Advice to a guy who's never duck hunted

[walter sobcheck]

I've never duck hunted before, it's something I really want to hunt though.  I know pretty much absolutely nothing about how to go about it except that it's pretty damn hard to become a good duck hunter. What advice would you guys give? 

[reeltime]

do more scouting than hunting.

keep what you see to yourself or between you and your duck hunting partner. don't post locations online, there are tons of cyber scouters out there that just love to steal info and spots.

 

pay attention to what your seeing, what I mean is how are the birds coming and going, how are they setting, what numbers are there, time of day etc. and set up accordingly. if there are only a small number of birds don't rig up a couple dozen decoys as its not going to look natural, this is especially true with puddle ducks, divers are a little more forgiving and generally we rig big for the divers.

 

learn to identify ducks before you shoot, there are different limits on a number of species, migratory birds fall under federal rules and regulations and generally carry a hefty fine even for mistakes. also make sure to have your duck stamp and hip number on you as well as only non toxic shot.

 

understand your limitations, if you don't have a boat or dog to retrieve then you need to limit yourself to area's you can wade with waders to retrieve downed birds.  to shoot birds and not have a way to retrieve them is also an fineable offense by the dec or feds, its called wanton waste.

 

its not a cheap sport to get into,  everything from waders to decoys its all expensive, if you really get the waterfowl bug you would be surprised how much money you can spend,.... I wouldn't even want to venture to guess what I have tied up in waterfowl gear, not even including the duck boat and motors, just decoys, blinds and other gear.

 

try to find someone to hunt with, but be forewarned waterfowler's are VERY secretive of their spots, very few if any will give up their spots and IF you get invited on a hunt even on public waters do NOT ever go back there without them,,, its an honor code amongst waterfowler's. you can learn how they rig and set up but if they take you to their spot that's what it is, THEIR spot, yes others may hunt there but YOU didn't know about that spot before they took you there. like I said its just an honor thing. what I mean is if someone takes you to xyz point on Seneca lake that doesn't make the whole lake off limits just don't go back to that point no matter how good the shooting is or was. believe me if you go back and they happen to show up or find out you went there its going to be an ugly conversation.  

 

 

good luck and hunt safe.

 

remember the life jacket law went back into effect on November 1st.

 

[The_Real_TCIII]

Get ready to be addicted and start spending $! A new neighbor was kind enough to show me the ropes and it's awesome. Reeltimes post is spot on