If those ducks are coming in wing set, QUIT CALLING!! A small chuckle is fine, but dont be blasting into their faces unles with shells!

I was out at bass lake and these guys had three seperate flocks come in at them, but scared them all away by blaring their calls! fools!

I think you're looking at this the wrong way! Those guys weren't worthy of getting those ducks to set down- so now there are more ducks out there for hunters that know what they're doing to shoot...

Keep hunting. You'll see lots of hunters doing stupid things. This is best seen on public land. Over calling is a good one, but shooting at ducks that are 100 yards out is my favorite.

CWUgirl, you hit the nail right on the head. The more ducks an over achieving caller spooks and doesnt shoot the more the knucklehead has left for me to take home and put in the smoker.

Lighten up guys! (and Girl).

Could be they were rookies. Chances are, you were all ones too at one time or another.

If no one has taught them what to do, then they need to learn one way or the other by trial and error. Doesn't make them idiots, or knuckheads or whatever other names you want to call them.

It seems lately this board has been turning more to bashing fellow hunters for whatever reason, be it warranted or not, than it has been used to give reports or help educate the uninformed.

I would not know any better than to do what is described above, since I have never hunted ducks, nor had anyone show me the "right" way to call them. Does that make me an idiot? I doubt it.

Okay, off my soapbox, we now return to our regularly scheduled programming

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by DeKuma:
<strong>Lighten up guys! (and Girl).

I would not know any better than to do what is described above, since I have never hunted ducks, nor had anyone show me the "right" way to call them. Does that make me an idiot? I doubt it.

Okay, off my soapbox, we now return to our regularly scheduled programming

Fishaday...
You think that a duck is gonna come to your set after it's been blown off the pond by overzealous calling? After having been shot at from 75yds? After associating all your dekes with what just happened? Yea Right!

That's why we all look forward to the Northerns. They aren't call and decoy shy,from all the yahoo's out there.

"For hunters, it doesn't pay to educate or give reports. Hunters are much less likely than say fisherman, to offer help and often will jealously guard hunting land because it is a precious commodity. By offering reports/educating what you get are more hunters in your area, which I think is counterproductive. Which is why I never, ever say where exactly I hunt and will not even mention areas that have the best hunting. And I don't give weekend reports unless they're unfavorable.

I'll offer some in the education department, but IMO, everyone should track down an older crew of hunters to learn by.

Selfish? YEP!! And that's fine with me. What do I know, anyway? LOL



So, no one ever taught you anything? Gave you tips/techniques, told you some good area to get you started?

If we all take the stance that if you don't know, then I am not going to tell you, then our sport goes no where for very long.

I believe in sharing what I know. I may not tell them the exact area I found animals, but I will share what knowledge I can.

I know there are other hunters out there who feel the same. Dogfish has shown this attitude many times over. That is the kind of hunter we need more of around here!

You do not need to give exact details, but to share the knowledge and help another become a better hunter, a more educated hunter is what I feel to be the right thing to do. I also agree that they should seek out this help and advice, but if they do not know it is wrong and no one points them in the right direction, then how do they learn?

As I said, people should track down an older crew of hunters to learn from. Not only will you learn a whole lot, but you will have a lot better time in the process.

What makes me a little jaded is the lack of respect and hunter ethics I see in the field by the majority of hunters (IMO). This season I have been shot at twice, resulting in a shower of lead. I can't even number the times me and my crew have been hunted over and had people cut us off during a hunt. Personally, I don't want those people to get the information I have worked extremely hard to get. And an outdoor forum is obviously uncensored, I can't regulate who gets the information.

If I know you and I approve of your ethics, you get all the help you need. Otherwise, I don't share.

Our sport is filled with books, internet resources, and countless magazines that offer a myrid of tips. As an individual, I offer what I can that will not effect where I hunt, which is overpopulated by hunters as it is.

Sure it's selfish, but I'm like that with hunting. Extremely choosy about who I hunt with- I don't trust most people with firearms and almost never bring a newbie in the field, I expect a good dog and do the work to ensure I have a great one, buy the best shells, read all I can, learn all I can on my own....so my experience and those I hunt with is maximized. Maybe it's a product of being young, but I don't mind being selfish.

As the great and powerful Snoop Dog said....Don't playa hate!

Scott,

I agree w/ your points 100%. A little more patience and understanding will go a long way toward perpetuating our sport(s). I hate to say it, but that patience seems to come with age, as most of the posters complaining seem to be younger. Not trying to start anything, just my observations. Happy holidays and hunting to all.

