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Duck Hunting Boats and Boat Plans

Dec 15
Duck Hunting


Duck hunting is a relaxing and gratifying way to enjoy the outdoors. Being successful requires real patience, to be still and quiet waiting for the ducks to touch down, a good eye for that shot and invariably persistence in dismissing the sometimes seeping cold.

Great skill is also needed. Choosing the right size and type of decoy, siting them correctly – which means reading and noting wind conditions. Shotguns need to be carefully cleaned and shot kept in good shape and on hand.

The triumph is to bag trophies. With ducks this will be not too many, to avoid overkill, and not too few. Enough to know that one’s time and skill is vindicated.

The hull of duck hunting boats is nearly flat. In fact some argue that the most successful duck hunts undertaken are from layout boats and that the skill involved in this type of water-fowling will soon cease to exist.

The layout boat has a very low profile, lying close to the water. Both boat and hunter being well camouflaged, hunting takes place in the middle of the lake where the decoys have already been carefully laid out. The hunter lies down, almost flat, with room for him to be able to sit up and take a shot at the appropriate moment. Remember that most duck hunts take part in winter so true dedication to this art is required to follow the practice.

Layout boats are around 19″ high, 11′-15′ in length and 6′-8′ wide. The wider they are the more stable they’ll be. However this is only a small part of the overall outfit. One also needs a boat to retrieve the birds, transport the hunters and the decoys, and to tow the layout to its place.

These boats are hard to find commercially. People who use them generally build their own.

There are other boats from which one can successfully hunt like the Jon boat or canoe. This is also flat-bottomed with one, two or three bench seats. They are known to be stable, important for the moment when the shot is fired.

The flat bottom also means that the boat can go into marsh and reed where ducks may hide, without running aground.

Purchasing an outfit is one way to go, but there are alternatives. One of these is to build your own boat. In fact if you are an outdoor enthusiast, the choice of boat plans are endless. An advantage of building your own from these well constructed plans is that they are cost effective.

If you are interested in checking it out, click the link below to find out more.



By: Doreen Murgatroyd

About the Author:
http://www.the-boating-store.com. Use the Store to find boats or download free plans.



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12 gauge home defense pump shotgun review

Jul 17
Hunting
mixflip asked:


My opinion on a home defense shotgun and why I chose a Mossberg over a Remington even though Remingtons are often claimed to be higher quality shotguns. The loading tray is superior on the Mossberg in my opinion.

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12 gauge home defense pump shotgun review

Jun 6
Hunting
mixflip asked:


My opinion on a home defense shotgun and why I chose a Mossberg over a Remington even though Remingtons are often claimed to be higher quality shotguns. The loading tray is superior on the Mossberg in my opinion.

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Must Have Goose Hunting Gear

May 30
Goose Hunting


Their plump bodies and tendency to move around in large groups make geese one of the most popular waterfowl hunting targets. A goose hunting expedition can be an entertaining and rewarding experience, but any experienced goose hunter can tell you that you are unlikely to be met with much success if you do not bring the necessary goose hunting gear. The minimum necessary gear that any goose hunter needs to bring with him includes something to attract the geese, something to kill the geese, and something to retrieve the geese once they have been shot down.

The most common gear items that are used to effectively attract flocks of geese to a chosen hunting location are decoys. When a flock of geese sees another flock of geese on the ground as it passes over a potential landing site, the passing geese assume that the flock on the ground has landed there because there is food on the ground in that location, which makes the flock more likely to land there in search of food. Groups of decoys can be used to trick passing flocks of geese into landing nearby, bringing them into range of the hunter’s gun. Anther product designed for hunters to attract geese is a goose call, or a device that projects noises very similar to those that geese make. A goose hears the sound and thinks that another goose is nearby, which makes the goose instinctively seek out the sound, thereby causing it to move closer and closer to the waiting hunter.

Perhaps the most important piece of equipment a goose hunter needs to bring with him to successfully hunt geese is a gun, which is obviously used to kill the geese. The two main types of guns that people commonly use to hunt geese are shotguns and rifles. The shotgun, while less accurate and less effective over a shorter range than the rifle, shoots a spray of bullet fragments called buckshot over a wider area, making it the easier gun to aim. Goose hunters often use shotguns if they will be relatively close to their targets. The rifle is a more traditional style of gun that shoots a single, elongated bullet that spins along its trajectory to increase accuracy. A goose hunter will use a rifle for killing geese over longer distances.

The final element in successful goose hunting gear is a way to retrieve the downed geese once you have shot them. A specific piece of equipment is not needed for this if you are shooting geese on land and you don’t mind walking out into the open to grab your kills yourself, but you will definitely want to bring something to help you claim your kills if you hunt over a lake or pond. While not exactly classified as equipment items, some types of dogs, such as the golden retriever, are bred specifically for hunting. These dogs can be trained to swim out into the water to retrieve downed birds, or even to run over and retrieve downed geese on land if their owner doesn’t want to walk the distance himself. If you do not have this type of dog, you can always bring an inflatable boat or raft to retrieve floating kills

By: Darin Skinny

About the Author:
Darin enjoys discussing many topics on hunting. Please visit his site shortreedgoosecalls.com to learn about goose calls and goose hunting blinds.



