Question:

If you had to name one thing that would set your spread apart when hunting heavily pressured public land, what would it be? - Jacob W. Carlson

Answer:

Jacob,

Great question and most guys I know struggle with the issue of hunting heavily hunted birds and are always looking for a bit of an edge! As far as decoys go, I would do the opposite of what most other folks in the area are doing-if guys are using small spreads, use big ones, if most folks are using big spreads, down size. I have found this strategy to work quite well. Also, use high quality, clean decoys.

The one tip I would offer on heavily hunted public grounds is to scout and watch the birds as they may be finding small out of the way areas that are beyond the reach of the masses. If you are willing to put in the extra work scouting and then walking in to the newly found areas, the results can be great.

Also, stay a little later than the masses as birds do become conditioned to understanding when folks leave an area and may very well trickle back when most of the trucks have left the parking lot. I hope this helps and harvesting hunt hardened public land ducks is a great accomplishement!

John Devney

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