Then we cover the blinds with rice stubble from one of the mounds and, after setting out decoys, crawl inside to wait for shooting time."Ĭampbell uses two or three dozen floating decoys and positions a pair of Greenhead Gear full-body resters or sleepers atop each mound for added realism. This allows hunting in layout blinds in up to eight inches of water without getting wet. Each blind is fitted with an Avery NeoTub, which is like a waterproof neoprene glove that fits around the bottom of the blind and up the sides. When the concentration of birds has built up again, my friends and I will return before dawn and set layout blinds alongside the mounds. It takes only a day or two for the ducks to get used to them. "I'll line them up in a row a few feet apart. "When the birds are hitting the middle of a rice field, I'll wade in with a rake and create several mounds of stubble from the immediate area," Campbell says. Although many hunters become frustrated by this behavioral shift, Jason Campbell of Iowa, Louisiana, eagerly awaits it. Instead, they start using midfield areas where it is difficult for hunters to hide. In response to extensive hunting pressure, ducks and geese feeding in rice fields often begin to avoid field edges, levees, and aboveground blinds. "The more you use your binoculars, the better your hunting will be." Rice Fields "It comes down to how much you put into it, especially scouting," Roby says. This style of hunting on sandbars can be extremely effective. If the weather is really miserable, the birds won't move until midday," he explains. Roby won't get on the river until after breakfast. This really helps keep incoming birds from seeing me." "If at all possible, I'll set up with the wind at my back or side," Roby adds. If driftwood or other cover is available, Roby uses it to further conceal his layout blinds, but he uses only cover that is natural to the hunting spot (no netting or grass mats). Then he tosses four dozen duck decoys into the shallows just off the sandbar. Roby hides the blinds among goose decoys, setting up to four dozen full-bodies around the blinds and as many as six dozen sleeper shells at the water's edge. If the sand isn't frozen, we may dig the blinds in several inches to lower their profile." "We space the blinds close enough to put one or wo decoys between them. "We use low-profile, sand-colored layout blinds on the sandbars, usually setting them right at the water's edge," Roby says. When the area's shallow waters freeze, ducks and geese feed in dry fields and then hit the river to loaf during midday. Sandbarsĭuring extreme cold spells, Clint Roby of Brunswick, Missouri, shifts his hunting to sandbars on the nearby Missouri River. Follow their lead and you will find that these blinds can open up a new world of hunting opportunities. Here's how four resourceful waterfowl hunters combine mobility and creativity to use layout blinds in a variety of settings.
They can also be equipped with waterproof liners to hunt in sheet water in marshes or flooded agricultural fields. They allow hunters to virtually disappear around potholes, ponds, sandbars, beaver sloughs, streams, and many other waterfowl haunts. While perfect for dry fields, layout blinds can be equally effective in other settings. Used in this manner, layout blinds are extremely effective, which explains their popularity among field hunters.īut these blinds are more versatile than many hunters realize.
DUCK LAYOUT BLIND PORTABLE
These lightweight portable blinds were developed mainly for goose hunting in fields, allowing hunters to scout for a field where the birds are feeding in the afternoon and then set up there early the next morning. Layout blinds enable hunters to hide in open spaces where ducks and geese feed or loaf. The two crawled in and began their wait for mallards, which weren't long in coming. The boy walked the boat down the shoreline while his dad grassed the layout blinds. He and his son boated to the point, tossed out some decoys, and unloaded a couple of ground blinds. Invariably, some would raft up around the point, which was a mudflat covered with short yellow grass.Ī duck-hunting friend who had observed this behavior decided to try to hunt the point when the next cold front blew in. Whenever a freeze forced the birds out of surrounding ponds and shallow wetlands, they headed for the lake. It was one of those spots where ducks wanted to bethe point of an island bordering a main river channel on a reservoir.
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