Ep. 602 – How to Avoid Opening Day Blunders

Host Chris Jennings is joined by John Pollmann, freelance contributor to Ducks Unlimited magazine and ducks.org, to talk about the excitement of opening day of waterfowl season and ways to avoid making simple mistakes. As opening day continues to creep closer, there are several tactics many duck and goose hunters don’t take into account, leaving them open to potential failure. Follow along as these two discuss best practices to make your opening day a success.

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Chris Jennings

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Ducks Unlimited Podcast is a constant discussion of all things waterfowl; from in-depth hunting tips and tactics, to waterfowl biology, research, science, and habitat updates. The DU Podcast is the go-to resource for waterfowl hunters and conservationists. Ducks Unlimited is the world's leader in wetlands conservation.

Chris Jennings: Hey everybody, welcome back to the Ducks Unlimited podcast. I'm your host, Chris Jennings. Joining me on the show today, once again, is John Pollmann, freelance contributor to Ducks Unlimited magazine, ducks.org, and a very common guest on the DU podcast. John, welcome back to the show.

John Pollmann: Thanks, Chris. Great to be with you.

Chris Jennings: Today I asked John to join me on the podcast to discuss, it really, it came from Campus Waterfowl feature in the magazine that John does for every issue. But I really want to talk about it because we're coming up to that time of year. It's opening day. You know, I can't believe we're actually talking about this already. It seems like the season just ended for me. And John, I'm sure you're very familiar with this time of year as well. I just went to Be Ready Day for my kids to return to school, so that is a good sign that fall is on the way. And being prepared for that is something that is very important for all waterfowlers. And so, you know, when John sent this in, it really was… you know, a feature on how to avoid early season mistakes. And, and really it's five common opening day blunders that waterfowlers make. And, and it, and it really, a lot of it is really basic, right, John? I mean, it seems like some common sense type stuff, but really a lot of people overlook some of these very, very small details that can make or break your opening day.

John Pollmann: Absolutely. You know, when I was going through the piece, I've made, I've made all of these, right? I mean, I've been hunting waterfowl for 30 plus years. I know at one point in time, I know that I've made these mistakes and it's, you know, it's just really simple things, some simple tips. I'm looking forward to talking through them and hopefully they'll resonate with hunters that are listening.

Chris Jennings: Yeah, and before we jump into that, I figured I might as well ask, have you driven across South Dakota much or getting any feedback from anyone on you know, habitat conditions for one, but also this time of year you're probably maybe seeing some late broods or some, you know, definitely some ducks on water out there. Is that something that you're seeing?

John Pollmann: Yeah, you know, so a common theme for the year was that super dry through the winter. Rain started showing up late in the season and just in the folks that I've talked to, you know, that's north central South Dakota, you know, they call it Missouri Coteau, which is a, you know, prime area for breeding waterfall, nesting waterfall. Water conditions up in that region are fantastic, looking great. But the comment that I keep hearing is that you're still not, just not quite seeing the ducks that you'd expect to see. And so I think it was, again, it's just one of those things where the water came maybe a little bit too late to attract the birds here. But that said, it does sound that, sound like that the ducks that did settle here are doing really well. And so you're seeing, you know, we're seeing birds already in flight, wood ducks and some mallards, stuff like that. Canada goose numbers are so-so. But I mean, overall, it appears like that we're going to have some decent production in South Dakota. But just if the rain, if we'd had that moisture maybe a little bit sooner, that really, really would have helped us. But it's still, there's a lot to be excited about. And we are. We're we had a really wet and cool early summer and that has kind of put everything behind in terms of crop production and so but things are finally starting to catch up. We're catching some heat and so it's starting to look like late summer and you can just feel it. It's gonna be here soon where we're staring knocking the door at August right now and we'll be hunting ducks before we know it which is awesome.

Chris Jennings: It's funny, we walk around here and we're talking about this, and I told someone yesterday in the office here in Memphis that it's feeling very August-y here. It doesn't feel like duck season. It's like 105 degrees with a heat index of like 115. It's miserable. So we are, we're thinking about it, you know, it's in the back of our heads, but when you step outside and you're like, oh man. We still got a long time down here. So I'm happy for you. I just, I'm just ready for it to get the blast furnace that we live in here. I'm ready for that to chill out a little bit.