Didnt mean to start anything, but I was on an 18 acre lake and some dummy is out there overcalling.

Ducks would come in, wing set, 50 yards away, and THEN he'd start calling.

That meant no ducks for me, because they dont just spook a few hundred yards and set down. They go AWAY from the entire lake.

TRAUT,
I don't consider myself young, I'm 29 and I don't see age as an issue here. I get real tired of the same crap going on every time out. Sitting in your blind,ducks coming in,and some jackass 100yds away decides that he can hit a duck at that range NOT! The guys that have a poorly trained dog,that allow the dog to run all over the place.

Anyways I don't think being patient works,if they don't know what they're doing is wrong,they'll never learn.

unfortunately, that is all too common at that lake. Seen it all too many times myself. it seems to be a "training grounds" of sorts for new hunters. Ducks seem to know it too. I ve even seen a group of younger hunters out without any adult supervision shooting at birds other than waterfowl. there are already not many shooting opportunities there. it makes it even worse when people like that take the away thefew shots that we may get. I hunt elsewhere whenever possible.

HBP,

Old is a relative thing I guess. You're either as old as you act or feel. Like I said, I wasn't trying to start anything, and I certainly wasn't defending any of the obviously inconsiderate people we are bound to run into in any of our pursuits. However, if after something negative happens in the field, and then you continue to dwell on it, you have lost twice.

Curtis, next time you experience the overcalling thing, you can get upset, or leave, or maybe go over and try to explain what you think the proper thing to do would be.(Pretty obvious in the case you mentioned). I'm not talking about any confrontations, at the first sign of trouble, leave. But if you find that the people are willing to listen to you, maybe they won't make the same mistake in the future.

I've actually met some pretty cool people in the field after having a little discussion. Most folks are appreciative if you approach them with a sincere effort to help them out or show them something new. Not much to loose for trying I figure.

\the thing is, is they had a nice spread out, were decked out in camo, and we had a silver boat with a few camo nets over it. The guys looked a little pissed when we showed up in the first place.

Well I don't know what has taken place at this lake you speak of but there could be more to consider. For some reason I sence that the majority in this thread feel that one should not continue to call when birds have set their wings and are coming into the decoys but may be 50 yards or so out. I respectfully disagree.
It may be that the person or persons calling next to you were well intended but lacking in the required skill. It may be that one or more of them have been in a blind or the same lake where very skilled callers were hunting and they where only trying to do what they had seen done but didn't have it right yet.
BBVD let me share with you in the spirit of trying to be helpful or at the very least a little informative. What you may have been observing was an attempt to fan the birds so they all didn't pile into the sweet spot. This is
not a skill often observed much anymore unless you are at a large private club. When you have a dozen gunners or so in a row how do you keep it from being a gang shoot? You have callers who are able to talk to the birds and spread them so that several will have shots without interference from the blind next to them. This of course reguires that you have a flock of birds large enough to work with. My point is that they may have seen this and thought they would try it for themselves, who knows? I am not talking about a feeding chuckle but lots of calling right in the birds faces. Have you seen ducks hover over calls only 4 or 5 yards away? Some appearing to be thinking about flying into the blind to join in the good time. This is a common occurrence at some clubs. In time you will see it and hear it and you too will want to master the technique. In the mean time.......remember there are always going to be times that you wish there were fewer of those other guys who think they are having fun but are making it less then fun for the rest. Thats called public opportunity.

When you say loud calling do you mean highball or just loud chuckels or loud feed calls. I just want to be clear on what was consitered loud. What was the weather like that day, if the wind is blowing hard I will blow the call untill the birds are in easy shooting range. I have had ducks come in and land when 2 hunters are highballing at other ducks that are still way out. The biggest key to calling is watching the ducks reaction to the call, this will teach a hunter when , how loud and what sound to make.

Fishalot

Big shark hit it right on the head.... Loud calling doesnt scare ducks... Bad calling scares ducks.

It's an 18 acre lake I believe. It was me and my bro on one side in a boat, him and I think a buddy on the otherside with dekes all around.

I'm sorry guys, I really am. Maybe I'm a terrible hunter. It's just instinct you know? When ducks are coming in to land ON me, I usually pick up my gun and try to have it up before they're over me.... Typically if they're already gonna set down I dont keep callin, cause they got the picture.

Hmmm