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waterfowl hunting 2022

Hunting Buddies: What a Good Hunting Partnership Looks Like 

By: Justin Hunold

Aside from my father I would say I have had two real hunting partners in my life. One is family and the other mine as well be. I have two really great fishing buddies as well. Furthermore, I have a cousin who is also very busy with all things in life. We don’t hunt together often but we also talk and text about it constantly.  If the opportunity presented itself I believe that they would be good hunting partners too. What has set them apart from the dozens of other people I have spent hours with out in the woods and on the water? Well, other than their ability to put up with my bullshit that is. Let’s dive in and try to figure out what makes us tied at the hip for outdoor adventures. 

I asked them all the same questions via text message and prompted them to be brutally honest about their answers. I wanted to see if we could drill down on some common themes to bring out what has made us good partners in our adventures. What makes me compliment them in the pursuit of the natural world. 

The question is based on this “Why are we good hunting partners?” 

The Good: The question was “What is the best part of having me as a hunting/fishing partner.” If I were to look at the cumulative answers it comes down to shared values. I think this is probably the most important statement in a good partnership. I don’t necessarily mean religion, political or fiscal values either, although those may help.

 Family values fall into this category, if you prioritize family, like I do, your hunting partners need to understand that. I don’t care what’s happening, I will not miss Halloween or my son’s  Birthday. Both of which fall during hunting seasons. My buddies need to understand and be okay with this. We may have to drive separately or hunt/fish alone one or two days during those stretches, but those are boundaries I put in place and with that they can do the same. Brad is my cousin, I hunt with him the most. He has a wife and a step son. We have cut trips short or rearranged weekends for baseball and ultra marathons. Craig and I have been friends for 20 years. I was in his wedding and I am his daughter’s godfather. We both understand the priorities of parenthood and take the fact that we ran around the woods and water at will together for 10 plus years into account. Now we do it when our schedules line up. 

Work ethic is another aspect in the spectrum of values that was noted. Jim, who I have spent more time on a boat with than probably everyone else combined, stated that the competitive nature of our fishing was a draw and bonding opportunity. We fish in very different styles so we were always grinding to catch more or bigger fish, there was always one more cast. Tom, is another cousin. We don’t get to hunt together a lot, he is a family man with a wife and three kids and a MLB player. We talk about hunting on almost a daily basis. He pointed out that we have the same level of work and effort. Brad said we are willing to do anything and go anywhere to get the job done, without complaints. Your hunting partner needs to love the process as much as you do. Your levels of input and output need to be nearly equal. 

Craig also brought up valuing conservation of the resources including responsible harvest of fish. Brad focused on the fact that I enjoy the entire process of hunting, scouting, setting stands, building blinds, cameras, content and that we share the year round mentality. Your values don’t have to be the exact same as your hunting partners, and if you have multiple hunting and fishing buddies they don’t have to have the same values either, but yours need to complement each of them. Jim doesn’t keep a whole lot of fish, Craig does, I keep this in mind with each of them. TJ will get up at 2 am if that’s what is needed to catch the first flock of the morning, Brad on the other hand will hunt his way in during gray light to best take advantage of his level of patience and will change tactics at the drop of a hat. TJ and I stick to a plan, with Brad I am very fluid with planning. You’re there as much for them as they are for you. And that’s for the bad too. 

The Bad: “ What’s the worst aspect of hunting/fishing with me?” I asked each of these men to be brutally honest with me. That’s a lot to do with someone you need to trust with flying hooks, bad weather, treestand, fast and deep water and firearms. There have been moments with each of them that I was ready to leave them out there and I know for sure they have more times than that when they were ready to tell me to pound sand and we are done doing this together. Here are the examples that came to light that I may not have seen coming. 

Competition, Jim and I are competitive with fishing and we have viewed it as a good thing most times. Yet, deep down in my dear friend’s soul lived a beast that wanted to toss my over competitive ass into a deep hole with an anchor tied to my leg because of that same competition. At least that’s the way I read his text answer. He mentioned something I do all the time that I had no idea bothered him. I slap my lures off the top of the water to clear weeds. I do it maybe dozens of times on a given fishing trip. He hates it. I understand why that’s annoying and I totally won’t ever do it again when we are together, unless he is out fishing me. 

