Late Season Mallard Duck Hunt: Layout Boat Hunting at its Best! 

Hi Bob, so glad to hear you are still going at it at age 75. Good luck with your season!

Thanks 👍 even with that type of layout cover it’s really hard to get it done with in that situation

Haha, that’s great

that's great! It was nice to hunt with Abe. Ive only met him a couple times.

Thanks 👍

Thanks for watching!

Thanks Zak

Thanks Tony

Thanks for the amazing duck hunting content god bless 🙏

Thank you so much 😀

Ascend H12

Public land

Haha, you gotta rewatch the hunt. Once the ice came off and the sun went behind the clouds the ducks wouldn’t finish. All the shots Cole and his bro got were at 30 yards. Had to try something new.

No she does not. And you’re right about filming that aspect of the kayak

Josh Garrels “coming home”

I was using the ascend h12 kayak. Not sure what they had

@@FreelanceDuckHunting Enjoyed your videos on the kayaks. Thanks for posting informative videos. Much needed in the duck hunting community. 👍

1/14/23

That kills me. We are usually done in Northern MN by Thanksgiving. I have to travel to Cali and TX and whatnot for new year hunts. @@FreelanceDuckHunting

We have always let two dogs go if the bird is alive and we are afraid we might lose it. What bad things do you think can happen? We’ve never had a single issue and the only thing I can think of would be a dog fight.

@@FreelanceDuckHunting Short answer: a) dog fight (have seen it) b) dismembered bird (have seen it) c) hard feelings between handlers (have seen it) d) injury to the dog (have not seen it but I think it's a risk) e) bad habits from the dog (have seen it) I also find it aesthetically unpleasing (my opinion). Longer version. What is the intent of a retrieve? I think to quickly, ethically and safely recover game. You comment that you do that routinely when a bird is 'at risk'. I would argue the sequence that I commented on had no risk of a bird loss. Your dog is a fine dog, made that retrieve a few times prior that day, the water was 'flat' (the dog can run and has a substantial advantage), the duck was hit pretty hard and there was no cover (again-a great advantage to the dog). Your dog would have had no problem alone. Neither would the yellow...but when I'm working a less experienced dog I want nothing but success as an avenue to confidence. And the young dog lost out. End of the world? Probably not, but I just see no upside in the 'race'. I think the race can lead to bad manners, disrespect for the 'honor' and the competition can make it do things you might not want (push itself into an unsafe place or situation). Bad habits can be cheating entries (it's faster to cheat but anyone that has watched a cheating dog get lost on a mark knows why there are 'cheating singles' drills-it's not just anal retentive dog handlers, it's the fact that dogs work best with very simple geometry). I've seen the race make a less experienced dog lose it's focus on the task and start to cheat off the older dog (more of a problem in a heavy cover/less sight oriented retrieves)...again, not an avenue to confidence. Field trials are not perfect, but they do not run dogs in a 'race'...they set up tests to evaluate each dog on its own merit, motivated but its instinct, training and handler-not by another dog. I enjoy watching a dog work on its own merit. I think there are instances where a 'race' can be useful-typically in an upland scenario in heavy cover and a bird that is giving Dog A the business, if the handlers agree allowing other dogs 'in' to recover the bird. A passive dog can sometimes get some fire from some competition set up in a controlled environment. 2 dogs swimming for one bumper over long hauls can be a great conditioning exercise. I won't go on about the aesthetics...we all really hunt with dogs because of the color and depth they add to the hunt. Beyond the conservation. I was enjoying each dog do it's thing. When you said 'let's send them both' I just thought it was not necessary and watching them race was less appealing than a single dog and a nice honor. I'm not trying to sound like a snob, I know some will disagree and wish you continued success and enjoyment.

I have the finisher. I can kill a duck faster with my hands than I can with the finisher.

We are meat eaters. It's down in our blood. It's who we are.

If I wasn't supposed to eat birds, they wouldn't be made of meat.

Appreciate the feedback. I would say that when your dog does something she has already been taught not to do some scolding is in order. I grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and pushed her back to her place. I agree with your point about not being abusive but I feel my action in that situation was appropriate.

@@FreelanceDuckHunting my 1 year old chocolate lab twist her head sometimes that makes you feel dam I wish you could take and then maybe not when we miss the birds.

Great Hunt, Georgia is working hard and that ice is no joke. She is just like us, we all occasionally make mistakes.

Very true, Her jumping out of the layout boat when I shoot has been a problem this season. We worked on it in the yard last week. She was much improved on this hunt but as you said. Some mistakes will happen.