EP284 Is It Worth Hunting Ducks In The Late Season?

When the winter sets in, is it really worth the time and effort to go waterfowl hunting? Can you really be successful? The answer to those questions may surprise you, however there is not a blanket one-size-fits-all answer either. But there are principles I provide in this episode that can help you answer that question no matter where you are or where you hunt. 

There is a very important and often overlooked truth when it comes to late season duck hunting, and it is this. In most places, not all of the ducks leave for the winter. Now in Alaska, yes, the ducks are gone. But in New York and Pennsylvania and Indiana, and many other northern states, there are birds there year-round. If you can’t find any ducks that does not mean there aren’t any ducks.

The single biggest indicator of ducks is open water. If you can find water that has not frozen, be it lakes, streams, creeks, or rivers, you will find ducks. Or rather ducks can and do live there year-round. Some people have their best hunting in the winter because it concentrates where the ducks are and can hang out.

Another very often overlooked element is the concept of a fluid migration. Ducks do not just fly dead south until they hit the Gulf of Mexico and perch on the shore all winter. Many fly south until they find more comfortable weather, and when there are warm weeks they will drift back north some. They may be pushed further south again by a cold front, but birds move a lot. A duck may fly 100 miles for breakfast. They are very capable and mobile creatures. If you do not see birds in your area in the late season, just wait. Cold or warm weather could bring birds in from different directions.

The biggest consideration of late season hunting is safety. Falling in a stream when its 70 degrees outside is inconvenient. If it’s 20 degrees, that can be life threatening. You need very safe strategies to set up decoys and recover birds if you are hunting around water. Having gear that is up to the task is also important. You need to be able to stay warm and dry even in harsh weather conditions. High wind is much more common this time of year as well. But I think this can be a very effective time of year for most hunters. 

Late season hunting can be very good hunting, some of the best of the year, but it takes a little different approach.

Listen to the full podcast episode to hear all of the details. 

 

EP283 Is It Worth Hunting Deer In The Late Season?

Is it really even worth your time and energy to hunt deer in the late season? The most direct answer I can give is, sometimes. But it depends more on your willingness to learn and adapt than any particular hunting skill. On this episode I talk about the differences of late season hunting and how you need to change your strategy in order to find consistent success. Anyone can do it, if you have the drive to do it right. 

The biggest problem with hunting in the late season is people have less drive and motivation to put in the effort needed to hunt successfully. They don’t realize the late season is different than the early season or the rut. They don’t realize the deer behave differently, use the land differently, and move to different locations.

If you want to be successful in the late season you need to scout for the late season, prepare for it, and establish hunting spots for it. You almost need to treat it like a unique game/season altogether.  The same spots, tactics, and timing of the early season rarely works here. And the only time you can effectively scout for the late season is during the late season. So very few people have the best hunt they can have at this time of year because do not go to the ends needed to make it work well. But you absolutely can.

People tend to get busier with holidays, family, and work. Also, the excitement of early season and rut hunting wears off, so it becomes doubly hard to muster the motivation to scout and prepare. Weather and gear become an obstacle too. But you can extend the capabilities of your gear with a few tricks and tips I mention in this episode. 

The biggest thing hunters must have is the will to hunt this season. If you can muster that, you can be very successful. There also some significant advantages to hunting in the late season as well. In fact, you can accomplish a lot with minimal time hunting, if you put in all the work needed up front.

The single best piece of advice I can give you is to scout the late season on years when you are not hunting it. When you learn how deer use the land one year, they will very likely use it in similar ways the following years. So scouting when your tags are full is a great way to help you prepare for hunting next year. Time invested now can pay off in future seasons.

Listen to this whole podcast episode to hear all the details strategies about late season deer hunting. 

 

EP277 Five Minimalist Duck Hunting Setups

Are you tired of hauling a lot of heavy gear into the woods? There is a false perception that you need a ton of gear to hunt waterfowl successfully. In this podcast episode I am going to cover five minimalist duck hunting setup that are low cost and light on equipment.

Waterfowl hunting is one of, if not the most equipment intensive types of hunting. There are so many things to buy and use that you can spend your life building out the perfect set of gear. For new hunters especially that just isn’t practical, but diverging from the norm is not welcomed by the establishment. People with decades worth of gear accumulated don’t love the idea of new people heading out into the woods with minimal gear and being successful. So other ways of hunting are often suppressed by the culture. But that’s crazy and there are lots of great ways to hunt ducks and geese with minimal gear.

