "boxes" in the field. You can easily cover yourself with a shell decoy or a white sheet. Incoming geese see less of the "box" profile and may flare less. Give it a try next snow hunt.

Train Your Family

                As we all know a well trained hunting dog can be a great asset in the field. We usually train our dogs all summer long to get them where they need to be for hunting season. We invest a lot of hours and money in training these hunting buddies. The problem is when we aren’t training, our family may be un-training our dog. By this I mean allowing our well trained hunting buddy do things that we would never let them do in the field, like break or slack on obedience.

                I have my family work with me and the dog when we’re training in the field. I teach them everything from hand signals to verbal commands. This shows at home, my 5 year old daughter has mastered the basic commands for obedience. When she feeds the dog, she has him sit and hold until she allows him to eat. I have noticed a huge difference in the field. My dog does not have to switch from home mode to hunting mode because of consistency training.

                These basic things make training easier for me. I have to spend less time doing remedial training allowing me to spend more time doing desired training. Try this with your family and see the results for yourself.

Don't let your dog go to waste during these cold winter months. Keep up with training now so you aren't playing catch up once the weather breaks. Even if you just concentrate on obediance training in your kitchen or your garage.