The Duck Hunting Blind

Setting Duck Decoys

John — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:58:06 +0000

In the duck hunting world perhaps nothing is argued about more than setting duck decoys. When it comes to duck hunting it is rarely the case that your duck decoy spread has no impact on your success in the field. Getting ducks to relate to your spread in such a way that allows them to naturally go to places that afford high quality shots is an artform and at the exact same time imperative to put more birds in the bag. This post is aimed at trying to get the decoys in your spread to get that up and close action that every waterfowl hunter lives for.

The most important thing to remember when setting duck decoys

I see it over and over again and I know I hard on this constantly, but please, please, please people learn to set your farthest decoy within a reasonable range. If you don't you had better have a darn good reason to have them more than 35 yards out. One reason I will accept and seen work to perfection is a diver line that goes out 100 or so yards. Besides that you are going to run into ducks that are landing at the edge of your decoys and lending to horrible shots. I prefer to keep my farthest decoy out 30 or so yards. I'll get them even closer if the wind is strong and I think that the birds will be out of range quickly after the first shot. I have seen ducks for decades stop short of decoy spreads. Accept it as a fact of life out in the duck blind, it is going to happen. Given that, make sure that your decoy spread allows for this phenomenon to occur and still the opportunity to harvest birds at a reasonable range.

What pattern should I use when setting duck decoys?

This is where I think many spend too much time. The actual pattern likely doesn't matter that much other than to accomplish one thing, get the duck to attempt to land in a close distance to your boat or layout blinds. Things to keep in mind, ducks don't like to fly over other ducks. If you have some decoys between yourself and where you want them to land you are sunk. Leave a clear path that allows the ducks to land into the wind and have no decoys in their path. Speaking of wind, if you have any reason to expect a change or the wind is light and variable, leaving multiple options and paths for which the birds can fly is imperative. Don't let a quick wind shift turn your perfect decoy spread into a disaster. Plan ahead and leave a couple of lanes for which the ducks can use to land in your preferred kill zone. A good pattern in this situation is a "plus" sign with four groups of decoys. The plus sign is the landing lanes you set up and the decoys make the lanes.

When it comes to building your water spread remember that the entire reason you are putting the birds out there is to get the ducks to commit and come into good range for a clean kill. Always ensure that your spread exudes confidence and is attractive to passing waterfowl. Keep cognizant the fact that you want shots that are within 30 yards to allow for easier, higher quality shots which will breed more success. If you use these tips, setting duck decoys will become second nature to you and your success in the field will show.

Waders For Duck Hunting

John — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:14:54 +0000

When it comes to duck hunting some things are expected every time out. Since you are likely to be near the water, expect things to be damp. Plus since you are hunting in the fall it will tend to be on the cooler side of the spectrum. To that end, many waterfowlers look to waders for duck hunting to ensure that they stay warm and dry. Because trust me, if you get wet while out in the duck blind, you are in for a long day in the marsh.
So what should one look for while out in the duck blind when it comes to waders? Comfort has to be near the top of the list. There is not much worse than wearing a set of waders that are bulky and heavy. Trust me, I started with a pair of rubber chest waders when I was young and just starting out my duck hunting career. Being young and stupid, I had no idea what a pain in the rear end these waders were and that there was another way to go about this whole wader thing. I was just happy to be able to wade out and retrieve ducks when they fell and also was able to stay dry when the dog shook all his water on me plus the inevitable spray from the boat as we went to and fro the blind. Being young I was able to be in these waders all day and still be spry in the upcoming mornings. These days that would be a different story. To that end, avoid rubber waders at all costs if possible. I realize they are inexpensive and allow you to get into the game with a lot less cash, but trust me you are going to pay in your comfort big time. The neoprene waders are really a great thing when it comes to comfort. Sure they aren't like being there just wearing standard pants, but they are much more fitted to your body and therefore a pleasure to wear.

As for warmth, I haven't found anything better in that regard than 5mm neoprene waders. Neporene waders come in two standard thicknesses, 3.5mm and 5mm. If you are in a warm weather climate, you might not need the added warmth of the 5mm variety and can go with the 3.5mm garden variety, but I implore you that if you are wont to hunt in an area known for sub 40 degree weather I would seriously steer you towards 5mm neoprene. They have the comfort of neoprene with some great warm tendencies which are much appreciated when the weather heads south and the ducks really start flying.

