Category: Duck Hunting

Duck decoys range from $40 to $400 a dozen, and beyond. Are the fancy duck decoys better? If so, by how much? On this episode I talk about the differences between cheap and expensive duck hunting decoys to help you understand how to weigh the pros and cons of each to make informed decisions. 

Keep in mind, for generations hunters carved crude decoys from wood, used painted milk jugs, and improvised their own decoys out of whatever rudimentary materials that could find or create that would float for awhile. And these decoys worked reasonably well. Even the cheapest decoys on the market today are drastically better than what most hunters used throughout waterfowl hunting history. We are a little bit spoiled today with the caliber of simple and low-cost options available. So, are expensive decoys really that much better?

There are three main areas that expensive decoys give you advantages over cheaper decoys. They are detail, durability, and technology.

1. Detail refers to both the paint job and the life like diversity of different duck positions. Cheaper decoys often all look identical while more expensive ones have a variety of posses that make them appear more lifelike.
2. Durability is a factor of two different areas. One is making the decoys sink resistant and the other is the durability of the paint and finish. Only one of these is a legitimate point to consider when it comes to cheap vs. expensive decoys.
3. Technology is a bit more complex. Because ducks can see certain colors and spectrums that people cannot, some decoys are designed to be more visible to ducks in low light but people cannot see those differences with our eyes. Expensive decoys sometimes come setup with this technology.

The big question is how much difference can expensive decoys make in these areas to be worth their price tag? Are $400 decoys really 10x better than $40 decoys? The simple answer is no, of course not. The more you pay, the less you get. It is a system of diminishing returns. However, if you pay more, you do get more. You just do not get a lot more. So the hunter able to pay large sums of money for the best decoys does get better decoys but they are only a little bit better. 

So, is it worth it? Only you can decide that. You need to listen to this entire podcast episode to get all of the information you need to judge the pros and cons of expensive decoys and decide which decoys are best for you to use.

Nothing can help you bring home more ducks than setting bad habits right. You cannot spend your way out of bad habits and no amount of gear can compensate for them. On this episode I talk about how to identify and correct some habits that will make you a better duck hunter. 

All you need to do to form a bad hunting habit is nothing. Making bad habits will happen by default, breaking them takes humility and work. But there is no faster way to improve and become a more successful waterfowl hunter and breaking bad habits. 

Some bad habits include:

1. Not Practicing – Nothing will help you take home more ducks than practicing in the office season and there is no better and more realistic way to practice than by doing a few sporting clays courses. Put some of your gear money into a practice fund.
2. Not Testing – Every gun, ammo, and choke may produce different and sometimes very different results. If you do not pattern test your gun every time you change something in your setup, you will not know what your performance and limitations are. 
3. Lack of Stealth – Whether you are in a blind or on foot, stealth is vital to duck hunting. It is too easy to get careless and think you are invincible because you don’t see any ducks. But that doesn’t mean the ducks cannot see you. Do everything you can to minimize movement and keep your volume level low.

Somehow duck hunting feels different than deer or turkey hunting. The practice, sighting in, patterning, etc. that we often put into those pursuits seems specific to them. We often do not think we should apply the same diligence to duck hunting in the off season. But knowing our gear and sharpening our shooting skills matters just as much for duck hunting, possibly even more. This is a bad habit that is somewhat cultural to the sport. People assume they are proficient with their shotgun and ammo just because. 

The reality is that years ago these habits were likely started by people who lived in rural areas and often hunted constantly with their shotgun. They went out after turkeys, doves, pheasants, qual, rabbits, squirrels and more. Then the next day they picked up their shotgun and went out for ducks. That worked a lot better in those kinds of situations where constant shotgun use with the same ammo produced skills that were always honed.

But today things are very different. For those few who do hunt that many things and that often, they are often using different ammunition, required by law, and thus are not as proficient with it as they might like to think. Waterfowl ammo can behave very differently. Then there are the rest of hunters who rarely pick up a shotgun and just grossly overestimate their abilities. 

Listen to the episode to hear more about these and other bad habits.  Here also is a video I did on the top thing you can buy to enable you to shoot more ducks. 

If you have a whole day to hunt ducks, why only hunt them in the morning? The truth is you can cram three unique duck hunts into a single day if you live in the right area. On this episode I talk about how to do everything possible to take home a limit of ducks over the course of a day.

The morning hunt is the traditional one that most people identify with, sitting in a blind with decoys out in front and calling birds in. This is a great way to hunt, and effective in many places if you’ve done your scouting. But it is far from the only way. This is likely the best way to start the day though. Get out early and try to bring home a limit of ducks early. 

The mid-day hunt takes on a different form. Once you have packed things up and gotten something to eat, you can run and gun, cover ground, and work to sneak up on birds on ponds, streams, and other bodies of water. This can be just as effective if you know the water in your area and have put together a good circuit.

