First time duck hunting

[oo0juice0oo]

Well I finally got my hunter safety done and my buddy is taking me with him in few weeks for my first duck hunt. I'm picking up a call tomorrow so he can teach me. Anybody got any words of wisdom or tips for my upcoming hunt? Also what ammo should I use? I'll be using my brothers Mossberg 500 12ga with a 3" chamber.

[Antique Shooter]

Join Duck Hunting Chat. There is a ton of valuable info on there. The ammo depends on alot of different things, how much you want to spend, how far your shots are, using decoys or pass shooting, what kinds of ducks you will be seeing, all are very important when picking ammunition for waterfowl. I hunt everything in the book, and by far have the most variety of ammo for waterfowling. PM me if you have anymore questions.

Antique Shooter

[Nnobby45]

Anybody got any words of wisdom or tips for my upcoming hunt? Also what ammo should I use? I'll be using my brothers Mossberg 500 12ga with a 3" chamber.

Yes, a coupleor more decades worth that space and time won't permit.

Regarding the call. Either learn to use it or leave it home. The way to learn is by practicing and listening to yourself on a tape recorder. It's possible to become a fairly good caller in a year as far as doing the notes. Learning WHEN to call is another matter.

Until then, LEAVE IT AT HOME. You'll see what I mean when you listen to the nimrods with their brand new calls who are rather amusing. There calls resemble no duck I (or you) ever heard of. On the other hand, a good caller is a pleasure to listen to.

Don't know your situation, or who will be teaching you and bringing you along. They may be experienced waterfow hunters and you can consider yourself lucky.

My hunting was over decoys. Standard 12 ga. with modified choke. When steel shot became mandatory, the modified shot much tighter, and I went to improved cyl.

Three inch 12 ga.'s are for pass shooting at higher flying birds, not decoy shooting. Don't know what your type of shooting will be. Don't be a sky buster and wing more birds than you kill. Don't litter and leave you crap in the blind (not saying you would) .

KEEP STILL when birds are working in. There's an overpowering urge to look up----resist it.

That's enough for now, lest I type about 10 pages.:)

[mete]

With turkeys too ,beginners call too often and too loud ! It's better to have more than one hunter call.
BTW, ducks quack and geese honk !! :D

[publius]

#2 shot out of an improved cylinder choke.
Stay well hidden and be still, ducks have very good vision. Don't look up at them, your white face will stand out, well, like a white face. I don't wear face paint, but it isn't a bad idea. Wear a camo hat.
Leave the call at home until you have received some instruction by as many good hunters as you can find.
As with anything else, there is no substitute for experience. Go have fun.

[globemaster3]

Welcome to the world of duck hunting. Leave your cash at the register, because this sport will encourage you to spend it!:p

It is also some of the most fun hunting you can have, especially with good company.;)

My first word of advice is get to the trap/skeet range and practice with that Mossberg. Some purists might question the thought of taking a pump gun on the skeet range, but a quick explanation that you are trying to get tuned up for duck season will probably earn you some admirers. This will greatly improve your pass shooting.

Know your limits. Someone before you mentioned the cardinal sin of sky busting. I cannot tell you what too far is, but you need to set the limit based on your ability. And be realistic. You are not going to hit that bird at 100 yards, but you will manage to annoy everyone else hunting around you. :o The perfect shot is wings cupped, feet down, and a couple feet over your decoys. Anything else in my book is a compromise, but one I often take under the right conditions.

Although early season can be warm, late season can be bitter cold with changing conditions. You need to mitigate that, either with heaters in the boat/blind or some good clothing, or both. I'm not saying you need to spend $400 on a Columbia parka, but something warm and waterproof is essential in this business if you will hunt the full season. I hunted once where I set up in fog with less than 100 yards of visibility. After an hour, it started snowing. Another hour, I was out knocking the ice off the decoys. By the end of the morning hunt, it was sunny.

Although many duck hunters feel the 3" mag is the minimum shell for duck hunting, I would assure you that 2 3/4" works fine, and is cheaper. Once word of caution. I've noticed that through the years the 2 3/4" shells are loaded with lighter loads to increase velocity. My favorite are the 1 1/4 oz loads in #2 or #4. Slower, yes. More pellets, yes. Denser pattern, you betcha.

If you intend to wade, may I encourage you to consider neoprene waders? I've hunted canvas and neoprene both. Neoprenes are warmer (can be hot in early season), but one false step in canvas waders into a hole can fill them quickly and can turn a duck hunt into a survival tale. Neoprene naturally floats. And if you wade in area with flooded timber/bruch, spending the money on ones with some kind of denier covering is worth it, as neoprene is susceptible to punctures.

