Duck-Hunting Guides Tell All
Solving Seven More of the Most-Common Duck-Hunting
Problems
 Editor’s
Note: For 23 years, Billy Blakely has hunted ducks every
day of duck season on Reelfoot Lake near Tiptonville,
Tennessee, in Tennessee’s northwestern corner.
Most of the guides who work with him at Blue Bank Resort,
including Shane Upchurch and Jason Craig, hunt 40 to
50 days each season. They’ve seen all the mistakes
duck hunters make and know how to solve duck-hunting
problems. Let’s learn how to solve some of our
own duck-hunting difficulties.
1) Not respecting the water and the danger it holds
– “I’ve seen duck hunters going to
their blinds with six or seven people, two dogs and
a boatload of decoys in a 14-foot-long boat with only
about 2 to 3 inches of free board above the water line,”
Blakely observes. “We have several groups of hunters
every year here on Reelfoot who sink their boats. We
use a big War Eagle boat that’s 27-inches tall
to carry our duck hunters and decoys back and forth
to the blinds and also to rescue ot her
duck hunters when they sink their boats. If you don’t
respect the water, put too many people in the boat and
sink it, that cold water definitely will hurt you. Each
season we rescue five or six duck-hunting parties who
overload their boats and then go out in rough water.”
2) Improperly brushing your blind – “Some
hunters will put cane brush over their blind to conceal
it,” Craig explains. “Then they’ll
pull that covered blind into a hardwood timber spot
where cane has never grown. If you’re hunting
in a timber hole, you need to be using oak brush or
stinkweed, which blends in with the surroundings. That
cane, which turns yellow after it dies and looks like
a bright yellow caution light, will spook ducks. Too,
some duck hunters don’t cover up their shooting
holes. We try to hide our shooting holes as much as
possible with brush to keep the ducks from looking straight
down into the holes.”
3) Talking too much, especially to the caller –
“If the caller is talking to the hunters and looking
at them, he’s not looking for ducks,” Upchurch
emphasizes. “The person whose head is out of the
blind needs to be looking for ducks and not at hunters.
If the ducks see you before you spot them, you w ill
spook them. The caller needs to be rude to everyone
in the blind and doesn’t need to answer questions
or talk to the other hunters. He needs to have all his
attention focused on looking for ducks. In addition,
if the weather is foggy or still, nobody should talk
in the blind. On those kinds of mornings, you’ll
usually hear the ducks before you see them. If they
hear you, they will spook. Ducks can hear people a long
way on a still or a foggy morning.”
4) Not knowing where to shoot – “When you’re
hunting out of blind like we do here at Blue Bank Resort,
you can’t shoot too far to the left or the right
because usually a hunter’s on either side of you,”
Blakely says. “Many people get excited when a
large flight of ducks comes in to the blind, and they
quit paying attention to the other hunters. A couple
of years ago we had hunters in our blind when a huge
flight of ducks arrived. Most of the hunters had finished
hunting but one of the hunters still had his gun pointed
out of the blind when the hunter next to him spotted
a duck leaving the decoy. The hunter swung to shoot
the duck and shot 2 inches off the barrel of the hunter
next to him. He never saw the gun outside of the shooting
port when he swung too far to his left. Just remember
to never shoot too far to your left or right. When the
shooting ends, put your safety on, and place the gun
back in the blind, pointed straight-up. We have broom
holders that we buy at the hardware store in ou r
blinds. You can put rubber on these broom holders to
make them hold your shotgun secure and stand straight
up in the blind.”
5) Bringing a dog that’s not fully trained to
the duck blind – “I’ve had hunters
bring dogs to the duck blind and swear they were blue-ribbon
champions, well-trained and extremely duck savvy,”
Blakely recalls. “Invariably, when the dog looks
up and sees ducks, that dog will run out to the dog
platform and start barking at the ducks before they
get within shooting range. When I get a dog like that
in the blind, I usually tie him to the steering wheel
of the boat, which stays under the blind. Never take
an untrained dog on a duck hunt because that dog can
mess up the hunting for everyone.”
6) Not having enough movement in the decoys –
“When ducks are on the water, they’re moving,”
Upchurch says. “As the ducks move, they create
ripples on the water. If a flight of ducks sees a group
of decoys on the water, and the water’s not moving,
they know this situation is unnatural. We use either
a mallard machine that creates waves on the water or
decoys on a jerk string to put ripples on the water.
Especially on days with no wind, you have to artificially
create ripples on the water.”
7) Not bringing sunglasses to hunt with – “Since
ducks can come from any direction, if you don’t
have sunglasses, you can’t see the ducks that
come from the east in the morning as the sun’s
rising because the sun will be in your face,”
Craig explains. “Billy Blakely's blind faces the
east, and the ducks come in from the east. Therefore,
if you don’t have sunglasses, you won’t
see most of the ducks you’re trying to shoot because
the sun will be in your face. We prefer that our hunters
bring polarized sunglasses with them.”
To learn more about duck hunting at Bluebank Resort,
call (731) 253-8976 or check out www.bluebankresort.com.
To learn more about War Eagle Boats waterfowl –
hunting capabilities, go to www.wareagleboats.com,
or call, (870) 367-1554.
|
