First time waterfowl hunting
- Thread starter nateb440
- Start date
John-W-WI
Administrator
I'm no waterfowler myself... but I've gone with friends. It's the opposite of deer hunting. Tons of action, lots of fun, and no food plots required. Makes me wonder why I don't duck hunt more often. I guess deer hunting is a sickness.
-John
Ha! Serious money. I came home and started looking at guns, decoys, waders, blinds, calls, etc. not sure where to start. But y'all are right in saying it's the opposite of deer hunting. I really enjoyed cutting up with the guys between flocks. And yes the dog is a German short haired pointer. He did great despite his age and despite the frigid temps. Hes retrieve the birds and run immediately into his little dog blind quiet as can be. I love watching a dog work.
Bill
Administrator
Probably said this before but there was a 10 year period before I bought the farm that I never deer hunted once. Two boats, dozens of Deks a dog etc. never missed a Saturday. I've Been spending quite a bit of time this winter on the coast. I'm getting the itch, if you can find open water with no ice the birds are piled up in there.
trampledbyturtles
5 year old buck +
Nice shoot,
If you thought trees were expensive, wait until your pulling around a trailer stocked to the gills with decoys, ha.
Cause the waterfowl train comes on fast an hits hard.
If you thought trees were expensive, wait until your pulling around a trailer stocked to the gills with decoys, ha.
Cause the waterfowl train comes on fast an hits hard.
j-bird
Moderator
Waterfowling can be great...when things work out. It can be brutal and miserable when it doesn't. I am not a grossly experienced waterfowler, but I have seem the spectrum. When you are where the birds want to be and you got a couple of buddies with you its a great time. I have also however hunted when it was so cold the water was literally freezing around my waders and and the wind was nasty and the birds refused to cooperate. I will also add that waterfowling will test your gear and equipment.....everything is either muddy, wet or frozen!
I prefer to hunt over water if I can, but most of what we do is just hunting fields. Lots of Canada Geese and mallards here, with some woodies and a few teal.....every once in a while we get something odd. The first year my son and I did it ourselves we ended up with 3 banded geese (2 local & 1 migrater). I didn't waterfowl hunt last year as my boy was in college, but we may drag the blinds out and give it a go sometime yet this winter.
I will second the waterfolw bug bites hard! And decoys are not cheap. Tagging along with buddies is the best route if your on a budget.
I prefer to hunt over water if I can, but most of what we do is just hunting fields. Lots of Canada Geese and mallards here, with some woodies and a few teal.....every once in a while we get something odd. The first year my son and I did it ourselves we ended up with 3 banded geese (2 local & 1 migrater). I didn't waterfowl hunt last year as my boy was in college, but we may drag the blinds out and give it a go sometime yet this winter.
I will second the waterfolw bug bites hard! And decoys are not cheap. Tagging along with buddies is the best route if your on a budget.
Congrats on a great hunt. It will be a wonderful addiction. I hunted waterfowl hardcore for 20 years and then the deer hunting addiction took over. I've sold almost all of my decoys, blinds, and other fowl paraphernalia but still have the trailer and guns. It was an addiction but when I started really getting into habitat management and deer hunting I lost the addiction to the fowl and it is now placed squarely into deer. Going to sell my fowl guns and trailer but haven't got around to it yet. The trailer will be hardest to part with as it has so many uses.
Good luck with your newest addiction.
Good luck with your newest addiction.
Telemark
5 year old buck +
Waterfowl hunting is awesome. Unfortunately I don't get many opportunities because the gear is expensive and difficult to move around. I once bought an inflatable canoe off Craigslist and floated down the river behind my parents' house to shoot late season geese that stacked up in the shallow part of the stream. Someone called the cops, so I got to chat with them about hunting laws. Good thing I did my due diligence prior to the hunt.
H20fwler
5 year old buck +
I've been at it over four decades. I used to be flat out crazy chasing birds all over the country, every year I would hunt ducks in four or five states and a few provinces. I even had my own guide business for about ten years, was in a duck club in Arkansas and in Ontario. I don't chase them near as much now, only duck&goose hunted a dozen times this season so far. My boys are older and busy now and I have the farms to distract me messing around with all kinds of projects so I stay closer to home now by choice.
nate440, you don't really need a special gun just one you shoot well and you don't mind getting wet and beat up...my advice on decoys would be get the best you can afford and ad to them as you can, it takes years to really put together a really nice spread but you don't need that many to get started. Calling isn't to hard to learn either just get a good CD and practice while driving to and from work. If you just ad a little gear a year the cost isn't so bad...but it is a crazy addictive sport/hobby...and loads of fun. I've always had chessies or labs as duck fetchers.. training a four month old German Shorthair now, she is the first of that breed I've ever had and I am impressed with her so far.
H20fwler
5 year old buck +
I was in a club in Mitchell's Bay for over twenty years, this past season was the first year I opted out. Have hunted all over Lake St Clair both sides and have had some really good hunts at Walpole and St Annes.
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