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Quail Hunting

May 28
Quail Hunting


After a stressful week of work, most people tend to have their own activities that they like to on their days off to blow off a little steam. These stress relieving activities can be a number of different things from shopping, fishing, working a puzzle and so many more. An activity that has been popular for several hundred years and is still popular today is quail hunting. Hunting was a necessity to live several hundred years ago, but since then has become a sport; an activity that is shared by many people.

One reason quail hunting is different from just hunting any animal is the fact that you do not have to completely camouflage yourself to hunt them,As of now, there are right around 135 different varieties of quail in the quail family. Generally, people who choose to hunt quail will be aided by trained bird dogs whose job it is to rush into a covey (group of quail) of quail; this will scare the quail and cause them to take flight, which is when the hunters will take their shots. The bird dogs are usually trained to retrieve the now dead birds and bring them back to the respected hunter as well. The best places to find a good quail population will be on land that has vast expanses of open land as well as good amount of wooded cover to hide in.

Now it is time to take the actual shot, what gun should be used to properly hunt quail? Well the answer to that is one of the all time favorite guns; the shotgun. Shotguns are the primary type of guns used to hunt quail; the most popular gauge shotgun being used among hunters is by far the 20 gauge, but gauges from 410 to 12 are also commonly used as well. Most hunters will agree that barrel length is important; most agreeing that a 26 inch barrel is optimal. A skeet choke is highly recommended when it comes to shooting quail along with a shell having a load of 8.

A drive down the road could bring up a number of optimal spots, but permission must be granted from the owner of the land before hunting there. There are also many destinations around the world that offer guided quail hunting excursions for a set fee. To find all the quail hunting destinations close by, simply perform a search online for “Quail Hunting Destinations,” and there should be hundreds of beneficial resorts.

Quail hunting can be a relaxing way to spend weekends or just those days off that seem few and far between. While quail hunting is an activity that can be fun for the whole family, extreme caution should be expressed. All the hunters involved as well as the dogs should be wearing some form of orange clothing such as a vest, or at least an orange hat; this way no one ends up injured or worse. More information about quail hunting can be found in various hunting magazines and publications as well as online.

By: Sumit Dadhich

About the Author:



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Basic Compound Bow Hunting Tips For Beginners

May 22
Bow Hunting


Bow hunting in general is a fine sport as well as a good supplemental method of acquiring dinner. At any rate, all of these top notch hunters had to begin somewhere. Compound bow hunters are a breed apart from other hunters that use shotguns and rifles. The difficulty level is far greater, for instance. The hunter needs more patience and they must get closer to their prey.

Before anyone decides to grab a bow and head out into the wilderness to hunt down a trophy buck or simply a bit of dinner they need to learn the basics. The most important things to learn in the beginning are: compound bow choosing and technique. There are other items of interest to learn such as the names for the parts of a bow. However, knowledge of what to call parts of a bow is not as necessary for hunting as being able to pick the right kind of bow and the accuracy of usage with it.

Choosing the right compound bow is a difficult proposition for some. The best bows can cost anywhere from eight hundred to well over a thousand dollars. The natural inclination for most people is to purchase a much cheaper bargain bin bow and practice with that. While this can work out fine, it will actually hamper skill development in some instances. An individual learns not to use all types of bows in general, but a single bow.

When choosing a compound bow for hunting purposes it is generally considered important that the hunter acquire a bow that has a pull-weight of at least forty-five pounds. For deer hunting a fifty to seventy pound pull-weight is considered the right range. The higher the pull-weight, the flatter the arrow travels. However, with greater pull-weight there is a greater strength requirement to use the bow.

True mastery of archery requires mastery of the bow being used. Switching from a cheap bow to a more powerful and well-designed one without retraining on it might cause a great number of frustrating misses on a hunt. It is best to choose a bow that the individual is willing to use for the long haul. Switching to other bows after using one a while is a fine method to gain a wider variety of archery knowledge but for initial skill development focusing on one is best.

By: James Loope

About the Author:
Learn more about hunting bows and mathews bows.



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Helicopter Hog Hunting

Apr 18
Hog Hunting
jmal13 asked:


clearing hogs off our property with a helicopter and shotguns

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Finding Good Dove Leases – Easier Said Than Done

Apr 17
dove hunting


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Finding Good Dove Leases – Easier Said Than Done

Apr 7
dove hunting


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Dove Hunting – Tips on Getting Started

Mar 27
dove hunting


A step by step guide to get you in the field!

Dove Hunting is a great sport for all ages. Whether you are 12 or 50, it can be rewarding. I started at age 17 and haven’t missed an opening day since. As the summer begins, my heart and mind always go to September 1st (opening day North and Central Zones in Texas). Every year my dad, brother and I have a competition, called ‘The Top Gun’, and whoever kills the most birds gets their name on the Top Gun plaque for the year. (Dad wins every year) I’ve started my two oldest sons out and this year they are in the competition too. I’m looking forward to many years of time with them With all that said, if you would like to try it out I have some practical things for you to do to make getting started easy.