John Pollmann: No, I, well, I just spent some time, you know, this, I just spent some time in New Orleans for, um, with some kids for work here, uh, recently, and it was next level heat and humidity.

Chris Jennings: And so I think I texted you that I was like, Hey, When you were driving down there, I think I texted you, I was like, Hey, be careful with that heat. It's something different down there. Cause it's not only is it hot, but that humidity, like you step outside and it's like, someone just throws a blanket over the top of you. Like, yeah. And I'm sure that's a big change for you and the kids from South Dakota. They were probably like, where are we?

John Pollmann: We get some humidity, but not quite like that. And it's hot and humid here right now, but. Um, you can just, but you can sense it though. I mean, uh, some of those small greens are starting to turn color. Um, you know, you're only a couple of weeks away from, or a few weeks away from those guys starting to, to get, uh, wheat and, uh, the small greens out of the field. And when that happens, then everything just kind of kickstarts, right? It's, it's, you're looking at honkers are out feeding in the small grains and wood ducks and mallards start to field feed a little bit. And so we're just a few weeks away from that, which is great. I cannot wait.

Chris Jennings: Yeah. You guys are a few weeks away from an early goose season, aren't you?

John Pollmann: Yeah, we actually have a resident-only August management take. And so it's in certain select counties up in the northeast part of South Dakota. Big bag limits just trying to knock down those resident birds that set up shop here and can be really hard on crops. You know, budding soybeans, stuff like that around wetland margins. And so our game fish and parks has given us the opportunity to try to knock those numbers down into a management level that they where they want it to be and so that's coming up here in a couple weeks and it'll be it'll be hot you know but those are it's a great way to start the season get get going kind of kickstart a little early.

Chris Jennings: Oh yeah that yeah that early resident season those are always fun to to really get things going even though it is sometimes a little little too hot and when I was doing it up in Indiana we're packing coolers just to keep the birds you know like oh my gosh like it's too hot to be doing this but we're gonna do it because it's fun.

John Pollmann: Because it's fun. Exactly.

Chris Jennings: That's right. Well, cool. Let's let's dive into some of these early season mistakes that we've all made. And really, you know, with the campus waterfowl section, you know, it's geared toward a little bit younger audience. So I think a lot of these while while it is geared towards a younger audience, it is, you know, all of these things are pertinent to every waterfowler across the board. And just like I said, something that everyone should should really, you know, pay attention to. But, you know, it's opening day. You know, I've done it, you've done it, you're so fired up, you're ready to go, you're getting out there, you're setting up, you know, and sometimes you lose focus. I guess it's a good way to do it. So, you know, we'll go ahead and start, you know, with your first tip. And you talked to, I believe, Mike Bard up in New York and I know, you know, I've read some of your things for a decade now and I know that you've used Mike as a reference several times and he's a quite the veteran, you know, Canada goose hunter and duck hunter as well, but very well known for his goose hunting. And he had some pretty good tips if you want to go ahead and jump into that one.

John Pollmann: Yeah, you know, like you hit it on the head, right? It's opening day. You're super excited. You want to throw all your decoys out. You want to use everything. You want to do everything you can, you know, as you've been waiting all season long. And basically, you know, Mike's tip is that Pump the brakes a little bit. It's our opening day. You don't have to throw everything at the birds opening day. It's the birds are they haven't been hunted or if they have been, you know, that they're new, you know, later down the road and in southern states, you know, they they're new to the area. They haven't been hunted in the area. And so you don't have to show them everything that first day. Don't overthink it. Keep things simple. Keep things realistic. Especially up here in the northern part of the flyway. Being realistic opening day is probably one of the keys. It's what the birds are used to seeing every single day. But don't overthink and that does a couple of things. One, it makes your life easier. You're not having to haul out a bunch of decoys. It's hot already. You're slugging through the mud in your waders and you don't have to take out all your decoys that you own and set them up that day. And then it also, it gives you something to do later on in the season. It gives you opportunities to change things up later in the year when you absolutely do need to do that. The birds are used to it. They've been around a while. You're on a first name basis with the ducks in the area. Save those changes and big decoy numbers and all the other tricks that you have. Save them for when you absolutely need it. So opening week, keep it easy, keep it simple, be where the birds want to be, and then save some of your tricks for later on.

