Way to get it back on track lover.
There are 2 types of duck hunters when it comes to scouting. You either dedicate yourself as a duck hunter, work hard, drive lots and kill lots of birds or you go to the easy popular spots and hope to kill lots of birds.
Forum rules
NOTICE! These forums are intended for CIVIL discussion around waterfowl hunting. If you've got an axe to grind or rant to make, do it in the MNFOWL's Misguided Children forum.
NOTICE! These forums are intended for CIVIL discussion around waterfowl hunting. If you've got an axe to grind or rant to make, do it in the MNFOWL's Misguided Children forum.
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THe CRiPPLeR
- This Hen's For You
- Posts: 230
- Joined: Mon Nov 25, 2013 11:51 am
Re: First Year Rookie
AKA HenSlayer
If its brown its down, if it flies it..., well I cripple it
Secure huntings future, introduce someone new to the outdoors.
If its brown its down, if it flies it..., well I cripple it
Secure huntings future, introduce someone new to the outdoors.
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D.T. Hammer
- Mergie Marauder
- Posts: 558
- Joined: Sat Nov 30, 2013 11:53 pm
Re: First Year Rookie
Hmmmm.... dwendt~ you asked for good solid advice from experienced hunters. I think you got it 
As a group, water fowlers might only be trumped by truffle hunters when it comes to protecting spots. It can take YEARS of knowing a guy before he takes you to his legendary locations....
You had an okay season. Figure on opener, the "several" of you got 4 bwt and a goose.... well, each one of us beat your whole group by two ducks.... on spots we'll never tell a soul where we were at. Doesn't mean there isn't, and won't be, competition, but most of us choose not to invite it. And most of us have been burned by a guy we trusted, public land or not. Some of these spots take 20 years to know, and the guy that shows up today may not hit it right, but after being there the right weekend he's working on beating you into that spot the next weekend.... Heck, Gordon MacQuarrie wrote about this in his stories 60 years ago!
Good luck.
As a group, water fowlers might only be trumped by truffle hunters when it comes to protecting spots. It can take YEARS of knowing a guy before he takes you to his legendary locations....
You had an okay season. Figure on opener, the "several" of you got 4 bwt and a goose.... well, each one of us beat your whole group by two ducks.... on spots we'll never tell a soul where we were at. Doesn't mean there isn't, and won't be, competition, but most of us choose not to invite it. And most of us have been burned by a guy we trusted, public land or not. Some of these spots take 20 years to know, and the guy that shows up today may not hit it right, but after being there the right weekend he's working on beating you into that spot the next weekend.... Heck, Gordon MacQuarrie wrote about this in his stories 60 years ago!
Good luck.
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D.T. Hammer
- Mergie Marauder
- Posts: 558
- Joined: Sat Nov 30, 2013 11:53 pm
Re: First Year Rookie
I find that hunters are the same people in the field as out of the field.
I added up from the other site I have taken out over 20 fellow hunters, some have become great hunting partners some others not so much and we no longer hunt together. I have shown complete strangers where I hunt and how I hunt.
I will continue to do so. Yes I have been burned but who really cares? I refuse to close my vision of people off due to a few bad apples.
Humans are greedy by nature. I just took a guy out to a honey hole on the last day of the season I never hunted ducks with before in my life. He said it was the best hunt of his life. Made me happy, I did it for myself.
Help others and even if only 1/2 of them help you back your still better off. Had a kid call me to hunt yesterday and he said the field was loaded and he had permission. I have taken him hunting lots of times as a kid and the now payback is nice.
Put some money on the table or free coupons for a .10 cent Sammy and you can see how greedy humans are. No different with their ducks
I added up from the other site I have taken out over 20 fellow hunters, some have become great hunting partners some others not so much and we no longer hunt together. I have shown complete strangers where I hunt and how I hunt.
I will continue to do so. Yes I have been burned but who really cares? I refuse to close my vision of people off due to a few bad apples.
Humans are greedy by nature. I just took a guy out to a honey hole on the last day of the season I never hunted ducks with before in my life. He said it was the best hunt of his life. Made me happy, I did it for myself.
