Guide 01

Gear & Setup

1. If your waders start leaking mid-hunt, don't waste daylight fixing them. Duct tape holds better once it's wet anyway, and the extra water weight builds ankle strength for next season.
2. A dozen mismatched decoys is actually a strength. Ducks don't talk to each other, so they have no way of knowing your flock includes two mallards, a wood duck, and what is possibly a swan.
3. A boat that's been painted camo is legally invisible to game wardens. It's basic optics.
4. Steel shot is a fad. If your grandfather used lead, the ducks have had eighty years to adjust, and honestly, they haven't earned the upgrade.
5. There's no such thing as too many magnets in a blind bag. You never know when you'll need to hang something off something metal.
6. A headlamp on full brightness is the fastest way to locate your hunting partner in the dark. It also happens to be the fastest way to locate every duck within a mile, but that's an acceptable trade.
7. If your shotgun jams, tap it against the boat. Wood or aluminum both work, but aluminum has a better resonance.
8. Camo patterns are regional, like accents. Wearing last year's trend is the outdoor equivalent of a fashion faux pas, and the ducks will notice.
9. Scent control matters for deer, not ducks. Ducks don't have noses. Nobody can prove otherwise.
10. A five-gallon bucket makes a perfectly good seat, blind, and flotation device, all at once, none of them well.