My 2nd comment....forgot to tell you that I definitely pattern my duck gun and loads. Use a SBE 2 with a Carlson Mid Range choke for Geese using Black Cloud 2's, and my #4 skeet factory choke using Black Cloud 3's on Ducks. Did purchase some Boss #3's after season, always looking for more knock down energy because I have never liked Steel. Gun mounting is my most important rule to put Ducks and Geese on the ground. My SBE 2 does pattern a little high 65%/35%, when shooting feet down birds, need to take that into consideration, but helps on birds rising!!!
@@mikefry1503 that’s great. Yes there are many guns that don’t shoot where you think they do… often they are made that way on purpose. Knowing how to shoot ‘your gun’ is key! Thanks for sharing your experience and tips.
My dog climbed the opposite bank 200 or 300 times right below the spot the ducks are shot at minute 6:54 in this video. It was exclusive to me for ten years until last season when it was leased to your buddy. Money talks, and that is the way of the world. All my hunts are on private land, and I still hunt about two hundred and fifty yards above where you did in this video, on another property. The cornfield behind was offered to me to hunt one half of, but I declined for your buddy to hunt exclusively as a way of showing appreciation to farmer that leased land to your friend. After all, I had had it all for ten years for free from the Grand Matriarch of the family. Last years season was atrocious. The worst I've ever seen in this area.
Well I’m glad to see you guys did well this season. I’m in southern Louisiana and we typically shoot between 200-250 birds each season. This season - 35 birds!!! Don’t know what happened. It was hard to even keep going just to stare at empty skies. Talked with several others around our area and this was the general consensus- no birds. Love the videos.
Was my first duck season ever! Learned alot, shot enough ducks to get me hooked and thinking about how I can make next season even better (binge watch surviving duck season again) glad to see a video finally! Watching from Vancouver Island!
Got a franchi affinity elite middle of last season because my stoeger died and had to send it back to get fixed which took 3 months… I patterned it with 5 potential loads through my patternmaster code black duck and ended up buying my 3rd favorite / most affordable of those since that’s all that was available. I’ve never had so many cripples in a season… Got my hands on some Boss 3” 3/5 for the last day of the season without patterning… 8 shots and 6 ducks dead. I’ll be going with boss next season just off that.
Hi Joel my name is Nick I have hunted ducks since the age of 10 I am now a young 66 and have never missed a season starting in September we cut brush and fix blinds to October I hunt souteastern Va a tidal river off of the james river up until 2016 we would shoot a limit of ducks mallards,black ducks ,pintail,widgon,gadwal,greenwing teal . The last five years I dont think two of us have killed a limit it's so sad what's happening and I cant seem to get an answer from anyone .The cost for the new outboard I had to buy blind license and all the state fees what the heck has happened to the ducks so very sad truly .
While Zoe was a loaner pup I’m surprised you didn’t try and buy her after season. Would have been hard to give back a dog that worked so well for you not to mention the bond. Great video. Part of Kansas where I’m at isn’t known for ducks like other areas of the state but had some great goose hunts.
57 years old. Hunt NW Iowa. I’ve hunted ducks since I was 9 years old. I own a 20 acre slough close to a good sized refuge and numerous other both state and public waterfowl areas. Admittedly I don’t get out as much as I want but I never shot 1 single duck this year. Pretty sad. I remember years shooting 300-400 ducks off my slough throughout the season. Not sure if it’s because the ducks no longer use our flyaway or just not many ducks or a combination of these 2? The goose hunting was ok but not like the past either.
@@SurvivingDuckSeason true. But the older I get the more I appreciate just being out there. I saw all kinds of pheasants, deer, Turkey, swans you name it so yes still enjoyable.
My season in Western NY was like the start of your season (on the video). Down right POOR....The local federal refuge saw poor numbers and harvest...I truly hope I never have a season like '21-22....On the up side....I did kill a couple ducks and 1 goose with my 28 ga (BOSS shells). I want to shoot that gun more for ducks...Love it!!!
