The 2 Keys To Success While Duck Hunting

After talking at length with the only guide that I use for waterfowl hunting I broke down the 2 key aspects that he feels that are required to continually bag ducks and geese.  Mind you, he didn't come right out and say it.  I had to continually question him and derive from his answers what are his key tenets of waterfowl hunting.  So without further adieu, here are his 2 key concepts to improve your duck hunting (which I completely subscribe to also):

1. Scouting

There is no way around this, you need to be out there and paying attention to where the ducks are.  There really is no facsimilie for seeing where the ducks are resting, feeding and flying.  This particular guide only guides 4 days a week.  He guides the weekend, scouts Monday, guides Tuesday, scouts Wednesday, guides Thursday, scouts Friday and rinse repeat.  If this guy is not guiding 7 days a week (and trust me, there are weeks he could) then there has to be a good reason.  He is setting aside short term money for long term success and a great client base.  Simply said, you need to pay attention to what the birds are doing to ensure high quality duck hunting.

2. Concealment (i.e. quality duck blinds)

Now this guide almost exclusively is hunting out of fields, so he uses layout blinds to a great degress.  They are great for the on the move hunter that is hunting on dry land.  He is manic when it comes to making sure that everyone is greatly hidden.  He watches the birds, and immediatlely changes things if they are acting differently than they should.  If he is hunting in snow, he puts white sheets over his laydown blinds.  A muddy field?  He uses the mud from the actual field to ensure it looks the same.  Corn stalks?  Same concept.  He paints his face!  Most would think that is overkill, but pilots have repeatedly said that a human face is like a pie plate when they are looking from above.  You think the ducks don't see that?

So why should you care what a guide thinks?  It is a popular concept across all endeavors in life to copy the successful people at what they do best.  If he continually puts birds in the bag, he must be doing something right.

What are your thoughts on these two key tenets?