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Let's get some serious duck talk going here I miss it since it's still the off season.

What have you guys done or what's on your list to get ready for the coming season?

My list is pretty simple...

Find somewhere to duck hunt I need to just put some miles under the boat and start scouting the area. There is a huge WMA that I suspect I'll be doing most of my waterfowl hunting in.

Also need to pick up some wood duck decoys and keep putting away pennies for that auto loader I know I'll never buy.

I don't know that I really have anything other than trying to find a beater jon boat, and good running motor. Hard to think about duck hunting when the fish just starting munching and the temps are starting to climb to 90. The heat is just getting here.

When the end of August rolls around I'll be in full drool mode thinking about the Sept. Goose season.

I'm with Olly- I need to scout. There is one big marsh that I've been meaning to hunt ever since I built my hybrid, but haven't done more than take a couple quick runs through it in the boat. It's about 300 acres, and nothing bigger than the hybrid is going to get into most of it. I can't help but think it'll be a mecca, just haven't found the time to get in there yet. Honestly, I've been waiting for a dog, too. It's so full of phragmites surrounding the narrow shallow guts that until it snows or we have a couple good winter storms, I'd be hard put to find any duck that fell out of the water. I need that to smash down the reeds, but the last two winters, we just haven't had that. Maybe I'll load up a couple thermacells in the hybrid and go mark out a couple spots next month. I really want to get in there.

I usually wait to the week before the start of season before I get serious about getting ready for it.

goodkarmarising wrote:I usually wait to the week before the start of season before I get serious about getting ready for it.

A week damn. Half the fun for me is getting prepped.

Usually I start to get serious when I see large flocks of Geese heading south, it's going to be weird to see the birds arriving instead of leaving.

Me and the dogs go out for walks almost daily and we work on retrieving and dog training throughout the year. But I haven't even looked in my decoy shed since the end of snow goose season.

We are in the middle of doing some blind renovations for an 8" x 8' blind.

We put in a new false floor last Saturday. This Sunday we are putting the walls back up and working on the new roof.

The open water has moved to the right since the blind was built, and the base/foundation is made of 3 layers of a 11 (8'x9"x6") railroad ties so moving it is no option. So we are rotating the shooting hole 45 degrees. Which gains us 3.3 feet of shooting hole space and room for a 4th.
here is the idea for the roof.

It use to go straight across the back (top).

Here is how i plan to accomplish it.

using a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood for the triangles

That design is optomizing the shooter's space but in the process makes a really awful design to try and hide hunters in.

The whole idea of having a blind is to have a roof to hide under that extends to where you can still shoot. Like this.
You can't see in the photo but there is a wall on the front that's about 48" tall. I have lots of pics of that blind but they are all high def and the site spits them back at me. DOH!

Is the budweiser for the dog?

aunt betty wrote:That design is optomizing the shooter's space but in the process makes a really awful design to try and hide hunters in.

The whole idea of having a blind is to have a roof to hide under that extends to where you can still shoot. Like this.
You can't see in the photo but there is a wall on the front that's about 48" tall. I have lots of pics of that blind but they are all high def and the site spits them back at me. DOH!

Bayou Bottoms 067.jpg

What you did there is very similar to what ours used to be like, but the most important part of the change is pointing it at the open water.
The guy all the way to the left had to shoot across the guys to his right to kill a bird, now all the spots will be equal.

The shooting hole wont be open, it will be like a pit blind with a moving door. Either sliding tops or grass mats stapled to wood on hinges.

I've got a few new places I wanna check out. All my gear was put up pretty much ready for this coming season. There will be a little repair work to be done on my waders. That's pretty much it for me.

O wait, I'll have a lot to do if I wind buying another boat which will probably happen. Can't decide if I'm gonna keep my motor, sell the boat, and find another boat to put my motor on or if I'll just buy a whole new to me package. Then I'll have to build another blind to go on it as well some other minor adjustments.

A layout boat build has been on my agenda for a couple years, but I haven't gotten around to building it yet.

Olly wrote:

goodkarmarising wrote:I usually wait to the week before the start of season before I get serious about getting ready for it.

A week damn. Half the fun for me is getting prepped.

I agree Olly. And I've a few things that need to be done.

Still need to locate, hopefully used, two
dozen more brant decoys. Make the rigging for em. Pour some cement weights. Build the unique blind we'll use for brant.

Dog training's an obvious one, except now I have two.

I also have this plan to drift one of our rivers to the mouth in my scull boat. To my knowledge no one currently does this. I'm confident there're small pockets along this river that hold ducks. Hard to explain but its far enough up river that no one bothers to hunt it. Anyhow I need to put my canoe in this off season and drift it to mark potential spots

I need to learn to call before season starts. I also would really like to find a spot that doesn't freeze over once the cold comes in. Maybe a couple woodie decoys for early season but learning to call is top priority for me.

I aint gonna get to do anything in the mean time. I will be moving out of the Great State before duck season starts this year. It is going to boil down to me flying be the seat of my pants for a while.

The Duck Hammer wrote:I aint gonna get to do anything in the mean time. I will be moving out of the Great State before duck season starts this year. It is going to boil down to me flying be the seat of my pants for a while.

Where you moving?