One of the things Brad mentioned was along the same lines, the good was we feed off of each other. The bad aspect was the same, we feed off each other. So, instead of one helping the other push through the tough days or mornings of laziness we join in commiserating or skipping time in the stand we should be partaking in. So, we have always known that but now that it has been verbalized I will do my best to push when it is on me to do, but I will ask him to do the same. It’s a partnership after all.  

TJ pointed out the fact there were plenty of early days that we didn’t like each other until the decoys were set and we were watching for incoming birds. We both learned you didn’t have to want to like someone to work as a team. This occurred with some of those very early, very cold and very quiet long line sets. We hunted enough together we didn’t really need to speak to lay out twelve dozen decoys on long lines in the pitch black. We were well oiled even if we were giving each other the silent treatment. 

The Ugly: With TJ, Jim, Craig, and Tom they all gave an answer that I take as the biggest compliment. It’s the ugly truth of growing older. The worst part is we don’t get to do this stuff together enough. That was their “worst part” and I agree. I spend weeks a year hunting, scouting and camping with Brad but trying to line that up with the others is almost impossible. So at the end of the day, we do our best and know we always have the outdoors.

Friendship, this is the highest priority. For my family and friends that I hunt and fish with, we value that bond more than anything else. We level at the same place, fish, bucks and ducks are great, but time spent together is the driving factor in all of this. Whether its skipping morning sits to grab coffee and drive around glassing fields, grabbing Bojangles after a duck-less morning, beers and rigging rods only to get skunked on the first salmon trip of the fall, sharing baby pictures and trading one liners from the Simpsons or texts of trail camera videos, pictures and talking about heavy metal therein lies the point. I value them, and I think I can say with confidence they value me enough that success is a great goal but it truly is the journey that matters. And when success happens I am happy to have such great men in my life to share that great feeling with. I know they have my back and I have theirs. I believe this is the essence of the pursuit of game, a story as old as time. These bonds are forged in the first embers of the human spirit and continue to burn no matter how much time they are left to the side of life. A  cupped bird, a chasing buck, a spawning salmon, dropping acorns or hard hitting smallmouth is all the spark we need to continue to burn that fire. A hunting party is as ingrained as procreation or communication. It’s what makes us human, and if you find the right hunting and fishing partners, they can help make you a better human. 

Guided Hunts and Being a Good Client

By: TJ Rademacher

I’ve had the opportunity to be on both sides of the client-outfitter relationship. I came out of high school and spent a short time as a big game guide in Montana and Idaho. I got to experience the ups and downs of being in the outfitting business. Since it is a service there is a high amount of pressure to get your client into position for the best opportunity you can. Typically, there are fairly large sums of money changing hands. With that exchange come expectations from the client. This is perfectly acceptable. You should expect the highest amount of effort possible to be put forth by your guide and the outfit to help you get the opportunity for a successful hunt. The key word in that statement is opportunity. The critters you pay good money to chase are not in on this exchange of money.

 I don’t care if it’s a laid-back South Texas Teal hunt or grueling pursuit of a big western bull elk, critters do what critters do and they have one thing on their mind. That is survival. They are working for one more day and trying to not get themselves killed. They do not care about what you want. Where they were yesterday, they may not be there today. It’s still hunting at the end of the day. It’s best to remember this when you pay an outfitter for their services. You should not be a push over if you think you are genuinely taken advantage of to be sure but managing your expectations and not letting yourself think that your money alone will buy your success is what I’m driving at. Here are a few things that will help you choose outfitter and end up being more successful.  Hopefully, it lends some light on how to be someone that an outfitter looks forward to having back too. This lays out the thought process on how to be successful on a guided hunt.

At the beginning of most hunts there is usually some sort of safety talk from the outfitter or guide. This is a general layout of the expectations, what is acceptable behavior around firearms and other key subjects for the area you are in. I’ve seen and heard about some wild stuff going down. Pay attention to what is expected. You don’t want your guide on edge wondering if they are going to catch a Nosler partition through their ribs because of a client constantly fiddling with safeties and being generally unsafe with a weapon. Follow the rules don’t cut corners and practice the rules of firearms safety.

