What would you say is...

[bluwtr]

The most important aspect to successful duck hunting? Decoys, calling, camo? I would say that there is no single thing, rather a combination of all three (and then some), but I would like to hear what you guys all think.

Wes

[Wingman]

Location. Be where they want to be.

Wingman

[bluwtr]

True, but if the other three don't come together also?

[Delta Duck]

Good friend and a good dog!

[SCOOTER]

Where ever they want to be,had great hunts in a pot hole the size of a house, no calls, no decoys. They just wanted to pile in there. scout and scout and scout, watch the birds!!!! They'll tell you all you need to know.

[Bigpoppa]

Location plain and simple. If your location is good enough, you dont need calling, dont have to be set up and could wear blaze orange. This is far fetched but if you have a good place to go duck hunting very little skill is needed. Fact.

[Bustin' Ducks]

Good hunting buddies...then location..Even if there are NO ducks..you and the buds can give each other a laugh!!

[GulfCoast]

Location, then calling, and all decoy issues as to size and placement dead last.

[smwrsth]

calling is not as important as decoys being hidden is more important than calling

[Anatidae]

A 'Spinner'

Seriously......Location is the key.

True, but if the other three don't come together also?

If you're where the ducks AREN'T, then the other 3 aren't gonna even enter into the equation. (By the way....what other 3 are you talking about?)

I'd stick with your observation about it being a product of many things, but I'd have to say that location is most important if you want to have a better-than-average chance at success.

Also, if you're in the right location, you won't need a call OR decoys.....just a shotgun (but then that wouldn't be nearly as much fun).....and as far as which one is more important (decoys or calling)?.....that depends alot on how bad the calling is.

(Location also includes 'Scouting')

[eastwoods]

For me, it's being with the kids and a close second would be not being in a hurry; i.e., bein' there to take a nap before sun-up or not worryin' about when it's time to quit, is success.

Of those three, I'd choose good callin' cuz I hunt the same blind nearly everyday.

Of course if killin' ducks is what your after to call it "success" then bein' in the right place at the right time is definetly all it takes. I like to refer to this in my huntin' circles as being at "the apex of the migration" or in with "the motherload" or "flight ducks" or "new ducks" and sometimes "tornado".

I also really enjoy watching ducks build in number and usage in a particular habitat and seeing the peak and then watching the numbers dwindle to nothing only to watch another cycle and peak. Something about seeing the entire process of a small portion of the migration thrills me. Used to these events would take 7 to 10 days. Now it seems the norm for these events is just 2 to 3 days. I equate the reduction with pressure.

When I was younger I liked to pattern ducks when the number of ducks in the area were low. When theres a lot of ducks theres always some doing what your doing. When there's not very many they may feed every three days and loaf roost 2 days. I always enjoyed thinking I'd figured them out. Along these same lines would be scouting and finding them. I don't do this anymore, just to lazy.

[Anatidae]

Interesting comments.....'went and got all philosophical on us, didn't ya? That's good....'got me thinking. (Hmmmmm...... ..... ..... ...... .....Soooo, in that case, I guess the question would've read...."what would you say......is the most important aspect to successfully 'getting as close to waterfowl for most practical purposes'?"

What are the 3 'aspects' everybody keeps talking about? ....I haven't seen'em listed, YET! So far I've seen.....

• decoys, calling and camo
• location (but Rob was just listing the 'most important')
• Good friend and a good dog
• hunting buddies and location
• location and blaze orange
• location, my $140 'custom' acrylic call, and $19/dz decoys
• decoys and being hidden more important than calling (I agree....assuming you're in the right location)
• 'Spinner' (in jest)
• location, no call/no decoys, shotgun (no fun)
• decoys more important if calling sucks
• calling more important if decoys suck
• being with the kids, sleeping, and shooting after hours (not worrying about when to quit) is 'success'.......but of those 3 (Which three......not the ones you just listed), calling is most important (because I'm too old and lazy - I just hunt the same ole spot every time out) (that cracks me up)........but if you want to kill something, then being in the right spot at the right time is key to success (even though I'd never define 'success' by how many I killed).

'Eastwood'.....I think I understood what you meant.....but I'm just not convinced YOU did. (hehehehe) Hey.....how do you manage to get any sleep before shooting time, with kids around, anyway?

So if we wanted to narrow it down to 3....what about......

• Conservation
• Access
• Fundamentals

While we're on 'aspects' of duck hunting, should we leave-off 'wingshooting' so we can cleverly avoid the typical negative stereotyping that labels ALL hunters as "in it for the KILL"? Maybe we could convince folks that we only employ shotguns in cases of self-defense......i.e. when we are 'too successful' at getting close enough to ducks (for most practical purposes), and narrowly escaped being FLOGGED to death!

[landscaper]

My vote is also or location, location, location.

I hunted a hole for several seasons, with some friends, that was highly successful. Season after season a group of guy hunted just about 100 yards from us with lots of dekes, great looking spreads, good calling, expensive boats etc. and fired very few shots at ducks that would pass directly over them to drop in on us with very little calling and typically mediocre spreads, many times with us standing in plain view in knee deep water.(man was that a long sentence or what?)

Location, location, locatoin

[BOSS HAWG JR.]

I like to follow the philosophy of Mr. Phil Robertson the "Duck Commander".

1- Number of Ducks
2- Which Flyway you hunt
3-General area you hunt
4- Exact spot you hunt
5- Weather
6- Concealment
7- Calling
8- Decoy placement
9- Try not to shoot @ ducks over 35 yards
10- Being able to shoot (Practice on the skeet range)

*If you are as good a shot as Delta Duck, number 10 does not apply to you.

[Wingman]

Well...I had a blind one year in a cornfield swag. The swag was only about 10 yards wide at normal water level..maybe 20...and about 1/2 mile long. The ducks worked it good, and alot of birds were using it. I'm talking whole ears of corn left in the field when they cut it.

I went in there with two groups and another guide one morning. Temp was about 25, the blind hole was open with about knee deep water.

I went to a lone tree down on the end of that swag that had been waist deep the day before. Alas, I entered the hole by the tree and it was not even ankle deep and looked like the Jackson Bandits arena. I figured all was lost, so I rode my fourwheeler thru the ice and turned it into a slushy, choppy mess. The decoys were sitting on their side in the ice, wouldn't even float. I stomped divets into the dry ground and put dekes in the holes. We stood under the limbs of that cypress and shot 3 limits in about 2 hours. Every dead duck went on the ground beside the dekes.

The guide that went into the cornfield blind said every duck came down the swag, picked up high over the blind, and dropped in on us.

Go figure. I know it wasn't the calling because I hardly touched the thang, and I sure as heck don't think the sideways dekes were doing the work.

Wingman