|
About Us  About TakeEm Hunting Pictures Tour TakeEmDepartments Discussion Forums Duck Hunting 101 Duck Calling Decoy Strategies Decoy Setups Hunting Strategies Boats & Blinds Finding Ducks Understanding Ducks Waterfowl Gear GuideAudio & Video Instruction Mastering The Fundamentals Of Duck Call Operation Rising Above The Crowd How To Carve Duck Decoys How To Paint Duck DecoysRecent Forum Posts  |
End Of Season Hunting Gear MaintenanceNo, end of duck hunting season doesn't mean it’s time for all the HONEY DOs quite yet! Here’s a checklist we have put together of all items we have taken care of or still in the process of… A little care at the end of season can add years of life to your hunting gear investments. 1) If you are using Ace decoy anchors or similar release the tension on the rubber stretch cord and wipe down the cord with Armor-All. Place decoys in storage, preferably out of the sunlight and extreme temperature changes. 2) Using a permanent marker place a T on the top of your duck call reeds and remove. By doing so the cork won’t become compressed during the off-season and need replacing before season starts. Store individual calls and associated parts in individual zip-lock bags so reeds and corks don’t become interchanged. 3) Be sure to add a fuel stabilizer to the gas tank of your boat motor the last trip out. Most boat shops get $100 a carburetor for cleaning when old gas leaves a varnish behind. 4) At a minimum wipe down your shotgun with Rem-Oil or your choice of gun oil if your gun doesn’t have a camo finish. This will prevent off-season rust from occurring. Better yet give it a good cleaning. Don’t forget to clean out the inside of the magazine tube and the spring and tube in the stock if a semi-auto. Don’t forget to remove the choke tube and apply a generous amount of oil to the threads before reinstalling. 5) If you pulled your boat trailer on salted roads towards end of season be sure to power wash the trailer and boat. Salt will raise havoc on painted and unpainted surfaces. 6) Be sure to dry out the insides of your waders to avoid mold and other stuff from growing during the off-season. Best done on boot driers… 7) Remove batteries from your motion decoys. Just a slight leak of battery acid can cause un-repairable corrosion. 8) Charge your boat battery and spinning wing decoy battery before storing for the off-season. Lead acid batteries will last longer if kept fully charged. Email this page to a friend. To Become A Member1 Year Subscription To TakeEm........ $24.95 Click here to join now. |
 Testimonials "Thank you! This was my first duck season and thnks to your online audio lessons I was able to call Mallards to my dekes and knock them out of the sky! Much appreciated!" "I have been waterfowl hunting since I was 13. It's a sickness, which i'm not trying very hard to cure. I found your site just a month, or so, ago, and am enjoying it very much. I hope you keep up the great articles and videos, and update the site as often as possible. I've read, and re-read every page on here, and like I said, I'm loving what you have here!" "Have to first say that I am amazed by your website. Lots of REAL and PRACTICAL stuff. I watched the videos on painting the drake mallard and it definitely was worth joining!" "The info you guys have built up on here is priceless. I got hooked on ducks and geese two years ago and don't know a whole lot about hunting techniques or strategies. This year I have had limited hunting outings as I'm in the military and been deployed allot, but using some of your suggestions, I have already seen improvements to my kill #'s." |