Finally got after them ducks... sorta

Hunters be on the lookout for this duck... Authorities say he is hooked on quack

I know I know, unoriginal,I couldnt resist.


Well a buddy and my self accompanied Brewer out to some game lands this afternoon in hopes of shooting a few ducks. We picked a good spot, most of the lake was frozen over except for where we had planned to hunt. A blue heron came in within shooting distance to land,it saw us and took a hard right turn outta there.That was pretty cool to see, and if it had been a duck, we would have been on him like a rat on a cheetoh(say it like Roy D Mercer). Unfortunately we did not see anything during legal light except for about 1000 sea gulls. After shooting light, a flock of about 30 geese flew right over. Thats how it usually works for me. I was just out there the other day and saw a ducks every where. Oh well, cant wait to get back out there. Maybe I will get to try it in the morning next time. One thing that did not go so well this afternoon was Brewer. It was his first real duck hunt. I knew he would have trouble sitting still, but I thought he might settle after a little while. Let me tell you, he never settled, as time went by, he got more and more anxious. I knew that his first few times duck hunting needed to be more about him then me, but he was driving me crazy. Most of this comes back on me though. I really should have been working him more regularly. For what I have done with him, I cant expect much more at this point. He was restlessly whining and barking, at first I tried to tie him to a small tree right beside of me. This didnt work for two reasons, he couldnt quite be right beside me ( 1 foot away wasnt close enough), and he kept getting wrapped around the tree, he would bark and shake the tree trying to free him self. I finally figured out there was no use in trying to shoot anything. I just held on to him the whole time and let my friend be the gunner. Should I really be surprised we didnt see anything? I did fire one shot at the ice, couldnt resist. I made brewer heel, as I brought up my gun his eyes followed the barrel out onto the ice looking where I was pointing. I made the mistake of not telling him to stay. When I fired, the wad from the shell went flying out onto the ice and he was after it faster then I could react. I called him off of it because the ice wasnt safe, but he would have retrieved it to my hand. I was so proud of him, he understood that when the gun fires there is something to retrieve. You should have seen him look out onto the ice when I pointed my gun, he was in hunt mode then. I know this is very insignificant for anyone who has never trained a gun dog, but I thought it was awesome.
The next several posts will be regarding waterfowl hunting. Since I had such a great response before when I asked for waterfowling tips (0 replies) I thought I would ask again. What tips, tricks, ideas do you have for public land ducks and geese, or just late season birds that have been called to and shot at? What kind of vision do birds have, decoying tactics etc...