AOJ's Successful Alaska Waterfowling

How Low Can You Go?
The Art of Concealment for the Successful Alaskan Waterfowler

Blending In With The Crowd & Matching the Hatch

Here are some tips and pointers for laydown hunting that I've learned over the years. Follow these suggestions
and you'll be coming home with limits instead of excuses.

SLEDS - Choose one 4 or 5 feet long and with a minimum of 4-6 inch high sides. You want something that will float your load when crossing shallow ponds and rain puddles. Most hunters are too tall to fit into the length of the sled so your feet are going to hang over the end. Take this into consideration when choosing the proper length. Its most comfortable if the end of the sled is at your knees. This will allow a comfortable bend in your legs over the edge.

Choose one that is stout! The thicker the material the more durable it will be. And the stiffer it is, the easier it is to use bungies for holding down your load without distorting the sled's shape. Good four and five footers can be found for $15-$20. Attach a pull rope long enough that you can pull the sled without lifting the front end.

KEEPING DRY - Chest waders are a necessity. They provide the ultimate weather protection when lying horizontal. I prefer rubber/canvas or cordura since they afford more air circulation for drying the condensate inside when I get up to walk around or retrieve my birds. Neoprenes do add a bit more warmth when the temperature drops below freezing and even add a bit of cushion for the body.

A dependably-waterproof camou hunting jacket with hood will complete the package. The hood will keep water from running down your neck. If its not raining, a hat will suffice but doesn't conceal the skin on your neck and face as well. A leaky jacket zipper will become apparent during the first rain shower. The objective is to be comfortable, not see how tough you are. So invest in adequate gear.

A pair of lightweight cotton camou gloves are much safer to shoot with since their thin layer will allow you complete control over "feeling" the trigger. Take several pair if they are likely to get wet.

CAMOUFLAGE - Blending in with the terrain is the key to success. I match my camou with the conditions. In the early season, our marsh grasses are relatively green and I'll wear my green camou jacket. As fall approaches, I switch to my Cattail Camou jacket.

For green conditions, I take two 8 foot long pieces of green camou mosquito netting. For dead grass colors later on, I use similar lengths of brown or tan netting. I shy away from using the "leaf-o-flage" diecut type material. The purpose of the netting is to conceal the sled, break up sharp outlines and cover your body with a smooth layer .

The final component, and most important to your concealment is material from the surrounding area. In five minutes you can pull up enough grass and weeds to adequately cover yourself with a thin layer. That's all it takes to disappear.

ACCESSORIES - Even before the snow flies, the ground can get mighty cold, even in a laydown blind. My mummy blind has a piece of high density urethane one inch thick fitted into the bottom of it. It holds up well when entering and exiting the blind and is impervious to mud and water.

For my sleds, I take a backpacker's foam sleeping pad. These too are waterproof, can be rolled up to a compact size, are very lightweight and insulate your backside extremely well. I use just the pad out on the snow-covered marsh later in the winter without even realizing I'm lying on frozen ground.

I often take a camouflage canvas boat cushion for propping my shoulders and head up a bit. And on more than one occasion I have found myself waking up to the sounds of incoming geese. Its

amazing how easy it is to doze off, even in the worst of weather conditions. Low profile means less wind at ground level and little body exposure for the weather and cold to penetrate.

Bungie cords work great for holding down the irregular-shaped loads you will be hauling out to the marsh. Take a half dozen of different sizes to conform to whatever size load you have.

Your face will be a white flag to the birds. Especially if you move your head when scanning the area for waterfowl approaching on a sunny day. I am a fanatic face painter and will "camo up" on nearly every outing. Dark stormy days are the one exception when it seems to matter little. There are many types of camou face paints available; I've found myself using Tink's Camou Dust more often than the pastes. Its easy to apply with a small foam pad and really cuts the shine.

FIELD NOTES - Shooting from a sitting position poses its own unique challenges. And it does take a bit of getting use to. Hopefully the amount of success you encounter in this type of hunting will encourage you to learn and adapt quickly.

Sitting up from the horizontal position can be assisted by placing a piece of driftwood or a dirt clod under the head end of the blind to give you just a couple inches of an angle. This also provides an advantage when turning your head to look for birds on either side of you.

Orientation of your blind with relation to your decoy spread or the direction birds may be approaching is critical. A right-handed shooter will only be able to turn about 20 degrees to the right for shooting at birds. On the other hand, he will be able to turn and comfortably shoot 120 degrees to his left. It may seem a bit odd to position yourself with your feet pointing off to one side of your spread but as soon as you have missed a few shots that were outside your swing limits you'll make the alignment correction.

Pre-Hunt Scouting - Technique is not everything in waterfowling. Having the mobility to move where the birds are is just as critical. I have spent many mornings parked near the flats, intending to hunt that day, and found myself finishing my thermos of coffee within the cozy confines of my truck...with a pair of binoculars glued to my eyes instead of being on the marsh.

Waterfowl tend to develop patterns on the marshes. Feeding patterns and flight patterns. Recognizing a consistency in bird movement for a particular area is the key to positioning yourself in the most successful hunting location. You may notice birds are following the same slough or drainage cut, or maybe following a particular chain of ponds across the flats. Setting up your spread and hide in these locations is much wiser than picking an area that YOU like. Once you have identified these invisible highways for a specific area, your success rate should improve a lot.

Whether you opt for a $500 fiberglass model, a modified bathtub or an inexpensive snow sled is up to you and your budget. All three hides produce the same results. A NO PROFILE approach to hunting Alaska's coastal marshes is the key to success. I've been so hidden at times I've had other hunters walk within 30 feet of me and holler out "All right, I know you're here somewhere." Then you get that same warm fuzzy feeling as when watching a hunter painstakingly sneak up on your realistic-looking spread.

1998 is going to be one of the best waterfowling years in decades for Alaska. Breeding numbers are up significantly for Mallards, Pintail and Shovelers. There is an abundance of widgeon and teal this year and the white-front goose population has again increased by 10%. With the frequent rainfall we are having in late August, water should be adequate on most marshes this year.

Good Luck and Good Hunting
--KK--

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