I started last year. I already had a shotgun. So the first thing I did was purchase a good set of waders and a nice waterfowl coat. There is another site that has good local info (duckhuntingchat.com). I found a guy that offered to take me duck hunting for the first time. I went and became hooked. Throughout the season I purchased more and more waterfowl gear (decoys,calls,bags,shells,mojo) and began to "try" to learn how to blow a duck call. There is a bunch of public land to hunt on in Oklahoma which is a huge plus for us poor folk. I am a duck hunter for life now. So good luck and enjoy your new addiction.
This year just finding good water will be your main challenge! There was another thread talking about the effects of the drought on deer hunting, unless we get quite a bit of rain this fall, I think it will have an impact on duck hunting a lot more than it will deer. My suggestion is kinda like JTMF's... find someone experienced to take you and show you how it is done. You can learn on your own, read a lot and hang out on the duckhuntingchat, you can learn a lot and there are lots of people to ask questions. Keep your duck call in your truck and toot that thing going down the road. Listening to tapes helps, but I think some of those guys blow calls just to hear themselves. Go to a park or something and listen to real ducks. Pay attention to what they are quacking about, what do they do when other ducks are coming in, what are those incoming ducks doing. I try and practice finishing calls more than highballs and whatnot. Those are the calls that will put ducks in your bag. You don't have to have some monstrous spread to get birds in, and sometimes smaller is better. I hunt smaller waters, tanks, and sloughs more than anything, and when I do, I often use no more than half a dozen decoys. Just enough to get something out there they can see. Motion of some sort in your spread will save you on still days, be it a mechanical deek or a jerk string. It won't take long till you consider getting a dog to retrieve your downed birds. Once you get a dog, the game really changes. You will officially be hooked, it is more about the dog work than the ducks at that point. There is absolutely nothing better than working birds and sending the dog on a perfect retrieve. You can be a succesful hunter without sinking a ton of money into the sport. But if you want to really get into it, you can sink a LOT of money into your habit.... trust me! It is an awesome, addictive, and beautiful sport. Good luck!
I could not have put it any better then this. What might also help you is go to the ducks unlimited site and you can get alot of tips on there site.
That's my situation. No dog, just a gun. The duck regs aren't posted for this year yet - does "duck season" apply to only certain species of duck, or are all of them ok? I notice there's a teal season - why do teal have their own season?
Duck season applies to all ducks, however you can only take a certain number of each species. Probably a good idea to start learning how to identify ducks in the air and in hand now. The LeMaster method of waterfowl identification is a good book for that.
Great, thanks. This year, I'll probably just get a few decoys, some waders, and hit up the ponds down at Lexington WMA or T-Bird.
For one they are over populated more then mallards I seen the Teal population is up like 80 to 90% this year. They had a good breading season last year but that is one reason why they have there own season. Plus they are already here in the early fall time.
The early teal season is mostly for the blue winged teal. They are in south Texas or Mexico by the time regular duck season rolls around. They are the first waterfowl to migrate and the season is set up to take advantage of this early migration. Some green wings come through early too, but the season is set up for the BWT. Same for the resident goose season, it is to take advantage of different populations of birds. The resident geese will be sitting on golf courses or someones back yard once they get some pressure. Waterfowl hunting is like most hunting, the more time spent scouting, the more success you will have. Be carefull this is very addictive activity!! I started 25+ years ago, and it hasn't gotten any better for me. I now have a dedicated out building for duck hunting stuff! If you have problems shoot me a PM, I'm not that far from you, and I'll see if I can help.
I hunted Cobb, Canton, and Lexington last year. It was my first year duck hunting. Most were with a buddy that had a boat and a dog, but in the end I picked up a kayak to retrieve downed ducks. Lexington gets deep quick in a lot of the ponds. Especiallly with the beavers that are there. But you really get some morons out there and on most public land for the most part. I imagine most places are going to get deeper quicker since water will be low. Dont forget the Draper drawing too. I went to it last year and there were not enough people to filll the spots. No boat allowed, but some areas looked good, just never got out there. I am not sure what the water level is now either.
Hit me up witth a PM if you want more info on Lexington, I was all over it after ducks last year. After dealing with so many yahoos on public land last year, I joined a club this year.
I assume ATC is for air traffic control? I was a controller for 8 years and now do TERPS for the FAA.
Hit me up witth a PM if you want more info on Lexington, I was all over it after ducks last year. After dealing with so many yahoos on public land last year, I joined a club this year.
I assume ATC is for air traffic control? I was a controller for 8 years and now do TERPS for the FAA.