Help others and even if only 1/2 of them help you back your still better off. Had a kid call me to hunt yesterday and he said the field was loaded and he had permission. I have taken him hunting lots of times as a kid and the now payback is nice.
Put some money on the table or free coupons for a .10 cent Sammy and you can see how greedy humans are. No different with their ducks
Buckthorn removal is easy with the buckthorn baggie
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greatwhitehunter3!
- Mergie Marauder
- Posts: 1602
- Joined: Tue Nov 26, 2013 9:38 am
- Location: Southwest Minnesota
Re: First Year Rookie
Back to the original questions:
The number one thing you need to learn as a rookie is how to properly scout. I am amazed at some of the guys that I hunt with that do not know how to scout 5 years into their waterfowl career. Proper scouting means taking the time and gas money and driving. Find where the birds are roosting and you're almost there. Busting roosts is a whole nother topic I will not talk about. If you're field hunting, follow them to the field and then start knocking on doors or get a plat book to find the landowner. The worst they can do is say no.
Other aspects of hunting is the gear you choose. By no means do you need the best thing out there to kill ducks but believe me, you don't want to start out with the worst gear out there. When I first started I bought what I could afford (during high school) and it was enough to get out but nothing to kill too many birds. I would suggest saving up a year or two and finding some guys that are willing to let you go with them and learn at the same time.
I don't know if you are focused mainly on hunting water or land but if you get the chance to field hunt or invest in field hunting I would highly recommend it. I started out hunting water and this year was the first year in 6 years that I did a water hunt. Either way, it's addicting!
If you're hunting water mainly, take time in the offseason to scout the sloughs/ponds themselves. Figure out depths, cover, etc., although water levels change from year to year. You will be happy you put the time in in the offseason once the season rolls around next year.
Like mentioned above, I never give out the information of where I am hunting. Only people I tell are my family members and that's basically for a safety measure. Put the time in and find your birds and you will realize you don't want to tell someone where they are. Guys spend a lot of time and money in finding birds and I for one do not sympathize to guys that will not put in the effort to find birds themselves.
Lastly, just have fun! If you're going to be worried about shooting limits all of the time you will be sadly disappointed. Just get out and enjoy nature and birds will be a bonus!
The number one thing you need to learn as a rookie is how to properly scout. I am amazed at some of the guys that I hunt with that do not know how to scout 5 years into their waterfowl career. Proper scouting means taking the time and gas money and driving. Find where the birds are roosting and you're almost there. Busting roosts is a whole nother topic I will not talk about. If you're field hunting, follow them to the field and then start knocking on doors or get a plat book to find the landowner. The worst they can do is say no.
Other aspects of hunting is the gear you choose. By no means do you need the best thing out there to kill ducks but believe me, you don't want to start out with the worst gear out there. When I first started I bought what I could afford (during high school) and it was enough to get out but nothing to kill too many birds. I would suggest saving up a year or two and finding some guys that are willing to let you go with them and learn at the same time.
I don't know if you are focused mainly on hunting water or land but if you get the chance to field hunt or invest in field hunting I would highly recommend it. I started out hunting water and this year was the first year in 6 years that I did a water hunt. Either way, it's addicting!
If you're hunting water mainly, take time in the offseason to scout the sloughs/ponds themselves. Figure out depths, cover, etc., although water levels change from year to year. You will be happy you put the time in in the offseason once the season rolls around next year.
Like mentioned above, I never give out the information of where I am hunting. Only people I tell are my family members and that's basically for a safety measure. Put the time in and find your birds and you will realize you don't want to tell someone where they are. Guys spend a lot of time and money in finding birds and I for one do not sympathize to guys that will not put in the effort to find birds themselves.
Lastly, just have fun! If you're going to be worried about shooting limits all of the time you will be sadly disappointed. Just get out and enjoy nature and birds will be a bonus!
First Year Rookie
Thank guys I'm already excited for next year, I hope to find a couple fields to hunt as well as more water!
