An anchor of some time is needed though, and it really depends on what kind of hunting you are going to be doing. If you are oging to have a boat to hunt from, then you don't really need the decoy retreiver. If you are hunting small pockets, and wading, then it will be useful as a wading stick, duck retreiver and decoy getter.

And Bass is right.... you picked the wrong sport to be frugal with!

Oh and one other thing.. for the money at Cabelas... I'd DEFINATELY buy Herters Mag Mallards over ANYTHING made by Avery. The Avery's are very nice, and I hunt over lots of them, but they aren't near as tough as Herters, nor do they look as attractive to ducks. They are also easier to maintain. I'd rather have 6 mag Herters than 24 Hot Buys any day.