Bootlipkiller wrote:

The Duck Hammer wrote:I aint gonna get to do anything in the mean time. I will be moving out of the Great State before duck season starts this year. It is going to boil down to me flying be the seat of my pants for a while.

Where you moving?

Arkansas

The Duck Hammer wrote:

Bootlipkiller wrote:

The Duck Hammer wrote:I aint gonna get to do anything in the mean time. I will be moving out of the Great State before duck season starts this year. It is going to boil down to me flying be the seat of my pants for a while.

Where you moving?

Arkansas

Oh shit soon ill be asking for your autograph. I hear real duck hunters come from that state.

Bootlipkiller wrote:

The Duck Hammer wrote:

Bootlipkiller wrote:

The Duck Hammer wrote:I aint gonna get to do anything in the mean time. I will be moving out of the Great State before duck season starts this year. It is going to boil down to me flying be the seat of my pants for a while.

Where you moving?

Arkansas

Oh shit soon ill be asking for your autograph. I hear real duck hunters come from that state.

We'll see. I'll probably be the clueless dumbass that flares all the birds.

The Duck Hammer wrote:

Bootlipkiller wrote:

The Duck Hammer wrote:

Bootlipkiller wrote:

The Duck Hammer wrote:I aint gonna get to do anything in the mean time. I will be moving out of the Great State before duck season starts this year. It is going to boil down to me flying be the seat of my pants for a while.

Where you moving?

Arkansas

Oh shit soon ill be asking for your autograph. I hear real duck hunters come from that state.

We'll see. I'll probably be the clueless dumbass that flares all the birds.

Ha! I doubt it. Just poking fun at the Arkes.

I won't start my prep for a few months, 100 or so decoys to paint and 400 to wash the mud off of. The real work starts in October once the field gets harvested.

3 new blinds going up this year. I got several spots just debating on which ones to put em in.

Still haven't cleaned up last season's mess. Procrastinating on decoy cleaning and repair is nothing new, but we've also a marsh full of blinds popped by last winter's flooding:


Mine, above, was temporarily tacked back down to finish out the season, but what let go were hurricane surge salt rusted anchor chains that need replaced all around.

That, too, is apt to get put off until September teal season makes it mandatory. But what I can't afford to put off is getting the coyote in shape to weather Summer's heat induced layoff and still be ready to roll come teal time.

Headed to jarbo's house tomorrow to pour weights with him and TK.

1. Buy a couple of cases of shell's
2 .Cut fresh reeds.
3. Finally get my double reed done.
4. start messing around with the idea for a speck call
5. Keep Maverick In shape.
6. Tractor work at the club/ general upkeep
7. Check waders for leaks. "that's usually a couple of weeks before the opener."
8. Apply to all of the north valley public hunt area's.
9. double check public refuge set up. headlamp, decoys, batteries, ect.

The Duck Hammer wrote:

Bootlipkiller wrote:

The Duck Hammer wrote:

Bootlipkiller wrote:

The Duck Hammer wrote:I aint gonna get to do anything in the mean time. I will be moving out of the Great State before duck season starts this year. It is going to boil down to me flying be the seat of my pants for a while.

Where you moving?

Arkansas

Oh shit soon ill be asking for your autograph. I hear real duck hunters come from that state.

We'll see. I'll probably be the clueless dumbass that flares all the birds.

no way man. Not with your call collection

GadwallGetter530 wrote:1. Buy a couple of cases of shell's
2 .Cut fresh reeds.
3. Finally get my double reed done.
4. start messing around with the idea for a speck call
5. Keep Maverick In shape.
6. Tractor work at the club/ general upkeep
7. Check waders for leaks. "that's usually a couple of weeks before the opener."
8. Apply to all of the north valley public hunt area's.
9. double check public refuge set up. headlamp, decoys, batteries, ect.

I didn't know you were a call maker! Can I be your first pro staffer???

The Duck Hammer wrote:We'll see. I'll probably be the clueless dumbass that flares all the birds.

All right! Then you can tell everybody you "shut down the woods"!

I have two off season goals to get ready for this year.

I bought 5 dozen tired duck floaters a few years ago when I got into duck hunting that all need to be painted (5 dz duck floaters & 5 dzn goose shells for $200). I have started to airbrush them, and think that they are going to turn out great if I can figure out how to streamline the process.

I would also like to build a hybrid. I have no good place to use one at the moment, but I have every intention of building one to have "just in case".

Feelin' Fowl wrote:I have started to airbrush them, and think that they are going to turn out great if I can figure out how to streamline the process.

You're a better man than I. There's a mountain of old decoys awaiting the day I grow the balls to tackle repainting them. Never got any farther than buying the Flock Fooler DVD with his approach to airbrushing decoys.

Rick wrote:

Feelin' Fowl wrote:I have started to airbrush them, and think that they are going to turn out great if I can figure out how to streamline the process.

You're a better man than I. There's a mountain of old decoys awaiting the day I grow the balls to tackle repainting them. Never got any farther than buying the Flock Fooler DVD with his approach to airbrushing decoys.

Someone made a DVD on how to do this? That probably would have made things easier...

I bought the decoys with the idea that I would paint them right away, and just hunt over my cheapies. Got lazy and bought a few dz. pro-grades. Now I'm having trouble stomaching buying more decoys when I have all of these things just laying around.

It's not all that difficult, just time consuming. I'll post some pictures up when I get a few the way I like them...