Waterfowl Must Haves and Preferred Favorites on a Limited Budget

[silverdalesauer]

Just want to get your list of "must have" gear for duck and goose hunting. If you had a limited budget, what items would you purchase first and save for later?

Anything goes - from guns to boats to clothing. Give me your thoughts. Thanks!

[scottcrb]

Depends a lot on.if you hunt east or west side. Over water or in.a field.
I'd say
Dog
Face paint
Good waders
Good decoys moving and stationary
Good ammo
Good hunting partners
Private land access
Not in any kind if order .

[Oldguy]

Gun, waders, clothing, decoys, duck call, dog, boat, rich uncle with a huge duck marsh you have access to.

[silverdalesauer]

Depends a lot on.if you hunt east or west side. Over water or in.a field.
I'd say
Dog
Face paint
Good waders
Good decoys moving and stationary
Good ammo
Good hunting partners
Private land access
Not in any kind if order .

Westie.

And what if I fall in the category of "I have an old non-hunting dog already and the wife doesn't approve of a new one." How do you guys manage that? I wish there was a business called "rent-a-hunting-dog."

[vandeman17]

Depends a lot on.if you hunt east or west side. Over water or in.a field.
I'd say
Dog
Face paint
Good waders
Good decoys moving and stationary
Good ammo
Good hunting partners
Private land access
Not in any kind if order .

Westie.

And what if I fall in the category of "I have an old non-hunting dog already and the wife doesn't approve of a new one." How do you guys manage that? I wish there was a business called "rent-a-hunting-dog."

If you have a boat your are good, hunt fields, or hunt in spots that you can wade all the water. My buddy doesn't have a hunting dog and just hunts areas that he can walk. 

[Goldeneye]

Depends a lot on.if you hunt east or west side. Over water or in.a field.
I'd say
Dog
Face paint
Good waders
Good decoys moving and stationary
Good ammo
Good hunting partners
Private land access
Not in any kind if order .

Westie.

And what if I fall in the category of "I have an old non-hunting dog already and the wife doesn't approve of a new one." How do you guys manage that? I wish there was a business called "rent-a-hunting-dog."

If you don't have a dog to retrieve your birds and your hunting  deeper than wadable water.  A fishing pole with larger fishing plug that has oversize trebles can help you retrieve your birds.  Just make sure you don't shoot at any birds beyond your casting distance.  You cast past the birds and snag him on your retrieve.

[Oldguy]

Goldeneye is giving you good advice. Without a dog the next best thing if you are hunting a pond or lake, would be a small boat. I hunted using a canoe for many years and used it for transportation to my lake blind and to retrieve birds.

[beninchelan]

I suggest a marsh type boat as essential, marsh rat, aqua pod, otter style etc. With no dog a little layout boat that you can carry will give you a lot more options. You can hunt bigger water. Salt marshes/flats and canals. No dog required!

[270Shooter]

I usually only duck hunt so here goes.
1. Shotgun
2. Shells
3. Good waders
4. Extendable fishing pole with some kind of bobber and a weight and treble hook about 4-6 inches below the bobber. (Nice when jump shooting sloughs)
5. 2 dozen mallard decoys. (Don't have to be anything fancy, hot buys or storm fronts will kill ducks)

Essentially this is all you need to hunt puddle ducks, once you get more experience you can add a few calls and some kind of motion decoy, as well as enhance your spread.

[Badhabit]

Internet to scout!!

[gaddy]

I started out with a cheep pair of hip waders and a camo coat. did some jump shooting on small marshes and  streams, then started adding decoys. great times. now I have a boat, way to many decoys and every toy known to man and two dogs. Thinking back, I think I had more fun in the early years and bagged as many birds, you can only get so many in a day. of course I am quite a bit lazier now and all the gear helps, but for fun, sometimes simple is best. we even used hand made cardboard goose decoys. killed more geese over those than the new hardcore spread of today. just go have fun and the stuff will come as it's needed.

[Buck_Nasty11]

green head gear hot buys are good dekes to start off with for the price and have killed many of limits of ducks over them..

[boneaddict]

Good warm camo clothes.   Out of any animal I photograph ducks are one of the wariest and spot you almost better than any critter, even better than turkeys IMO.

I used a float tube when I didn't have a dog.


I have to agree with Gaddy.  Especially his last sentence.

[BiggLuke]

Gun.
Waders.
Camo.....  preferably REALLY warm and rain proof.

Beyond that, not much else is really needed.
You can do some good jump shooting or pass shooting with just that.

Half dozen Mallard Decoys is a good start.
Pintail whistle...   you can easily learn 9 different duck calls on just the whistle alone like calling in wigeon. They are cheap.

Boat...   if you get around to it.

[bear hunter]

Hell I started out with

green rain pants/brown rain jacket 20.00
carhartt bird vest  99.00
Rubber boots 20.00
cheap duck call 15.00
shotgun 199.99
1 box of steelshot 15.00
6 cheap decoys 20.00
 
Hunted this way for year and bagged a lot of ducks jump,decoying and pass shooting. Good luck and just get out have fun and hunt

[aaronoto]

A marsh seat is nice to have.

