With all the waterfowl gear available in the sporting goods world today, Davy and Colby Daniels are pretty basic — and old school — in their approach to guiding their 300 to 400 duck hunters each season.
“We both shoot older-model Remington 10-gauge automatic shotguns with No. 2 shot or BBs,” Colby said. “We don’t normally shoot until everybody else has had a chance or when we need to shoot a cripple that might get away.
“For that, we need to reach out pretty far, so that’s why we use the 10-gauge. It also helps with the geese.”
Davy blows an old double-reed, cut-down B-2 Olt call for mallards, a staple in his duck bag since he started. He also blows a Wingsetter Wigeon call for wigeons, pintails and teal, and a Haydel Xtra loud Speck call for geese.
Colby uses a Haydel Black Hole Mallard call, his standby since he first started hunting. He uses the same whistle and goose call as his dad.
“What we use works, so we don’t mess around changing calls and trying different things,” Colby said.
Another vital piece of equipment for Colby is his dog Sadie —the hunt isn’t complete unless she goes along.
With five duck hunters in the family and clients that often run out of shells, they have one thing they look for when choosing ammos: something good but economical.
They shoot Federal, Winchest and Remington duck loads most of the time. If there is a favorite, it would be Remington’s new HyperSonic load.
And yes, they buy their shells by the case.