Preseason Tips and Tricks
Jordan M. Rash for SPLIT REED
Cover Photo Courtesy of Tanner Whitley
Every year come mid-August, I get twitchy. Anxiety builds with each passing week; my eyes catch every bird flying to determine if it’s a duck (it’s usually a crow or pigeon) and which direction it's headed.
The dog has it too. Her symptoms: Rapid panting, jumping, and anxiety brought on by her seeing me load the kennel into the back of the truck, the e-collar and leash going into a pack, and a bumper lashed to the outside.
The sickness is chronic. I’ve come down with it every year now going on twenty years. I’ve got a fever, and the only treatment for this affliction is duck hunting. Sadly, waterfowl season is still a few weeks away. But, I can get a dose of medicine by getting outside, scouting, and training for the season that’s fast approaching.
I know I am not the only one experiencing these symptoms. But, while most of us are still waiting for the regular waterfowl seasons to open in October, there is still time to break the rust off and prepare for cold, winter mornings in the duck blind.
Scouting
Perhaps the most basic act of season preparation is scouting. No matter whether you are a veteran waterfowler or new to waterfowling, scouting is a critical preseason activity to have success in the blind. This is particularly true when hunting public land or in dynamic landscapes that change from year to year (e.g., a river corridor).
Tanner Whitley is the host of the Blind Chatter Podcast, who spends a lot of time hunting public lands in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, where the state maintains what are called the “Willamette Greenways” – public lands in and along the Willamette River – for public recreation, including waterfowl hunting. And because every winter the river changes – new sandbars, logjams, and islands – he spends quite a bit of time on the water checking out the conditions.
“In addition to scouting the river, by mid-summer I am looking to see where the corn, peas, and other crops the ducks like have been planted, where those crops intersect with areas that flood or are between refuges, and I am knocking on doors to line up access.” He also combines e-scouting with a smartphone app called Rivercast, which sends you notifications for when a river hits a certain gage height or flow. Tanner says he sets notifications for river levels that benefit the spots he scouted over the summer. At x-feet, he’ll know what feed is flooded, where the cover is, and how to access that spot, helping improve his hunt selection process throughout the season.
One thing both Tanner and I agree on is that you are not going to find much success only showing up to talk to a landowner a week before the season begins. Access to private lands is about relationships, and if you don’t develop one with that landowner, it’s going to be hard to get to “yes.” Instead, Tanner suggests getting out in the summer, introducing yourself, and inquiring about the opportunity to hunt without directly asking for permission right out of the gate. And, perhaps most importantly, “Don’t be a stranger, stop in periodically. See if they need some help with something. If you can provide them with some labor or a service of some sort, that will open up a lot of opportunities,” explains Tanner. “Not only that, but it’s just common courtesy.”
Another scouting tip is to utilize published resources. Whether it’s your fish and wildlife agency’s website, a podcast (Blind Chatter did a great series on some public land hunting in Oregon recently), or even a book or magazine, there’s tremendous information available for duck hunters looking for new places to hunt. And if you’re looking for a guide, Split Reed maintains a list of its trusted guides and outfitters who provide hunting opportunities across the United States and Canada.
Over in the Central Flyway, Matt Zvolanek, host of High Prairie Sportsmen YouTube Channel, is doing much of the same. Hunting an even mix of public and private land, Matt looks for places that will work under different conditions so that when the season starts he’s got multiple options depending on the weather, bird activity, and other factors.
Matt says “I do a fair bit of e-scouting, and create a list of places to check out. In my area [of Nebraska], the e-scouting is pretty simple; I am looking for lakes and ponds.” To scout these areas, his approach is to grab his kayak and a fishing rod and fish the places that may hold ducks come the fall. While there, he observes the terrain and cover around the water bodies, identifying places that would be good depending on weather and sun position. “But first and foremost, I am looking for good cover,” explains Matt.
