Next Year....What will you do different!

[mpkowal]

I used to shoot Winchester Experts and they shot fine ,but Very Dirty.I switched to Hevi Metal and they pattern extremely well out of our Maxus,s ? so I get them when I can. I tried Winchester Bismuth #1s and they flat out murder the geese.Okay I don't pay retail as my Son sells them st his store. They are still pricey but I shoot less because I kill them Dead on the first shot and even shot a few Mallards with them and no destruction of the bird. Soy plan is to buy as many as I can during the off season.
I also plan on adding some DSDs because I have mote access to drive right to where we set up . Oh yeah I will be buying more Sitka , I know but remember You get what you pay for.Enjoy the off season as best you can as it will be hunting season again soon Mike.

 

[fatlab]

Build a couple blinds in new spots I just learned, a ton of dog work and getting the big boat up and ready. It needs a blind and a few other things. I am going to hunt a lot more divers as that's what I have close to home. So digging out long lines, re-rigging etc

Hope to get my kids out a few more times. This was our last hunt of the year and I took them and my buddy and his two girls. 4 girls ages 6-11 in the blind was a new experience for me lol

 

[mpkowal]

Duck hunting expensive.
Taking kids Priceless.

 

[Bluesclues]

I plan to hunt ducks more on water. The last few seasons have been probably 80% field goose hunts. The plan is to make that more 50/50. Got the bug again for ducks over water this season.

Switched a few seasons back from Win Xperts to Rem Sportsman and have been very happy. Now using the sportsman in #4 for ducks and #2 for geese.

And lastly, if I can find some Sitka at a reasonable price I plan to be making the move to that line of gear.

 

[A5B]

Transition to all tss for waterfowl, no more steel shot for me.

Build my new sneak boat.

Rebuild my duck decoy spread, time too pass on my old decoys too the up and comes in the family.

Take more out of state trips

 

[Mallardmasher]

I will hunt more flooded corn.

Traitor, lol, I would also….if

 

[Mallardmasher]

Transition to all tss for waterfowl, no more steel shot for me.

Build my new sneak boat.

Rebuild my duck decoy spread, time too pass on my old decoys too the up and comes in the family.

Take more out of state trips

I just bought some TSS for 30$ pound. Gonna load it for geese

 

[Mallardmasher]

Well I know that some of you have one last weekend. But my hunting is done. So I am starting to clean and stow gear and evaluating next year. There are some things that we will be changing.

1. We will be getting invisaman blinds for next year. With the log gone we have to adjust to new conditions. Coffin blinds are great for the mud but will not work in 2' of water which is part of the tide cycle in our prefered location. We think this may be a potential solution. We are at least going to give them a go. They are stupid expensive so we have to start saving now.


2. I am evaluating my shotgun shell choices. I will NEVER buy winchester shells again. There was a marked difference between shooting Federals, Kent, and Winchesters. Same shooter, way different results especially at the end of the season when the birds are shy and you have to set up a little further from the decoys to get any action. I had numerous birds get knocked down then suddenly revive and fly away! More than any other year I can remember. I lost birds that swam away. Just not hit hard enough.

The question I am wrestling with is if I go away from steel and go to one of the heavy shot alternatives. I have not done this due to the expense. But when I look back at my season what I am realizing is the sheer number of shots I am taking waterswatting crippled birds. If an alternative to steel would give me better performance I might be able to justify the extra expense by actually using less shells.

Any thoughts on what to avoid or what to get?

We have it pretty dialed in but there is always room to improve and tweek.

What are your thoughts after going through the season?

I love the heavy metal shot shells when I get them on sale, I shoot #6. Stone dead ducks. Two water swats all year for quite a few trips,

 

[WidgeonmanGH]

I am investigating BOSS 3/5s.

If I assume a limit of birds per box of shells with steel. Which I did better than that some trips but right up to the edge on others. That means that I would have to kill a limit of birds with 13 shells vs 25 to make it come out even financially. But when I think of the number of waterswats It may actually achieve that.

In addition, I think of the number of times I feathered birds but they did not fall. Ot ones that fell that pulled the ole submarine trick and were not retrieved. The extra $100 may actually be worth it.

Hmmmm........

 

[Anchovy Andrew]

Work on getting a petition together and letter to the commission to end flooded corn adding in invisimans, long lines setups and a new secret weapon for hunting off rocks.