I walked over to the Duck Hunting 101 workshop after breakfast and met our instructor.  The class was set up in a “blind” with our decoys out in front.  She told us to grab a bag and take a seat.

The bag was full of the first round of goodies I got that weekend.  Inside was a Ducks Unlimited baseball hat, a waterfowl identification guide, a couple decals, an issue of Ducks Unlimited, and information about duck hunting.  It was unexpected but really awesome to receive.

We started the class by first going over a handout that covered everything in the workshop.  Since I went duck hunting with my brother last Christmas, I knew a few things already.

We covered safety with firearms, staying warm, knowing the weather and area, and letting someone know your hunting plan.  I’m a person who’s always cold, so it’s going to be really important for me to figure out the proper layers to stay warm.

Our instructor had a great tip in case we did get really cold while sitting out there waiting for ducks.  Take two hand warmers and then place them in your pants, directly on your kidneys.  It’s a point that will warm your body faster.  I’m definitely trying it out!

Next, we went over shotguns.  She covered proper fit which was great to learn as a woman.  Since most guns are made for men, they don’t always fit the best.  She recommended cutting stocks down so the gun fits perfectly to your arm length.

An incredibly useful exercise she went over was “shoot the moon.”

Instead of coming up with the gun from below to then line up your shot, it can be easier for a woman “shoot the moon.”  Raise the gun up toward the sky, press the stock into the pocket next your shoulder, then bring the gun down and your head will be in the right position to line up the shot.  It was a lot easier than doing it the other way.

She then went over leading the shot and made a good point that it’s something we naturally do.  If a ball rolls across the road, you can follow it with your hand without thinking.  Once you place a gun in someone’s hands, it messes with what our body can already do naturally.

She gave us some tips to practice our lead and learn to get back to trusting our instincts and not worry about aiming the gun.  One of her examples was to use a laser pointer, someone shines the laser in different directions and you just point with your hand and follow where it moves.

Her best advice was to practice, practice, practice.  Get out to the shooting range and get comfortable with the gun.  Shoot at clay targets.  Practicing mounting your gun several times a day so it becomes second nature.

She went over different types of shotguns.  She gave a great recommendation for a starter gun if we’re just getting into duck hunting.  It’s an Escort semi-automatic shotgun (which she called a Benelli knockoff) that comes in 12 and 20 gauge for only $200.  She said it has little kick and is a great gun to learn on.  I’m definitely going to look into it.

Our next topic to cover was ground blinds.  We sat in our makeshift blind as she explained everything to us.  She set it up so the wind was at our back, as if we were actually out to hunt because ducks land into the wind.

Then she went over setting up the decoys in a way to make them land where you want.  It was really interesting to see and made a lot of sense.  Her main point was ducks are smart and if anything looks off to you, it’s going to look off to the ducks and they won’t come in.

She made a “J” spread with our decoys that would have the birds flying in so you could make a side shot.  It took her about an hour to set up all the decoys and said that’s pretty normal.  She went over safety of always knowing how deep the water is when you’re out setting up your decoys and recommended we have a depth stick with us to always know how deep the next step is.

She also went over duck calls and said if a flock of ducks circles then flies away is the time you’ll want to use your come back call.  Learning all of this really made me want to get out there!