Sea Duck hunting Camouflage

Wow, what a difference a day makes! Unlike Thursday, yesterday the birds were very scarce. Fortunately, the suggestions I was able to implement from this thread made a marked improvement.

We were even more conscious of our movement, wore less camouflage clothing, and anchored on the side of our spread, on the opposite side from the predominant flight path, instead of directly upwind and in the center.

Many of the birds decoyed very nicely. We even added a bufflehead and a bluebill to our bag, and spent much less time chasing down cripples. We are looking forward to another fresh batch of Scoter Jerky!

I sat there and watched the wind swing around from NW to N and pick up. It was still a beautiful day on the bay, but I was happy to have us all safe, warm, and dry in my whaler. It really made me re-think the layout boat option for the bay.

As it stands, I believe I will pursue the canvas blind/boat cover option. If anyone has a line on a good source for the material, please let me know.

Sincerest thanks to all for the suggestions and insight.
 
Nelson,

Last spring I purchased factory seconds Denier 500 from http://www.magnafabrics.com/category/cordura.htm at $1.49 a yard. I spoke to the gemtleman on the phone before purchasing to inquire about the factory seconds. He stated there are no real flaws to speak of, it just does not meet the government standards for use on the military's products. I puchased 35yards and did a bankes dominator style blind on my 13' duckwater as well as complete blind with "curtains" on my 14' Mckee Craft and found not one flaw in the fabric. The denier 500 does not absorb water and is plenty strong enough for a blind, you can also sew it on a standard machine with 92 thread. I did an estuary style blind on a BBSB I had out of denier 1000 with 92 thread, though it sewed... ok, I broke a few needles, the 500 is every bit as strong for blind puposes. I now have a 1950's commercial singer sewing machine I picked up dirt cheap off CL and was worth every penny as I can sew through multiple layers wrapped around nylon webbing with 138 size thread with out an issue. Oh, and dont let the sewing intimidate you, I never touched a sewing machine before making my first blind. I don't feel I am all that great at it, but on the other hand I did not have the means to pay for someone who is.

Good Luck!
Gene
 
Thanks Lou (a little belated).....One thing for sure about duck hunting.... You got to be adaptable. I've hunted out of boats, blinds, cattails, timber, and lay-outs. For a chance to collect a new species for my wall, I think I would consider snorkling and spear gunning. I think this visqueen thing my be just what I'm looking for. There's a point on a lake where I've noticed different species of ducks flying by but just out of effective gun range. If I could be out in the water about 30 yds from shore and they don't spot me, I should get some passing shots. I don't know if I will be able to put this together for this season, but I will get it together for next year.
 
Do you set up the decoys so that the birds will approach parallel to the boat and not head on? We hunted oldsquaw out of a 26 foot Groverbuilt (there's no hiding that). Originally we strung the decoys off the stern due to the ripping tide and the birds were hesitant. So we then tried anchoring the strings of decoys off to the side of the boat and we got closer shots.
 
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I have wanted to try doing some of my own canvas work. I wanted to start with something a little less conspicuous like decoy bags.

We now position the boat to the side of the spread.
 
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