Re: First Year Rookie
What do you have for gear now? Waders, shotgun, blind bag?
I would recommend shooting sporting clays in the off-season. Have a couple buddies with to give you advice on how much to lead or not to lead different targets. Your shooting skills will improve bigtime. River Ridge gun club in Courtland (west of Mankato on hwy. 14) has a 100 round sporting clay course that is awesome.
Don't expect to shoot your limit of ducks and geese everytime out. You will be crushed having those expectations.
Learn to identify different species of ducks, especially in the air. With all the restrictions on number of ducks you can and can't shoot, identification is really important while out hunting.
There is a ton to learn being new to anything. Just try to get out hunting as much as you can. You will learn a lot with more experience. Good luck.
I would recommend shooting sporting clays in the off-season. Have a couple buddies with to give you advice on how much to lead or not to lead different targets. Your shooting skills will improve bigtime. River Ridge gun club in Courtland (west of Mankato on hwy. 14) has a 100 round sporting clay course that is awesome.
Don't expect to shoot your limit of ducks and geese everytime out. You will be crushed having those expectations.
Learn to identify different species of ducks, especially in the air. With all the restrictions on number of ducks you can and can't shoot, identification is really important while out hunting.
There is a ton to learn being new to anything. Just try to get out hunting as much as you can. You will learn a lot with more experience. Good luck.
Re: First Year Rookie
I had waders but I ended up using the warranty on them an they had some waders that I didn't really like the fit so I just got a gift card to get some different ones before next season (old supplier ran out) I have a shotgun I've been clay shooting for years and pheasant hunting with, a blind bag and 6 mallard decoys.
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Re: First Year Rookie
dwendt wrote:I had waders but I ended up using the warranty on them an they had some waders that I didn't really like the fit so I just got a gift card to get some different ones before next season (old supplier ran out) I have a shotgun I've been clay shooting for years and pheasant hunting with, a blind bag and 6 mallard decoys.
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Waders: Cabelas makes good quality waders. And thier customer service is good if you have an issue.
Calls: Prices can range from $20 to $200 per call. And EVERYBODY makes calls now. Go to a store and try them all. Get one that YOU like.
Decoys: I would recommend buying used decoys starting out. Brand new decoys are expensive! 1 or 2 dozen duck or goose decoys will do.
Hope this helps.
Re: First Year Rookie
Spots: some really great hunting happens at easy to get to spots. More consistently, really great hunting happens at hard to get spots. "Consistently" does not mean every time you go to that spot, but that when you learn how the birds use it, you will figure out a series of "best" spots. Earlier comments on scouting are just as important as the season moves along.
Mobility: Sorry, but you're in Minnesota. You will likely have your best hunts over a lifetime on some sort of "home turf", but that's because you hunt it the most. Plan on traveling to make the most of a 60 day season. A small boat can be picked up for fairly cheap. Sure, it might leak a bit, and you're not taking out to Mille Lacs fishing, but if it allows you to cross the channel of the river to get on THE point... you get the point.
Advice: Experiencing something, then asking about the event specifically, is the best way for folks to help you out. "how do I set-up my decoys...." is a question that can be answered, but "I was hunting a point with south wind facing east, the birds were swinging wide, but not flaring, I had my decoys in a blob out front with a string going east into deeper water....", gives people willing to help a lot more opportunity to be helpful.
Mobility: Sorry, but you're in Minnesota. You will likely have your best hunts over a lifetime on some sort of "home turf", but that's because you hunt it the most. Plan on traveling to make the most of a 60 day season. A small boat can be picked up for fairly cheap. Sure, it might leak a bit, and you're not taking out to Mille Lacs fishing, but if it allows you to cross the channel of the river to get on THE point... you get the point.
Advice: Experiencing something, then asking about the event specifically, is the best way for folks to help you out. "how do I set-up my decoys...." is a question that can be answered, but "I was hunting a point with south wind facing east, the birds were swinging wide, but not flaring, I had my decoys in a blob out front with a string going east into deeper water....", gives people willing to help a lot more opportunity to be helpful.
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