Chris Jennings: You know, that's really difficult because you've been staring at those decoys in the garage for the last several months and probably ran through so many different scenarios on what you're going to do and how you're going to use them all. And I'm sure that is very difficult to leave about half of them in the garage and not just go full, yeah, and not just go full bore and set a big spread. And I think one thing, like you mentioned, these are A lot of time, not, not resident birds necessarily, but like you said, they've either just arrived, you know, it's early in the season. You don't, you don't need every single, you know, decoy trick, you know, to, to probably bag some of these things. So, uh, that's a really good tip and something that I'm sure I've been guilty of hundreds and hundreds of times. Um, you know, one thing you kind of hit on there really kind of leading into the next one. You want to be on the eggs. But, you know, sometimes with the blind, you know, you have to make adjustments to be able to remain concealed. I mean, that's kind of the most important part here. So, your next tip is really just focused on location, location, location. I mean, it is one of the most important aspects of waterfowling. So, I'll let you go ahead and explain that one. Yeah.

John Pollmann: So, early season, especially up here in the Northern Plains, birds are, they're not necessarily really social. You notice that in, especially Canada geese, early season honkers, you'll notice they're kind of isolated in family groups around a field. They're not bunched together really tight. And we've I mean, firsthand, we've had hunts where calling and decoys just aren't necessarily as effective in convincing those birds to go someplace where they are not used to going as they are later in the season. And so early on, it's just really vital that you are absolutely as close as you can be to the X, because you are going to be able to use calling and decoys to convince them to come any closer. And so it's true with honkers, and I think it's really especially true with ducks too. teal maybe a little bit, so they will respond a little bit to calling and stuff, but you know, mallards, gaddies, other ducks, if you are not right on the X in those early weeks of the season, you're going to struggle. And going along this, and I didn't put this in the piece, but something that came to mind later on was that it's also one of the reasons why it helps if you can hunt a smaller, if you're hunting water, hunting a smaller body of water in those early days rather than a bigger body water, just because hunting big water, ducks are notorious for landing out in the middle early season, right? They're not super social, they don't really care about the call, they're not really curious about the decoys, and if you're hunting a big body water, chances are you're going to lose them to the middle. time and time and time and time again. So, if you can hunt something smaller, it gives you a little bit of better chance at least having a passing shot of birds as they maybe are taking a look at things. It kind of narrows the gap and gives a little bit of a smaller margin or smaller area where they have opportunities to go. You know, they don't have as many places where they can go. And so, being on the X, if you can't be on the X, hunt something where those birds are going to be in closer proximity to your decoys, rather than giving them a huge, huge, huge range of opportunities or choices to make where they want to go, beyond the exile if you can.

Chris Jennings: And one of the things that you mentioned in the article, um, which I think is a really good tip is, you know, scenario wise, you're going out scouting the night before. Birds are in, you know, a specific field. They've been in there all day. Um, you know, exactly where they're sitting. Um, you wait, you know, you really have to wait until they get out of the field. before you get in, but, you know, marking that spot exactly where those birds were. You know, I've made that mistake. I've been with people who've made that mistake before where you can see them from the road and once they leave, you're like, okay, well that's where we're gonna set up tomorrow. And then you drive off and you come back and it's pitch black.

John Pollmann: Yeah.

Chris Jennings: And you, and you basically set up, maybe you set up 50, a hundred yards away from, you know, you weren't exactly where those birds were sitting in this early season. It really, you know, you really have to pay attention to that. And in the article, you know, uh, Tyson Keller, who you quoted in this, uh, mentioned like dropping a five gallon bucket or even like a utility flag, having those utility flags in there and just walking out there, marking that spot. So when you come back in the morning, you can spotlight out there and see exactly where those birds are and you're not guessing. And a lot of times in some of those rolling agricultural fields at four o'clock in the morning, it all looks the same. You know, it's really hard to tell.