Most guides are the same as you. They love the outdoors, and they love getting after it and being successful in the field. Most take a huge amount of pride in being the one to count on and help deliver that success. They stay under a constant amount of scrutiny from clients themselves and the managers of the outfit. They want you to be successful because they want to be a successful guide. Be gracious from the start. The amount of logistics and prep to get you where you need to be are huge. In many ways the logistics are what ends up making you successful.  Stay humble and treat it like you are a team. It’s okay to ask why you are doing what you are doing sometimes. It shows you are genuinely interested and will typically be appreciated if it comes from that angle. The thing I would tell you to avoid is being the person openly questioning somebody who has likely forgotten more hours in the area you are hunting than you have put in probably anywhere. This is not a good way to form a successful team and may hinder your success greatly. Check your ego at the door and be in the moment there with your guide. They will appreciate your attitude.

Come prepared. When you are researching an outfit to hunt with, you’ll typically see a packing list of some sort. Pay attention to this and either pack or purchase the items you think you’ll need accordingly. If you must purchase something like boots make sure you are wearing them months or at the very least, weeks in advance of your hunt if you are planning on a western big game hunt. I’ve seen new boots smoke clients within a couple days. Don’t do that to yourself.

Along with breaking in your boots or other gear you need to be physically up to the challenge. Don’t be the guy who so horribly misjudged the physical requirements of a hunt that they can’t take advantage of the guides experience due to lack of ability to get to the places they need you to go. This is your responsibility to make sure you have the endurance to do this in advance. It’s hard from the guides perspective to feel a ton of sympathy when you don’t plan ahead.

Actively participate in the hunt from start to end. It is about the experience and your guide can see that. You will always get more from someone when you try and match their efforts or assist them in some way. Don’t be the guy who doesn’t help brush and A-frame or at least offer to set out/ pick up decoys. It’s a small gesture that will help earn mutual respect between both parties and in some cases influence your success. This Is especially true when you are setting up 60-70 dozen silhouettes on a Kansas field hunt where the farmer won’t allow trucks and trailers in the field. It’s all part of it and you need to help roll with the punches to be successful.

Tip. Even if you are not as successful as you had figured. the effort to get you on the best opportunity possible was most likely put forth if you went with a reputable outfitter. Your choice in outfitter is your responsibility. You should seek out a group of people who are honest and hard working. They typically have been in business for a while and have a good track record of keeping their clients happy for the most part. Don’t try to cut corners and go with someone who doesn’t exhibit most of these qualities. Especially the honesty and work ethics part. Your tip is your sign of appreciation to the individual that helped you have the best experience available at that time. You should recognize their efforts by tipping accordingly if they have done their job to the best of their ability. Sometimes you are unsuccessful no matter what happens due to a variety of reasons. A lot of these are beyond anyone’s control. You can have a skunk at peak rut as well as the day of a peak migration.

If you’ve made it this far you’ve seen that a guided hunt is an interactive experience and comes with some simple responsibilities on your part. Accepting These will help you have the best experience you can possibly get access to at that particular point in the season. Plan ahead and book during times that have historically been the most productive for the outfitter in the past. Above all be gracious and positive. Be ready to put in the effort to get you the rest of the way to success. Also remember That this is supposed to be fun. Don’t take things so seriously that you aren’t taking something positive away from the time you are in the field.

Cherish each sunrise. You aren’t guaranteed tomorrows.

T

What Shells are Best for Waterfowl Hunting Pt 2

A cannonball in the shallow end of shotshell selection

By: TJ Rademacher

In my last article I talked about the evolution of the modern waterfowl shot shell and how we have gotten back to offerings available that closely match the performance of lead. Hell, in some ways they might be better. So, you’ve got a whole lot of choices!  Honestly, you can do well with any of the modern offerings. The knowledge I’m about to leave with you will help you understand what sizes of shot in a given material for some general situations. Some of this might surprise you.

Since we are talking about shot let’s talk about chokes for a minute before we get too deep into this. Chokes obviously effect your pattern size and density (pellet count) through tighter or looser constrictions. You can go as far down the rabbit hole as you want on how company A guarantees 50% denser patterns and company B says birds will actually put themselves on your strap because if the decreased shot string length produced by their wad grabber technology. I don’t care what kind of snake its named after or what type of violent weather pattern its supposed emulate. Your choke and shotgun combo will literally be not worth a damn if you don’t pattern it with whatever load you choose to run through it. One more thing to consider for those who can’t or choose not spend money on some of the more expensive choke options your shotgun probably came with a few factory chokes. Just because its stock doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. Try them out with some of the partial boxes of shells you have. Get some cardboard out draw a 40-inch circle on it and shoot it.  The results may surprise you.

