Canada Goose Hunting Tips

By Chad Haabala

Each evening when I watch the sun sink down into Montana, I put another X on the calender and tally the number of days left. Not the number of days until my birthday, and no, not the number of days until Christmas, it’s something even better than that. I’m talking about early goose [...]

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, [...]

The Molt Migration

By PJ Maguire

One thing that waterfowl hunters can always learn more about is the migration patterns of ducks and geese. To be successful as a waterfowl hunter it is important to understand how and why ducks and geese use certain migration patterns. Of course weather, moon phases and the calendar all play a major role [...]

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 [...]

Concealing Field Blinds

Peas
Without a doubt, the introduction of layout blinds is one of the biggest assets to field hunters in the past decade. Every year, existing models get makeovers adding better modifications. There are many brands on the market, and many models can be found of each. I’ve hunted out of most of the major brands on [...]

Shotgun Shooting – The Art of Missing

There has been a lot written about shooting shotguns and the different roles of shot size, chokes, etc. It seems to me that every article I have read about shooting agrees on one thing; you can have the right choke with the right load, but if you cannot shoot, it won’t matter. In my opinion, [...]

Tips for Cleaning Ducks & Geese

Cleaning Ducks – Cleaning Geese – Wild Game Bird Cleaning
By Chris Hustad
This is one of my favorite ways to clean waterfowl, and I learned it around 15 years ago. It’s typically best for cleaning ducks, smaller Canada geese, snow geese and upland game birds. I do not recommend this method on big Canada geese, give [...]

Hunting Dog Basics

By PJ Maguire
Dogs are companions, first and foremost. As hunters with retrievers, we should always keep that in mind when training, hunting or playing with our dogs. The vast majority of your retriever’s life will be spent going for walks and chasing butterflies, not hunting. However, it is easy for us to forget that when [...]

Motion Decoys in your Spread

By PJ Maguire
Nothing will cause wary waterfowl to stay clear of shotgun range like lifeless decoys. Allowing your duck or goose decoys to appear alive or have motion will increase your success in the water or field. Motion will bring birds closer to the decoys providing better and less-crippling shots. In this article, I will [...]

Early Season Canada Goose Hunting Tips

By Chris Hustad

Resident Canada goose populations have exploded in recent years all over the country. It’s like night and day comparing the amount of geese around compared to the previous decade. As a result, there’s more and more hunters taking the field each September, and for good reason. If you’re new to the early season [...]

Mossberg 835 Shotgun Cleaning Instructions

By L. Cater (aka greenster)
Here’s the story on the Mossberg 835 shotgun. A friend purchased it for $25. It somehow made it to the bottom of a lake for 6 days before it was recovered. When it was brought to me the outside was clean, but I could not put in a shell or even [...]