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What kind of tips are you looking for? Boat selection? Call selection? Gun selection? Decoy selection? There are entire books written on duck hunting tips.
Quote from: Kola16 on October 13, 2021, 05:55:14 PMWhat kind of tips are you looking for? Boat selection? Call selection? Gun selection? Decoy selection? There are entire books written on duck hunting tips.So I've already got roughly 5 dozen decoys (varying brands), which I've read is decent amount. My plan is to do ground blind, so no boat needed. I'm not sure how to exactly go about scouting spots to go. I know there are some wildlife refuges I can try to get into, but those are hunting pretty heavily. Not looking for any 'holes' or anything. Just tips on how to find my own 'hole' down the road...
I've mentioned in the past, if you do not have plenty of private lands to jump around, a boat is your most valuable piece of equipment when comes to getting good hunts with lots of birds.
Just gotta get out there and hunt, you'll have bad days, but then all of a sudden you'll reflect on all of your hunting and everything will make sense after a while and you'll realize you have been hunting your own hole
Quote from: tpksunshine on October 13, 2021, 08:45:46 PMQuote from: Kola16 on October 13, 2021, 05:55:14 PMWhat kind of tips are you looking for? Boat selection? Call selection? Gun selection? Decoy selection? There are entire books written on duck hunting tips.So I've already got roughly 5 dozen decoys (varying brands), which I've read is decent amount. My plan is to do ground blind, so no boat needed. I'm not sure how to exactly go about scouting spots to go. I know there are some wildlife refuges I can try to get into, but those are hunting pretty heavily. Not looking for any 'holes' or anything. Just tips on how to find my own 'hole' down the road...You'll want a good set of insulated waders. Have fun!
My plan is to do ground blind, so no boat needed.
Quote from: tpksunshine on October 13, 2021, 08:45:46 PMMy plan is to do ground blind, so no boat needed. Once you have your blind built, walk a couple hundred yards away in multiple directions and see what it looks like from a distance. Ideally, you shouldn't be able to tell it's there. If you can see it, you can be sure the birds will.
Quote from: CedarPants on October 14, 2021, 09:03:03 AMQuote from: tpksunshine on October 13, 2021, 08:45:46 PMMy plan is to do ground blind, so no boat needed. Once you have your blind built, walk a couple hundred yards away in multiple directions and see what it looks like from a distance. Ideally, you shouldn't be able to tell it's there. If you can see it, you can be sure the birds will.Thanks for the tip. I'll have to employ that method this year. Been skunked a few times in the past. Any tips on how to 'dress' blinds on refuges'? Not allowed to use 'live' grass. Do I pack something in, or hope to grab dead stuff around the current blind?
Quote from: tpksunshine on October 14, 2021, 09:06:49 AMQuote from: CedarPants on October 14, 2021, 09:03:03 AMQuote from: tpksunshine on October 13, 2021, 08:45:46 PMMy plan is to do ground blind, so no boat needed. Once you have your blind built, walk a couple hundred yards away in multiple directions and see what it looks like from a distance. Ideally, you shouldn't be able to tell it's there. If you can see it, you can be sure the birds will.Thanks for the tip. I'll have to employ that method this year. Been skunked a few times in the past. Any tips on how to 'dress' blinds on refuges'? Not allowed to use 'live' grass. Do I pack something in, or hope to grab dead stuff around the current blind?Whatever is near your blind will look most natural
Quote from: CedarPants on October 14, 2021, 09:44:55 AMQuote from: tpksunshine on October 14, 2021, 09:06:49 AMQuote from: CedarPants on October 14, 2021, 09:03:03 AMQuote from: tpksunshine on October 13, 2021, 08:45:46 PMMy plan is to do ground blind, so no boat needed. Once you have your blind built, walk a couple hundred yards away in multiple directions and see what it looks like from a distance. Ideally, you shouldn't be able to tell it's there. If you can see it, you can be sure the birds will.Thanks for the tip. I'll have to employ that method this year. Been skunked a few times in the past. Any tips on how to 'dress' blinds on refuges'? Not allowed to use 'live' grass. Do I pack something in, or hope to grab dead stuff around the current blind?Whatever is near your blind will look most naturalOne thing that is often overlooked when concealing yourself is your face, especially on sunny days. I like to use a little face paint to help break things up but I still try not to look directly up at birds that are coming towards you. If you ever get a chance, have someone in your blind and stand a little ways from it. When they look directly at you their face is one of the easiest things to pick out. Now imagine looking down from the air into a sea of water and land and having a random glare of a face looking up at you? My ugly mug has flared more than a few birds over the years
Just starting hunting ducks in tri cities last year hard, always hunted them but not like all the time and all over. If I was you I would get a boat or a dog. If you had at least one of those you could get it done if you scouted the day before. If you have both, you are really set up.
