Your top three innovations that have made duck hunting easier/more comfortable.

[7pntail]

NUMBER THREE------ BREATHABLE WADERS. SOOOO COMFORTABLE.

NUMBER TWO -------- GOOGLE EARTH . LOTS OF SCOUTING DONE FROM HOME ( not sure if I like it, since I have put a lot of time in on the ground over the years---but....)

NUMBER ONE.............. THESE STUPID LITTLE BOATS. Awesome for transporting gear with a cart, and they beat the heck out of a Ruff stand. I stack two and flip one over for the dawg to stay out of the water. The other keeps my gear dry. These are 15 years old--just re-carpeted tonight for dawg traction.

Opener this Saturday!

Good luck all---- John

[jacduck]

You haven't been at it long enough but #1 for me was any waders that offered any insulation......

Steel shot! Works great now and is better than lead ever was and doing it's intended job. I was in the test group to first try steel in 1967. Talk about cripple rates it was horrible. Now speed kills and at a cheap price. No need to got designer shots for me. Course I only hunt 120 days a year plus so I may not be an expert.

The ability to afford large boats that carry lots of decoys that I rarely use anymore.

Good thread though.

[MooseGooser]

You haven't been at it long enough but #1 for me was any waders that offered any insulation......

Steel shot! Works great now and is better than lead ever was and doing it's intended job. I was in the test group to first try steel in 1967. Talk about cripple rates it was horrible. Now speed kills and at a cheap price. No need to got designer shots for me. Course I only hunt 120 days a year plus so I may not be an expert.

The ability to afford large boats that carry lots of decoys that I rarely use anymore.

Good thread though.

Ya dont own Quality Vintage Guns either,, do Ya!

Gooser

[MooseGooser]

Sorry,,,,Stay on toipc Gooser...


Mine is Duck Commander...

Gooser

[waterdog711]

Dry wicking base layers. No more freezing in a wet t-shirt...

Lacrosse Swampfox waders. OY!!

[KwickLabs]

Number one would be the "mud rig" I bought last March. The Mississippi river is not nearly as intimidating (safer) and I can now "get" to where I need to be (mostly).

Early this season and "rocketing" to number two is my newest addition - a Mr. Buddy propane heater. I've put it to good use twice this season.

There is a tie for number three - a Beavertail boat blind (which makes the heater functional) with the cheapest (and what I couldn't do nearly as well without) a "trusty" ski pole.

[Bartona500]

1 Avery marsh seats.
2 I bought a trailer my four wheeler BARELY fits on... Once to the lease, I take off the atv, pull it by the truck, pop off the trailer, put it on the atv, load it down with all my gear and head in. Great to have the trailer for decoys, guns, dog stands, marsh seats, layouts, etc.
3. iPhone 4+ - has GPS with great maps for locating the holes, plus great weather apps, duck migration app, video capability, + all sorts of other stuff that makes life easier.

[Gary Wayne Abbott I]

My top three duck hunting improvement devices and innovations that I can not believe we actually lived without as little as ten years ago and that I won't leave home without now?

#3 Modern shotguns and ammunition have improved vastly in performance and comfort that they are now pleasure to shoot versus what used to be a relative chore.

#2 iPhone. Surf the Internet, check email, make a list, check the regulations, watch, flashlight, GPS, Sattelite imaging, order a pizza, take video and photographs, instant scouting reports and best of all sending a three minute old picture of the banded bird you just shot to your buddies that had to work today.

#1 Huggies Natural Care Baby Wipes. These are vital and have many of uses, like cleaning mud off your gun, debirding your hands before lunch, clean a call, clean your phone, wiping hooey, fish or carcass off your dog after a fresh rolling, wiping blood off your new gore tex jacket and they are superbly functional if and when a nature walk is required.

I don't know how we did it back in the day, I suppose youth had its merits.

[BBBShot]

+1 on the sled...I improved mine by drilling holes in the 4 corners and then using 4 one inch aluminum poles driven in to the mud to hold it up. I use those spring clips for barbells to hold the sled up. My dogs groundforce blind fits perfect in it. Keeps him hidden and out of the water, and get all the benefits of the sled...great for ressie hunting where you have to huff your stuff in and not sure if you will be in water the whole time. The only downfall is you have to lift the dog in every time, not sure how well it would work with a real big dog, mine is pretty light.

[Mark Teahan]

My improvement was making base plates for my mojo decoys. Now i can set them anywhere. Where i hunt mostly, is all river rock. Can't get a stake in there.
Throw my base in the river and set a stake in the center square tube and Im done.
Best thing made...... Foot and toe heaters.