1. Scouting, I would have to say, is the field or spot your hunting is one of the most important things to be mindful of. If you can, you want to be on the X. You should be under the flight of where the birds are going. Scouting can be how you make or break your hunt. Even if you’re hunting a pit blind hunting traffic birds, it still helps to scout out your birds to see how they are sitting in fields and loafing ponds. But hunting a traffic spot can be somewhat difficult.

2. The hide, in my opinion, even if your hunting the X and you’re not completely hidden. The birds will be out of there faster than you know. Natural vegetation out of the field or marsh your hunting is the best thing to hide with. The best thing to do while hiding blinds, is to over cover them. While coming in and out of blinds or layouts, you will knock your cover off and will not be hidden as well.

3. The decoys are very important to have- not only to look like a real bird, but you have to have your decoy spread look like a real flock. This comes from scouting the birds in your area and see if they are fairly spread out or packed in tight.

4. Calling, while you’re hunting where you scouted the birds out the night before. Your decoys are looking good and your blinds are hidden. You can ruin what seems to be a perfect set up by not sounding like a real flock of ducks and/or geese. This can happen by not calling quite enough or over-calling. You can learn how the birds are talking to one another by listening while you’re out scouting.

5. Calling the shot – one big thing I have learned over the years of hunting is not to second guess yourself on calling the shot. Almost 9 times out of 10, if you let them make one more pass, they usually drift off and not come into your decoys.  I usually try to call the shot on the first or second pass the birds make if they are in good shooting range.

6. Your dog – having a good retriever is very crucial to most successful waterfowl hunts. Your dog will make retrieving your birds way easier and quite a bit faster than you doing the retrieving, and not to mention, you don’t get stuck out in the decoys while another flock of birds come in. You should try your best to teach your dog to be steady and not bolt when you come up to shoot. Dogs could get shot and killed or severely hurt by bolting. The other downside is that when your dog breaks before the birds are shot they will flare and make the shots harder.

7. Have a good time! You should always try to have a good time, even if the birds aren’t cooperating the way you would like. I personally enjoy every sunrise no matter what the outcome is. Another thing I love is watching mallards shine in the sun while they are swinging down into your decoys.