The evening hunt is your last chance but it provides a good chance to get it done. The premise here is you have a whole day to hunt and do not want to go home empty handed or shorthanded. Hunting at the end of the day can be just as productive as any other time.

Listen to the episode to hear about all 3 hunting strategies for an all-day hunt. 

Jump hunting ducks can be tons of fun, inexpensive, and a great way to use the middle of the day to bring home some birds. On this episode I share 7 keys for being more successful hunting ducks on foot. 

Jump hunting is the practice of trying to sneak up on ducks to get “the jump” on them. It involves stealth with the intent to get into position and then ambush birds on the water or flush them and to shoot them out of the air. 

Hunting ducks on foot dates back to the dawn of duck hunting. It is both challenging and effective and enables you to bring home ducks while requiring only minimal gear and time spent scouting. 

Your goal is to get as close to the birds as possible before taking a shot, within 30 yards is the target. It is easy to underestimate the distance, in fact most people do. So, you must get closer than what seems necessary, especially since birds will instantly flush and move further away from you the moment you are detected.

Using terrain to close that distance is key, this will help you avoid being seen or heard by the ducks. Another key factor is wind. Wind creates noise and motion in the woods, masking you approach. Then if you move when the wind blows you can become nearly invisible. 

When shooting at birds on the water you want a long-range range setup, ideally with a very tight choke tube and denser than steel shot. I like to use an extra full choke with bismuth shells. Steel can work just great at short to medium range but it loses a lot of power at long range. Bismuth retains energy further out enabling you to hit harder at range. 

Similar to turkey hunting, your goal is to hit the ducks in the head and neck so you want a very tight pattern with a lot of pellets. Bismuth #4 shot is ideal. HEVI XII in #6 works even better but is much more expensive. Consider carrying a handful of high-grade shells and a tighter choke just for these kinds of hunts.

Note, you do not want to use actual turkey loads and chokes because then you will not be able to shoot birds when they flush. But that kind of setup can work ok shooting geese on the water or the ground due to their long neck.

Listen to the podcast episode for all of the tips.

As the seasons progress so does duck hunting, in fact each period of the duck season requires different strategies and focus points to be as effective as possible. On this episode I talk about the different phases of the duck season and what is unique about hunting during each of them.

Duck season can be divided into three phases in many states.

1. Early Season – This is when things are warm and green. You are primarily hunting local ducks or early migrators.
2. Core Season – This is what you often see on TV, the migration is on, and birds are flying through on a regular basis looking for places to stop and rest.
3. Late Season – The water is freezing up and ducks become more and more concentrated on open water.

Each phase of the season requires unique strategies to get the most out of it.

Listen to the episode for all of the details.

The only good thing about a terrible hunt is when you can learn from it and help other people avoid what happened to you. On this episode I talk about the worst duck hunt of my life and how I wish I had known the answer to a very important question before I went into the woods: how do you humanely and quickly dispatch a live duck that makes it into your hands? 

No matter how much you practice, how tight your choke tube, or how good your ammunition, there will be times when you wound or cripple a duck that needs finished off. The hunter’s goal should be to kill the duck as quickly and humanely as possible to minimize suffering and ensure the duck does not get away for prolonged suffering. 

Not knowing how to do this led me through a traumatic series of events that became the worst duck hunt of my life. Had I heard this simple podcast episode first, it would have saved me so much trouble and saved a duck much more suffering as well. 

Here is the most concise document I’ve found with methods to kill a downed duck. The cervical dislocation is the main one I mentioned in the episode. Fact-Sheet-Dispatch-of-Duck-CD-Method-2019.pdf (gma.vic.gov.au)

So much goes into a duck call, but what makes it sound good to ducks? On this episode I interview a duck call maker, hunter, musician and fellow podcaster to better understand what goes into a duck call, what really matters in the field, and how you can navigate the marketing clutter to find a duck call that is right for you.

The main goal of a duck call is to sound like a duck. It’s that simple. But most duck calls are judged by how well hunters can play them as musicians. Duck calling competitions are marvels of skill and experience, but they often sound far from what a real duck is like.

Sometimes real ducks make calls that hunters would consider quite lousy but that is because our perception can be skewed. There is another truth though that sometimes ducks do respond well to sounds that real ducks just do not make. Be it instinct or curiosity, you can have some success hunting ducks with calling sounds or sequences that do not exist in nature.

But for the new hunter, duck calling can be a rather simple affair. The goal of this episode is to talk through some of the feature and marketing of duck calls to help you discern what kinds of calls are right for you and what is worth spending your money on.

Riley is not a sponsor and I get no kickbacks, but at my request he agreed to give a 10% discount to all New Hunters Guide listeners. Just go to his website https://rylohgamecalls.com and use the code nhgcast at checkout for the 10% discount.