I don’t know how you can pattern a shotgun when you have no idea what shells are even going to be available. It really makes no difference anymore you just have to take what you can get. I used the shoot hevi metals… but I’m not paying what they want for them anymore. I used to really love rio blue steel but I haven’t seen a box where I’m at in almost two years. The choice to find what shoots best isn’t there anymore… As far as ducks… I hunted Wyoming, Utah and all over Texas. Wyoming was terrible. I usually shoot 100 birds a year personally in Wyoming. I shot half that. Utah was great. Texas was super slow last week of the season. Everyone complained the birds haven’t came down… we’ll they weren’t up north either..🤷🏻♂️
Ammo has been crazy hard to find for many. Patterning isn't only for trying to figure out what ammo is best, but also to see how your gun shoots what ammo you do have. It also help to determine which choke looks better. I get into these things on my series. Thanks for watching and sharing your feedback.
Wow! Greatly enjoyed that video and so looking forward to seeing more, especially the shotgunning series! To answer your questions, I have never patterned my shotgun, although I've been telling myself I should do it for years! Maybe this will be the year. My season was quite different this year in NW Montana, but it was mainly from a lack of time due to working full time and going to school full time! I had very limited scouting time and Saturdays were often my only day of hunting in a week. As expected, I shot a lot less birds, although the hunting wasn't bad. We had some decent duck and Canada Goose numbers in the area throughout the season. There was one warm water spot where I cashed in multiple times getting several limits of ducks after the weather got cold!
Joel, do you like the Higdon Pulsator? Watching them in the latter half of the video, it looked like some of the magic had gone out of them. Wondering if I'm better off with a jerk rig.
When I started hunting with my 10 gauge and got a patternmaster goose choke, I did pattern it with 3 different loads. Federal Black cloud and remington pattern nearly identical with remington being about 4" tighter at 50 yards. I then got a patternmaster code black duck for the 12 gauge, patterned it and settled on federal black cloud after checking 6+ types of ammo. I immediately started hammering the ducks and 95% less wounded birds. It was a very uneventful duck season for us in central/east tx but we had plenty of fun.
I always pattern my guns, in my opinion its unethical to not pattern. We owe it to the ducks to not be shooting crippling patterns. I currently shoot a beretta a400 extreme with a jebs improved modified using boss #4 for ducks and boss #3 for geese.
This season was by far the worst duck season I've had in terms of harvest numbers. The waterfowl migration has been almost nonexistent here in louisiana for the last couple years.
I pattern my 870 and my Browning over and under with steel and bismuth they both shoot well great patterns from both kicks and black cloud chokes . We had a great season in Wisconsin hunting flooded corn and wheat fields all the way til ice up . ps 3s and 5s pattern the best for me 28, 20 , and 12 gates 😀
Joel, I noticed on some of your waders you had a different strap. Is this something you did yourself? I love the high and dry waders but the straps are the worst
Hey Nate, yes I modified 2 pairs and tried them out for a while to give them feedback on what I thought was best. Their straps are not my favorite, but at least I'm not wet like the other guys LOL!
@@SurvivingDuckSeason Is this something you would recommend doing? I have already thought about trying to update the straps on my waders...if I can talk my wife into doing it for me.
@@natephillips3535 I like both versions much better. If you have an old pair of waters that you like the straps on, just take em off and put them on your HND waders.
My duck season was terrible six ducks in which I shot five in one day bad goose season wasn't much better have one goose till the very last day then we limit out that day was awesome all together I don't know still have a lot of fun and wait for next year
I always pattern my shotguns and chokes.! I also have been shooting Boss 3” 4-Shot and love it.! That round will take down the biggest geese to the smallest ducks, extremely universal..! Love your channel and work you do, if your ever in Washington State let me know, I’ll take you hunting at the Nisqually Delta and my leased land.
