As a new duck hunter, it is important to start preparing before hunting ducks. Here are some basics of duck hunting.

If you don’t have an experienced hunter to guide you through learning duck hunting, then you will need to take a hunter safety course, have the proper license, buy the right gear, know how to identify duck species, obey the laws of hunting, learn how to scout, set up Bait ranges, how to call, and knowing when to shoot. These are the basics.

But once you go on a duck hunt and get hooked on shooting ducks in decoys, there's no going back. Waterfowl enthusiasts have become obsessed with the sport faster than any other hunting group, for there main reasons:

1) The season is long and we can hunt often.

2) There is something special about watching mainland waterfowl migrate every fall and then calling and coaxing these birds up close.

3) Wide range. The North American duck season begins in September in Canada and ends in early March in Mexico. A long season gives you the opportunity to quickly become a better hunter.

Duck hunters are gear fanatics, leading us to sometimes become more obsessed with the tools we use to hunt ducks than the ducks themselves. Most of us end up filling our garages with decoys and blinds and pulling high-priced duck boats behind our beat-up cars.

Bait

If you are a hunter who hunts on foot or by boat, foam-filled floats are ideal because they reduce weight. They're not always as realistic as some flocked molded lures, but you can carry more.

You can also choose a heavier, more durable lure. These baits are usually more expensive, but they tend to last longer. And as the bait ages, heavier baits won't need to be repainted and flocked.

I'm less concerned with the appearance of field decoys than I am with how long they last because when mallards are foraging in the fields, they focus more on spinner decoys. That said, the best-looking field lures are the most durable. The cheaper the bait, the more likely it is to break.