Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2023 - Equipment Annual i Wildfowl

SITTING ON THE PORCH, thinking about things, while the cicadas are screaming their ugly song from the treetops, that grating sound that makes mid-summer heat even more unbearable. A cool, insect-free, fall morning is just around the corner and you can’t wait to hear your cold-loving Lab splashing around in the spread. But that reminds you, that dog ain’t ready, and neither are you. It's the Quackhead Blues that all duck hunters are wrestling, even the pros... You can still hear that pro trainer’s words after you spent the thousands to send the dog off: “Don’t ever play tug of war with a Lab, or let someone toss Frisbees or retrieves who won’t keep him steady.” Your eyes wander back to the yard where one of your kids flings a…

❶ BAND #: 1225-75997HUNTER: Chris Duffy, Carlsbad, CA SPECIES: Cinnamon Teal (D) BANDED: 8/24/2022 | Summer Lake, OR RECOVERED: 12/03/2022 | Imperial County, CA ❷ BAND #: 2097-73207HUNTER: Logan Laviolette, Friendswood, TXSPECIES: Greater White-Fronted Goose (F)BANDED: 7/06/2017 | Shageluk, AKRECOVERED: 1/10/2023 | Liverpool, TX ❸ BAND #: 1245-65700 HUNTER: Owen Kapteyn, Sidney, AR SPECIES: Wood Duck (D) BANDED: 9/18/2019 | Roslyn, SD RECOVERED: 11/28/2021 | Lawrence County, AR ❹ BAND #: 2097-39564 HUNTER: Cooper Boggs, Springfield, IL SPECIES: Blue Goose (F) BANDED: 8/07/2013 | Koukdjuak, Nunavet RECOVERED: 3/07/2022 | Havana, IL ❺ BAND #: 1537-25068 HUNTER: Philippe Gervais, Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec SPECIES: American Black Duck (H) BANDED: 2/19/2016 | Spring Mills, PA RECOVERED: 9/24/2022 | Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec ❻ BAND #: 2167-02935 HUNTER: Robert Redmond, Fort McMurray, Alberta SPECIES: Mallard (D) BANDED:…

INGREDIENTS (SERVES 4-6) Main pizza ingredients: • Four to six Stonefire Garlic Teardrop Naan breads (4.4 ounces each)• 16 ounces pizza or Italian cheese blend• 14 to 20 ounces pizza sauce Sausage mix: • 18 ounces ground waterfowl• 6 ounces ground pork back fat• 2 teaspoons dry oregano• 2 teaspoons granulated garlic• 1-3/4 teaspoons ground black pepper• 1-3/4 teaspoon kosher salt• 1-1/2 teaspoons paprika• 1-1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds• 1/2 teaspoon anise seeds• 1/2 cup ice-cold sherry cooking wine Other suggested toppings: • Diced onions• Diced green peppers• Sliced mushrooms• Chopped tomatoes• Fresh arugula• Sliced black olives Suggested garnishes: • Parmesan cheese• Freshly chopped Italian parsley• Freshly chopped basil MAKING HOMEMADE PIZZA can be great family fun when simplified and streamlined for those short people’s short attention spans. With a little…

As we bank hastily back and forth in the maze of canals in the dark, the roar of the motor is almost the only audible noise to be heard in the humid September air. But as our guide, Nathan Blondiau, slows the throttle of the motor to beam a spotlight ahead, I suddenly see dozens of eyes under the Roseau cane. “Alligators,” Blondiau says. “Be a bad place to fall in the water.” And then the lights are off again as we continue to watch Nathan tail behind his cousin, legendary Louisiana guide Captain Josh Galt, and his group of hunters. It is like muscle memory for Galt and Blondiau. They have cut through these tight canals off the Mississippi River their entire lives. All there was to do was…

The sky was soup, and heavy snowflakes started to fall. The mercury continued to drop, and with each passing minute, the backs of our full-body Canada imposters collected more snow. We used an old towel and broom to clean them off, but when the honkers came, the sky's ceiling was so low it put them on the deck. Their low flight path and weeks of sub-zero temps had their guts calling for grain, and not a single group so much as circled despite decoys caked in white. The landing gear came down, and shots rang out. We had five shooters in the decoys that day — all firing modern-day semi-autos in a mixed gauge bag of 12 and 20. The birds crumpled. It's amazing how today's shotguns build shooting confidence,…