John Pollmann: Yeah, like you said, backing up a little bit, let the birds leave on their own. Don't kick them out of the field. You don't want to do that. Let them leave on their own. And as soon as you're able to get out there, you know, like you say, drop something in the field, drop a pin on your phone and the exact location. We've even we've even marked on a gravel road, taken a, you know, a shovel or a boot or whatever and kicked a line on the, on the shoulder of the road on the exact row that we want to walk down or drive down going out to the spot. You just 30, 40, 50 yards will make a difference. I mean, when those birds are, when they're accustomed to landing here, and you don't really have the ability to convince them to go there, you know, even that small of a distance will make it, it just makes it easier. You're going to have more frustration if you're not on the axis. You start to get, it's easy to get frustrated at the birds because they are doing their own thing and they aren't really paying attention to you.

Chris Jennings: Yeah. Now, especially in the early season, you know, we talked about the importance of being on that X, but you know, when you run into, you can be on the X and still run into weather, you know, changes and issues. And one of the things you mentioned in the article is no wind. can become a problem even when you're on the X, but there are ways to get around that if you want to explain that.

John Pollmann: So it just seems like early in the year, and it happens throughout the season, but early on it just seems like you have more of those days where you've got light or variable winds, there's nothing to work with. Yeah. And so you've got birds that aren't, you know, wind helps give you direction. It helps give you, you can predict what the birds are going to do a little bit better. And when you don't have that, they can come from any different direction. They can finish, they're finishing behind you or to the side or whatever. And so the, the tip here, or one of the ideas is to keep your decoys and keep everything out in front of you, keeping your blind away from those decoys. They're not, your blind or your setup is not going to be in the midst of your decoys at all. You're going to be on the outside edge of that. so that you can see those birds and how they're working and reacting to your decoys and that at some point you're going to have a little more flexibility to take the shot when it presents itself. Whether those birds are going to finish from the side or maybe they're going to loop around and finish right directly over the blind, but it gives you the ability to see what they're doing. Keep them in your line of sight so you know what they're doing. You can take the shot when the shot presents itself because chances are when you don't have that wind, if you've got your blinds in the decoys, they're working behind you, you're trying to look around, you're trying to see what they're doing. Sometimes that movement is enough to flare them off. Just keep it all out in front of you so that you can see what they're doing. And one of the other, and again, I don't know if I put this in there, but something else that came to mind is that when you are scouting, knowing where those birds are coming from, the direction that that roost or roosts are from your field, if you have that knowledge on these windless days, that helps you too, because you can keep an eye on those birds from the moment they appear on the horizon until they cross the border of the field. So, if I know I've got birds there, the majority of my birds are gonna be coming from the northeast, I'm gonna put my blind in a way where I can keep an eye on that, on that roost and watch those birds approach rather than having them come, I know they're gonna be coming over my back or something like that. Keep those birds and that roost out in front of you as much as you can. So, it just, it puts the odds in your favor a little bit that you're gonna be able to take a shot when you can.

Chris Jennings: Yeah, you know, and I'll kind of add to that and when you're dealing with those Early season birds, windless days, don't be afraid to change something pretty quick. I think, you know, I think a lot of people end up kind of sticking with the decoy spread or either they're, they're using this tactic where they're keeping the blind further out, you know, um, and it doesn't work. Well, if it doesn't work the first time, let's just go ahead and say, it's not going to work the second time. And especially with those early resident Canada geese, you know, you, you look at those and you're like, yep, well the next flock's coming and it's going to land right next to them. And that's just, you know, kind of one of those things where just be prepared to make that change. Be prepared to make the switch and really, you know, hop out of the blind and go. Rather than, oh, let's give it another 30 minutes. You know, we've all said that. Let's give it another 30 minutes, see what they do. I'm a big fan of moving quick with that, making that decision early. If you're gonna try something different, try it, you know, right then, you know, as soon as they don't. Now, I've also, you know, been the guy who tries to come up with this really well thought out strategy, like we're gonna We're going to put the blind like a hundred yards away from the decoys and this is going to work because they're going to come over the top on their first swing and yada, yada, yada, and then they land right in the decoys and you're a hundred yards away. So, one, don't be afraid to try things, but don't be afraid to try something if it doesn't work. Just switch it up.

John Pollmann: Yeah, the birds will tell you what they want, what they don't want, listen to them.

