duck hunting

Duck Hunting Report: Pintails by Sneak Boat in Missouri’s Habitat Flats

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 10:31:46 -0500

Field & Stream’s shotgun editor, Phil Bourjaily, headed to the Habitat Flats duck lodge near Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Missouri, which comprises 2,200 intensively managed acres of flooded corn, moist soil plants and rest areas attracting and holding a huge amount of ducks throughout the season. Find out how the acreage is maintained and follow Phil and his partners on a sneak boat hunt, from camo prep to the moment the pintails fall from the sky.

The Land of a Million Ducks

fieldandstream-editor — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 12:00:00 -0400

Duck, Goose, and Upland Bird Hunting Tips from Jerome B. Robinson

fieldandstream-editor — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 11:00:00 -0400

Duck Hunting Forecast 2006: The survey says you'll see better shooting this season

fieldandstream-editor — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 08:15:00 -0400

Jerry's Tips: March 2006

fieldandstream-editor — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 04:15:00 -0500

Attract Shy Gobblers
Turkeys don't become decoy shy, but some toms do get "turkey shy" after they've lost a few fights. These subdominant birds are wary of any aggressive-looking rival and will avoid a decoy in the menacing strut or half-strut position. Instead, use a meek standing jake that appears too small to be dangerous. Combine it with a single hen, then use soft, seductive hen calls.

Keep Your Retriever Safe
Don't encourage your retriever to hit the water with the high-speed leaps you see at field trials. The leaps are impressive to watch, but in real hunting conditions, dogs that hit the water hard can get hurt by submerged rocks or logs. Instead, work your dog frequently where harmless but annoying underwater obstacles slow his entry. He will quickly learn to jump with caution.

Avoid Lightning Strikes
During thunderstorms, crouch on a foam mattress or pack of clothes to minimize your body footprint and to insulate your feet from the ground. Don't be the tallest thing around. Avoid high ground, clearings, large trees, and tent poles. In boats, lay fishing rods flat, lower radio antennae, keep feet and hands out of the water, sit low, and don't touch the radio or other metal objects.

Fish Smarter
Long casts are impressive, but you'll work more water and catch more fish if you start short and lengthen each subsequent cast by 10 feet. By varying the distance, you make your lure swing on a different arc with each retrieve. It will pass through more positions where fish may be holding. After you've covered all the water you can reach, change position and begin again.

Protect Trailer Lights
When boat-trailer lights fail, it's usually because corrosion has caused a defective ground. For a more durable connection, drill a hole in the trailer tongue to fit a stainless-steel screw. Size doesn't matter. Polish the area around the hole with sandpaper to expose new metal. Insert the screw through the end of the ground wire terminal and tighten it against the exposed metal.

New Photo Gallery: 19 shots from professional photographer Greg Sweney

fieldandstream-editor — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 04:25:00 -0500

Greg Sweney lives in Duvall, Washington, a small town just outside of Seattle. He is primarily a commercial advertising photographer but started taking hunting and fishing shots while out chasing steelhead, salmon, ducks, and upland birds in the Snoqualmie Valley and found a market for them with companies like Federal, Browning, and, of course, Field & Stream. He's been shooting professionally for 12 years.

Sweney grew up in Georgia, the son of an abstract painter and the grandson of a wildlife artist who used to paint for Field & Stream back in the 1940s. He's married to his high school sweetheart and has two children: daughter Cassidy (who is 5 1/2), and son Carson (who is 3). His black Lab, Hopper, is 2.

Click here to enter the photo gallery.

And keep an eye out for Sweney's shots of a recent whitewater walleye adventure in Canada with Field & Stream editor-at-large T. Edward Nickens in our upcoming May issue.

Field Test: The Stoeger P350 Shotgun

fieldandstream-editor — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 04:05:00 -0500

THE INSIDE STORY Stoeger's new P350 is a 3 Â¿Â¿-inch magnum pump made for duck blinds, goose pits, and the turkey woods. With its rotary bolt, extra-long forearm, tall vent rib, and grooved synthetic buttstock, it bears a strong resemblance to sister company Benelli's Nova pump. Made by Vursan in Turkey, the P350 carries a price tag so low that it reads like a typo.

With its turkey choke installed, the P350 handled Federal Heavyweights with aplomb, outshooting my pet Mossberg 835 turkey gun. The P350 put its pellets right where I pointed it, although the large orange bead is bigger than I would choose for accurate turkey shooting. When I covered up the head of a turkey target with that orange blob, scads of holes appeared in my paper gobbler's vitals after I pulled the mushy-but-not-too-heavy (about 5 pounds) trigger.

I tested a 26-inch barreled version, which was heavy enough to absorb the recoil of heavy waterfowl loads. Its weight-forward balance smoothed my swing when I shot clay targets. My first sample gun had magazine latch problems, which resulted in the occasional jam when I loaded three shells. I exchanged it for another, which functioned properly.

The alloy-receivered P350 comes apart easily for cleaning. Looking at its innards, I was impressed by the stoutness of the action bars, which can often bend and bind on pump guns. Now, for the nitpicking: The safety button is too small, the bead is too big, and it should come with a shim kit for those who would prefer less drop in the stock.

