Mallard Master Pro Motion Decoys

Gearing up for Waterfowl Season December 7, 2008

Boy it don’t seem possible that waterfowl season is just around the corner but before you know it, we will all be putting out the decoys with more than a little anticipation of wild wings whistling over head and orange feet hung over well placed decks while hot coffee and cold sandwiches line up to form the morning menu.
Just what it is that triggers the water fowler to hang up the fishing poles or put the golf clubs in the closet and start putting together all of the gear that he or she needs for the upcoming season has not yet been discovered by the scientific community and may never be. Whether the shortening of the days or the little wisp of cool air that blows down your collar or maybe a single leaf falling from a huge old Oak tree starts the duckaholic looking toward the north for migrating birds is not known but whatever it is, there is one very important ritual that we water fowlers go through each and every year without hesitation and it’s called gearing up!  Its along about this time of year that retail catalog sales climb the charts with incoming sales, while operators stand by for twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, another phenomenon that has yet to be explained but we will get to that in a moment.

Just what gear will I have to have this year to make my water fowl season a success is not based solely upon any one persons advice but is a conglomerate of advice from every other hunter that we know along with what the experts are saying with a little bit of what worked last year thrown in for good measure.  Let’s get down to the nuts and bolts of what we will need this year.

First of all lets start out with a good duck and goose call. Boy did we pick a hard one right off of the bat. With all of the great calls on the market today, trying to pick just one duck or goose call can be frustrating for even the most expert callers and most of those guys own more than one call and as many as several from as many different call companies. Most all of the better known call makers sell great calls but it is up to you to pick out one or two that suit both your calling ability and the type of water fowl hunting that you will be doing. Two Duck calls that I recommend are the Tall Timber single reed hand tuned Buck Gardner call and the double reed Cajun Squealer by Haydel Game Calls. The Gardner single reed works well in open water and field hunting while allowing you to blow softly when the need arises, the Haydel Cajun Squealer can be used both for open water and field calling and timber hunting. The Buck Gardner call comes in Acrylic and the Haydel call comes both in Coca bola or coca-acrilic. Both calls blow well when wet or dry and I have found that having both with me on my duck hunts have allowed me to use two very different calls in the same location. The Real Deal Double reed Duck call by Mike McLemore is also a good call to consider if you are a timber hunter. Goose calls should also be on the list of items as most states have Duck and Goose seasons that run concurrently. One of the best Goose calls on the shelve today is the Tim Grounds Short reed Goose call. What really matters most of all is that you find a call that you can learn to become effective with but remember practice is the key in water fowl calling.

Next on my list of gear for water fowl season is a great pair of chest waders and once again there are several companies that make good waders. My choice are neoprem 5 millimeter  with 1200 grams of Thensulate by Hodgeman. If you hunt in areas of the country that has a warmer climate then you may want to consider three millimeter neopream waders with less grams of Thinsulate.

Decoys are always on my list of gear for yearly purchase and Avery’s Greenhead Gear decoys are some of the best that I have used in recent years. These rugged decoys are very good in both color and price, allowing me the advantage of purchasing several dozen decoys without breaking the bank so to speak.  Spinning wing decoys have come on the scene in the past few years and the MM2 by Fowl Quest is the best one that I have tested. This decoy has wings that imitate a landing duck, Using only three double a batteries to turn on and off every two seconds with an automatic timer, this decoy will last for up to six hours on one set of batteries all the while looking more like a duck on the water than the real thing. A must on my list of gear for the upcoming year.

Small things seem to get lost in the shuffle when thinking of water fowl season and a good flashlight is one piece of equipment that no hunter should leave behind.

If it’s a boat and motor that is on your waterfowl list this season then let me suggest a Triton aluminum boat with a Mercury motor. Triton has in recent years came to the fore front of the boating industries and their aluminum line of boats is one of the best in the industry and comes in both camo and olive drab along with their new spray in liner, Triton is turning out some the best, most durable water fowling boats in America. The Mercury line of small outboard boat motors have become tried and true friends to the water fowling community over the years and the lineup for this year is among the best ever made by that great Brunswick Company. Whether it’s a four horse power or a fifty horse power that suits your needs, Mercury is has the motor for you waiting at your nearest dealer.

Last but not least is shot shells. I had the chance to shoot Remington Heavy Shot this past season and was overly impressed with the performance of these great shot shells for both ducks and geese over decoys as well as pass shooting. If I have learned one thing about non toxic shot shells is that the cheapest is not always the best route to go and Remington Heavy Shot, although a little higher in price than some of the other non toxic shot shells on the market, the hard hitting performance well made up the difference.