As I get older, I find myself working harder to kill ducks. The funny thing is, my 82-year-old dad- and my number one hunting partner–is the same way. Maybe it’s because growing up neither of us had much of a choice when it came to gear. We made our own goose decoys from plywood, bought the bare essentials, and went hunting. There’s more hunting pressure now than there used to be, so we have to hunt smart, and sometimes this means more work. Hunting accessories have changed the game for us. Even little things can make a big difference when it comes to efficiently hunting waterfowl and boosting success. With so many great accessories to put to the test, it’s never too soon to start preparing for next season. The…

THE LATE OUTDOOR WRITER and TV personality Wade Bourne was known to countless waterfowlers, penning hundreds of outdoor magazine stories. Bourne—who passed in 2016—embraced the traditions of waterfowling, climbing into countless duck blinds along the way. If he ever met a blind he didn’t like, well, he didn’t mention it on TV or write about it anywhere. Bourne believed in the power of the duck blind tradition, even writing that when it came to duck blinds, each new one was a monument to optimism. Amen to that, especially when that new blind comes with a gathering of duck hunters, their dogs, and their kids in a gravel parking lot at a pre-season permit drawing event or a daily lottery draw for muddy-boot-wearing waterfowlers hoping for a bit of pre-dawn luck.…

IT WAS A REUNION OF SORTS when Ryan O’Neill set out for a spring snow goose hunt in upstate New York with friend and fellow guide Ryan Muller of Fowl Exposure. O’Neill hunted with Muller back in 2018, when he bagged an 18 year old snow that was banded on Bylot Island, Nunavut, and managed to make it into our Passages section. The morning was characteristically busy for the Ryans and their two companions and the birds were piling up. When the shooting slowed down, Muller decided to leave O’Neill and his pals to check on another field for the following day, but not before offering some brief instructions. “Last time you hunted with me,” he said, “you shot a banded snow. This time, make sure you get one with…

We were dug in on the slick black ledges of the reef that was slowly emerging from the ocean as the slapping waves receded with the tide, and daybreak came creeping in. We could already see and hear the black forms of ducks skimming across the water in the soft damp wind as the Alaskan October daylight pierced the grey dawn, the birds’ colors starting to show. Visualize it, imagine it, obsess over and anticipate it all you want, duck hunter. Expect it even…but you will still not be ready for it. The black and white faces of harlequin drakes zooming low across the grey ocean surface. It’s simply hard to believe your eyes. Everything is like that, up here. The cartoonish 5-foot long sea otters bobbing around like skinny…

One could make a solid argument that there has never been a greater time to be a duck and goose hunter than right now, at least in terms of gear! Denser steel alternatives such as bismuth and TSS are a hot commodity amongst the waterfowl world with several truly impressive loads being brought to market this year. The downside to these monumental non-toxic alternatives is the sticker-shock price tags. However, the popularity of these non-toxic alternatives has also pushed manufacturers to step up their game and push the limits of standard steel loads, benefitting waterfowlers everywhere. It comes as no secret that many of these loads are only as good as the choke tube threaded in the end of your favorite scattergun. Luckily, waterfowlers are flooded with extremely capable and…

Back in 1870 Elam Fisher patented the first duck call, and since that date, our sport, and the calls that are a key ingredient, forever changed. While one can argue that Mr. Fisher didn’t create the first duck call, many credit the creation of a barrel-style call to Fred Allen, his patent advanced the concepts, sparked ingenuity, created competition, and generated a passion to create that leads us to the calls of today. In fact, you can likely credit either, or both, of the gentleman with the advancement of not just duck call manufacturing but also that art of duck calling and the creation of the first national duck calling competition held in Stuggart, Arkansas in November of 1936. While early calls were much more basic than those of today,…