I pattern about half the time, sometimes if I just grab a box of random stuff off the shelf I won’t pattern it but if I buy a case I’ll pattern it, this did burn me though, I bought a box of browning 20 gauge to use on a goose hunt and couldn’t figure out why i was missing easy shots, turns out it was shooting about a foot high at 30 yard
I live in southeast Pennsylvania my duck season was piss poor the ponds froze over there was no ducks to be found even the goose hunting was piss poor places I used to go where there was plenty of duck and geese I didn't see a single bird I don't know if it was the crazy weather this year or what and my deer season I span in the hospital I got to go one day and didn't see a thing
This is another fantastic video, Joel. My Waterfowl Season in Central Nebraska in a Word: *ABYSMAL* It was rough and I killed about as many ducks and geese in Nebraska on 40+ hunts as I used to living in Appalachia with less than 30 waterfowl hunts a season. A little over a dozen and a half ducks and the same on geese by the end of that season. We did not see any duck numbers whatsoever all season and did not see significant canada numbers until after we were into Snow goose conservation season. Birds did come through on the late reverse migration though. To answer your shotgunning questions: - yes, I pattern all of my guns, chokes, and loads (and I encourage everyone to in person as well as through my youtube channel content to do the same) - I practice with my guns in the off season and in season as much as possible - I know what loads do and understand the “Art and Science” of shotgunning. (Highly recommend the late Bob Brister’s book, “Shotgunning: The Art and Science” by the way) Looking forward to the shotgun series!
I have a couple really great spots I enjoy hunting in Nebraska, and was SO disappointed that the birds didn't show up this year! Sorry for y'all that had it tough all season. Thanks for your feedback!
It was the best duck season I’ve ever had personally, I traveled the whole season, didn really hunt my home state this past season, but I enjoyed the hunts I was on and saw some incredible duck numbers in some of the places I went to.
Awesome season after it got going. Shoot A400XP with Boss 3” with 1.5 oz 3/5 combo. Rob Roberts T2 choke. Lethal on ducks and geese. Like the 3” shells just for extra pellets-pattern density.
Wow, what a great video. The long format is awesome and I can't wait for the shotgunning series. I have patterned my gun with what I'm shooting now. But am looking for something else. I tried Boss 3" 3/5 and 3" 2s vs 3.5" 2 federal bluebox. I actually think my steel patterned better out of my SBE3 carlson LR. Overall duck season was kind of a bust, I'm right on the line with Canada in VT and most of our birds roosted and stayed in CA or the refuge in VT and we never had anything freeze. Early season was good but that was about it. Still got a mallard and goose band though so that was my highlight!
This was my first duck season ever and I had a blast from hunting -5 degree days to 65 sunny and no wind. Only shot 2 ducks (Bufflehead and Green Wing Teal) because I’m just a bad shot but I’m hooked for life now! 1 big beginners mistake that happed was I didn’t know you had to have a steal choke for shooting steal shot… it wasn’t until at the end of the season I learned this 😅. I now have a choke stuck in my Winchester SXP pump shot gun (which in case you’re wondering held up great). Any suggestions on how to get it out would be great! Thanks!
Joe, I use SX4 as well, 3 1/2 BB for guess and # 2: 3 1/2 for ducks. I do so exercise to rest set my body for 2 weeks and parther both munitions. I like to use steel hammer. I’m base in Quebec and love your video, you do an awesome job !
I pattern my SBE2 to see why I had been missing with the nontoxic. With Lead it shoots 60:40 and heavy metal 70:30. Since I wont buy ammo from the Monopoly that has formed, I will be looking for something different? Go Zoey, My black lab was my best dog. I have one of each so far. What is Zoeys hide? My current dog is a little tall and won't crouch down for very long. I have also found it very difficult to find a place that will let you pattern your gun with "duck " loads. Ranges around me only let you shoot birdshot and all the conservation areas in KS and MO are posted no target shooting, including paper ones.
Below average duck harvest for SW Iowa Iowa, normal harvest for central Iowa. Yes, definitely patterned my SX2 with factory chokes and handload steel shotshells. Great video! Looking forward to more!
