duck Archives - RETAY SHOTGUNS

By Justin Hunold

In the world of waterfowling we often get a few cracks a year at birds that are unaware that 30 minutes before the sunrise on that morning means that they need to start dodging shots like a strike aircraft dodges triple A. With all waterfowl seasons staggered in many states between an Early Resident Goose, Teal Season , Duck Season, Special Regulations, Late Season and then Spring Snow Goose season we get a few easier days spread throughout the span of the season, but what happens on day two or day ninety? The easy days are long gone. This is when the details start to matter. When hunting pressured waterfowl my advice is to leave little to chance, work hard and watch the details.

The Last Dance

I had spent the better part of too many mornings duck hunting over the last two years of college. And for most of those mornings I was with my best hunting buddy TJ. We weren’t always happy to see each other at 2:30 AM but we never let that stop us from hitting the water and attempting to shoot some ducks. See 2:30 probably seems too early to some, but we had an hour drive to most of our huants tack a boat ride on top of that, and then set up, which more than half the time was dozens of decoys on long lines. That early wake up call cut us awful close to shooting light by the time we got settled in.

On my last hunt of my college career TJ’s friend Brad was with us, and just as with any third wheel situation there were concessions made and toes stepped on. With that, we were going to hunt a group of small islands on Lake Norman in North Carolina. This lake is high pressure, there isn’t a lot of backwater duck hunting in that region of the Tarheel state. The Coast has a great reputation for ducks, and well earned too, but the piedmont not so much.

We got to our location and were set up in plenty of time. By plenty of time I mean with enough time to watch five other boats of varying sizes pulling up to the islands around us. We were tucked into the brush on stools just at the very tip of a secondary point. We had a bulletproof set up as far as concealment went. But we didn’t stop there.

TJ and I set the decoys and when I say set I mean we literally set them individually in the water, so as to not splash them and risk icing them up. We also hid the boat 100 yards away, fully camoed under burlap and brush. With five sets of hunters within 500 yards of each other we were feeling a bit crowded and not too confident as to what my last hunt was going to turn out like.

When the shooting stopped, we had a pile of freshly migrated yankee mallards, and we were the only ones. I’d love to tell you that it was my calling but I truly believe it was the fact that we used a small number of very realistic, high quality decoys. That we took the extra time to set them. Secondly, we used dove stools and brushed ourselves in rather than opting for a more open, easier to see from and shoot from set up. Lastly, we did a great job of minimizing our imprint on the landscape by moving the boat out of the picture and camouflaging it as well as we could. It took extra time, extra work and extra attention to detail. For all that extra we got extra ducks in comparison to our public land competition.

Keep your head down

It was September and in the Finger Lakes region of NY that means Resident Goose season. There standing outside of my layout blind next to my friend Mike I was trying to flag in a distant flock of Canadas. When they saw those black flags pulsing like wing beats the flock hooked and headed our way.

We were in brushed layouts in a cut corn field mixed in with the decoys. Mike and I had tagged along with his dad and a family friend. When the first flock came in and their landing gears came down we popped out of our blinds and sent 12 total shots up in the air, and killed almost as many birds. As we picked those birds up we flagged another flock in. This action ended with a similar result.

With the third flock coming in we saw them become very hesitant to commit to our previously perfect set up. Then the fourth flock did the same thing. The wind hadn’t changed, our blinds were still brushed in well. They flagged over fine and had responded to our calling as expected. What the hell? Two things immediately came to our attention. There were bright red empty hulls all over the ground surrounding these four random humps in the cut field. Oh and as Mike’s dad pointed out I was wearing a very greenish camo hat that in my excitement watching the birds stuck out like a sore thumb in the mostly tan background. I basically had to bury my head under the blind doors after picking up all the empty shells. And with that we crushed the next flock that came in.

I took a few things from this particular hunt. When hunting an open field I always pick my empties up. Secondly, I do my best to match my camo to the surroundings and also lean more on brown and tan when in doubt. Thirdly, I stopped moving my stupid head as much.I don’t need to see everything the birds are doing when they are at that make or break commitment point. Keep low, call well and let them commit. Do that right and you’ll see ‘em hitting the deck after you pop up.

Triumphant Return

Fast forward a few years after my last college hunt. I was with TJ and Brad again but this time it was a crossover part of the season, we could shoot resident Canadas and ducks no matter their nationality. We were set up on Lake Norman again, in layout blinds on a rocky and bushy shore of an island. This wasn’t the same island. The last college island was up river and pretty secluded. There were some smaller, more modest homes on the shore around there. Modest is not the wording I would choose for the homes on this section of the lake. We were sitting on an island looking at million dollar homes. And because of this high rent real-estate hunting pressure was minimal.

By legal shooting light we had ducks swimming in our mixed spread and then the local Canadas came to the island like it was Switzerland and they had funds they were trying to hide. The detail of burlap tied to the blinds that were brushed in and mudded up isn’t the deal maker here. TJ had scouted and knew these birds were coming. And boy did they come. This is one of the best goose hunts I have ever had the pleasure of participating in.

A little background on this, TJ had reached out to the proper officials and game agencies to verify this was a huntable island.He saw birds landing there from the road one day when he happened to be driving by. So the detail on this one was simply taking the time to call and verify this was a huntable spot and population. Then the scouting side of watching the birds land there in basically any weather condition. And understanding that the pressure from around the rest of the lake made this honey hole a lay up because no one had ever thought to hunt there. The set up was perfect and detailed, but I’m not sure it had to be. I think the pre planning and follow up were the details that made this hunt.

Details, when you can control something you should. I have a million outdoor stories that verify my inclination on this subject. I have even more in the everyday real life space. In the end the ducks are in the details.

