# Sticky  Hunting Tips and Tricks thread



## Duck-Hunter

Toilet paper, always carry toilet paper


----------



## ert1371

I carry a very sharp folding knife in my coat when hunting marshes. Haven't had to use it fortunately but if you end up in a bind you can cut yourself out.


----------



## Cale F

For flooded corn fields/managed hunts used old pipe and attached a 6x4 piece of wood to top for seat and about 8 in from bottom another small piece of wood to rest of mud so you have a nice seat/leaning post that wont sink to far.


----------



## WalleyeSlayer4224

Hey guys looking to buy a new waterfowl gun mainly for goose hunting . Looking at the Stoeger P3500 I can get it for around 200 new just wondering if anyone has any reviews on it. Thanks!


----------



## Bertslash

WalleyeSlayer4224 said:


> Hey guys looking to buy a new waterfowl gun mainly for goose hunting . Looking at the Stoeger P3500 I can get it for around 200 new just wondering if anyone has any reviews on it. Thanks!




I was looking to buy new 2 years ago and was heavily leaning toward the 3500. Very good product by the millions of reviews and research I read, if I didn't find a deal of the century on an 11-87.... I would have bought the 3500.


----------



## TheHighLIfe

UplandnWaterfowl said:


> With the upcoming season bearing down on us and our minds are focusing on getting ready, thought it would be good to start a Tips and Tricks thread that we can share some ideas on little things we have discovered along the way that make chasing those crazy birds easier.
> 
> I will start with one. Most of us by now have the Waterfowl guide memorized and beside a quick refresher on limits (yep, mallards are 4/1 again this year) don't need to refer to it and have it buried in our blind bags. The only exception is the time table, not something you memorize and kind of important  I have tried keeping an extra guide laying around to refer to and that usually gets moved by someone and I have to search for it, have tried cutting out the time table and putting it with my license or wallet but not easy pulling out your wallet in waders and don't like pulling out my license and then misplacing it. So last year I had the idea, the DNR publishes the guide electronically, why not take the time table and store it on my cell phone, that worked well but still had to pull it up each day, so then thought, I can just save this picture as my home screen picture. Since I always have my phone with me, it is as easy as opening it and boom, the time table is there staring right back at me for easy reference.
> 
> Also, on a lot of mornings with the blocks all set up and just waiting the 15-20 min. for shooting time, I will set my phone alarm, with a duck quack sound bit that I downloaded and then just sit back and sip on a coffee enjoying the morning, not checking my watch every 2 min. Everyone in the blind enjoys the calm before the storm and when the alarm goes off, we load up and are ready to go.



neat idea
why not just take a pic of the timetable and the seasons and limits page on your cell phone?
and for those who have sons or friends like mine, who are occasionally late for the drawing at the 7 wonders, have them send a pic of both their license and their duck stamp, as if you have 2 signed up, they will allow pics of #3 and #4 (they have to go to the check in before hunting, i believe. we all trade pics of each other's licenses for this emergency


----------



## SteelShot

I keep a pdf version of the guide in my phone. Easy to pull up and check shooting times or anything else you have a question about. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## birdistheword

I vacuum seal my paper license now after dropping my bag in the drink once.


----------



## WalleyeSlayer4224

Anybody know of a good place to sell a layout blind quickly?


----------



## TheHighLIfe

when hunting in managed area flooded corn, especially when they overfill the area and the water is knee deep, and you are not hunting out of your boat....

buy a wooden replacement handle for rakes/shovels/brooms/hoes
the longest you can find
best if it comes to a point at the bottom
at the top end, securely screw in a dock cleat
stick it securely into the mud, as deep as you can go - ensure it will not wobble
using a sling on your gun, you can put the sling in the dock cleat and not have to hold your gun during the lulls. this will save your back. your gun will be right at your chest, easy to remove when ducks come in - kinda like having a gun boy or golf caddy. i use the center of the sling to have my gun hang horizontally, parallel to the water. but you can also hang the sling at the top of the forearm to have it hang vertically if the bottom of the stock does not wind up below the waterline
you can also use this to hang a bird carrier from the dock cleat to keep your harvest dry and not floating in the water
if you put a dock cleat on both sides, this can handle both your gun and your birds
just be sure any weight does not cause the handle to sway or tilt


----------



## WoodchuckSniper

This may just be a common sense thing but always, ALWAYS keep a dry set of clothes in the truck when duck hunting. This has saved my butt a time or two.