Chris Jennings: That's right. Your next tip is a good one, and you kind of alluded to it a little bit earlier. You were talking about these early season birds are not near as vocal. They're just not, and there's a lot of behavior characteristics, you know, that lead into that and why they're like that this early. We won't dive into that too much. We'll let Dr. Mike Brasher discuss that at some point. But rather than calling it these birds, you know, implement some kind of motion. And how did you kind of explain that in this piece?

John Pollmann: Yeah. So a story along those lines, five, six years ago, early season, I found a flooded pasture, had mallards and pennies and just honkers, great little spot, got out there, set up, hollering at the ducks. There was a lot of water. There was a lot of options for them, hollering at the birds and they didn't care. I had spinner out. They didn't care. And I remembered, or I had brought along a jerk string and hadn't used it a whole lot because it's just something we haven't done, used a lot up here in South Dakota. I know it's even more popular further south. finally had some pintails work within visible distance and I used that jerk string and it was night and day. And that's the gist of this tip is motion over calling early season. And you know, spinners are one thing, motion decoys, motorized motion decoys are one thing. I call them spinners up here, but you've got other options. They do make a difference, especially in field ducks early season. There's absolutely no doubt that they're a game changer. But over water, early season, That jerk string is a great tool to use. It was so obvious that the little spin tails were responding to the jerk string, that motion on the water. There was no doubt in my mind that's what they were doing. So, the tip itself, you know, Jim Ronquist is the guy I talked to, and Jim is notorious for, you know, he's told me this before, that if he has to choose between leaving a call or a jerk string, I know he's leaving his call in his pocket. We all know Jim, you're right. He's fantastic. Jim was a fantastic caller. He likes to call. He likes to call, and I like to call. It's one of my favorite aspects. It is my favorite, hunting ducks. And so, but just that motion, that motion on the water and the ripples it creates in the decoys and all that stuff, it is a game changer. And so leave your call in your pocket early season. You can still holler on it if you want to, but just know that you're going to have to add some motion in there at some point if you're going to want to have any success.

Chris Jennings: Yeah. I mean that, and that I've had this conversation. I believe I had this conversation on the podcast. I don't know, three, three years ago, we were doing this for a while, um, with Field Hudnall and you're talking world champion Canada goose collar. And we were talking early resident birds. Um, he's hunting there in Kentucky, right along the Ohio river. And. he doesn't even bring a call. And he's like, it's all decoys. He's like, this is, you know, it's all decoys. It's a quick hunt. You know, they're either going to see it, they're not. But if they don't come into your decoys, you're probably not changing their mind. You know? And that kind of said a lot to me coming from a world champion goose caller who knows he can, you know, blow every note that there possibly is and make every sound. And he knows that he cannot convince those birds. to come over and that, you know, that's, you know, the early residents and even some of the really early season birds, they're the exact same and go for a visual rather than an audio cue there. I think that's the best approach.

John Pollmann: Yeah, flagging for honkers is good. Jerk string for ducks on the water is good. Obviously, motion decoys if you're hunting field ducks, that's a must-have. But as hard as it is to leave your call in your pocket, and I do, I love to blow a call, but it's just, you're not making any difference. And then mid-October, switch flips, and like you say, Mike, raise your heat, they can talk about why, but there's a switch that flips, and all of a sudden, you smack a five-note call, or five notes at that Drake Mallard, and his neck cranks, and you know that you're his game on from then on out. But up until then, motion.

Chris Jennings: Yeah, stick with the motion. The last one you had here was, and I think this is also a good thing to keep in mind, realistic expectations. I mean, you've had all season to ramp up and this really goes for on opening day and those first few hunts that you have, you know, you've thought about it, you've, you know, flipped through the pages of DU Magazine watching decoy, you know, seeing decoying birds and you're just so pumped up that I think a lot of people are like, we're going to go out there and we're going to do this and this and this. And really kind of setting those realistic expectations is really important. Go ahead and explain what you kind of led into with that. Yeah.

