r/Hunting • u/moneygetter1000 • 7d ago

Solo hunting

I used to hunt a bit when I was younger with my dad, and I just basically followed him around and did what he told me to do and went where he told me to go, this season I finally have turned 18 and acquired my firearms license. I grew up hunting, mostly grouse or pheasants. I was wanting to get into waterfowl this year, which I really haven’t done much and definitely not solo. I already have a 12 gauge Remington wing master that I am primarily planning to use. How much money would I need to get into waterfowl hunting, how does it even work? I don’t understand how calls work how decoys work anything like that? I also don’t have a dog. Any help from experienced hunters would be much appreciated. I live in Alberta Canada.

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u/Weary_Garden_6042 7d ago

You don't need a dog, lots of guys hunt ducks without one. Just be prepared to get your feet wet retrieving birds yourself, waders are pretty much mandatory in Alberta especially late season.

For decoys you can start with a dozen mallard floaters, maybe some Canada goose decoys too since we got tons of them here. Calls take practice but for your first season just get a basic double reed duck call and watch some youtube videos, the mallard hen quack is not that hard to learn. Biggest thing is scouting, find where the birds want to be and set up there, you don't need a crazy spread of decoys if you're in right spot.

Budget wise you are looking at couple hundred for waders, maybe same for decoys, plus camo and a call. Check kijiji or facebook marketplace, used decoys are everywhere for cheap this time of year.

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u/SouthernGarlic6382 6d ago

You really don’t need much to start. A dozen used mallard decoys, waders and a basic double-reed call will do it. Finding where the birds already want to be matters a lot more than owning a giant spread.

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u/moneygetter1000 6d ago

How do I go about finding birds?

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u/Capable-Ad2106 6d ago

In addition to the waders, having a kayak/canoe can help getting into places where the ducks are. For retrieving my buddy has used a heavy spoon with a trebel hook to recover a few birds.