Teal Season

Well...its about that time of year again. First up we have Canada geese at the start of September, followed by Teal season. I don't know how many AR readers are out there, but thats what I am and thats how I'm going to be describing things, from an AR standpoint!

Here are a few tips to think about while looking for blue and greenwing teal. First of all, don't over do it.

Honestly, Teal aren't very bright. Especially this early in the year. You can do just about anything and get teal in the decoys. So, don't strain yourself, don't overwork to make your spread look good. Throw out about a dozen decoys, and maybe some full body decoys on land, and your good to go.

When you are packing your decoys, to get the ultimate realism, I recommend packing just hen decoys. This isn't completley necessary, but it does bring in a bit more realism. When we go out, we take about one dozen mallard hen decoys, throw in a couple of diver hens just for the smaller size, and about a half dozen full body mallard hens.

Remember...its going to be hot. Don't be afraid to where shorts, or a short sleeved shirt.

If you just remember this, and be where the birds want to be, you can be successful

NC Residential Goose Season

The long off season has been tough, but soon enough (Sept. 1) the early residential goose season will be upon us here in NC. Alex, Tom and Corey mentioned a ton of good tips in their post, so don't miss those!

Myself, I concentrate on hunting bodies of water. Here's my early season tips....

1) Go to the range and "knock the dust of". Shoot you shotgun, and get some practice in.
2) Double check your choke, to assure you have the one you prefer for geese.
3) Double check equipment... boat, decoys (clean & paint), rigging, calls, shells, gun - the whole 9 yards.
4) Check the regulation digest, and note any changes from last season (bag limits, shooting hours, plug restriction, etc). Be legal - be a Sportsman.

http://www.ncwildlife.org/pg04_HuntingTrapping/pg4b1.htm

5) Scout. This is the single most important tip I can give you. Scout early morning, mid day, and late afternoon.
6) Show up early on opening day, and try and prepare a temporary shore blind using the native vegetation. Blend in (fresh vegetation on blinds match the surroundings better), and don't waste the efforts of building a permanent blind that may be useless later in the season. Using a hatchet and pruning sheers, a nice temporary blind can be made in 15-20 mins. of effort.

As for hunting..... I try and find where the geese roost, and which way they normally leave the roost. Then, I'll set up close by in that path. The geese normally feed morning and afternoon, so day break till 10:00 is usually a key time to be in the blind, and in the afternoon until sunset when they return from the fields. For my experiences, I do better using a dozen or two floaters. If the geese are in large flocks, it's hard to get them to decoy (try to bust them up while scouting). Singles, doubles, triples will be easier to decoy - but if you are at the right location, large flocks will decoy too.

As for calling.... I'll call to get their attention. Once they seem to see the spread and are approaching I don't call, unless it's just a couple short confidence calls.

Have fun, be safe, and good luck to you all.

Share the passion,
Troy Smart

AC Caldwell County DU

Lenoir, NC

MD Early Honker Season

With Marylands Resident Goose season at t-minus 17 days the anticipation is starting to get overwhelming. Last years head count for resident Canada Geese was over 86,000 in the state of MD. With these numbers steadily on the rise the DNR has allowed special early season regulations to help the hunters manage this population. For resident goose season only, hunters will now be allowed to use unplugged guns. Shooting hours have also been extended to 1 half hour before sunrise and 1 half hour after sunset. I agree with the shooting hour extension and I think it will be the reason alot of guys, including my self will get a limit. The unplugged guns may help, but I fear it will only help people wound more birds. Being able to hold 5 shells in your gun is going to allow hunters to shoot those 4th and 5th shots at birds that are leaving the scene and may be out of a good kill range. Hopefully this will not be the case.

A few things to keep in mind when hitting the field this September.

1. Stick to small family groups of decoys. If you are watching the birds in the fields you will see these types of groups feeding. No need to haul out your whole spread in September. It will only keep birds out of your spot and make you break a sweat more than you need to. Only use enough decoys to direct the birds to your kill hole.

2. Tempatures here in MD have been in the 90's and have hit 100 on occasion. Chances are come September 1st it isnt going to be much cooler. Dont kill yourself. If you are hunting from a layout blind or a good pit there is no reason why you cant go out in the field in shorts and a t-shirt. I know everyone swears up and down about good camo and being concealed and I do agree in most circumstance's but its not worth getting heat exhaustion. Make sure you bring plenty of water for yourself and just as importantly your dog. You have to remember dogs have a year round coat on and with them doing most of the real work while out in the field we owe it to them to keep them as comfortable as possible.

3. When calling early season geese you have to remember that alot of these birds are still youngsters and have not had any trips up and down the flyway. If you are working a flock of birds to your spread and you shoot half of the flock and the rest take off. Stay in your blind and continue to call those birds that just left. You may be surprised to see them turn right around and come back to you again. Thats the cool thing about early season geese. They have never heard a goose call, they have never seen a decoy, and they have never been shot at. Use this to your advantage.

Good luck this early season and be safe!

Cory Dukehart

SE PA Early Goose

Looks like early goose season here in SE PA is going to be great! Went scouting at my favorite early season spot and saw good things to come. Plenty of birds hanging out on my pond and tons of sign that they are feeding the grassy areas around it.

My tip for guys looking for early season (resident) geese is look to meadows, ponds or creek banks. Geese like to hit green food this time of year, and they don't travel far when its hot. An open meadow with a creek running through it is almost the perfect spot.

