What Are You Going To Change This Year?
 

I'm just missing goose hunting a little this time of year and thought I try and start a thread.

Come Hell or highwater, I'm gonna shoot ducks and geese with a 20 gauge all year! I hope they come out with Black Cloud for a 20 gauge but even if the don't I'm going to stick with it. I'm just going to wait and call the shot when they get really close. I have a friend who shoots a 20 for everything every year and he shoots them in the beak grave yard dead. I've always used a 12 gauge even when I was a kid. I just want to give it a try.

Another thingI'mgoing to try is using a bedliner to drag goose decoys into the fieldwhen the snow is to deep to pull a trailor. (A trick I stole from a dude on another forum)

I'malso going to try and use a roll of golf green grass to lay out when the fields are covered with snow. I have a feeiling this will work really good. Just a fewbigfoots around the grass and good concealment with just a little calling should do the trick. Not really needed, just want to try it and see if it works.(This is a Colorado Luckydog original, as far as I know!)

What are you going to do different this year??

RE: What Are You Going To Change This Year?
 

Basically the opposite of you, I am going from shooting a Remington 1100, to a 11-87 super mag.

RE: What Are You Going To Change This Year?
 

MORE DECOYS haha
and im gonna try calling this year

RE: What Are You Going To Change This Year?
 

More field hunting and I am going to practice my calling a little more.

RE: What Are You Going To Change This Year?
 

oh ill add the field hunting too
although ill need some field decoys

RE: What Are You Going To Change This Year?
 

well i got plenty of decoys and i play with my calls everyday ive got the whole mojo collection so probaly take less equipment

RE: What Are You Going To Change This Year?
 

I already duck hunt with 28's, 20's, 16's and 12 gauges so maybe I'll add the .410 to the mix.

RE: What Are You Going To Change This Year?
 

If it's anything like last season, buy more shells. I'm switching from Estates to Federal Speed Shok this coming season. The 3 inch 2's did the trick for me after I ran out of Estates. I shot better with the Federals. Add to the fact that I can get them at $9.99 a box compared to $11.99 a box for Estates, makes them even sweeter. The Feds shot much better out of my gun than the Estates. The pattern was better, and more ducks fell to them. Nothing else needs changing.

RE: What Are You Going To Change This Year?
 

The one thing I really hope to change is the number of times I hunt. Didn't get out much last year, but that was a personal choice. I had new deer hunting land last year, soI deer hunted ALOT. This year, i'm going to focus more on the waterfowl in the early deer season, pound it during the rut, then return to the waterfowl scene. Every year I know that early to mid october is not great, but I just can't stay out of the deer woods. If the geese/ducks are around like last year, that decision will be much easier to make. I've lost a ton of weight, so I need new clothes too, which will be exciting. I've had the same pair of Drake bibs on three times, just can't pull the trigger yet.

RE: What Are You Going To Change This Year?
 

Going to use a muzzleloading double 12ga, Bought mine earlier this year, and have not picked up any of my other shotguns since.

RE: What Are You Going To Change This Year?
 

Man, I know what you mean about missin goosin this time of year!
Me and the crew just picked up 4.5 dozen new decoys today and i am going to pick up my new ducks unlimited Benelli Super nova in just 2 weeks! i am so pumped and sept.1 is comming fast! This year we are going to slaughter the honkers! As for using a 20 gauge for geese... well thats all you pal! I like using a 12 gauge with 3.5 mag capability! I dropped a goose at like 80 yards. last year with my benelli and i am looking forward to doing it again this year with my new gun! Until then Keep calling and watching for the honkers! Good luck in this years season!
Sincerly,
The fowl playaz

RE: What Are You Going To Change This Year?
 

Last year was my second year of duck hunting... and everything me and my buds have learned has come from experience, listening to veteran duck hunters, and making decisions on my own.

This year, I'm working on my spread tactics. SC is mostly woodies, teal, and divers.Occasionaly you'll hear about people getting into some mallards, and once a season you'll hear about a gadwall, widgeon or pintail. However, my first season i still bought a dozen mallards and a puddler pack. I used to throw all of them out, and ducks were shy. They would circle once or twice and then high tail it.Last year, I bought some ringer, woodie and bluewing dekes. This year, the mallards and the puddler pack will all sit in the shed, and I'm only gonna throw out small spreads of divers and teal/woodies when necessery. I'm also gonna get 6 oversized bluebills. I always thought "why get those friggin' massive decoys? They're so big!" Well i figured out that question when we set out all oversized diver dekes. Ducks way out used to pass by without thinking twice, but that morning they beelined for the dekes. Its hard to see smaller dekes at longer distances.

I'll always try to some white in my decoy spread.

I'm not going to mix diving duck dekes with other ducks; from what I've observed, they don't mix with other species too often.

I'm not going to show the same spread twice, unlike last season.

I'm watching the weather EVERY morning... not just most [8D](long story)

If using a spinning wing decoy, make sure it has remote on and off. It looks pretty odd when ducks just flew across the entire bay to your spread and that duck is STILL trying to land.

I'm gonna use more than two shells to pattern my gun this year.

I'm gonna do what works. There have been many times that I'd use a setup that would work excellent one day, and the next morning I would use it again but it would completely fail. Yet i wouldn't change my setup at all. No more of that. If something isn't working, change it.

I'm gonna skip school on cold fronts, and rainy/ overcast days.

I'm gonna get out there more often.

I have plenty more that I'm changing, but lets stop there :)