When I say minimal, I think looking at it from both the standpoint of hauling that gear in and reducing the needed investment to successfully hunt waterfowl. If you are able to get a handful of items and still take ducks, that is a big win for a new hunter, and it is very possible. In fact, there are many ways to do it.

An obvious approach is the conventional hunting strategy with minimal gear. A set of waders, a half dozen decoys, a call, and a shotgun can be all that you need to be effective and bring home birds. Sure, 6 dozen decoys may work better, but one person can easily carry 6 singles into the woods with a pair of waders, improvise a blind and get shots at ducks. 

Jump hunting is another great way to hunt, as long as you are not in an area that is overrun with other hunters. You do not want to be walking around and messing up other people’s hunts. But provided you can get away from most other hunters, you can have a great time sneaking through the woods trying to get to the edge of streams, creeks, lakes, ponds, and puddles looking for unsuspecting birds. All you need to do this is a gun and a way to retrieve the birds from the water, typically a backpack with breathable waders stuffed inside works great.

Listen to this full podcast episode to hear all the five minimalist duck hunting strategies and which are a good fit for you and your hunting style.

EP274 How NOT To Donate A Deer

Donating a deer is important and can make a big difference in the lives of many people. But on this episode I am going to share some stories and guidelines for how to NOT donate a deer to a feeding program like Farmers and Hunters Feeding The Hungry or Hunters Sharing The Harvest.

Donating venison is an honorable thing. Foodbanks often supply people in need with canned goods, non-perishables, and carb rich foods but meat of any kind may be rarely available due to the cost. Venison is able to provide people who are food insecure with high quality lean protein. People will often wait in line or check back constantly with hopes of venison becoming available. If the meat portions they receive are lousy because the hunter was careless, we’ve hurt a person we could have helped.

Proper field care is a huge part of bringing back quality venison to donate. But simply being considerate as a human being is needed first. You must not leave a deer over night or for several days in the woods and bring it to donate. These carcasses are unfit and unsafe for human consumption and a good butcher will throw the entire thing away. You cannot bring animals that have been half eaten by coyotes. The bacteria and disease present in these situations makes the meat unsafe almost instantly. 

Just because you’ve eaten questionable meat and been ok does not mean its ok. Children, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems can become seriously ill by eating something that your body seems to process ok. And people who are food insecure and nutrient deprived may be at elevated risk levels. You are providing meat to people who due to their poverty may have compromised health.

The deer that we donate should be the best deer we can take out of the woods, not some scheme to get a butcher to cut off the antlers for us for free. In fact the deer we donate should be better than the venison we put on our own tables. Keep in mind someone is paying to have that deer butchered and given to food banks, soup kitchens etc. These are often individual donors, local churches, small businesses and others who pay the financial cost of deer processing, so the hunters do not need to pay money when they donate their animal.

We need to strive to provide the best possible meat for families in need. If you are going to donate a deer, donate your best, not your worst.

Listen to the whole podcast episode for so much more.

 

 

 

EP271 Duck Hunting Blinds & Hiding – 4 Cheap Strategies

If you want to hunt ducks, you need to be able to hide. But how can you do that cheap? Are there cost effective approaches to waterfowl hunting blinds, or do you need to spend big money? On this episode I cover four strategies for hiding on the cheap.

Hiding is synonymous with waterfowl hunting. You must have cover if you want birds to voluntarily come into shooting range. And you need to have cover even more if you are trying to sneak up on the ducks.

The hunting industry has answered this fundamental need with a great many expensive contraptions such as A-Fram blinds, lay out blinds, dog blinds, and many more. Generally speaking, these options all work in the right situations. But are there cheaper ways?

Not long ago, none of these hiding options existed. They were nowhere to be found. All hunters built or improvised their own blinds, most often temporary ones, used for just one hunt. Occasionally they had the luxury of using one a couple of times. Setting up a blind was as much of part of the morning routine as putting on your waders or setting out the decoys. But today, much of this has been lost, replaced with expensive alternatives.

In this podcast episode I harken back to the days of waterfowl ingenuity, empowering hunters to hide for little or no budget at all. Some of these options are clear cut, while others are unorthodox, but each one works in the right situation. If you want cheap options for concealment while hunting waterfowl, you need to listen to this short episode.

Spoiler alert, a lot of expensive blinds you can buy save little to no time, are not less work, and do not hide you better than many of the strategies in this episode. There are times when purchased blinds are very helpful, but more often than not, they provide comparable effectiveness with increased complexity.  You do not need that to get started. You can go into the woods tomorrow, and setup a good hide for cheap or free and hunt ducks.