Make sure you scout to be sure the birds are using the area, and take advantage of natural cover if possible. If there's none available brush up with some killer weed that matches your hunting spot! I like to keep my decoy spreads small. Local geese are still hanging out in their family groups. A large spread will look out of place to them. Also remember that local geese are just that "local" so they know how many other geese are around. Adjust your decoy spread to what you see in the fields feeding.

Above is a picture of the aftermath of a successful resident goose hunt last season.

Good Luck!.....................Tom

Preparing for your season

Waterfowl season is just around the corner, is it not? Whether or not you will be hunting for Canada Geese or Teal in september, or just waiting a little bit longer for the regular duck season to roll around, there are things that need to be done to make things go smoother for that opening day. I have taken ten of the most important things that you should do before the season (in no specific order) and posted them here to give you an idea of what can be done to give you an easier time. These 10 items are my personal opinions, and you can rank them how you want, or substitute them with what you want.

1. Make sure your decoys have line and weights attached. I can't tell you how many times in the past I have been setting out decoys, to find out a few of them have no line or weights. Since you will have your decoys out, go ahead and check the line that you already have tied to your decoys, and make sure there isn't anything wrong with it, such as dry-rotting or breaking.

2. Test your waders. DO THIS NOW WHILE IT IS WARM. DO NOT WAIT. I can't stress to you enough how much you will hate finding a hole in your waders as soon as you step into the icy waters on opening morning. Check your waders now, while the water is warm. If you do have a hole, there are wader repair kits that you can buy. What we have done in the past is use "shoe goo". Its basically a shoe repair glue that you can put over the whole and fix the problem until you are able to finance a new set of waders. But if your one of those people who will wait until the last day, I have heard that you can take a shotgun shell (make sure its been shot) and melt it over the whole. That will give a temporary fix.

3. Stock up on stuff. Need shells? Decoys? Calls? Now is the time to get those things. Ordering online during duck season is hard, it will take the company a little while longer to get things shipped. Order stuff now, during the off season, and make life easier on companies.

4. Check in on the duck blind. If you hunt a pit blind, make sure there isn't any water thats trapped in there from rains....pump it out. Brush up your blinds, fix up the place a little bit.

5. If needed, repaint your decoys. If they are looking a little worn out from last season, or from sitting useless all summer, look into some decoy painting kits to keep your spread looking alive.

6. SCOUT. This should actually probably be at the top. Scouting is the key to a succesful hunt. If you are not where the ducks want to be, then you are going to have a rough time. Depending on where you live, start your scouting about a month ahead of time. For some people, now would be an excellent time to start. Others have a couple more months to begin.

7. Get the dog in shape. Honestly this should have been going on all summer. Starting now will remind your dog of what to do in hunting situations, but if there hasn't been any work all summer, than your dog may not be up to the challenges it was last season. (Don't feel bad, I havn't done much at all with mine.)

8. Go ahead and check up on your contacts. If you have permission to hunt private property, check in on the landowner. Make sure it is still okay to hunt their land, and offer to give them any help that they may need around their land.

9. Practice your calling. NOW is the time to begin practicing...not when your in the blind. If you don't know how to call, buy yourself a tape and learn. An even better way would be to go out to a park or other area where there may be birds that you are trying to imitate, and listen to how they communicate with each other. There is no greater teacher than the duck itself.

10. Check up on the new rules and regulations for the upcoming season. I believe most states regs. come out in August, so they should be out soon. Check the rules, make sure your not doing anything wrong. Its better to know what to do now, than to know what you should have done then.

--Alex

ATTENTION GOOSE HUNTERS: The diver destroyers, although it may sound like a duck only organization, is in need of a goose hunter to share some hunts, tricks, and tips with the waterfowling community. If any of you out there have great experience with Canadas, Snows, or Specks, please send an email to us diverdestroyers@hotmail.com and let us know if you would be interested in helping familiarize those of us who aren't so hot in the goose section. Thanks!!

First Post!!

Let me give you guys a heads up first. The period button on my keyboard is not working, so there may be a few grammar screw ups until I fix it! Currently I am having to copy and paste periods into my typing.



This is the first post on the Diver Destroyers website!! As you all know, the 2007 - 2008 hunting season is starting to come around. I don't have anything to post as far as hunting outings go, because I don't want to recall my hunts from the past seasons. As the season rolls around, there will be more things posted up for you reading enjoyment!


As for right now, lets look at equipment for this year.


Avery Outdoors has expanded their already popular Greenhead Gear decoy line to include their Life-Size Mallard Sleepers, and Life-Size Mallard No-Head Feeders. You can also get these decoys in the Black Duck species!









These decoys will add life-like realism to any decoy spread, and will most likely help with the most weary of birds!

In the last issue of the Ducks Unlimited magazine, you can see and read about the new dog stand Avery has come out with. This stand, the RUFF Stand Field System, weighs only 15 pounds, holds 150 pounds, has 6 adjustable height settings. You can read all about and see photos at this site!

The latest Wildfowl Magazine is actually an equipment issue, and holds lots and lots of valuable information for the waterfowl enthusiest. So does the Ducks Unlimited magazine. Pick up an issue today and see all the new gear to help get you through another promising season!



Hey guys, once the poll is up and running, whenever that is, please take the time to select your choice. Once the poll is done, I'll post the results up and let you all know what everyone said!