Watch some videos about ducks. Learn to identify them in flight. It is a costly lesson to learn that you just shot a pintail during teal season. Also, get to know your regs well, as there are varying amounts of ducks you can posess based on species. If you cannot ID that duck, you might just want to let it pass.

This is just a short list. Like nNobby45 mentioned, is could take years to impart all the wisdom and experience. The best plan is to keep asking questions and get out there and do it safely and learn.

And let me +1 to leaving the call at home until you've mastered it.

[FrontSight]

Make sure you go with someone who knows how to ID them well and will be responsible for calling the shots, because they all look the same to the inexperienced; a football with wings. Shoot the wrong bird and you're looking at State & Federal charges, loss of license, fines, seizure of equipment, etc etc etc. Not a fun time, so be careful.

Most of my duck hunting is on the water in the winter, so that's what most of my tips will be geared towards...land hunting will be less dangerous and some of these tips won't apply.

If you're hunting on / near water then unless it's sunny and 75 degrees out, NEVER get wet ANYWHERE on your body or clothing if you can avoid it all costs.

Duck hunting in the freezing cold can be one of the more dangerous hunts we do - keep your head and be careful & think things through.

Get GOOD, quality clothing & equipment if you can afford it. Waterproof parka (one size larger than your regular coat to allow for wader and under clothing, thick neoprene waders like Cabelas 1600 neoprenes (in Stout size) are great, especially with the neoprene sheel holder hangers to keep 25 shells qucikly accessible, windprooof / waterproof facemasks are a God send, waterproof gloves are invaluable, but bring 2 pairs b/c one will eventually get wet enough that the goretex will still leak - I like to bring rubber ones for handling decoys and then switch to gortex ones while hunting, but if it's cold then no glove will be thin enough to both keep your fingers from numbing up and fit in your trigger guard, so sometimes a pocket or the muff on your waders and a handwarmer stuffed in there are your best friends, electornic earmuffs will be worth their weight in gold - trust me on this one or go to sleep with ringing ears and and having to ask "WHAT? WHAT??" forever, and anything and everything CAN & WILL get wet, so be sure to keep your phone and food and everything else in a waterproof bag (they sell ones on e-bay for your phone, soft thick plastic with a lockable seal, very convenient).

Sunglasses and binoculars can be very handy items as well.

Easy to trip and fall with waders on, so be very careful while handing guns and walking, 10x as much when running, and 100x more so when in the water. One small trip on an unseen twig or smooth rock or hole and you get a little water inside your waders, and then the clock starts ticking till you are too miserable to continue hunting and your day is ruined. Ask me how I know, lolol.

Subscribe to Wild Fowl magazine, and join Ducks Unlimited.

Be sure to plug the gun for 3 shells maximum, and bring ONLY appoved non toxic shot with you - even if your guns are all 12 gauge and you have a 20 gauge lead shell in your bag that you forgot was there you can still get a ticket even though you can't fire it.

Make sure you get a federal duck stamp and if your state requires H.I.P. registration then be sure to get that too; lacking wither one is the same as hunting with no license & big trouble.

Bring serveral easy methods to start a fire and tinder and KNOW how to use them and KEEP AT LEAST TWO OF THEM ON YOU. Matches, a lighter in a ziplock bag, ferrule rod, etc...these can save your life if you capsize or lose your boat to the currents or a sinking or whatever - the unexpected is to be even more expected duck hunting on water.

Never underestimate the power of currents - you can't outswim a 2 knot current for very long at all, especially weighed down / waders full of water.

Pound for pound, sea ducks are thr toughest animals on the planet - I have personally witnessed one get shot 12 times in the head from 15 - 20 yards with various size shot, only to keep diving and then fly away, laughing at us. This is no joke, and not a story told to me by someone who had it told to them - I was personally one of the 4 shooters. Other ducks can be pretty tough as well, so if it is lot laying down on its side, motionless, or at least surely out of commission, keep shooting till it is, or you run a good risk of losing it. Get good at safely reloading and firing QUICKLY to keep from losing a lot of birds. Many times they give you a second chance after diving and coming back up, but with each successive surface the interval gets shorter and shorter, and then they swim so far and fast underwatwer that they disappear on you. So bag them as FAST as possible on the water.

Wounded ducks and geese: Since you must kill them immediately I offer this advice: Don't try to choke them, it does not work (at least not easily at all), and don't slit their throats either (that's a bloody mess)...the best thing to do is grab them by the head and twirl their body over & over / twist their head around over & over until their necks break. It will seem like it takes an unbelievable number of twists, because it does, but eventually you will hear the neck snap...don't stop until you hear that crack.

If you can afford tungsten shot for the 1st three rounds then great, and then switch to steel shot for cripples, and it will save you a lot of $$.