You can save your money for other waterfowl hunting necessities like waders, call, decoys, ammo, shotguns, camo, boots, gloves, sleds, etc. Buying a blind is always something you can do later. But you do not need to do it to get started. In fact, many expert waterfowl hunters never do it all. They hunt every day of their season, year after year, following the simple strategies I detail in this podcast episode.

If you want to buy blinds, great, go for it. But you should also know these simple strategies to help you in uncommon hunting scenarios when purchased hunting blinds are not as effective or you just cannot get them to the spot you are hunting.

Listen to the whole episode to hear the details.

EP269 Five Reasons You Should NOT Hunt Deer With A Bow

Archery deer hunting is growing but there are a lot of people in the woods with bows who should not be there, YET. They are missing fundamental knowledge or skills to hunt deer effectively and reliably with a vertical bow. On this episode I talk about five crucial areas that every archery hunter needs to know about and develop proficiency in before they begin taking shots at whitetails.

Archey is a very fun, challenging, and rewarding pursuit. Hunting with a vertical bow is appealing for a wide variety of different reasons. And most people can learn to do this effectively. However, too few hunters understand the challenges unique to this style of hunting and go unprepared into the woods only to have problems, failures, and worse.  Often, they should hunt with a rifle or a crossbow until they develop the needed proficiencies for a vertical bow.  

Understanding these five things will save you from a lot of difficulties and disappointments. There is no shame in going into the woods with a different tool if you are not ready or able to do what it takes to hunt properly with a bow. We are talking about an investment in preparation, it has nothing to do with the character or ability of the person. Anyone could prepare if they have the time, energy, and health to do so. And maybe they can and will in the future, but for now they should hunt with the tools they are able to use with greater proficiency.

The first and most obvious of the five reasons you should not hunt with a bow is you do not practice enough. This is about skills and conditioning. Proficiency in archery is a perishable skill. It decays quickly with time. A few weeks can cause you to lose a lot of ground. There is head knowledge and skill you will retain for your lifetime, but conditioning means everything when it comes to being able to reliably hit a target under field conditions.

Ideally you want to learn to shoot, from an instructor or expert of some type. Then you need to practice, a lot, and for a long time. You should start practicing around two months before the season starts. Start practicing 3 days a week and then bump it up to 4 or 5 once you get your initial conditioning. These do not need to be long sessions; 20 minutes can be plenty. But you need to shoot often and throughout the hunting season to stay sharp.

This is not just about being able to hit a target but being able to draw even when stiff and cold, under field conditions, with cold weather gear, in a tree, holding a draw for a long time, fighting off nerves, and finally taking an ethical shot. This is taxing on your body. You must practice a lot to able to do it when it counts. If you are not able to practice enough, you should probably use a crossbow for that season. Crossbows require a much lower level of conditioning. 

The most responsible and wise hunters know their limits and deficiencies and takes the appropriate action to make up for them. Newer hunters especially do not have enough experience to know what they do not know. They have blind spots. We all have blind spots at times, but when we are just getting started, they can be very large blind spots. I can tell you from experience, the best and fastest ways to learn is to practice, study, and learn from the mistakes of others. If you want to hunt with a bow, get one today and start practicing. But wait, even till next season if needed, until you are prepared and can check off all five things mentioned in this episode. 

Listen to the entire podcast episode to hear all 5 reasons why you should not hunt with a bow.

EP268 When Should You Upgrade Your Crossbow? And Why?

Like any tool, there are benefits to upgrading a deer hunting crossbow, but when should you do it and what should you look for? On this episode I give some guidance for when to upgrade a crossbow, what to look for in a new bow, how to make wise budget decisions, and what you realistically will not gain from a new crossbow. 

The right time to upgrade your crossbow often intersects with something going wrong with your current bow or hunting experience. Either you have equipment wear out, failure, or maybe you have a hunting failure that causes you to cast doubt on your bow. Sometimes we get distracted by better bows but usually it is something going wrong that pushes us to make a purchase right away. Be careful in these moments not to jump to conclusions.

Sometimes you can repair a broken bow, sometimes nothing is wrong except your confidence takes a hit and practice may fix that much cheaper than buying a new bow. Be calm, patient, thoughtful, and think about the investment needed to get a bow that is better. Ideally you want a better bow, something with better features that will help you improve your hunting experience. Just replacing a bow may do the job, but you are probably better off with a short-term fix while you look for the right better bow.

