Waterfowl – Carry or Haul Your Gear

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

As I’ve gotten older what I have learned is not what I should have learned.  Be smart, travel light, and be prepared.  Instead, as a plan B, I tend to bring everything I might need to the marsh and field.  For the most part though I do know better and have a few thoughts on getting into the hunt burning the fewest calories.

hunting gear ready to haul in
Not much left behind.  Decoys, batteries, guns, blinds, camo, ice eater, coats, and dry bag. 

Hunters Have Lots Of Gear

Whether by land or water, how you get the necessities in can make or break a good hunt.  Let’s start with the big haul aside from plain dragging it all in with your pickup truck.  When hunting with some distance to travel a walk carrying several dozen decoys is a tough way to start the day. 

Add in your guns, shells, and perhaps your waders and maybe even something to eat and you get to a large load pretty quick.  Nothing like arriving at your favorite honey hole being soaked in sweat, legs wobbling, and half your wardrobe already shucked along the route. 

Hunters and dog preparing for a hike
On a long haul, you have to think about everything from calls to how many shells you need.  Going light means considering decoys that weigh less, back packs, and fewer motion decoys requiring batteries.

Haul It All On Your Back

Most times when I hunt with friends we divide and conquer the load, whatever we have to get in when a walk of a mile or more is required.  Often the walk will require hauling in waders to ease the walk.  A good mile walk in will humble most folks trying to carry stuff without some form of cart.  What really gets you is the haul out when you have 4-6 ducks that were not in the haul in, but regardless the mark of a great hunt.  Looking up the road in the daylight and seeing the truck a mile away is very much different than the walk in while dark with nothing to reconnoiter your position.  In the light you see how far you really have to walk. 

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On a really lightweight walk in everything is in the backpack with just enough room to haul ducks out – or at least you hope.

Boat In Instead of Carrying It

A boat-in requires less planning, but eventually, all the stuff you need has to get to the duck hole if levees, low water, or other physical barriers are left to hurdle.  It is hard to leave stuff behind.  Do you really need extra batteries for your motion, or maybe even a large battery or generator to run an ice eater?  How many decoys are needed?  How much do they weigh? 

READ MORE: Field Test: Badlands Vario System

Hunter pushing gear through icy water
Boats work well even if you don’t ride in them, but instead load them and push.  They also come in handy breaking ice on the way in.
Gear boat sitting on muddy ground
It never fails the best plans meet up with almost insurmountable obstacles.   For a boat no water is a nightmare.

Boats do indeed make the haul so much easier and whether it is a 14’ boat full of gear, or a one-man layout boat the stuff you can haul in is impressive.

Hunter next to his gear boat
I cannot express enough just how big a load these layout boats can haul.  They are stable and low in the water with deck and interior space to carry everything you need.
All the gear a hunter has to haul
A large haul sets the stage for a great hunt especially when nothing is left behind. 
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Yes, all of this has to get to the honey hole if necessary.  Otherwise, some thought into just exactly what I need.

Overhead Haul

Finally the over-land haul using whatever it takes to get your equipment in safety.  I know for a fact a UTV can haul a load, and often in fields where no trucks are allowed this is the only way to get in without tearing up the farmer’s land.  It always seems that a one-haul load is the best, but that does not always work.  As well, things fall off along the way so you never quite get it perfect. 

UTV with overhead haul  bag
I think we could have gotten more in or on the UTV but we had to deal with uneven terrain.  Otherwise, on level ground it flats carries a load.
Haul your gear in however you can
The 6-wheeler is a hybrid allowing you to cross dry land, power through mud, and float if necessary across water.  Three people and a load of equipment are an easy task.

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About the author: David R. Vaught, Ph.D. began hunting waterfowl at a young age due to his father being a waterfowl biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation. Today he hunts both public and private waterfowl grounds and is always working on something related to waterfowl throughout the year. He loves to turkey hunt and fish for walleye and crappie in the spring. David is a university professor, holds an NRA Level II coaching certification and works with youth in trap and skeet shooting in the summer with his annual trap-shooting academy.

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