Lanyard Instructions

By Erik Laing
As waterfowlers, we are often the do-it-yourself types. After all, when it really counts our equipment needs to simply enough, work. It’s important when you’re trying to trick the wariest of opponents, protect us from Mother Nature, and keep us comfortable. It’s no wonder why most people don’t make or maintain a lot [...]

The Four Subspecies of the Common Eider in North America

By The Downeast Duck Hunter

The Hudson Bay Eider, note the band on it’s leg…

Due to my proximity in Downeast Maine, I figure that almost 100% of my duck hunting takes place on the Atlantic Ocean. Within my bag exists the likes of the bufflehead, common goldeneye, old squaw, lesser scaup, merganser, butter bill scoter, surf [...]

How to Paint Black Duck Decoys

By John “crewchief252″ Potts
This month, I thought we would do an easy duck decoy. A black duck is a good first decoy, very little fancy techniques, a few basic colors, and you have a nice working decoy that will bring in the birds.
Mars Black
Titanium White
Ultramarine Blue
Yellow Ochre
Raw Sienna

First off, if you are painting an already [...]

The Beginning of Duck Bands

By Chris Hustad

It was right around first light when I ventured outside of our sleeping quarters at J. Clark Salyer National Refuge Headquarters near Upham, ND last week (in early September). I noticed the picnic table was still full of grills, empty plates of goose, and some empty beer cans. Luckily, I packed it in [...]

How to Paint Scaup “Bluebill” Decoys

By John “crewchief252″ Potts
I use Liquitex acrylics, but any paint will do, and they are all very basic colors.
TITANUIM WHITE
MEDIUM PURPLE
MARS BLACK
BURNT UMBER
PAYNES GREY
HOOKERS GREEN
CADMIUN YELLOW ( MEDIUM )
First off, if you are painting an already painted deek, refer to my previous article about painting decoys as to how to prepare the decoy. If it [...]

Hunting the Common Eider in Maine

By Tony “Duckdiesel” Beal
The Early Bird Gets the Worm, not so…
As a life-long learner, I embrace what life has to offer and love to put my thinking into action. Generally speaking in terms of great sea duck hunting in Maine and elsewhere, one must be set up and ready before the first crack of dawn. [...]

Public Land Pursuit

By Darren Digby
“Yamaha783″
The idea of public hunting land, for many hunters, is both a windfall and a thorn in the side. Sure it’s a place to go for a few birds, but all too often a few birds in the bag come at the cost of a huge headache from overcrowded acreage. After all, [...]

GPS and Hunting – A Primer Course

By Erik Laing (kiskadinna)

Every year, without fail, there is a new gadget that comes along – designed to improve the lives of duck hunters. But in reality, many quickly fade in popularity because they just aren’t useful. However, every once in a while something comes along that truly does make our lives easier as hunters, [...]

Painting Decoys

Painting Decoys
By John Potts (aka Crewchief 252)

I see this question come up on every duck hunting website I have ever visited. I’ve also seen a dozen ways to do this, and they all seem to work. It’s just a matter of which one you want to use. This is my technique for repainting duck decoys [...]

Shotgun Shell Ballistics & Penetration

By Marvin McDonald ( J J Mac )

I have investigated the effect of shot size and velocity on penetration in waterfowl. I decided to publish the results because others might be interested as well.
The recommendation most commonly encountered in the DHC Forums for adequate penetration for clean kills with steel shot is a velocity of [...]

Natural Born Hunters

By PJ Maguire
Some dogs have it, and some dogs don’t. Usually it is instincts that separate the great gundogs from the rest. Selecting a gundog from good lineage is typically the best way to ensure that your pup will hunt. I have found that there are some exceptions to this rule, good and bad. In [...]

Crazy For Duck Bands

By PJ Maguire

Every year the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service and agencies ran by the states, place leg bands on a variety of birds across the country. Migratory birds, like ducks, geese, and most recently doves are some of the most commonly banded birds. Harvesting a bird sporting a leg band is a special joy [...]