I started to slip out of waterfowling for a spell, but my son, thank God, and a trusty retriever named Kimber rekindled my love for duck and goose hunting. Hunting with a well-trained retriever makes every waterfowl sojourn better. I get lost watching the dog work, and there are days afield where I watch my kids shoot and my dog work and never raise my gun barrel. If you own a dog and hunt with it, you get it. If you don't, start looking for a puppy — one you can train to be a duck and goose machine and a loving pet that will quickly become part of the family. ❚ SPORTDOG BRAND SPORTTRAINER 875 SportDOG never fails to impress, and its SportTrainer 875 is a shining example of…

WARNING: THE ROBOTS ARE COMING FOR YOUR DUCKS. It may be hard to believe for those of us who grew up using rotary phones, but the booming advances in artificial intelligence technology are already being leveraged by savvy outdoors entrepreneurs looking to make a buck helping hunters enjoy success in the field. Take the Spartan App, for example. Developed by an Iraq veteran who used AI to hunt down bad guys, the website claims to be “the ONLY hunting app that uses artificial intelligence to predict deer movement.” That’s right. Your grandad used to lick his finger, hold it aloft, and squint at the clouds. You can take that finger, tap your phone, then listen as an AI app tells you which stand to hunt along your favorite field—and when.…

AS DAD AND I DO at the end of every season, we sat down to go over the stats. Last season was good, but not nearly as good as the season prior, and our notes confirmed it. Dad and I have a waterfowl lease we hunt two to three times a week, all season long. At the end of every hunt, we write down notes. Dad’s are more detailed than mine. In addition to recording the species and sex of ducks and geese killed that day, Dad documents the weather conditions, wind speed and direction, how many birds we saw throughout the hunt, what time of day the biggest pushes of birds came, and what adjustments we made in the decoy spread, if any. I keep close track of what…

Conversations in the blind amongst passionate waterfowlers run the gamut from solving the world’s problems, inappropriate jokes, life advice, and just about everything in-between. Another popular, and often heated, topic of conversation is that of the terminal performance, or sometimes lack thereof, of non-toxic shotshells. While hunting sea ducks on the eastern shores of Maryland several years ago, Jeff Barry, Vice-President of Sales and Marketing at Kent Cartridge, had an interesting conversation with his grizzled guide. “We were discussing effective shot sizes, leaning towards #1 and #2 shot for hearty sea ducks, when our guide piped in on the discussion. Based on his extensive experience, he preferred smaller shot sizes to increase pellet count and subsequently increase the likelihood of knocking that bird out of the sky,” said Barry. “Coming…

Of all the gear waterfowl hunters invest in, nothing influences each hunt like decoys. It’s the first thing we tend to when the season ends, scrubbing them, replacing lines, and storing them in a safe place so they don’t breakdown in the summer heat. It’s what we think of throughout the entire offseason. On the hunt, there’s no piece of gear we tinker with more than decoys. We look at them. We study them. We question and doubt them. We move them, relocate them, space them out, ball ‘em up, and do it all again an hour later. When birds aren’t working, the decoys are what we first turn to for help. Decoys dominate conversation before, during and after every hunt. And face it, we all love buying new decoys.The…

Two days before the duck season ended, Dad got a new set of LaCrosse waders. He couldn’t wait to put them on. The next day we went hunting, our last duck hunt of the season. “These things are worth it just for the zipper, alone!” Dad shouted, in the dark, amid high winds, as he took care of business before hopping into the blind. We talked of how far waders had come in the last 50 years. Dad admired his new Sitka jacket, too, something he’d never imagined paying so much for, but was glad he did. He wore it on every hunt of the season, over 60 days. It never leaked and he loved the ergonomic fit which allowed his aging body to move and shoot with ease. When…

I cut my outdoor teeth chasing ducks and geese. I promise you, though, it wasn't until five years ago that I used any blind for my waterfowl pursuits. I had nothing against blinds, but the men that taught me the waterfowl ropes — and they were killers — hid in concrete ditches and weed patches and built homemade hides. Five years ago, ALPS sent me a layout blind for an article I was penning — I couldn't tell you the model — but it positively changed things for me.The weather was atrocious, and a wintry mix of rain/snow fell from the sky. My hunting companions were freezing, but I was dry and toasty warm, and when the first flock of Canada geese swung low over our silhouettes, I tossed the…