By: Justin Hunold

A shotgun is by far the most versatile firearm in a hunting arsenal. You can hunt anything that moves with a shotgun. But in today’s social media driven outdoor-scape we are seeing very specific tools for very specific hunts. We seem to be in the search for the “Best (insert game) Gun” these days. And when the budget and seasons align we can differentiate and own guns for specific purposes like Turkey, Waterfowl, Clays, Upland and Various small game.

This style gun is at home in any situation.

Let’s not forget that all of these “bests” are still Shotguns. So, what makes for the best Do All shotgun? What covers the most bases so that we can spend more time sharpening our hunting skills rather than thinking of the lack of a specialized tool as a hindrance?

If given a choice for one gun for all the targets above, a shooter would be well suited to go with a 12 Gauge. The current trend is moving towards 20 gauge and even the smaller sub gauges like 28 and .410, hell, even the 16 gauge is having its own resurrection. These options are being spurred by more consistent and lethal ammunition choices in everyday available factory loads. But we are talking about one gun versatility here, and there is no answer other than 12 gauge for that question.

12 gauges leave very few gaps in ability to handle the task at hand, including big game with buckshot and slug options. Ammunition for the king of gauges was also available throughout the shortages of the recent past. Good luck killing a Tom with a .410 and TSS if you can’t find any, or trying to takedown a few big, fat Canada’s with your 20 gauge when the only waterfowl legal and appropriate shells you can find are 12 gauge BB’s. It’s not that the other’s don’t do the job, it’s just that they can’t do anything the 12 doesn’t, and this relationship is not inverse. Add in the ability to shoot 2 ¾ “ light loads up to the heaviest 3 ½ “ Magnum loads and a good twelve will handle way more than most hunter’s need.

Ok with gauge settled let’s look at barrel length. If I’m running through the spring turkey woods, or pushing the understory for Upland or small game my gun would have a barrel length of between 22-24” . A shorter barrel is just easier to manage in tight cover, it makes your profile a bit tidier when pushing through the stuff, and doesn’t lend itself to snagging when a fast shot is needed.

When breaking clays, or shooting birds in flight such as ducks’, geese, crows, pheasants or doves I prefer to have a barrel length of at least 28”. There tends to be the misconception that a shorter barrel is “easier” to swing, which is not the case. A shorter barrel is easier to point and begin the motion of the swing, but to truly swing through a target be it live or clay the weight and momentum of a longer barrel will literally help pull you through the motion of a smooth swing.

This brings us to what would be an apt choice for barrel length in an all around shotgun. With the idea of a one gun in the forefront I would choose a 26” barrel. It’s easier to maneuver through the woods than a 28” with a 2 inch extended choke poking out, but it also carries that all important mass to help you break clays and deliver big shot at long distances on geese and divers. Plus in my opinion it’s about the perfect length for niche things like, layout blind, layout boat, hunting over dogs in fields and hunting for deer and hogs with buckshot.

So here we are, we have a 12 gauge with a 26” barrel, we need to settle on a mode of operation, pump, semi, over under, side by side, single shot? Let’s face it, we can do anything with a single shot, except reliably shoot a double or the like in the field. When an opportunity does come up for multiple targets or animals, with our limited time in the field for most of us, we need to be able to take full advantage of the situation. Or what if it’s a single, and the only shot you get all day, but you whiff the first trigger pull? Man, I’d like to have a second or even third shot. And we aren’t even talking about a fast paced dove field or a crazy 50,000 bird snow goose flight.

A well loved dog and gun just go together.

If you asked hunters from generations past what their choice of repeating shotguns would be a lot of them would have settled on a pump, but today’s semi auto’s are as reliable and much faster than the pumps of yesteryear. I would choose a semi auto, they are the fastest way to get three shots off if needed. Other bonuses are generally reduced recoil, a good profile for carrying and overall they are generally fairly light all things considered. So, with multiple shots on deck, a fast cyclic rate, and reduced recoil I am able to leverage the tools at hand to have the best opportunity to make my time with gun in hand the most fruitful.

This brings us to our final category and honestly, functionally, the least important. Do we want to choose wood or synthetic furniture? I prefer a nice, black synthetic stock with a matte black finish for an all around gun. There are arguments to be made for a camo gun too. Synthetic is easy to take care of, I don’t cry when I scratch or scrape it and it’s impervious to the weather conditions at hand.

You should love the way your gun looks, it will inspire you to use it.

With that I can understand why you may choose a wood stock set for your gun. Wood is beautiful, warm and is one of a kind. I love the way wood guns look and feel. I have a bunch of wood guns that make their rotations in and out of the safe for days out in the sun. You need to like the way your one gun looks and feels or else you won’t have the inspiration to use it. This is as important as any other feature. This is your one gun and you should love it.

The final feature is the fit of the gun, I believe this sorta goes without saying. The gun needs to fit you. Close your eyes, shoulder it, open your eyes. Is the bead there, are you looking down a straight rib, is your finger comfortable one the trigger? The Cast, Drop and Length of Pull all need to be correct no matter what gun you are choosing. A gunner who has the highest end shotgun in the world that doesn’t fit them will get outshot by a shooter with an inexpensive gun that fits them like a glove. Also, with that thought, shoot the gun. Shoot it often, know your one gun, love your gun.

Well, let’s put a bow on this thing. If you have different thoughts on an all around gun that makes sense, you might not have tight quarters shooting, you may only hunt turkeys from a blind, maybe you’re not a clays shooter or a waterfowl hunter, there are great options for your particular pie chart of hunting. Yet, day in day out if we sit down and say what makes for a great all around shotgun, a jack of all trades and the best value for your money I think that we can say a 12 gauge, 26” Barrel, Semi Automatic, Synthetic shotgun won’t let you down. It might not be the best at any one thing except for being great at all of them.