Getting started falls into two basic categories:

What to purchase?
What to do?

What to Purchase

I know, you are thinking this is going to be expensive. It can be (if you have the money), if not, you can start out on a shoestring budget, like me. There are many items that make dove hunting more comfortable but they are not necessary to begin hunting. I’ll begin with the bare necessities.

A Shotgun
I don’t think there is any way around this one, unless you are real good with a sling shot. There are many options when it come to a shotgun. The basic categories are; pump action, auto-matic, and over and under. All three have there advantages and disadvantages. The other things involved in purchasing a shotgun are , what gauge and what brand.

A pump action shot gun is the least expensive type of shotgun. Pumps can be purchased for around $300. Winchester and Remington have decent entry level pump shotguns. A pump simply means that the discharging and reloading of shells is done by pumping the gun backwards and then forward. Contrary to popular belief, this can be done very quickly and all have shot a lot of birds with a pump. A pump’s advantages are it is a great starter gun and the cost will keep some money in the bank if you are on a budget.

An automatic shotgun is an upgrade from a pump. An automatic shotgun ejects the spent shell and reloads the chamber automatically (hints why it’s called an automatic). Both the pump and automatic hold three shells(with the plug in). For a beginner and even for me (as I shoot an automatic), the third shot can be a life saver. Automatic shotguns can be pricey though. I shoot a Remington 1170 (left handed ) and it cost around $850. the price range is from $500 and up. I’ve never had any problems with my gun but some critics of them say they over heat and run out of gas if you do an awful amount of shooting. I recommend automatic’s unless you are going to Argentina or something.

Over and Under shotguns are probably the most popular in the target shooting world and a lot of bird hunter use the. They have two barrels one on top of the other. they are know for their accuracy and reliability. Both my brother and my dad shoot them. They are the most expensive starting at around $700 and going up from there. If you’ve got the cash, you can’t go wrong buying one.

Gauges: When buying a shotgun, size does matter. The smaller the number the larger the shell. 12 gauge is the most common and then 20 gauge being the next. Although there a many different gauges all you need to know is the bigger the gauge the more it kicks. Don’t get to excited none of them really hurt unless you shoot 500 then you might be a little sore. I recommend 12 gauge for adult males and 20 ga. for adult women and kids over 13. For youngsters, I recommend .410 gauge.

Brands: I’ve had good luck with Remington and Winchester. Both are low to medium price range. Mossberg also makes entry level shotguns, but my brother had all kinds of problems with his first pump, in a short period of time I might add. Benelli an Beretta are also good brands, but in the medium to high price range.

The bottom line is you have to have a gun, so decide on your budget and make a purchase that will last a life time. Let’s keep a running total….

1-pump-action gun = $300

2. A place to hunt

I’d say this is a necessity. Here again, this depends on your bank account. There are several ways to hunt without paying ant outrageous amount of money. In Texas, they have public land and for around $50 one can access thousands of acres. The trick is finding a spot with birds. There are also day hunts for around $100 per day, and even some leases for around $150 per season (usually these suck). If you’ve got the money, look for some established leases in the newspapers. They can range anywhere from $300 to $1000 per gun. Again, a gun is no good if you don’t have a place to shoot it (preferably with birds on it or flying by).

1-pump shotgun @ $300, 1- public land permit @ $50

3. Hunting license

I don’t think this needs too much elaboration. Depending on your state, should be around $40.

1-pump shotgun @ $300, 1- public land permit @ $50, 1- hunting license @ $40,

4.Accessories:

You can really go crazy here if you want, but there are a few ‘must haves’.

Shells. I could write a novel on this, but to start just buy some 8 shot dove load. Buy a case (10 boxes), should be around $60.
Bird/bullet bag.Probably a three pouch camo, $15.
Chair. Get a comfortable one. They are cheap $30 max.
Camo clothing. Depending on your climate, you’ll need pants and a shirt. The more pockets the better. You might want to buy some boots too. We’ll say $100.
Other accessories you might want to get could be a water bottle (camo, of course), flashlight, hunting vest, a new cooler (to put all your birds you kill in), camo hat, and polarized sunglasses. For now i won’t figure these into cost.
1-pump shotgun @ $300, 1- public land permit @ $50, 1- hunting license @ $40, 1-set of accessories @ $205.

That’s it! The grand total to get you into business is around $600. It sounds like a lot, but if you don’t wait until the last minute you can budget it in over time.

In the next article, I’ll cover what to do to get started dove hunting.

I’ll cover that after I RELOAD!

By: S P Griffin

About the Author:
Hello, my name is S P Griffin and I’ve recently started a blog about dove hunting, hunting dogs, and shotguns. It’s kind of ironic that the name is Dove, Dogs, and Shotguns isn’t it?

At http://www.dovehunting101.com/ you can find everything from how to artices on hunting, shooting, dog training, to hunting supplies and accessories. Check it out and feel free to leave your comments about the site.



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