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