A final thing to consider is the warmth in the boot of the wader. Your feet are the area that will be most often in the water and therefore this is not a trivial matter. I would suggest going for 1,000 grams of thinsulate in the boots if you again are in a cold weather area. If you get this level of warmth in the boot you will be surprised that your feet and body don't even notice the coldness of the water and air.
When it comes to waders for duck hunting, there are many varieties and choices out on the market today. That is a good thing for duck hunters due to the varying temperature array seen across the spectrum of hunters in addition to the amount of time we all spend in the field.

Cheap Layout Blinds

John — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:06:46 +0000

Having begun my shopping extravaganza that seems to commence every August/September I am amazed at how much more layout blinds cost in brick and mortar stores than online on Ebay. Don't get me wrong, running to the local store with your vehicle can be nice to touch and feel the product as well as get an in person feel for how they work, but if you can save 20-40% off the price by going online, why wouldn't you? And that is just with the name brand products. Let's take a couple of examples of what I am talking about:

Avery Layout Blinds

The Avery Finisher Layout Blind is a very popular layout blind on the market today. It is one of the best selling models for a reason, this is a great, lightweight layout blind. In the stores it will set you back $280. Don't get me wrong, a great blind, but that is a pretty steep price. Not to mention if you have state tax on top of that! Here is one on Amazon for a lot less (click on the picture to see the specifics):

Overall Rating:

Retail Price: Varies based on product options

Amazon Price: View Sale Price

Final Approach Layout Blinds

Or how about the Final Approach Layout Blinds. The X-lander is a great blind and has the great reputation of Final Approach behind it. New in the store you are looking at $250 plus any local taxes. Here is one on Amazon that is far less expensive(again, click on the picture to get the item specifics):

Final Approach Mossy Oak Duck Blind Eliminator Express Blind

Overall Rating:

Retail Price: Varies based on product options

Amazon Price: View Sale Price

Homemade Layout Blinds

And as I mentioned that doesn't even include the great deals for "homemade layout blinds". There are guys that make their own and sell them on the internet. Not the big brand name for sure, but a quality layout blind. Heck a lot of these guys even include warranties and all of the features you will see on the expensive name brand blinds, but at a fraction of the price. These are layout blinds that are delivered to your door for cheap. Here is a great example by Pacific(you know the drill, click on the picture to see the specifics on the laydown blind):

Pacific Outdoors Layout Blind, Farmland Cornbelt

Overall Rating:

Retail Price: $179.99

Amazon Price: $143.84

So why go to a big box store and buy your layout blind? I'm not sure, you can save a lot of money and have the item delivered directly to your door for far less expensive. Hey, I'm like the next guy and need to touch and feel an item before purchase, but the way I have found to do that best and still save the money is to go to your local sporting goods store that has layout blinds, check out all the models and choose the one that you prefer. From there just note what it is. When you get home go to Ebay and buy the model for a great discount. And I'm not even talking about the used models which are also available there. After a couple of uses your layout blind doesn't have that shiny look and it is just as used as any model that you will find from a seller. If you are willing to forgo the fresh new smell of a new blind you can save a ton of money that way also.

How to build a duck blind

John — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 08:34:27 +0000

Researching here this week as duck season is fast approaching. Time to start looking for those duck decoys for sale, tune up your favorite duck calls, and of course find time to build a duck blind! Over the years I have relied heavily on my cheap, homemade duck blind. It has treated me very well over the years. That said, it isn't all that applicable outside of the boat (it works ok when put into the ground, but only in specific circumstances).

To that end, I was on a mission to find a way to build a new duck blind. Ideally it could be used both in the boat and on the ground. At this point you are probably laughing at me since I am asking a lot. Well, you would be right. There isn't anything that really go across both spectrums and does both or either well. To that end, it seems that a couple of blind options are needed. First, if you are hunting the fields and will be in amongst the cut corn, soybeans or wheat, layout blinds are far and away your best option. They are comfortable to sit in and provide great concealment with their low profile and camoflague covering. Add in some vegetation that is native to the area you are hunting and you have a great recipe for success. You can obviously build a higher profile blind yourself for much cheaper, but the results are not as impressive. And really, once you have found that perfect spot being hidden is really the most important part of the hunt (besides shooting straight).

For the boat, a homemade duck blind such as the one I detail here seems to work well. Basically you want to have a barrier from the duck eyes to hide silhouettes and more importantly movement from the blind. To that end, blending in to your surroundings is important. Even better when out in a boat is to stash the boat down the bank from you and wade in the water or stand atop some land and/or cattails to keep the concealment perfect.

What are your thoughts on how to build a duck blind?