2021 Duck season was one of the worst. Cancelled our yearly ND trip due to super hot temperatures, no crops & low water in the pothole region due to a drought and no ducks. Our Ohio season was also terrible due to the warm temperatures and a very slow migration. Picked up a little in January, but season ended, and the migration kicked in the next week after season was out. Our saving grace was that we had a Great Goose season during January. I was training my new pup also, the geese salvaged the season for her!! Very Tough Season, pretty much the worst in the last 20 years. Great Video, with lots of interesting points, excited to see the gun & ammo series!!! Thanks
I spent 2 weeks chasing a redhead or a black duck, was not successful, but the rest of the season turned up 80 wood ducks and only 1 mallard compared to 12 mallards last season. I would love to get one of those harlequin, very nice! I lost my duck dog unexpectedly at the end of duck season, she was only 6... got a new boy Im training, hate to start over again and I miss my girl. Hopefully we have a better turn out next season! God bless!
I patterned my shotgun with a new extended full choke 2 years ago. I was shocked at the difference, ammo can make with your choke.I shot 6 different types of ammo and my best was Kent fast steel. And man what a difference it makes I really wish I would have done it sooner! Way less wounded birds! I overall had a good duck season in South Dakota one thing I will say is I haven’t seen many mallards last couple years but a crazy amount of galdwells. Almost 70% of the birds I have shot last 2 years have been all galdwells.
Yall got it done up there in Arkansas. I would say in my area of Central Louisiana it was a mediocre season. Mostly teal and spoonies in the bag. Did get my first Pintail in probably 10 or more seasons, and it worked in beautiful (glad to get that drought over with). Saw a few mallards and grey ducks, but they did not cooperate very well. We had a lot of the same birds using our cut all season and it made it challenging to get birds to work in for shots. Specklebellies were better than last season. I killed 7 at my lease and loss 2 or 3 over the season. Missed getting my 3 bird limit one morning, as I lost one in the slough that runs through the farm. Saw it but it dove or got up in the grass before I could get the gun off the 4-wheeler and was never able to get it to flush. Did finally get a 3-bird speck limit on an invite back to the old goose lease, great morning with 3 pretty barred up specks. Already gearing up for the coming season!!!
Great video - one of the best of the many "best". I will link it from my Double T Boat Sales Leavenworth KS to help spread the word. Looking forward to the next Thanks much Our season here in Kansas was hit or miss. Days that should have been the best due to conditions were the worst most of the time. Enjoyed it none the less. I started using Apex but was a late start with them due to availability. Buddy sold all his steel and moved to Boss only, as he has more confidence in them than other brands of steel Keep ya posted. I also moved to the new 20 ga Benelli SBE -for next year. Works great for trap and skeet. Will test fire this summer for patterns
I do usually pattern unless I'm having to buy random ammo at the store last minute. Would like for u to talk more about how u prep/manage/setup your fields. We often have ducks land in the middle out of range need to figure out why. Thanks!
Great video Joel! Looks like you had a blessed season! I know you've been in contact with Joe, we gotta get together in Michigan. It would be a blast! I myself use a Stoeger 3500 with 3" boss 3/5's with a Carlson choke. Patterns great!
I didn't have a bad year. About the same number of total kills as I average. Water hurt me for the first half of the season but second half water was perfect. Needed better hides though, but just rectified that by buying invisiman's for next year
Hey Brother, I have really missed your video's lately. I think this one may be one of my favorites. There was a lot of information to digest but fantastic. The start of this years season for me reflected yours entirely. No water to speak of and the weather wasn't cooperating. My old toller, Buddy, only hunted a couple of times but was pretty sick. We list him on Jan 21, 2022 ten days before the end of goose season. Your video reminded me of the joy I had with Buddy for 12 seasons. I was really happy to see Zoey and pray she'll find a home with you. Your hunt with your wife and daughter was priceless. I am Blessed to have found your channel on RU-vid.. mostly thanks to that Jake guy.. God Bless... keep up the great work.