Let me preface this next part with the following, it’s an educated opinion. I’m not a ballistician and my physics formula game is weak so if you don’t completely agree with everything I have to say I’m sorry for any imperfections. There are tons of studies about the actual science of why a certain shot size does what it does as it travels down range or when it makes contact with a bird. I highly suggest you read some of the stuff by Tom Roster if you want a real understanding of the science. If you like the details like me, you will find this information extremely interesting. This is not that kind of article though. I’m going off the research that I was able to digest from folks like Tom over the years and the experiences I have had in the field. Here are the cliff notes.

Ditch the 3.5 inch shells. You don’t need them. The tradeoff for more powder and heavier pay loads is more recoil. Recoil affects your ability to be able to get back on target after you either miss or you are trying to get after that other drake you see slipping out the back. Even if you are pass shooting I hold the same opinion. If you are shooting a steel shot shell, I recommend a 3inch shell. You can get more than enough speed to kill birds as long as you are choosing the right size shot and plenty enough payload for dense patterns.   If you choose to go with Bismuth or tungsten I maintain that you really don’t need anything more than a 2 ¾ inch shell for birds inside of 40ish yards. This is because we are back to the near lead performance level with bismuth and way beyond with tungsten. I’ve also found that tungsten, bismuth and steel pattern out of 2 3/4 and 3 inch shell more uniformly and denser than 3.5-inch shells in my results. This is just my experience, but hey it jives with the science too. It’s weird how that stuff works.

On to shot size. I don’t really see why you would need to shoot more than BB in a quality steel load for any North American waterfowl. To be completely honest I think #2 shot is plenty if your pattern is doing what is supposed to and you are being ethical with your distances. Here is why the shot is roughly a sphere. It’s not super aerodynamic like a bullet so the larger the sphere the more drag it creates. its gong to slow down faster than a slightly smaller shot and also when it hits the bird it probably going to drag more crap with it through the wound channel. So at the effective ranges shotgun operate in the #2 shot will most likely be traveling faster longer and penetrate deeper. This is why I would go with #2 for big ducks and Geese. For smaller ducks I go with #4 and #6 shot sizes. If its early season teal, go with the extra pellets #6 offers. If you feel like you need some more thump for those wood ducks, widgeon and even a pintail if he’s close go #4. This is what I consider optimal If you choose steel.

If you go with the bismuth and tungsten blends you can drop a couple shot sizes and expect The same performance you had with your steel loads. You are going to pick up some density in your patterns with the same sort of ballistic results in a larger steel load. This is where I have found is the happy medium for me. I’m getting lead-ish performance for a little bit more. Plus, I get fewer holes in my pattern. These make the most sense to me if you can make room for it in the budget. Also consider this, if the amount of shooting you do is low volume and opportunities are hard to come by it may be advantageous to use a higher density shell. You will not be burning through them as fast. I’ve adopted this approach because in my home state of North Carolina I can count on one hand the times I’ve ever gotten close to going through a box of shells in a single hunt. Food for thought.

If you can justify them and want to shoot a pure tungsten load more power to you. I’ve shot a handful of boxes at birds and patterned them and they are truly devastating on and off paper. I know for a fact that #9 and #8 will crush mallards at all ethical ranges. I’ve not seen it but have heard of people putting geese down with #7 1/2. The patterns are dense enough that you do not have to worry about a bird slipping through. There is just not enough room. If you put a good shot on them with tungsten odds are the bird is going down hard. However, the price is asinine. We are talking around 70-90 bucks for a box of 10. It’s hard to wrap your brain around that kind of price tag for waterfowl hunting. If the cost was no object I would shoot these. For now, I’ll stay in my budget’s lane.

I encourage everyone to use their best judgment on what shells to pick. Don’t get too hung up on the material because you can have success with all off the flavors of shot shell on the market. What you should get hung up on is how a given load performs out of your particular shotgun. Don’t get caught up in the opinions of others either before you try something. Don’t let anyone price shame you or tell you it’s not good enough. If it patterns well you will be just fine. Remember you have to find them before you can shoot them. I recommend money be spent on fuel and a decent set of binoculars before I got carried away with ammunition.

Drink water… there is nothing worse than pulling your foot out of wader boots with a calf cramp.