Keep Your Feet Dry While Putting On Your Neoprene Waders

John — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:52:29 +0000

I was reading my Pheasants Forever magazine (yes I also am a member of Pheasants Forever as well as Ducks Unlimited)

Carpet Remnants Can Keep Your Feet Dry

the other night and came across a great tip. It was applied to putting on your pheasant hunting boots, but I think it can be applied greatly to duck hunting. I don't know about you, but I don't drive with my waders on. While I am on my way to my hunting spot in the early morning I am wearing my standard duck hunting attire, a pair of Under Armour long johns and on top of those my wading pants (micro fleece pants with an elastic bottom to ensure they don't ride up while out in the duck blind). If it is really cold I will put a heavy pair of sweat pants on top of those. My waders wait until I get to my hunting spot. If I were to put them on in the car I would likely sweat to high heaven and on top of that, while being much more comfortable than waders of decades past, they still are less comfortable than wearing just normal clothing.

Key thing to remember is that the places that we duck hunt are generally wet! Even if you have a nice parking lot to put your waders on it is likely to be damp due to the early dew that comes with the night time temps and humidity. And that doesn't even mention the sand and dirt that accompanies everything. A quick, cheap solution for this is to use a carpet remnant to stand on taking off your normal shoes and putting on your waders. I don't know about you, but the last time I replaced the carpet in my house I was left with a bunch of both the old carpet (assuming you didn't pay the installer to haul it away) as well as the extras of the fancy new carpet you just installed. If you are like me and have extra lying around then you are in for a free foot drying piece of equipment. Don't fret if you don't have extra lying around, ask neighbors if they have any and you will likely be inundated with more carpet than you know what to do with. If that fails, you can always head to a local carpet seller and ask for a carpet remnant. You obviously don't care what the carpet looks like or is made of, so I am sure they will have an extra piece somewhere that they will give you for free.

Once out in the field just grab the remnant from the back of your vehicle slap it on the ground and you are set. Shake it off after you are done and place back in the vehicle to keep it dry and waiting for your next excursion into the duck slough. Trust me there is little worse in this world than wet feet when setting your duck decoys. And at least then you are moving around. Once you are set up and waiting for the ducks to arrive your feet will surely start getting cold. Keep them dry from the get go with a carpet remnant and you are one step closer to that successful hunt.

Wind Duck Decoys

John — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:47:07 +0000

Wind Duck Decoys.... Where do I start. Ok, before I begin just be ready for diatribe here. The things flat out don't work. The wind never seems to blow fast enough for them to truly work as they should, and even when it does it doesn't seem to blow constantly. On top of that, when it it blowing that hard it is about the last time you actually need to have one out in your duck blind. Granted, this is a good way to find a cheap motion duck decoy. The problem of course is that you get what you pay for in this case.

And trust me, I have seen a lot of people try to get them to work. They sand down the place where the wings contact the body to remove all but the smallest amount of friction such that the wings work well. Unfortunately, this still doesn't work. I hope the reason you are considering using a wind duck decoy is because you don't want to spend the money on a battery powered mojo duck decoy or lucky duck decoy. That is a reason that I can relate to. However, if that is your end then you should be looking into the Mojo Dove. The Mojo Dove is a great cheap duck decoy, and it works wonders. The problem being that they use AA batteries that you need to replace every 2nd or 3rd hunt in my experience. Or perhaps the place you are hunting it is illegal to use motorized duck decoys. Another good reason, but instead of going with a Wind Duck Decoy I would go with a simple jerk string duck decoy instead. Cheaper and more effective anyway.

What are your thoughts on the Wind Duck decoys?

Acrylic Insert For Duck Calls

John — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:29:34 +0000

Sometimes you have a call that you love how it looks or has a bunch of memories built in. Perhaps this call has lost some of its sound or perhaps you never really liked how it sounded. Maybe the sound was too soft all along. A great way to remedy this is to buy an acrylic insert for your duck call. The insert is really the guts of the call and is where the sound comes from. Just find the correct sized insert for your call and replace the insert already in there.

Or perhaps you are into making your own calls. I have a cousin in law that makes beautiful wood barrels that he has been putting acrylic inserts into. They look great and sound very good, and he is not a grizzled duck call making veteran. He is great at wood working for sure, so that looks of his call are very pleasing to the eye. The great part about the acrylic inserts is that they are available in many color shades and can be mixed and matched with many calls to make a call very pleasing for the eye as well as good in the blind.

For those that are really into having their calls customized buying an acrylic insert and either buying yourself a custom barrel, paying someone to make you one or making one yourself. This can add a great looking call that is the envy of your hunting buddies.