GAUGE 12, 3 1/2-inch magnum chamber

PRICE $329 in camo; $269 in black

WEIGHT 7 pounds 11 ounces with 26-inch barrel

BARREL 26-inch, vent rib (tested); 18 Â¿Â¿-, 24-, and 28-inch available; orange bead; comes with Cylinder, IC, M, F, and Turkey chokes

STOCK Synthetic, Advantage Timber HD camo (tested); also available in Max-4 and basic black

STOCK DIMENSIONS 1 5/8 inches at comb, 2 Â¿Â¿ inches at heel, 14 Â¿Â¿-inch length of pull

CONTACT stoegerindustries.com

Hot New Shotgun: The Remington 105 CTi

fieldandstream-editor — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 04:05:00 -0500

Remington's new 105 CTi autoloader is the most innovative new shotgun I've seen in a long time. The company set the standard for all-load autos with the 11-87 almost 20 years ago, but had fallen behind the "B" guns (Browning, Beretta, Benelli). This state-of-the-art auto catches Remington up with the competition and maybe even puts it a step ahead.

What's so great about this gun? It's light, for one thing. CTi stands for Carbon/Titanium. The receiver is made from a piece of skeletonized titanium with a carbon fiber insert filling in the holes. The rib is carbon fiber as well. The result is a gun with the solid strength, profile and feel of an 1100/11-87, that weighs a good pound less. The 12 gauge 105 CTi with a 28-inch barrel comes in right about 7 pounds Â¿Â¿Â¿ perfect for carrying all day through waist-deep CRP grasses after pheasants.

You'll notice, too, that there's no ejection port in the side of the receiver; the 105 CTi is the first bottom-ejecting autoloader ever made. We left-handers will love that feature, as will trap and skeet shooters, whose empty hulls will be deposited in a neat pile about a yard in front of their toes. Waterfowlers won't have to worry about bouncing empties off the head of the shooter to their right anymore, either. To load the gun you simply open the bolt and shove a cartridge up the magazine tube. The action shuts automatically, whisking the shell into the chamber.

Finally, the 105 Cti kicks less than any autoloader I've ever shot. It has a soft R3 recoil pad on the butt, but the real secret is the unique oil-filled shock absorber called a "rate reducer" in the stock. The rate reducer's main job is to control the speed of the bolt so the gun can function without beating itself to pieces. The faster the bolt comes back, the more the oil resists. As a pleasant side effect, the rate reducer absorbs the recoil energy of the bolt and other moving parts in the gun. I always believed 1100s and 11-87s to be the softest shooting of all gas guns, but the 105's recoil is even milder.

In late January, I was one of a group of five writers Remington invited to Deer Creek Lodge in Sebree, Kentucky. We were the first people not involved with the project to shoot the new gun. In two days we ran a couple of hundred rounds apiece through the 105s at pheasants, quail, and flighted mallards. The guns functioned with light game loads and high velocity waterfowl ammo alike, handling smartly and soaking up recoil. I should mention that the guns we shot were not final production models. They did exhibit a couple of small glitches with the trigger and extractor that have already been fixed as of this writing.

The 105 CTi has been a long time in getting off the drawing board and into the hands of shooters (I think the "05" in its model number refers to its intended year of release). It will be available at first with a satin-finished walnut stock and blued metal, in 12 gauge with either a 26 or 28-inch overbored barrel. The gun lists for about $1200, and, frankly, I had expected a higher price tag after looking at and shooting it. Remington plans to have them available before mid-year.

Pickup Lines

fieldandstream-editor — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 10:50:00 -0400

Pulling in dozens of floating decoys after a hunt is a task burdensome enough to make you forget all about the easy incomers you dispatched at dawn. But you can make quick work of the chore with these two tricks.

PADDLE PICKER-UPPER
With a handsaw, a band saw, or a small handheld rotary cutting tool, cut a 1/2-inch angled slot 1 inch deep into each edge of your duck-boat paddle's blade. Slant the slots about 45 degrees away from the handle. File down the rough edges. The slots won't greatly affect your stroke, and you'll be able to reach out from the boat and snag decoy lines from much farther away.

GRAPPLE LINE
Tie 30 feet of decoy line to a 6- or 8-ounce lead sinker. Twist a half-dozen screws into the sinker at odd angles until they protrude by 1/2 inch. To use, toss the weight beyond your setup and retrieve.

The Portable Pond

fieldandstream-editor — Fri, 30 Sep 2005 05:05:00 -0400

Above our heads, the throaty squeals of drake wigeon had our 4-year-old black Lab, Maggie, shaking in anticipation. The knot of 50 birds turned a tight circle out in front of us, then bored straight into our blocks.

We shot, and a pair of drakes dropped into the grass. "One more bunch like that," said my wife, Julie, "and we can roll up the pond and go home."

The "pond" Julie was referring to was actually nothing more than two pieces of lightweight plastic sheeting made to look like a small body of water. It worked perfectly for us that morning and can do the same for you. Here's how we set it up:

First, we determined via scouting that the wigeon were making daily flights to a large short-cropped pasture to feed on the green grass. However, there was no natural feature-such as a pond or sheet water-to concentrate the birds in any one area. So I went out and bought two 250-square-foot rolls of 3 mil clear plastic sheeting, which-not unlike the surface of water-is translucent and reflective.

Before daylight, Julie and I spread the two rolls out on the grass and rounded the corners with scissors. This simulated a pond roughly 15x20 feet in size. We secured the edges with plastic tent stakes. Eighteen wigeon decoys and some strategically placed tufts of grass on top of the plastic sheeting finished the aquatic illusion.

Finally, we set out a pair of low-profile laydown blinds on the upwind edge of the plastic, which apparently looked very much like water to our bag limits of wigeon. Then we rolled up our pond and went home.