Quote from: vandeman17 on October 14, 2021, 09:54:57 AMQuote from: CedarPants on October 14, 2021, 09:44:55 AMQuote from: tpksunshine on October 14, 2021, 09:06:49 AMQuote from: CedarPants on October 14, 2021, 09:03:03 AMQuote from: tpksunshine on October 13, 2021, 08:45:46 PMMy plan is to do ground blind, so no boat needed. Once you have your blind built, walk a couple hundred yards away in multiple directions and see what it looks like from a distance. Ideally, you shouldn't be able to tell it's there. If you can see it, you can be sure the birds will.Thanks for the tip. I'll have to employ that method this year. Been skunked a few times in the past. Any tips on how to 'dress' blinds on refuges'? Not allowed to use 'live' grass. Do I pack something in, or hope to grab dead stuff around the current blind?Whatever is near your blind will look most naturalOne thing that is often overlooked when concealing yourself is your face, especially on sunny days. I like to use a little face paint to help break things up but I still try not to look directly up at birds that are coming towards you. If you ever get a chance, have someone in your blind and stand a little ways from it. When they look directly at you their face is one of the easiest things to pick out. Now imagine looking down from the air into a sea of water and land and having a random glare of a face looking up at you? My ugly mug has flared more than a few birds over the yearsSolid advice. I used to be able to get away with a thick beard, some eye black on the cheek bones and bridge of the nose, and my hat pulled low.Since having kids though, my beard got scared and turned gray. So if I tried that same routine now, the ducks would wonder who kicked the crap out of Santa and tossed him in a duck blind.
Quote from: CedarPants on October 14, 2021, 02:11:53 PMQuote from: vandeman17 on October 14, 2021, 09:54:57 AMQuote from: CedarPants on October 14, 2021, 09:44:55 AMQuote from: tpksunshine on October 14, 2021, 09:06:49 AMQuote from: CedarPants on October 14, 2021, 09:03:03 AMQuote from: tpksunshine on October 13, 2021, 08:45:46 PMMy plan is to do ground blind, so no boat needed. Once you have your blind built, walk a couple hundred yards away in multiple directions and see what it looks like from a distance. Ideally, you shouldn't be able to tell it's there. If you can see it, you can be sure the birds will.Thanks for the tip. I'll have to employ that method this year. Been skunked a few times in the past. Any tips on how to 'dress' blinds on refuges'? Not allowed to use 'live' grass. Do I pack something in, or hope to grab dead stuff around the current blind?Whatever is near your blind will look most naturalOne thing that is often overlooked when concealing yourself is your face, especially on sunny days. I like to use a little face paint to help break things up but I still try not to look directly up at birds that are coming towards you. If you ever get a chance, have someone in your blind and stand a little ways from it. When they look directly at you their face is one of the easiest things to pick out. Now imagine looking down from the air into a sea of water and land and having a random glare of a face looking up at you? My ugly mug has flared more than a few birds over the yearsSolid advice. I used to be able to get away with a thick beard, some eye black on the cheek bones and bridge of the nose, and my hat pulled low.Since having kids though, my beard got scared and turned gray. So if I tried that same routine now, the ducks would wonder who kicked the crap out of Santa and tossed him in a duck blind.I've decided to grow a full Paul Bunyon beard this year. The kiddos haven't turned it gray...yet. Maybe the facepaint will keep the mask off my face and prevent the inevitable itch!