Preparing For The Duck Hunting Season
With a new duck hunting season right around the corner, it's important to start preparing for it now. This means making sure you have all your gear in order, hunting sessions planned out, and everything's ready to go. Taking the time to do these things now will save you valuable hunting time later. Read our guide below on how to prepare for the duck hunting season.
Getting Your Gear Ready
If you wait until the last minute to try and get everything you need for a duck hunt, you're almost certain to forget something important. Believe me, you don't want to find out your missing something like your duck caller when you get to your hunting spot. To help prevent such mishaps, go through your gear beforehand and make sure that you not only have everything, but that it's in working order. Here's a checklist of the essential gear you'll likely need for the season.
Making Sure Your Firearm is Ready
First and foremost, your firearm is obviously going to be the most important tool you have. If you already have a gun you use for duck hunting, take it to the firing range to make sure everything works properly with it. You don't have to go out and burn a box of 50 rounds, just fire off a few to ensure all the parts function properly.
Even if you only used your gun a few times last season, you should still give it a thorough cleaning at least once a year to prevent buildups of oil and dirt. Cleaning kits that contain wire cleaning brushes, brass rods, cleaning solution, and oil are sold at most sports stores. Take your gun apart and read the instructions that come with the kit to determine how to use it properly.
Most hunters already have a gun of choice for hunting ducks, but if you don't, you're going to need to find one before the season starts. A popular choice, and my personal favorite, is a 12 gauge pump action shotgun. I prefer the pump action over automatic because it's less likely to malfunction. If you need help or feel uncomfortable shopping for a gun on your own, ask someone at your local sports and gun store what they recommend for duck hunting. Not only will they help point you in the right direction, but you're likely to learn some valuable tips from them as well.
Apart from preparing your gun, you're also going to need to buy the right ammo for it. The law requires that duck hunters use only non toxic shells, so be sure any ammo you buy falls into that category. Currently, the only non toxic types of shells are bismuth, tungsten, and steel, all of which perform differently. Typically, tungsten and bismuth shells will shoot better, but the downside is that they can be significantly more expensive than steel shot.
Preparing Your Decoys
Without the use of your duck decoys, you'll be up the creek without a paddle so to speak. Go through all your decoys and make sure that you're going to have enough for your usual spread. How many decoys do you need? Depending on the size of the body of water you're hunting on, you may use up to a few dozen in your spread. Remember, though, this is the high end and everyone has their own personal preference when it comes to the number of decoys used in a spread.
You should also inspect all of your decoys and look for structural and paint damage. While it may not seem like a big deal, decoys that have obvious damage to their body may alarm any ducks that spot them. Decoys that are made of cork and foam are much more likely to become damaged. In addition, if you have any motorized decoys in your collection, make sure you have the batteries charged for them to run.
Camouflage Clothing and Gear
As with hunting most game, your going to need camouflage gear, and lots of it. Ducks have great eyesight and can spot people you if your silhouette isn't broken up with camo. I would recommend wearing camouflage from head to toe with camo boots, jacket, shirt, pants, gloves, hat, and a net to cover your face. Any serious duck hunter will tell you that the more camo the better!
Duck Callers
Another vital duck hunting tool that you should never leave home without is a duck caller. With it, you can mimic the sounds of ducks and hopefully spark the curiosity of ducks flying nearby. Make sure that you not only have a duck caller, but that it works and sounds right when used.
Duck callers usually come in two types, single reed and double reed. If your new to duck calling, listen to the sound ducks make as they fly and try to imitate it by blowing into your caller. Both types are going to take practice and experience to master, but keep trying and you'll eventually find the right way to mimic their sound. Just be sure not to overuse your caller, as too many calls can alarm ducks instead of draw them closer.
Hunting Dogs
How can you prepare you hunting dog for the duck hunting season? If you have a retriever or other type of hunting dog, you should keep them in good physical form by giving them plenty of daily exercise and fetch routines. This will prevent them from becoming lazy or sluggish during the off season.
You should also practice basic obedience commands to your dog. If you use commands, such as fetch or heel, keep implanting those into your dogs memory with daily practice. When they obey your command, give them one of their favorite treats followed by lots of petting. Most all dog trainers will tell you that postive reinforcement is the key to obedience training.
Other Hunting Gear You May Need
Here are some common duck hunting items that are often forgotten or overlooked.
- When the bugs are bad, insect repellent can truley be a lifesaver. I never go hunting without a can of it.
- Binoculars can help you scout your hunting grounds and see just what kind of birds you're hunting.
- Make sure you're hunting license hasn't expired. If it has, you'll need to get a new one to avoid a costly ticket.
- Even with short hunting sessions, you should still bring some snacks and drink along with you.
These are some of the most important things to prepare for the duck hunting season. It might seem like a lot, but once you get in the habit of doing them, it will become second nature. We wish you luck on the upcoming duck season!