And when it comes to knocking on doors seeking permission from private landowners, Matt – like Tanner – believes in showing up early in the season and checking back in with the landowner a couple more times. “Don’t show up the first time at someone’s door wearing camo either,” explains Matt. “Wear something presentable, make a good impression, be gracious, and if they grant you permission, be sure to send them a thank you card and a small gift.”
Gear
Once you’ve got a list of potential hunting spots, the next step is to break those spots up depending on a wide variety of factors (e.g., weather). But, one of the most critical things you need to do is determine what gear you will need depending on the spot. If you’re hiking over a mile, you’re probably not going to want to bring four dozen decoys, three jerk cords, and a panel blind, right?
Matt says “When I am scouting, I also think about the gear. Long treks through thick mud, I am bringing Mudder Boots, and planning on how much other gear I need as well as how I haul it to and from the spot.”
Over in the Atlantic Flyway, Shawn Swearingen – owner and call-maker at B.S. Calls – is always tinkering with his handmade, wood duck and goose calls. Shawn grew up in Oregon and he too hunted the Willamette River. Now he lives outside Washington DC, hunts primarily in Virginia and Maryland, but finds time to hunt all over the US when not chasing his two boys around. As a call-maker and competitive caller, he’s always working with his calls. But “for the average guy, the best thing you can do is find a place where you can tinker and just try different things. Play with pressure and different imitations you can make with your call. Focus on a basic quack, a feed, and a hail. That'll get you a long way in the field.”
He says that the benefit of being a competitive caller means he knows the ins and outs of his calls, what he can do with them, and how to utilize them in varying situations. “You have to know what you can do with your calls. If you are familiar with them, you’ll be able to adapt to the situation.”
Finally, when it comes to your gear, perhaps nothing is more important than your shotgun. Shawn likes to get out a couple of times every offseason shooting both trap and sporting clays. Aside from putting some rounds through his gun, he recommends patterning your gun with the ammo and choke you plan to use during the season, checking the pattern at multiple intervals out to the range you intend to shoot. “You don’t want to go out opening weekend and miss a bunch of ducks at a range you normally connect at and come to find out later you’ve got a hole in your pattern,” explains Shawn. “If you plan to use that ammunition but are having trouble with your pattern, try a different choke. Or, switch ammo and stick with the choke you’ve got. Test out multiple combinations until you find what’s right for you.”
Dogs
And finally, if you have a dog, their offseason program is critical to saving yourself from frustration come hunting season. Once it warms up in the spring, I start my dog on the basics: placing, marking the bumper, waiting until released, retrieving to hand, and ‘re-placing’. Over the summer, we progress to doubles, blind, and water retrieves. Because she’s a pointing lab, we also spend time with wings and working in the field around live birds so she doesn’t forget the smell of pheasant.
Shawn and his five-year-old Labrador Sully are also out working their program. Shawn reminded me – a comparatively novice duck dog owner – that “Obedience has to be a daily thing so that they know no matter the situation, they're going to be comfortable listening and responding to your commands.” Because Shawn lives in a warm, humid area, he and Sully practice early or late in the day to avoid the heat, and Shawn keeps an eye on water quality. “Be careful of blue-green algae while training to avoid getting you and your dog sick. Warmer climates can be particularly prone to toxic algae.”
Shawn and Sully practice in situations similar to their hunting conditions. They work in estuaries, fields, and streams; disced fields, tall grass, and heavy cover. Finally, “If you intend to hunt with multiple dogs in the blind, I’ll do some training with my buddies and their dogs so that we can work on denials, not going after another dog’s bird/honoring, and waiting until they are given their individual command.”
Watching my dog working the tall grass as we make our way out to scout a new location, I imagine seeing her run around through the reach of my headlamp, the sound of decoys clanking on my back on our way to a secluded piece of flooded timber. Soon, that daydream will become a reality. And while it can be frustrating to get told “no” when you ask for access, when you forget how to lead a clay properly or to see your dog run right past a live, wild pheasant on a scouting trip (that was my weekend back in early August), putting in the work in advance of your hunting season will produce dividends in the coming months.
Plus, it’ll help you fight off the anxiety of another upcoming waterfowl season.
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