John Pollmann: So, you know, with age comes wisdom, I think a little bit. I'd like to think so anyway, because I get more gray hair in my noggin. But, you know, there were days, you know, as a younger hunter where I'm so amped up on that opening day and you're hoping everything's going to come together and you want to stack them on black cordwood and just want to put the herd on them and have a great hunt. It's opening day and a lot of different things can happen. Being realistic about that, there's going to be more hunting pressure opening day. You're going to be dealing with that and the challenges that that brings. You've got birds that aren't necessarily going to react to the call. You've got all of these things that can go wrong on that day. Just be realistic about it. Expect that before you go into it that you know. You know, and the big thing from the tip that I shared in the article, too, was that be realistic about your dog as well, your retriever, and especially if you haven't done a ton of training, life happens, right? I mean, I haven't done a ton of stuff with my lab this summer. He's kind of at where he's going to be at for opening day. But just be realistic about that experience for your dog. Make sure you're not throwing brand new things at them opening day, whether it's a blind or a stand or anything like that. Take the time in the off season to introduce those things. And if it is the first day where you've got a new situation for your pup, maybe it's a different kind of hunting situation that it's ever experienced before, take that into account. Be patient. Know that that is a new experience for your dog and that you can't expect them to you know, to act like they're an old hat at it. And so be realistic, be humble, you know, stuff happens on opening day and just enjoy the experience. They're going to be days down the road, hopefully in the season where you're going to have all the pieces come together. But on that opening morning, just enjoy it for what it is, which is being back doing something that we absolutely love to do. We think about it 365 days of the year and it's finally returned and we can actually be out there doing it and enjoying it and just do that. Have fun with it.

Chris Jennings: Yeah, absolutely. And I, and I, I'm not going to name names, but I've got some buddies that come down and hunt with me in Arkansas every year. And, uh, you know, those first few flocks come in into the decoys and they sit up and they, you know, bang, bang, bang, and nothing falls and they get so mad. And they're just like, Oh man, I can't believe we missed. I can't believe I missed. And they're, and they're like, literally, I mean, they're mad about it. And I, and I look over and I'm like, well, when's, when's the last time you shot? like anything, sporting clothes, whatever. And they're like, oh, I haven't shot since I was here last year. Like, well, you know, would you go play golf and you haven't played in a year? And, you know, I haven't played golf since like 2006, maybe 2008. And in March of this year, my wife's brothers came up and they wanted to play golf. And they literally called me like, hey, tee time's at nine. And I'm like, I don't know who that's for, not me. And I ended up going and ended up going and I was terrible. And I told him, I was like, oh my, and I used to be a pretty decent golfer back when I played. And I was kind of getting frustrated, but I was like, oh my gosh, this is embarrassing, whatever. And they're like, well, when's the last time you played? And I was like, 2008. And they just started laughing. They're like, yeah, whatever. So, basically, I just popped a beer and rode around the cart and swung a few times. And enjoyed it. And I told my wife, I was like, you know, I kind of enjoyed it. Once I basically got the same mentality that we're talking about here, we're setting those expectations. you know, being realistic about what you're doing. You know, if your dog's not, you know, doing great in the off season and you're not working that thing, really kind of working on hand signals and, and, you know, really getting into it with them. Don't, on opening day, don't start throwing out long blind retrieves where you're trying to send them hand signals, you know, just having those expectations. Yeah.

John Pollmann: You know, I'm getting to the age, I mean, like I say, I've been hunting ducks for 30 years and I, You know, we aren't guaranteed. I'm not guaranteed. I don't know how many more opening days I'm going to have. I know that's kind of kind of dark, but it's true. And so I'm going to enjoy it. I'm going to enjoy. I got a son that's going to be hunting again this year and we're going to go out there and we're going to enjoy it. I'm not going to try to get too worked up about things if they don't go right, especially opening day. Enjoy it because you just you don't know how many more you got.

Chris Jennings: Yep. That's awesome. Hey, John, I really appreciate you coming on here and walking through these tips. Some of these tactics pieces, uh, some of these podcasts, um, just kind of talking through some of these different ideas and, and just the way to approach, especially approaching opening day. Uh, they're definitely my favorite ones to do and, and kind of in the weeds, getting into jerk chords and no calling and they're just cool, man. And I enjoy it and I appreciate you coming on.

John Pollmann: Absolutely. Anytime, Chris.

Chris Jennings: I'd like to thank my guest, John Pollmann, for coming on the show today and really digging into opening day tactics and avoiding some of these blunders that some hunters do make. I'd like to thank our producer, Chris Isaac, for putting the show together and getting it out to you. And I'd like to thank you, the listener, for joining us on the podcast and supporting wetlands conservation.