Spend time out there and hunt the areas where you see birds. If you are going to build permanent blinds I would just cut grass from out there and zip tie it to the blind. It takes more time but looks much better.

Just because birds land into the wind doesn't mean you have to have the wind at your back 100% of the time. You may find that late in the season birds will become blind and decoy shy. We have always had very good results hunting with a cross wind, the wind blowing from your right to left. The birds will work the blocks with nothing like a blind in front of them. Also when you shoot they will catch the wind and often bank right over the top of you.

Calling is something completely different it just takes time and practice,start now! An easy call to use is Haydels DR-85 and they are cheap.

Paw-Paw

A Hunt I will Never Forget!

I started a post asking how everyone sets up for the Ducks last season. It was very interestiong to hear everyone's way of hunting. You can search for it and read all the responses. I got it started with my favorite set-up. I was very fortunate to grow up and learn to hunt ducks at an early age from a family of duck hunting men. My earliest memories of hunting ducks were with my father and his uncles who always took the time to explain why and how we were going to set up that morning. These men were hunters who hunted as a way of life, to put food on the table, and when it was legal sold their bag of ducks to the market in New Orleans. I remember their stories of when times were hard and shells were too expensive to waste shooting to kill only one duck with a shot. There was a reason for the method and techniques they used and the Paw-Paw's Pirogue family still uses these traditional approaches to increase their chances during the hunt. We always paddle into the area to avoid disturbing any ducks that are around with the noisy boat motor. After checking the wind, we determine the exact spot we will make our blind and place the bulk of our decoys up wind of that location. We pull our pirogues into the marsh and build a low profile blind of Roseau canes around the pirogue that we can shoot out of from a sitting position. Setting up with a cross wind is always our first choice as it provides many advantages over hunting with the wind blowing over your back. Let's say that the wind is blowing from your right towards your left. By placing your decoys up wind on your right side (about 20-30 yards), the ducks will approach from your left side and look to land right behind the decoys to your right. Your blind will not be in the direct line of sight of the approaching ducks and you will be able to get away will a little movement as you prepare to shoot. Your first shot, from a sitting position, will send the ducks flaring with the wind and bring them right back across the front of the blind for easy and sometimes closer second and third shots. With the wind at your back, the ducks are looking directly at your blind as they approach and any movement could send the ducks away before they get into effective range. Also with the wind from your back, your first shot sends the ducks flaring away from you and your follow up shots are usually more difficult, out of range, and lead to many crippled ducks. When setting up in this manner, be patient and resist the urge to shot at the ducks that are working your spread until they are committed, they will actually pass up the blind and be just up wind of you before it is time to call the shot. I know some of you also like to set up this way and know how effective it can be. If you have not tried this approach, give this type of setup a chance this season; I think you will enjoy the feeling of completely fooling the ducks with that fist kill shot coming before they even know you are there

Agree completely with the cross wind set up & DR 85. They have one with CD you can listen to in the truck. Put some decoys about 30 yards down wind of your blind and a few in front. That way the ducks aren't looking directly at you when they are coming in. I hunted Port Sulphur 3 years ago in a spot called the Four Corners. Our lease was a triangle that started off the canal that runs out to Barataria. We only saw birds late in the season and they would raft up in the middle of bays. Good Luck to you.

Set up on the east side of the pond so the sun is at your back. Decoys to the left and right with a hole in the middle to land. I use waders and sit in the grass. Just flip your pirogue in the grass a few feet away. Bring a duck ID pamphlet so you don't get busted by the game warden for something that you didn't know what it was. If you put the vienna sausage in your jacket for 10 minutes then you won't have that funky jelly stuff in it. Bring your sunglasses for the boat ride home.

I'd start with a mobile setup until you figure out where the blind should go. Watch the sun in your face, and match the surrounding cover as best you can. If you do go with fastgrass from Academy, bring some spray paint to make it match and blend some natural vegetation in to it with zip ties.

Your mobile setup might just be a pirough with some 2 x 4's driven in to the ground and C clamps, or some 2 x 12's thrown on the ground. You just need stability to shoot. When you find where the birds naturally want to be, then build your blind with emphasis on sun position first, then prevailing wind.

Bring a couple of experienced friends and have fun! Good luck.

If I was you I would even worry about building a blind if you are going to be paddling in.

In my opinion, and the way we have been doing it for years is pulling the canoe up in the grass, covering it and shooting from the canoe.

I am assuming that if you are hunting marsh you have a lot of good grass to cover with. Salt grass, Cattails, and Roseau all make realll good hide.

If you wanted to hunt the center of a large lake a permanent blind might make sense. If you make a permanent blind on the bank you are tying yourself to a certain wind and sun setup. Think about that before you build a permanent blind on the bank.

Worst case scenario would be sunrise and wind in your face.

If you do build a blind plan on building in the East-West direction with water on your North and South. This would allow you to hunt a North wind and a South wind, with the sun on either your right or left.