T

The Evolution of Shot Shell Performance Part 1

Choosing The Best Waterfowl Load Through Observation  

By: TJ Rademacher

Lead shot has been gone for a long enough to become the stuff of legend. I’ve heard stories of its abilities on ducks and geese.  Before the 1991 ban on lead shot shells for waterfowl hunters never really had to deal with a lack knockdown power.  There have been thousands and thousands of birds killed with a very limited selection of lead shot shell lengths and payloads. Since lead became off limits to us, we’ve been chasing its characteristics in other materials. This is a look at how we’ve really come full circle to match, and in some instances greater ballistic performance of the venerable lead pellet. The best waterfowl load is matching or exceeding the performance of lead.

I’ve heard the guys who used lead before the ban talk about a how 2 ¾ inch #6 loads where absolute poison on decoying big ducks. 3 inch #4 was the surefire solution to putting geese on the ground. Bluebills being crushed by #7 trap loads over a big water layout boat rig was commonplace. Lead is a very effective transferor of energy. It is very dense as compared to the surface area.

This density allows for penetration through vital organs and kinetic energy transfer that can break key structural junctions that keep birds in the air. Lead loads were propelled around 11-1200 FPS in traditional loads used for the take of waterfowl and still are for applications where they are still allowed to be used. Once this wasn’t allowed and shot shell manufactures looked for an answer with nontoxic properties, steel was picked up as the substitute.

 Early steel shot users had horrible reviews. Hunters with claims of shot bouncing off birds not penetrating the fat layer on late season birds. Early steel loads were of low quality in some cases.  The modern ways that manufactures have squeezed the maximum amount of performance out of steel loads was not present then. It was a time of adjustment and as with anything totally new there was a lot to figure out. To get the same kinetic energy the size of shot had to go up to consistently kill birds.

As shot size goes up in relation to a constant payload weight the number of pellets in that load goes down. You’re getting a less dense pattern. So, if you look at the voids that this can create in the pattern, you can see how a bird could pass through untouched. Worse yet the same bird might not absorb enough pellets to make a quick kill.

Extra powder longer shells like the 3.5” chambering in 12 gauge were ways to make payloads increase and to make up for the other thing that helps steel ballistics wise. Speed. The speed of the pellets increased to help make up for steels deficiencies. Advertised speeds up to 1700 fps have come to market to cure steels shortcomings. There are many other factors in the evolution of steel shot that increased its performance for a budget friendly alternative to lead, but we don’t have room for all of the finer points we are hitting the high points here. As the market evolved some companies brought to market new materials to move the standard seen in steels shells. Steel has killed a lot of birds from its inception until now.

Enter bismuth and tungsten. These elements are what have brought us back around full circle.  They get us close to some of the properties of lead and in some case surpass its performance. These two metals are good substitutes because they have the density like or greater than lead based on what blend of either. They are also nontoxic, which is a continued push in modern ammunition. The only real problem with loads utilizing these two types of material is cost.

 Even with blending these with duplex steel loads like Hevi Metal the price of a box of shells is noticeably higher, no matter what flavor combination you choose. You are also getting fewer shells in some loads based on what blend of either type of material is being used. Tungsten and bismuth are typically blended with other metals or polymers make them more affordable and increase performance on some areas. There are a few offerings in a pure tungsten load which allow for shot as low as #9 with ballistic capabilities comparable to that of larger lead and steel pellets. These are very cost prohibitive and are not a normal selection for even the most dedicated shell snobs.

 I have used some of the lower density blends and had really good results. In my opinion the reasons why the bismuth blends are worth the increase in cost is the increased pattern density. The fewer number of holes in the pattern, from a properly choked gun, is noticeable in downrange performance on birds, in my experience.

There are other nuances to this material, but these are the high-level differences and advantages that I feel most hunters would see as pertinent information. The next part of this series will have more to with what sizes of shot to choose given a particular material and more about the ballistics of different lengths of shells and weight of payloads and why you might choose one or the other for different situation or when choosing one load to do it all with.

I felt it was necessary to understand the history as I’ve observed it before we go into the why. I’ll leave you with this. Most of us need to spend more time shooting clays. Many times, the reason the bird doesn’t drop is because you didn’t put the work in during the off season. You may also make a choice to take an opportunity on something that is low percentage at longer range. This is not the end all be all or a reason to buy the cheapest stuff out there but the advantages in one material over another shine when the shooter is performing at their highest level. To put a modern spin on an old saying it’s probably the indigenous individual not the archery equipment. More to come soon.

Don’t Stop your swing

T