Duck Hunting for beginners.. advice...

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advice

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Find a different hobby and save yourself a lot of money, strife and heartbreak...

Hate to break it to you buddy but you ate wanting to get started at the twilight of the sport.

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Find a different hobby and save yourself a lot of money, strife and heartbreak

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That's WWII Collecting in a nutshell sir... That's why I want to duck hunt.

Find an old timer to take you.

If that’s a good spot to hunt, someone else will be there at 2 am.

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Lake Texoma

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Stop off in Tushka at that Pop Knife and Gun place. Buy an SKS rifle and a couple a full cases of that steel core ammo with the berdan primers from some easr bloc nation that no longer needs 'em.

I’m sure you’ve been reading many of the articles available online that have duck hunting tips. If not, those will help.

Beyond that, I wouldn’t spend a bunch of money on anything really fancy until you know what you’re getting into.

The best piece of advice I can give is to brush everything to the best of your ability and avoid any movement when ducks are overhead. If you have a boat, invest in camo netting to cover it and add brush/grass mats or anything to break up the outline.

You can go crazy with decoys. It matters a great deal for some types of ducks, and not so much for others. Typically hunting big water, it helps to have a lot of decoys, which is why some people paint coke bottles to beef up the spread, but ~2 dozen just to start trying things out can work.

You’re off to a good start with planning to hunt the north end. Whether you realize or not, ducks prefer to land into the wind. Depending on the direction, you’ll want to arrange your decoys in a way that makes it attractive for ducks to land in the spot that gives you the best shot. There are plenty of articles explaining different setups. Keep in mind that ducks often land on the outside of the spread. You don’t want your decoys too close to you, but you also don’t want them so far that the ducks are landing 40 yards from you. I usually don’t have anything closer than 15 yards or further than 25-30 yards.

Be sure to read through all the rules and regulations and be familiar with limits. Duck identification can be the most challenging thing for new hunters. The longer you hunt an area, the more you’ll be able to pick up on duck ID. Recognizing colors is very difficult depending on sunlight. Size, behavior, and vocalization are often the best indicators of species. It gets easier the more you get out there.

ETA: I forgot to mention calls. As someone who blows the call way too much sometimes, I wouldn’t bother with a call right now. A call really helps to get their attention but only if you sound realistic. It’s difficult to achieve that right away, and you’re far better off with silence than making unrealistic noises. However, as someone else mentioned, a whistle call can be easier to learn. You can make several different calls on a whistle and add realism easily without sounding like all the other new duck hunters on the lake. I recommend something like the duck commander whistle.

You seen the movie “The Counselor”?

There is a scene in which Brad Pitt’s character is warning a lawyer not to get involved with Mexican cartels.

He says, “If you want my advice…don’t do it. I’ve seen it all and it’s all shite”.

That be my advice about duck hunting now, unless you have plenty of time and money to burn.

You’ll knock a bird or two down in your spot. Get addicted. Then you’ll realize your spot isn’t good and spend thousands to millions chasing that dopamine release on a species that’s decreasing in numbers by the year.

Build a time machine and go get back of Mcelroy swamp circa 1985...mallards everywhere.

Seriously have no expectations and just enjoy being out there. If you get a couple great and take some great pics!