Took my first trip to Arkansas to duck hunt!!! Also took my son for his birthday and Christmas presents. I had a blast my son did as well. We went through 6 boxes a peace the first day
Great video love your work and yes every shotgun i.hunt with I have tried every choke I own I'm them at different yards with the ammo I'm hunting with. Well when your 2nd born comes on October 28th needless to say I only hunted deer 4 times and waterfowl not that I get to do it often never happened lol
Hunted 20 times and saw big ducks maybe 3 times all season. Thankfully had my faithful woody hole to get a few birds. Makes you want to throw in the towel. Duck hunting in Louisiana just isn’t what it use to be
My years in Alaska I found the Harlequin ducks on nearly every small creek, especially around the Haines area in 1974, and the Chilkat river during Salmon runs in November. Those are a pretty bird, and they sure seem to like Salmon eggs!
Idaho is always slow besides opening weekend, unless you have fields. Once late nov-mid dec hits is usually when it get good. Depending on northern temperatures. But this year was bad for puddle ducks. So my guys and I switched to diver hunting and had really solid hunts of multiple 4 man limits
Hunted North end of Last Mountain Lake, Sk. Worst Duck season in 40 Yrs. that I have been going there. Upland however was best I ever saw. My friends up there told me it never got better.
Probably one of the worst seasons for me and the guys I know In South Eastern Tennessee. Had good numbers of bluebills and wooducks early but that was it. In Tennessee you can only kill 1 bluebill early in the season so most of the ducks we did have were wasted because of the limits
I pattern my gun with new loads and chokes before the season. My season was really rough, hear in Utah birds were sparse all season, atleast for this walk in hunter. Work limited my available hunts.
I got a new gun during the season. Dream gun! But I would not hunt with it until I patterned it. My season as far as kills was not good at all. But I learned more this season than any season I have ever had duck hunting. I am super excited for this coming season. I went scouting 4 times the months of February and March to get intel on my new places. NOW, if the ducks just show up!
Great video! Looking forward to the shotgun series. Hunting isn’t the same in Massachusetts because we simply don’t have anywhere close the numbers you see. Still we try our hardest, have fun and make memories. Thanks for sharing your year end review!
Yes I patterned my new browning maxus 2 wicked wing with a pattermaster code black duck tube. Shot 6 different brands of nontoxic shells and the Kent fasteel 2.0 patterned the best at 20 and 40 yards
I'm calling BS on BOSS and their "2 3/4" inch shells are all that you need. He admits that all they had was a 2 3/4" press. When all that you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Why don't you just admit that it reduces your production costs to have less shot and powder in the shell?
I live nearby their production facilities. I was skeptical of 'the shorty' after shooting 3 inch shells for a few years when they first came out. I can tell you that I have patterned many of their loads in various shot sizes, payloads, and shell lengths. Unless you are taking borderline unethical shots, you don't need the longer shells and bigger payloads. I take most of my shots inside of 30, and had one of the best seasons I have ever had. Yes, I had a few cripples and lost birds, but I can tell you that those longer shells are a waste of money. The amount you pay for a minor increase (less than 5% increased pellets inside a 30" circle) isn't a marketing gimmick for boss. They have no incentive to sell you cheaper shells. End of the line, if you are taking ethical shots and are choked properly for said ethical shots, you so not need 3" shells. For instance. Sx3 out to 50 yards with 2 3/4 3 boss loads and a muller passing tube...i got 96% in a 3o inch circle. Thats 135ish hits inside that circle. That is an ethical pattern for even teal at that tested range, with enough penetration to kill a center mass hit goose.
