Setting Up for a Duck Hunt on the Snake River

EDITOR'S NOTE: Outdoorsman Thayne Barrie of Boise, Idaho, loves to hunt ducks on the Snake River near Grand View, Idaho. He and the employees who work at his store in Boise, Sunset Sports Centers, can help hunters obtain information on Idaho duck hunting. Recently I went on one of the best duck hunts with Barrie.

QUESTION: Tell me how you set up. We were sitting on a little point in the Snake River. What decoys were you using?
ANSWER: We were using G&H Canada goose decoys and G&H mallard duck decoys.

QUESTION: Why were you using the whole bodies instead of the shells and some of the Carry-Lite decoys?
ANSWER: We use the whole body for the three-dimensional look, for the most part. We've found that tends to be a better decoy for us.

QUESTION: You don't like the light decoys?
ANSWER: No, we don't use too many of them. They're not too popular out here. We could probably use them, but it's tradition. This is pretty much what we've used forever here when we duck hunt.

QUESTION: What duck calls are you blowing?
ANSWER: I blow Quaker Boy's Quack Masters and the camo Quack Masters. In the goose calls, I like Quaker Boy's Long Neck Flute. That's probably my favorite call.

QUESTION: Give me a series of calls. Once you see the ducks coming in from the grain fields, what series of calls are you giving them?
ANSWER: A lot of times, I'm giving them a hail call, and then we'll try some lonesome hen calls and sit-down calls, and then some confidence quacks. We use feeder calls somewhat, but I've found the ducks tend to respond more to sit-downs and confidence quacks than anything.

QUESTION: What kind of places are you setting up your blind?
ANSWER: We don't have permanent blinds. We generally make temporary blinds out of reeds and a little bit of camo cover-up cloth. They're mobile and easy to use.

QUESTION: What kind of camo are you using?
ANSWER: All our clothing is Mossy Oak camouflage.

QUESTION: Which pattern do you think works best out here?
ANSWER: We particularly like the Break-Up and Shadow Grass patterns.

QUESTION: Why do you like to wear Break-Up in the reeds?
ANSWER: There are lots of different shadows and everything else in reeds, and Break-Up tends to break your outline up.

QUESTION: Why do you like Shadow Grass?
ANSWER: This camo pattern matches the reeds and is as close as you're going to get to reed-type camouflage.

QUESTION: What kind of waders are you using?
ANSWER: I'm using Hodgman waders.

QUESTION: In what weight?
ANSWER: The warm ones are 5 millimeters thick with 1,000-gram boots. We do use a lot of 3-1/2-millimeter neoprene with the 400-gram boots.

QUESTION: Why are you using that heavy a wader?
ANSWER: The mornings are really cold this time of year.

QUESTION: What do the temperatures usually run?
ANSWER: We'll regularly get Decembers in the upper teens to the low 20s. Then the weather will peak into the high 30s and 40s during the day. The weather has been kind of unusual this year. We've had a real big stretch of cold weather, which is really unusual for Idaho.

To obtain maps of the Snake River with the best spots marked and to get information on how, where and when to rent boats, contact Thayne Barrie at Sunset Sports, (208) 376-1100, 5804 Fairview Avenue, Boise, ID 83704.

TOMORROW: What Kind of Ducks Winter on the Snake River