Help for a newbie - 08/27/04
I am a complete newbie to duck hunting. I�ve hunted deer, turkey, dove, squirrel. I�ve hunted and fished all my adult life. My sons hunt with me. We just never hunted ducks. A couple of years ago, my son (now 12) said he wanted to go duck hunting. I�ve been working towards that goal since. Here�s an inventory of what I have to throw at this project:
Boat: 16 ft tri-hull bowrider with a 85 HP outboard. It�s light blue, but I figure I can hide it pretty well with a scissors blind.
Decoys: 1dozen brand new flambeau mallards with a blue heron confidence decoy. I got those in a trade a couple of years ago.
Guns: 2X Mossberg 500 3� 12 GA Pump with choke tubes. Rem 1100 12 GA 2 �� w. modified and full barrels. Rem 1100 20 GA w. modified and full barrels.
Clothing: Any sort of late-season warm camo required, I probably have already.
Dog: none that will retrieve.
Location: I live on the north side of Cincinnati, but we have a family farm in SW Bracken County. From there I am less than a half hour from: The Licking River, The Ohio River (closest approach is Fosters), and Kincaid Lake. From home, I can easily reach places like Grand Lake St. Marys, East Fork Lake and the Ohio.
Here are a bunch of questions:
1) Where do I go for good duck hunting?
2) What else do I need? Do you see any big deficiencies?
3) What sort of ammo do you recommend? Traditional steel or the new non-tox formulations?
4) What sort of calls do we need? How do we learn how to call?
5) When is a good time to hunt?
6) I realize the weather plays a large part in this. What is good duck hunting weather?
Boat: 16 ft tri-hull bowrider with a 85 HP outboard. It�s light blue, but I figure I can hide it pretty well with a scissors blind.
Decoys: 1dozen brand new flambeau mallards with a blue heron confidence decoy. I got those in a trade a couple of years ago.
Guns: 2X Mossberg 500 3� 12 GA Pump with choke tubes. Rem 1100 12 GA 2 �� w. modified and full barrels. Rem 1100 20 GA w. modified and full barrels.
Clothing: Any sort of late-season warm camo required, I probably have already.
Dog: none that will retrieve.
Location: I live on the north side of Cincinnati, but we have a family farm in SW Bracken County. From there I am less than a half hour from: The Licking River, The Ohio River (closest approach is Fosters), and Kincaid Lake. From home, I can easily reach places like Grand Lake St. Marys, East Fork Lake and the Ohio.
Here are a bunch of questions:
1) Where do I go for good duck hunting?
2) What else do I need? Do you see any big deficiencies?
3) What sort of ammo do you recommend? Traditional steel or the new non-tox formulations?
4) What sort of calls do we need? How do we learn how to call?
5) When is a good time to hunt?
6) I realize the weather plays a large part in this. What is good duck hunting weather?