Learning from a Bad Season
Separating the Men from the Boys
Ryan Barnes for SPLIT REED
I’ve heard it from more than a few people this season, myself included- “This season was a rough one”. I’ll be the first one to put my hat in my hand and admit that with the lack of weather, and high pressured birds, the 2021-2022 season did not treat me kindly. With only a small fraction of the success seen in years passed, it was pretty hard to not get discouraged. After going on about a 3-week dry spell of killing only one to two birds per hunt, it was getting kind of tough to wake up in the morning.
This was something I’ve heard from hunters all across the country. From Washington to Texas, to Minnesota, to Maryland, there were dismal reports of hunting all over. Don’t let the pile pics on social media tell you otherwise. Plenty of people struggled to have a consistent and solid season.
In the past, when I had a bad year of hunting, I always just chalked it up to either bad luck or bad weather, or some other factor that led to birds not wanting to work the decoys. This had always been my mantra until I hunted with a long-time goose killer that has seemed to have more good seasons than bad. I was telling him about my dismal outlook on the current season and he gave me the following advice-
“Bad years are the years that separate men from the boys. The real hunters against the guys that are just out there hoping for the best. If you think you’re having a bad season, you’re doing something wrong. There are always birds to be hunted, and there’s always a way to kill them, you just have to do your part to figure that out. There’s no such thing as a ‘bad season’, just years where you didn’t do as much as you could have to kill birds. The only bad seasons are the ones where you didn’t kill as many birds as you would have wanted to, and didn’t take every chance possible to learn how to make the next year better”.
With that advice, my entire outlook on “bad seasons”, and “bad years” changed. While it might be somewhat of a harsh reality check, it is some great advice. Understanding that a bad year can be solved by just a little more hard work.
The same gentleman gave me an example of one of his first years hunting in a new state, and in a completely new flyway. He spent a few years chalking things up to bad seasons, and lack of birds. However, that all changed when he decided he would take matters into his own hands. He spent more time scouting, upgraded his decoys, and became more proficient on a call. He said within a few years, his “bad seasons” slowly began to become fewer and far between.
There are many ways to learn from your poorer seasons afield. What did you do that didn’t work? Did you only try one spot? Did you only try one style of calling? Did you only have one setup of decoys? There are plenty of questions to ask yourself that can begin to lay out a checklist of things to learn before the next season rolls around.
If you specifically hunted one area (which can be a large Achilles heel to many hunters), it might be time to branch out to new areas.
If you realized that the birds became shy to your calling, or didn’t react to your call in certain parts of the season, learn a new calling style, sequence, or a few new notes and tricks to throw at them to break things up.
So many factors play a role in a “bad season”, that there is a laundry list of things to be learned. For example, this past year for me, (as I stated earlier, this is definitely a year I need to learn from), I need to learn how to brush in a boat blind better, as well familiarize myself with the habits of puddle ducks once the water freezes over in certain areas. I also need to figure out a better way to hide in winter wheat fields when hunting an edge isn’t really an option.
Your list may be different. It could range anywhere from learning the proper time to use a flag, to your setup, to using a jerk rig in your decoys. The main thing is to learn from the bad seasons. Don’t just say “It was a bad year, I hope next season will be better”. If you don’t change what didn’t work this season, it won’t work next season. Take those changes and make yourself a better hunter.
Even the best hunters have poor seasons, and when they do, that means it’s time for them to learn what they did wrong and why they had a poor season. That’s what will allow bad hunters to become good, and good hunters to become great.
Make sure to put the time and preparation in this off-season to learn why you had a slow season, and make the necessary changes to prevent it from happening again in 2022. I know that’s what I’ll be doing. The smallest of changes can lead to the greatest of success, especially in waterfowling.
Hunting ducks and geese is a game of chess, not checkers, and if you’re not trying to constantly hone your craft and get better, those that are will be the ones piling up birds at the end of the hunt, not you. Assess the changes that you need to make, and separate yourself from the boys.
For more Split Reed Articles, visit the content center here!
Looking for guided duck hunts in Canada?
Click on Ryan to find him on Instagram