Anyone here enjoy classic duck hunts?

[Stilly bay]

they left out the 6th stage... pretentious snob hunter.

Im not sure where Im at. I use plastic, camo-coated, 3 &1/2" belching, single barreled-semi autos... and gortex - probably because I like to stay dry, I don't like watching my gun encrusted in rust, and I want kill swat a crippled using only one shell.

I will save my oiled cloth, and my spanish doubles, and my setters for the grouse woods and pheasant fields.

this duck season I found my self at a particular spot more often than chasing the X. this spot is mainly a pass shooting/ambush deal -which takes patience and restraint. I have shot limits there but day in day out its good for about three or four ducks. what I love about it is that I can see for miles in every direction. I can watch how the ducks travel, and how the sandpipers play the wind in enormous flocks of tiny birds, and how long it takes for you to hear a distant flock of snows take flight after you actually see them do it.

maybe I will be hardcore again next year.

[Maverick]

I just enjoy getting out in the great outdoors!

[Stickerbush]

how about traditional waterfowling? carve your own decoys, make your own calls etc. maybe even load your own shells. I dont hardly limit but if I'm seeing a good amount of birds and drop a few I'm pretty much happy.

who knows what stage I'm in, depends on the species I'm hunting

[CP]

I used to carve my own decoys back before I could afford to buy them.  That was kind of cool but more than anything from the “good ole days” that I miss is genuine lead shot shells.  Good ole nasty, toxic lead that would crush a duck or goose stone dead at unbelievable ranges.  Cheap, effective lead, yes, those were the good ole days.

[carver52]

Over the past few years I've been using a couple of piroques/canoes I built out of plywood that get me to many more places on public waters than I'd ever be able to hike into.  They carry all the carved cork decoys I want to use that day.  My lab I train myself so with those three things, I get to extend my season all year.    Also, the past two seasons I've been able to enjoy the 13 foot sneak boat I also built.  With a electric motor I can get out and either sneak with it or use it as a layout boat. 

But, I do use an 11-87 semi auto, use factory shells and also gortex and modern waders.  My thermos is new and serves up some real hot coffee or tea.  While the public areas on weekends can be a real zoo, hunting during the week can provide near perfect hunts and sometimes no one else is even in hearing distance.  This past season hunting in the mid Columbia basin I even took my first snow goose, on the river in a popular public area.  But it was during the work week.  And since I've been waterfowling for over 30 years now, that was surprising.

Hope everyone can find their perfect hunts this next season.

[fethrduster]

You are on the top of the 5 Stages of a Hunter-a true sportsman.   Link to the 5 stages of hunter development: http://www.nodakoutdoors.com/hunter-stages.php
I am somewhere between the Trophy stage and the Method stage.  

Thanks for the link to this great article.  I do think it is spot on.  I have gone through all those stages in my life, although, to be truthful, I've always been a purist at heart, even when young, preferring flyfishing and tying my own flies, shooting a longbow instead of a compound, and yes, I have a setter and belong to a pointing dog club (I'm mostly an upland hunter now).  That said, we're all different, and I think that's a great thing.