[OneShot]

I really wasn't sure how to phrase the question so I hope it makes sense. What would be the best way to get into duck hunting? I've hunted other things (Deer, Pigs) but have never done any waterfoul hunting at all. In fact I've never even so much as fired a shotgun with anything other then slugs in it.

So what would be the best way to become proficiant with a shotgun (Skeet?) and also learn how exactly everything is done while hunting Ducks and such? Thanks for your help, I hope I don't sound like a dummy asking this--Oneshot

[Leaky Waders]

try this thread....

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=40304

[45crittergitter]

Find a buddy who already duck hunts, has the boat, dog, decoys, know-how, where-to-go, etc. Maybe you can trade some hunts with him. Also, try sporting clays or set up some bird throwers to simulate ducks to practice. Or just go and try on the real ones. It can be very expensive unless you have a great spot or know someone with a lot of the right equipment.

[Dr.Rob]

Dig a nice hole beside a frozen lake. Crawl into hole with day old half cold coffee. Enjoy sensation of freezing mud adhering to your boots. Enjoy plaintive look of dog begging to go back to truck. Experience cramps from sitting on a solid block of ice. Inhale the aroma of wet dog. Spend many nights cleaning rust/muck from shotgun. Repeat.

Once you get all that down you can learn about idenifying ducks, shooting mechanics and other such nicities.

As you can imagine, I don't really like duck hunting.

[OneShot]

Hmmmm that thread makes it seem so "romantic" and "entertaining"

Maybe I'd better give something else a shot.:rolleyes: :uhoh: --Oneshot

[grampster]

First...you check yourself into the asylum.........
Next....you find an old heavy Browning semi auto and fill it up with shells and then practice standing around in a cold shower holding the Browning over your head for at least half an hour...
:D :D

[SteelyDan]

Some of you guys are very bad...but you made me laugh and brought back some nasty memories.

Really, if you try to do it on your own, without the proper equipment, it might not be much fun, and you may end up shooting something that you're not supposed to. You need to find someone who can take you out and "show you the ropes."

Once you get one, you'll need an equal amount of help with cooking it properly. I've eaten two virtually identical ducks, taken at the same place on the same day. The first was prepared by a veteran hunter on a charcoal grill, and it was sorta okay. The second was prepared by a hot new chef in Minneapolis (this was fun--the chef is a friend of a hunting buddy, and we brought him goose, duck, pheasant, boar, and elk that we'd shot, and he prepared them for us in his restaurant), and it was so freaking good you could not believe it.

I'd encourage you to give the duck hunting a try if you're interested. You'll probably either love it or hate it.

[Selfdfenz]

I'm sure this is a regional thing but as a general rule, for eating, woodies rule in my book. I used to have a cookbook published by a fellow that have a TV show called the "Southern Sportsman" in it was a set of directions for a way to cook ducks entitled "Preserved Duck" IIRC. Awesome.

And, for a starting hunter, going after woodie is the easiest way to get going and you will get a few other species in the process. No boats and no dogs and no decoys needed if you do your scouting.

IMHO
S-

[Smoke]

What would be the best way to get into duck hunting?

Shoot a duck.




:D

[Dr.Rob]

A good dog makes any bird hunting really worth while. Also gives you and the dog something to "train' for during the off season.

Labs make good duck dogs, as do neufys.

The hard part is the contant dog washing that occurs when you get back from playing 'fetch" in a duck pond. I recommend a cheap picnic table, a 3 gallon bucket and a hose.. also mane n' tail shampoo.

Totrain the dog for gunfire, use a starter pistol as the "fetch" command. Ie "ready boy? (Bang) throw the dummy.

A good dog really makes for a good hunt. All the exercise you two will get will help to make your hunt more bearable.

[Keith]

I started out hunting ducks just like described above. Hours of misery interrupted by a few seconds of bang, bang, bang, followed by more hours of freezing misery! I quit that style of hunting long ago.

I found a new method of duck hunting a few years ago and I did it for a while. Simply consult a topo map and trace a course between a dozen or so little potholes in somewhat close proximity. Sneak up on one and stand to flush the ducks - bang, bang, bang! Then stalk to the next one, and the next, and the next... By the time you find your way back to the first one, it (may) hold ducks you flushed from other holes. That's a heck of a lot more fun than sitting in some freezing blind!

I did that for a few years because I had a neighbor who just loved wild ducks. He moved away and I can't find anyone else who will eat them (I sure won't!), so I quit again.

Keith