Popular colors include clear, smoke, blue, pearl white, amber, black and many others. You can mix and match as you see fit. Loud to make those ducks take notice from across the marsh with the range to make just about any sound, acrylic is really the top material you can get for a duck call. The material also is extremely durable against all the elements that you are likely to see in the duck blind. Buying your own acrylic insert for your duck call is something that every serious duck hunter should look into.

Jerk String Duck Decoy

John — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 02:52:36 +0000

For those that haven't used a jerk string while duck hunting you are really missing out. This is a great way to add motion to your duck decoys, especially on those calm days. The concept is pretty simple, but seeing it in action is very helpful. Here is a good video on the subject (forgive the blatant advertisements at the beginning, the content is pretty good but the in your face advertising leaves a bit to be desired).

The guy in this video uses three decoys, but I have found that even using just one duck decoy can be very effective. I think going more than 3 is likely overkill and will only lead to headaches with no further benefit. Some keys to remember is that this is meant to be a subtle yet very effective way to add motion to your duck decoy spread. You only need the decoys to move enough to make a ripple. You don't need to yank on the thing like it is your job. Just subtle quick jerks that allow for the decoys to bob in the water and create a reasonable wake. In addition it is best to do this while the ducks are flying away or sideways from your blind. It is very similar to the old adage of calling to "tips and tails" you should be pulling the jerk string while the ducks are showing their tips and tails. There are times when this tactic is doubly as effective as a spinning wing decoy or similar. It is admittedly low tech, but surprisingly effective. It is somewhat of an "old school" tactic that the younger generation has not taken to heart as of yet. Don't let the jerk string duck decoy stay out of your arsenal of tools while in the blind. It is far too effective to not employ, especially on those calm days when your decoys look like the motionless pieces of plastic that they are!

Great Blogs Via The Innerwebs

John — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 17:27:05 +0000

I guess it shouldn't surprise me, but there are a ton of great blogs out there and many aren't even a part of the duck hunting genre. To that end, here are a few blogs that I happened upon recently that do a great job:

Deer Camp Blog - The self described "outdoor column of The Bodock Times- (a satirical periodical) Humor and Hunting at the famous Christmas Place Plantation Hunting Club on the edge of the Mississippi Delta", this blog is a very fun read. Recently he has a series of posts on hog hunting that were a great read. He definitely brings a lighter side to the hunting world which is great, but still delivers great hunting stories. Check it out if you get a chance.

Outdoors Bloggers Summit - A great blog targeted to support conservation and outdoors blogging online. This blog is designed to unite bloggers across cyberspace to allow for a unified voice on important outdoors and conservation issues. A healthy mission statement indeed, but they are well on their way already.

Outdoors With Othmar Vohringer - In addition to having just about the coolest name around, Othmar, the owner of this blog is great at bringing the outdoors to you. Complete with a newsletter and all, Othmar does a great job bringing great information to your internet connection.

For Love of Dogs and Birds - To start this blog has just about the coolest picture at the top of the home page of a hungarian partridge. Truly a beautiful bird. This blog is dedicated to bird hunting with dogs. His passion for watching dogs work the birds really jumps off the page. A great read for those that enjoy yarns about dogs and hunting.

That is all for now, if you get a chance to check out any of the sites listed above I would suggest taking a few minutes at each site. All do a wonderful job of bringing their own slice of the outdoors to you. If you think that you have a site that should be mentioned here or know of a site, please contact me at the following address: webmaster@acrylicduckcalls.com. Thanks!

What Are The Best Duck Hunting Trips?

John — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:57:39 +0000

So being that it is the offseason and the only thing that I have going for me at the present in regards to duck hunting is the never ending search for inexpensive duck decoys, I thought I would look forward to next season. Now I have expanded my horizons a bit in terms of the lakes and sloughs I frequent in and around me quite a bit in the past couple of years. It is similar to a duck hunting treasure hunt if you will. That being said, I have not explored a bunch of other states and countries in the pursuit of waterfowl. I wrote a blog a while back detailing Argentina duck hunting, which intrigued me to say the least.
With that said I thought I would open it up to anyone out there who has had the good fortune of traversing the USA or other outlying countries chasing ducks. What were the great places to go that you would recommend others to visit. Is an east coast trip a must for duck hunters? Perhaps finding a way to hunt out of a layout boat in the ocean? Or maybe it is an out of the way spot that no one thinks about like Idaho (if you are from Idaho don't take this as a slap, I have heard the hunting is fabulous in the state but it does not normally get the pub that higher profile states like Arkansas and North Dakota get)? What are you thoughts? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!