[EWUEAGLESHUNTER]

Find yourself a friend who has already spent all the money on the gear, then mooch off of him for a year haha. In all seriousness though, I grew up learning how to hunt ducks and geese with my uncle and I find myself saying the same things he said to me when I am teaching guys how to hunt waterfowl. If you cant find somebody to let you tag along for a year with then I would do exactly what some of these guys have already said. Get a shotgun, steel shot, some chest waders, a dozen decoys and a duck call. I bought a double reed Flextone duck call a while back, its super easy to blow, costs 25 bucks at Walmart and sounds as good as any 50 or 60 dollar call you can buy.

[silverdalesauer]

Guys - great ideas! Thank you so much!

Today was my 42nd birthday and I was thinking about what I would buy with the gift cards from Sportsmans and Cabelas. Just looking for some great ideas.

I've had the pleasure of jump shooting over sloughs and fields with some pretty good accuracy - but I've always waited for the ducks to fly over land, because I couldn't reach them without a dog. The fishing pole with a treble hook idea is awesome. Gonna get that set up for sure! I've never hunted from a boat or a blind, but hope to some day. I've been blessed to hunt with some of my good friends and my son (now 12). Trying to figure out how to best enjoy the sport with the limited supply of funds I have.

Thanks guys!

[Patarero]

I'll bite.

Dog, a well trained, steady dog is the most valuable thing.  Your are going to have to find a way around your wife on this one. 
Light weight waterproof jacket
Non-leaky waders

I don't get the face paint thing, did any duck hunters actually use this stuff before the duck commander and crew showed up on every piece of merchandise sold at wally world?  A face mask is just as effective and less of a hassle.   

[bone collector 12]

A good face mask,some warm waterproof clothes and gloves! Some shells and a fishin pull to retrieve ducks with,when hunting without a dog I would take a spool of decoy cord and tie on a square decoy weight onto and use that to get my birds, seems to fit in a pack better then a fishin pole

[Tealer]

I don't get the face paint thing, did any duck hunters actually use this stuff before the duck commander and crew showed up on every piece of merchandise sold at wally world?  A face mask is just as effective and less of a hassle.   

I used too, before I even knew they filmed hunts. As my skills progressed i stop using it and it doesn't matter. I don't wear a face mask either.




If you looking for must haves:
USIA Waders
Functional shotgun
Quality jacket
Quality thermals
Positive attitude


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BiggLuke]

Duck commanders didn't invent the idea of face paint.
I wear glasses so a face masks are out of the question because it fogs my glasses up too bad.
Been using facpaint my whole life.   

[Special T]

Must haves Shotgun, Ammo, Waders.

Hotbuys are great and will last a long time if you use the flat clear enamal spray paint on them they chip less. I think feeding/resting 3 packs are the way to start off IMO.

The MOST overlooked even on here?

CALLING LESSONS! How to call, when to call, what to call and KNOW WHEN TO BE SILENT!

I had the ONLY part time tenured professor at CWU his name is Rodger Renolds. He was part time because he guided for ducks in the Columbia basin. His 30 year average was something like 4-5 ducks per man/day. Pretty good considering there were years where the limit was only 3. Oh and they were all Morning only hunts. I took his class and will tell you the MOST important lesson learned. Duck hunting over decoys had 3 main points. Concealment, Camo blinds no movement ect. Presentation, decoys, spread, calling ect. The MOST important is LOCATION! If you are where the ducks want to be, 3 of the rattiest decoys and no calling will get you limited out.

You can try and convince them to come to you but that means that means the other 2 points must be damn near perfect.

BTW Rodger Renolds blew a Willamette Valley call called the Come Duck. I have one and i think its sucks. He could make it sound awesome. One of the hunters on here that SLAYS ducks does so because he knocks on LOTS of doors and hunt on the X or as close to it as he can get with a half doz deeks and a double reed call.

[AWS]

I think the one most important piece of gear is a boat and the smaller the better.  I hunt public land exclusively and do very well on it.  The trick is getting into places nobody else goes to.  A light square stern canoe is ideal, with a 3hp motor you can haul a ton of gear, make good time going a long distance, so easy to conceal you don't need a blind(just pull it into the grass or cattails), it's light enough to pull or pole through places bigger boats can't get to.  For years I hunted the back corners of the Pothole resv. and never saw other hunters because they couldn't go where I did until the water came up a long way.  Here on the west side I can get into prime hunting areas on low tide that others can't get to until the tide comes in some.

 If you can be on the X when the ducks want to be there you won't need a duck call, blind, dog or very many decoys.

[Shoffy]

I started out with a cheep pair of hip waders and a camo coat. did some jump shooting on small marshes and  streams, then started adding decoys. great times. now I have a boat, way to many decoys and every toy known to man and two dogs. Thinking back, I think I had more fun in the early years and bagged as many birds, you can only get so many in a day. of course I am quite a bit lazier now and all the gear helps, but for fun, sometimes simple is best. we even used hand made cardboard goose decoys. killed more geese over those than the new hardcore spread of today. just go have fun and the stuff will come as it's needed.

Great post and advise ... That hits the nail on the head ... The basics of hunting and enjoying hunting