If I think of anything else I will post it here, and feel free to pm me if you have any other questions, or just post them here...

Congrats and good luck!!

[AllenJ]

+1 for everything said above but I'd like to add to have fun. Don't get down on yourself if things don't go the way you want them too. A good duck hunter makes this sport look really easy, IT'S NOT easy:eek:

If you are pass shooting ducks then 3" #2 are a good place to start. If you are hunting over decoys 2 3/4" #2 or #4 work well.

[Outlaw81]

I still remember my first duck hunt. If it was me, now, I'd buy the cheapest non toxic shot. Probably gonna be 2 3/4 steel. Get a generic duck call and have fun!!! Try different calling patterns and see how different species Of ducks react. Duck season is my personal favorite. Make sure u dress appropriately as you'll probably be sitting a lot in a blind or on the ground. It kinda gets cold. LOL!!!!

[oo0juice0oo]

Thanks for all the info fellas, from what I'm noticing there is a LOT to do with duck hunting. I've been practicing with my call (it's a lot more difficult than I thought it would be).

[Outlaw81]

I mostly stick with long series of three powerful calls followed by short puffing. The puffs sound like a duck laughing.

[oo0juice0oo]

So I finally went this past weekend, and it was not quite what I thought it would be. For some reason I had it in my head that we'd be seeing a fair amount of ducks at regular intervals and be able to limit out easy.....not so much. I did have a blast though and I got a nice sized mallard hen on the first day and a coot on the second day. Despite previous advice I did take my call with me, I've been practicing with it a good bit and was constantly asking my buddies what I was doing right and wrong. It was the neatest thing to have the birds react to MY calls.

The hardest thing about both days is I COULDN'T SHOOT TO SAVE MY LIFE! So many birds flew right past or over me and I'd unload three shells and nothing would come of it. I don't know if it was my adrenaline pumping, getting overexcited for the shot or what, but I was down right near worthless on both days. I usually pride myself on my clay shooting ability when I'm out shooting with the fellas, but it's a world of difference when the clay is alive and flying straight over you!

Also I'm glad I took the advice on clothing options as the first day was constantly raining and about 36 degrees! I went and picked up some 1600 gram waders from Sportsman's Warehouse and they were a GODSEND. I wish I'd taken FrontSight's advice and brought two pairs of gloves though, as eventually water seeped through mine and my pinky's went numb near the end. I did pretty good about keeping dry, watching my steps and doing everything slow and deliberately UNTIL as I was grabbing the very last decoy I got tripped up in the mud and fell over deep enough to get water in my waders. Life got very cold and very miserable very fast. Thankfully we were packing it in and I wasn't cold for long. All in all it was outstanding fun. The long waits seem to go on forever but those few seconds to minutes from when you see ducks coming in until they try to set in on your decoys are EXHILARATING!

Lastly I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to all of you that provided so much advice and suggestions. I plan to spend every weekend until the season end on a pond with some decoys.

[AllenJ]

Now you're a Waterfowler, welcome to the cult:D

[TJH3781]

Cold & Wet meets my definition of a Waterfowler. I have been hunting Ducks & Geese for 30+ years & have been that way more often than I like. Personally, I think you have arrived when it takes you longer to get to either your pit or blind than it takes you to limit out.

Also, steel & the other types of non-toxic shot are not teeth friendly, You need to be wary when you bite into whatever you killed! We usually breast the birds & used it in thin slices to make a type of Rumaki. Wrap a Water Chestnut, Jalepeno, etc. with a slice of breast meat & a piece of bacon. Cook on a grill until the bacon is done.

[mete]

If you're missing becasue you're shooting behind the bird then just look at the head ! My hits were more often and fewer hits in the body.

[Outlaw81]

Learn to lead that bird a little more!! Ur not alone on having difficulty shooting. It'll come tho. All u need now is some face paint and a long beard (duck commander)!!

[grubbylabs]

The only time I have found cammo and cover to be of the utmost importance is when duck hunting. Find something to cover your face, either paint or my favorite a mask. I well again voice the DO NOT MOVE WHEN THE BIRDS ARE COMING IN, THEY WILL SEE YOU AND FLARE.

Good camo, not expensive and don't move. If you call the only advise I will give you is never call when the birds are looking at you or flying towards you. If they are committed then let them come in they don't need calling. To many people call to much. For the average hunter who is not a expert caller less is more. I sound decent and I still don't blow mine much. A simple Hen quack will go along ways.

After a box or so of shells you will pick up the shooting part on your own or you will quite duck hunting.

As far as eating them, I turn all my water fowl no matter what it was into Italian sausage. Find what ever seasoning mix you want, I use Hi mountain mostly. I mix two pounds of pork roast to 1 pound of bird. It turns out nice.