Ducks For The New Year!

"Now this is hunting, no birds, sitting in a boat, gettin' rained on!" -Tyler Nuckols

The boyfriend is so poetic sometimes! Ha ha! ;)

Anyone who has ever duck hunted can tell you its a labor of love! You wake up way before sunrise, get dressed, paint your face, hitch up your boat, gather your decoys, drive to your destination, put the boat in the water, find a good spot to anchor, throw out your decoys, set up your blind, and get your calls and guns ready, all before the sun comes up! 

When its all said and done, at the end of the day, you have some delicious ducks to show for it! Well today for us was not that day, ha! We saw an estimated 1,000 plus ducks at Lake Tohopekaliga. However, most of them were Coots, which are legal to take, and there are a lot of hunters who like to eat them, but we do not, and we do not shoot what we will not eat! 

All hunters have known days like these, the good birds for eating, did not want to fly with in range this morning! They were either too high, flew left, flew right, already in the water or flew behind us, but not to fret my pets! We will live to duck hunt another day! At least I got to practice putting on my war paint! 

So I leave you with this, some tips on duck hunting to make your trip go smoothly.

1. First and foremost a duck blind is essential! If you can build one or buy one that is easy and quick to assemble, that is your best bet. The last thing you want is to be messing with your blind while ducks are starting to fly overhead.
2. Get yourself a duck call Lanyard, one like these. 

They make the transition from calling to shooting much easier, and you don't have to worry about loosing or damaging any of your calls in the water.
3. Organize your decoys on a carabiner clip! There is nothing worse than trying to untangle your decoys at the last second to get them on the water, again while ducks are starting to fly over head!
4. The more camo the better. Ducks have ridiculous eye sight, and trust me they see the smallest of movements or any different colors. So drop down and get your camo on!
5. Lastly, when the ducks do finally start flying in your direction, DO NOT MOVE! Wait until they get in range before you move to mount your gun. Trust me, they will see you and turn away!

Stay tuned for more duck adventures with The Girl Outdoors!