newby needs help

[wily]

first off -- cool boat billethead

i have went back and read a bunch of the old posts on the forum to try and learn more but i still have a couple questions for you guys.  As you will see when you read this post my duck hunting experience is very limited...I have two boys, we went on a guided duck hunting trip on truman lake a couple years ago, and last year we hunted the family farm in lawrence county and hunted over a handful of decoys on a pond...we had a good time, but only managed to shoot one duck in 3 or 4 trips.  which was fine...we had a good time and got to spend time together. 

This year we want to start hunting more areas but really not sure what we need or where we need to start. i would like to try the duck parks as you guys call them, but with us being so inexperienced...i would want to get far away from the crowds but i doubt that is possible at schell osage or 4rivers on a weekend.  i think our skill level is about the same as the guy in the lawnchair with the bobber at roaring river at this point, so we need more practice before we subject ourselves to ridicule so my plan is to hunt the ponds at two major conservation areas in sw mo.

the last couple of weekends we have started scouting public land for duck season.  we have been jumping-up ducks but arent real sure what kind they are...i think they are gadwalls but not 100% sure.  my oldest thinks they are teal or shovelers.  anybody else seeing any birds, or know what they might be?  we are mostly scouting in jasper and lawrence counties.

equipment we have --

we all have good camo outwear -- jackets, coats, coveralls, gloves, and boots -- we have flashlights, binoculars, stove for cooking if needed...lil buddy heater if needed...and all the basic camping supplies we might need.

this year we have about 20 decoys that are tx rigged -- mostly mallards with some teal and wood ducks thrown in.  i think that is about all we can carry.  the boys are too small to help carry much more than their gun. 

we have a good camo canoe...that we could use to shuttle gear on waters that have a boat ramp...but a lot of these ponds where we plan to go are quite a ways from a parking area...so not sure what is best solution to transport our gear.  i was thinking about getting some sort of canoe cart...and then load everything up in canoe...and pull it to hunting spot full of gear -- but worried that will be harder in practice than it sounds.  anybody have any other ideas to transport the gear? 

i have neoprene waders to use for decoy/bird retrieval, but the boys dont have waders. i bought the oldest boy hip boots last year but he outgrew them...i'd rather not spend the money on more til he grows a little more...so the boys will be shorebound.  I've looked at layout blinds...but havent pulled the trigger yet.  i think this is probably our best option for concealment but blinds for 3 will be expensive.  I would like to wait til Christmas to purchase for the boys...do you use layout blinds at the duck parks?  what are your thoughts on marsh seats? the areas we have been scouting have quite a bit of cover along the bank

i forgot to mention...the most important thing we have in my kids eyes...is a 7 month old black lab pup that has been going dove hunting with us, and we plan to take him with as well.  he is half the fun at this point. 

anybody have any tips to help reduce the learning curve? 

[duckydoty]

Get with a seasoned hunter and go hunting with them. Best tip I can give you.  Next best tip is just get out there and do it. Even at the duck parks. All of us started out green. 

Carrying gear can be a good idea and a bad one. I have bitten off more that I could chew on more than one occasion. I have a spot I like to hunt every now and then that is a mile or more back from the closest parking lot. Tried packing in all the gear I wanted and thought there had to be a better way. Went out and bought the largest deer cart on the market. It was rated for 450 pounds. Thought to myself, I can take more gear. About died trying to get 450 pounds of gear 1 mile in from parking lot through wet muddy fields. Now if I would have stuck to just the gear I would normally carry on my back, it might have worked out? 

Also tried the deer sled thing.....again over loaded and about died trying to get everything in to the hunting spot before shooting time. 

 

Finally learned to down size and hunted out of a canoe. Great way to hunt but can be a little slow paddling the 2 miles down the lake I hunted on.  After the hunt was done, had to paddle the 2 miles back up the lake. I did that 60 days in a row. Had strong arms after that season 

 

The most fun I've had was when I turned the Seado jet ski into a duck hunting rig. Used the prior deer sled as a tow behind decoy sled. Could fetch downed ducks at 65 miles per hour. 

Jet boats don't work good in duck water. Had mine out one December and it was 16 degrees outside. Ran over a weed bed and plugged the inboard jet intake. Had to strip down and go swimming that day to clear the intake. Not fun!

layout boats were used a couple of seasons ago. Loved them for smaller water. Not a good idea on big lakes though.

I can honestly tell you, I have never worked so hard at something to have fun

 

Hope some of this helped on at least what not to do, but that's half the fun of it all

 

dont be scared of the duck parks. A lot of the people that go there are pretty green themselves. Most over call. If you get set up in a blind. Call sparingly and see what happens, I'm sure you will have fun

[BilletHead]

   From what the BilletHeads have learned. Cart under canoe or kayak will work and save your back. BUT on gravel or grass or hard ground. Not river bottom mud that will stick to your wheels and make a bad trip. A jet sled works good too. Will float when wading and will slide right good over wet grass and weeds. Plenty of cover along the banks at the duck parks. Marsh stool to rest your rear and or stand by cover. We are primarily pond and field hunters and use layout blinds. Before this boat and motor we just used a kayak solo or when we both get to go one paddles in the gear and the other walks in. This is all I have to give by our limited experience other than that it is trail and error. Learn from every trip what works and what doesn't.

  Now to the birds you may of seen. Right now we have teal, shovlers, pintail, gadwall, lots of wooducks, and mallards in some of the places I have been. I am sure other species too,

BilletHead

[wily]

thanks to both of you for taking time to help us.  i think a medium sized jet sled might be the ticket to drag our stuff into the ponds and marshes we plan to hunt...leave the boat at home until we go to duck park.

i really want to take a day, and go up just kind of hang around one of the duck parks...to see how it works.  i havent ever seen how the draw process works...and i guess my fear is that we wouldnt get a spot...and we wouldnt be allowed to hunt.

am i thinking about that wrong?  are the drawings just for the pre-determined blind locations...if not chosen are there areas where you can walk-in hunt?  or do they just say sorry about your luck...and send you home to try again tomorrow?

[duckydoty]

Four Rivers has a walk in area if you do not draw into the drawing hunt. 50% of the allocated hunting spots are held by reservation holders and the other 50 % go to what we call the poor line. The poor line is when you walk in and try to draw into the hunting spots that are still available. Weekends and holidays are harder to draw in because more people show up. If you follow the drawings on the Mdc website you will notice trends when you would be more likely to hunt. Week days during the end of the season. Always have a back up plan.  If you don't draw in, find another spot you can walk into or try rabbit hunting somewhere for the day. The biggest thrill of it is drawing into a hunt that there is a good chance you won't be lucky enough to draw a pill low enough to hunt. I've had to put the duck gear down a for the day a few times, but I've also drawn good numbers on days where 50 or more parties were trying to hunt too. 

[BilletHead]

     Exactly what Ducky said although I am not one (so far) to do the draw thing. Here is some more info for you to shuffle through,

https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places/four-rivers-ca-august-busch-jr-memorial-wetlands

http://mdc7.mdc.mo.gov/applications/moatlas/AreaSummaryPage.aspx?txtAreaID=5701

BilletHead

[Buck]

A little off topic, but on the subject of Four Rivers, does anyone know if there's any huntable timber there? I'm originally from Arkansas and got spoiled on the green timber hunting there. I know Schell has a few holes but I haven't had the chance to make it out to Four Rivers yet. 

[BilletHead]

   Some when the river gets out,