@@shoot4fun302 you’re original comment wasn’t about price it was about how the shells weren’t enough. Price isn’t to bad due to the fact that you don’t have to shoot cripples non stop
I've loaded my own bismuth for many years. My go to duck killer is a 2 3/4" 1 1/4 oz of sphero bismuth 4s from Ballistic Products loaded to 1450 fps. It smashes everything from big green heads to divers out to 50 yards easily. It has the pattern density of 1 5/8 oz of steel 2s and beats steel 2s it in range as well. To put it in layman's terms, this little 2 3/4" shell is more effective than a 3.5 inch roman candle load of steel so yes, when you are shooting a superior ballistic material, 2 3/4" is really all you need.
Terrible season probably the worst eber. North and central zone in IL. Then hunted in the Fl panhandle 2x just as bad, and then got COvid and that was it...
Seeing you with your daughter in the blind was by far my favorite part! I think building the future is the most important part of all of this! I would love to see some more introduction to waterfowl videos. For not only your daughter but youth and families. Seeing it click for new hunters is really cool!
I've been pattering my duck gun for years and a firm believer in it and do it every couple of years and found that the same shell that patterned good in the past with a certain choke now doesn't. i assume that the shell Co changed something maybe.
Not sure what info you got for no birds in Wisconsin I had the best season of my life this year and killed tons of birds and got to watch my dog kick butt all year just had to put in some work but best of luck to you next year and if you would like I would take you out this next year
I purchased a new 20ga this off season and have put it through the ringer as far as pattern testing. 4 different brand choke tubes and some of the brands I have tried multiple chokes and a bunch of brands of ammo from the cheapest steel I can find on the shelf at Walmart to bismuth and some tungsten.
I pattern when use something i havent used before - i bought a case of fiochi # 2 and its good. No better than last season was it will probably last me the rest of my life.
@@SurvivingDuckSeason Northern Minnesota by Grand Rapids ,,we had an opening day filled out ,, then we couldnt hunt for almost 3 weeks ,,then we hunted to end of our season in November We never shot our guns the ducks became nocturnal and wouldnt come out from there Roost until ( refuge areas, until night to feed most of my friends said it was there worst year ever,,, is there any openings there to hunt in December or late season this coming year and the cost per day and does that include sleeping quarters
I patterned my shotgun before season. I hyphen had the best season when it came to accuracy! So I have to think that it was a factor to why shot so many birds
Sorry to see you had a rough hunt in Utah. We had one of our best. If you decide to give it a go out this way again let me know. Would love to take you out
@@SurvivingDuckSeason yep did the South Dakota lotto and saw more birds in a few days out there during a blizzard than I saw all year in west central MN.
thanks for amazing Movies and lots of learning ! i have learned a lot watching your videos and hope one day i can have as much success with duck hunting as you have.. thanks here from Denmark
Another great video, Joel! Thanks for letting guys like me (that don't really get to hunt anymore) tag along and hunt vicariously through you!!! Amazing footage as always, and fantastic editing, as well. Enjoy your leisurely time "off" this summer!!! LOL!!!
Hi Joel, I’m checking in from central Maine. I personally didn’t see big numbers in my normal spots. Small rivers that would have 100 birds, had 10 this year. Did scouting and found some new spots and enough birds to stay fun. Rarely got skunked, but rarely went home with limits. I think we had late migration due to warmer than normal fall, and lots of blue bird days. Decoy set ups were slow, but not unsuccessful.
Amazing video! Joel, wished it was longer. So appreciate all your advise, tips, gear reviews, etc!! I’ve bought and used several of the products and have enjoyed them. Shot my first drake mallard in a public land timber hunt. Only my second year, so for me I overall had a great season in TN.
Thanks! It could have been a LOT longer haha. There's lots to be explored on more videos from Alaska, and Arkansas... as well as shooting and shotgunning. All coming soon!! Congrats on a great season!
First of all Joel, fantastic video. It’s really cool to see how hunting in other states is! We had the best season mostly river hunting in central Arkansas in the river valley. For the past 4 seasons I would say our group average total haul was around 50 birds and this year we killed over 200. Hoping 2022-23 season has more of that in store! Best of luck to you!
