Add a New Challenge and an Adrenaline Rush to Your Next Hunt
The cool crisp air comes across the pond and shutters through the rising steam from the crisp water as the morning sun breaks the horizon in the distance and as you peer into the mist, the first quack breaks the silence of the morning. You draw back your bow as a duck comes floating in toward the decoys you have set nearby and the adrenaline pulses through your fingertips as you release your nocked arrow, hitting exactly where you had aimed. This morning is an immediate success and the feeling achieved through bowhunting ducks is in a word, spectacular.
The combination between challenge and adrenaline is a driving force that has increasingly brought bowhunters to the realm of waterfowl and ducks. To have a great ability in taming the challenge of bowhunting ducks we will look at several key tips and resources to utilize in your next hunt to help ensure you come home with a smile and a full limit.
The Closer the Better
If you have hunted ducks or other waterfowl in the past, you most likely know the importance of being up close and personal to the action at hand. Similar to other forms of duck hunting, bowhunting for ducks becomes a greater probability through the hunting tactic known as decoying. Take in consideration that bowhunting for ducks is much different than shotgun-based approaches and may require the need to reevaluate the type of duck blind that is normally utilized. Blinds that allow for greater mobility, or range-in-motion, while drawing a bow and aiming at a descending target are of critical importance when taking on the adventure of bowhunting for ducks, as compared to enclosed blinds that may be better suited for other types of hunts.
In addition to ensuring for mobility within a blind, the proximity location as an archer to decoys placed near the blind becomes more tactical in bowhunting ducks. As a general tip, when setting up your platform or blind, make every attempt to be within 10 to 20 yards of where the landing area for the ducks will most likely be in comparison to the nearby decoys placed.
Practice and Quick Release
Beyond preparing adequately the day of the hunt by blind and decoy position, the potential to be more successful during bowhunting ducks starts long before the day of the hunt. In the time leading up to the hunt, whether it is weeks or years, the ability to become faster in motion and release with a compound bow becomes essential. The reflex-ability and speed that is needed for bowhunts for turkey or big game becomes exponentially more important with the speed that is needed to be successful during a duck hunt. Speed and efficiency comes in two key components: practice and equipment. Equipment will help get you to the door, but the practice and effort that are put in to place maximizing fluidity in motion and efficiency is what will get you past the threshold and lead to success.
Bowhunting ducks is an incredible challenge that the best bowhunters in America have worked to master. With efficient planning and practice, put your skills to the test and get your adrenaline pumping on your next hunt, bowhunting ducks.