A crossbow is a very sophisticated tool that is full of nuances. There are so many things to gain with a better crossbow in terms of comfort, feel, balance, features, ease of use, increased range, and less weight. However, if you have a working crossbow, chances are low that a better one would do much to enable you to take home more deer. A better crossbow makes the hunting experience easier and/or more enjoyable. But it often does not make it more effective.

This puts crossbows into a special category of gear where features have value but in the end they will do little to bring home more deer. That does not mean you shouldn’t upgrade your crossbow. On the contrary, you should simply upgrade with realistic expectations and timing.

I have found the best time to upgrade crossbows is around the end of season sales. You can often get a new crossbow that is very discounted. The trouble is you often cannot find the bow you have your heart set on in this way. It is better to simply follow the sales, look for the biggest discounts on credible brands trying to move last year’s model or clear inventory space and you can sometimes get a bow for as much as 50% off. By doing this you can upgrade a few levels higher in bow quality and function for alot less money.

However, if you have your eyes on one particular bow and you have to have that brand and model, your best bet is to save up your money and wait for even the most modest sale to come along. 

Listen to the full podcast episode to hear alot more about when to upgrade and how to pick a new crossbow.

EP267 Three BIG Duck Hunting Blunders & How To Do Better

Every duck hunter makes mistakes, it is unavoidable. But there are some big terrible blunders that are easily avoidable with just a little bit of knowledge. On this episode I discuss three huge blunders and give you the simple insights needed to never make them yourself. 

The definition of a blunder is a stupid or careless mistake. You will not be able to avoid all mistakes, but you can avoid blunders. One of the best ways to learn is from the mistakes and blunders of others. Which is why I share some of the big blunders I’ve watched other duck hunters make. Some of them are a bit funny they are so bad. But each teaches us valuable lessons to become better duck hunters.

Listen to this full podcast episode to hear about the blunders and the lessons learned. 

EP266 How To Finish A Wounded Duck? The Uncomfortable Reality

No matter how well we shoot and how good our ammo, there will still be wounded and crippled ducks that need humanely and quickly put down. This is not a fun subject, but it is something all duck hunters need to be aware of. On this episode I talk about various scenarios of wounded ducks and give three different techniques to quickly dispatch them with minimal suffering.

Shotgun patterns are imperfect and are not capable of instantly killing a duck every time, even at reasonable ranges. Compound this with the fact that hunters are not perfect shots, and you will unfortunately have to deal with wounded ducks on a semi regular basis. This can be minimized with practice, more experience judging distance, and high-quality ammunition. But it will still happen from time to time. So, you must be equipped and prepared to deal with it under field conditions.

Wounded ducks may have varying degrees of mobility. They may be able to swim at full speed, above or below water, they may be able to walk or even run on land. They may be able to partially fly, they may even be stunned and able to full fly once they shake it off. To dispatch a wounded duck, you may very well have to catch it first. This is easiest if you have a hunting dog. If not, you will want to be very mobile and able to give chase readily. 

One of the biggest lessons I have learned when hunting without a dog is to never take my eyes off a downed bird until I have it in hand. Always recover and deal with downed birds immediately. Never wait. You do not know if a bird is dead or not until you recover it. I have had birds belly up on the water that looked as dead as dead can be and 5 minutes later wake up and try to escape. Get your birds and confirm they are dead.

Do not hesitate to take a follow-up shot if a bird falls to the water but is still mobile. Every second will put the duck further away from you and further from ideal range. The longer you wait, the lower the chances will be of you recovering the bird. This often leads to the bird suffering worse and much longer. We need to avoid this as much as possible. 

One you have a crippled bird in hand, there are numerous methods for dispatching the duck. In summary they include:

  1. Swatting Loads
  2. Cervical Dislocation.
  3. A Pithing Tool

Listen to this podcast episode to hear the specifics about those techniques and methods to find the one that works best for you.

Here is the visual guide for how to humanely dispatch a downed duck that I mentioned in the episode as well. These are some of the most important skills a waterfowl hunter can take into the field, because treating game with respect and preventing suffering is of the upmost importance.

Always work to judge distance well, to take ethical shots, to pattern test your shotgun, ammo, and choke tube combo, and do not push your limits. The fewer ducks that are crippled the better. but when a bird is wounded you must deal with it quickly. I wish I would have been able to listen to this podcast episode before I started waterfowl hunting. I ran into this issue firsthand and did not know the ideal ways to deal with it, that was not fun. Hopefully you will be better prepared than I was. 

 

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