----------



## 28hotshot

Learned the hard way. When hunting an area where water levels can fluctuate mark a point on a mojo pole when you set up. It might prevent you from being left high and dry like I was


----------



## brandcole73

28hotshot said:


> Learned the hard way. When hunting an area where water levels can fluctuate mark a point on a mojo pole when you set up. It might prevent you from being left high and dry like I was



Ha Ha good idea
Been there once years ago, pushing my boat through knee deep mud after the water blew out.


----------



## frudzy

Williamsarchery_MI said:


> Last fall I ran into some trouble I was using an acrylic goose call on the water. I had a flock of 12 geese coming in and then they turned tail. I kept calling them back and nothing. I soon learned after a few hours and giving up the hunt. It was the acrylic call and the plastic goose heads. After further research had been done. Wood calls are expensive do any of you make your own wood Flute style goose calls?


Try Art Beauchamp calls out of Flint. The basic model is really nice and very affordable.


----------



## mattm

Hey everyone, I need some advice and help. My 18 yr old daughter who lives in TX most of the time is into duck hunting and just bought her first Shotgun with her own money. I know very little about duck hunting. I've been a few times but with work and other hobbies just never had time to learn the sport. 

Anyway...here's my questions-

What's a good choke tube? She bought a Mossberg Maverick that came with a modified choke, my guess is she needs some sort of steel shot full choke.

Calls, gear, tools? Christmas is coming. What can I buy her? What would you buy your child that was just getting into the sport? I know she's going to need some decent waders camo, but any help on brands or an essential gear list will would be appreciated.

Lastly is anyone willing to teach me how to duck hunt? I'm in Oakland county and have an amazing retriever. Hes been trained by Fred Saber at Wing and Shot. We do pheasant and grouse with him, he's amazing in the water and, knows directional commands, will retreive anything that drops out of the sky with fierce determination, amazing nose. I also have a decent 14' v hull boat if that helps

Ill return the favor as best i can. You can keep any ducks I shoot, I'll take you grouse hunting, walleye fishing in the DR or SCR, bass fishing on my lake, salmon/steelhead river fishing. I have 20+ yrs of construction and building experience, a real estate license, a organizing and cleaning business. Just lacking knowledge on how to kill ducks and time to research teach myself 





Sent from my SM-G781U using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


----------



## birdshooter

mattm said:


> Hey everyone, I need some advice and help. My 18 yr old daughter who lives in TX most of the time is into duck hunting and just bought her first Shotgun with her own money. I know very little about duck hunting. I've been a few times but with work and other hobbies just never had time to learn the sport.
> 
> Anyway...here's my questions-
> 
> What's a good choke tube? She bought a Mossberg Maverick that came with a modified choke, my guess is she needs some sort of steel shot full choke.
> 
> Calls, gear, tools? Christmas is coming. What can I buy her? What would you buy your child that was just getting into the sport? I know she's going to need some decent waders camo, but any help on brands or an essential gear list will would be appreciated.
> 
> Lastly is anyone willing to teach me how to duck hunt? I'm in Oakland county and have an amazing retriever. Hes been trained by Fred Saber at Wing and Shot. We do pheasant and grouse with him, he's amazing in the water and, knows directional commands, will retreive anything that drops out of the sky with fierce determination, amazing nose. I also have a decent 14' v hull boat if that helps
> 
> Ill return the favor as best i can. You can keep any ducks I shoot, I'll take you grouse hunting, walleye fishing in the DR or SCR, bass fishing on my lake, salmon/steelhead river fishing. I have 20+ yrs of construction and building experience, a real estate license, a organizing and cleaning business. Just lacking knowledge on how to kill ducks and time to research teach myself
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my SM-G781U using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


The modified choke that came with it is more then efficient enough, if your shooting in small wooded areas I lean towards a improved cylinder choke . Gear wise banded brand clothing for women looks nice . Decoys many options I like avian x mallards you don’t need many 6 to 12 is plenty . Don’t over think duck hunting find a simple pond and play the wind scouting is the ticket find where they want to be it’s pretty simple really . And don’t forget it’s not about how many birds you kill it’s about spending quality time with your kid and dog . Good luck


----------

