Episode #249 Off-Season Wants, Gear Upgrades, and What’s Next

In this episode, I break down my entire duck season using logged hunt data from start to finish. I split the season into early, mid, and late segments and walk through harvest totals, shooting percentages, shots per hunt, satisfaction ratings, and species breakdowns for each phase of the year.

Early season covers September 1 through October 31 and was dominated by blue wing teal and gadwall with high efficiency and solid satisfaction. Mid season runs November 1 through December 15 and shifted heavily into mallards, with more pressure, lower shooting percentages, and reduced satisfaction. Late season spans December 16 through close and became a mallard focused grind with more shots per hunt, higher difficulty, but improved satisfaction when things came together.

I then zoom out to the full season totals, including 37 hunts, 129 ducks harvested, 239 shots fired, a 57.322 percent shooting percentage, and an average hunt satisfaction of 6.51. I also break down species totals across the entire season.

Using those stats, I outline five offseason wants for 2026. These include TideWe heated gloves, the Lucky Twin Pack 2.0 mallard spinning wing decoys, the Higdon Pulsator PRO drake and hen combo, shotgun and ammo changes including 18i 5s, Muller choke considerations, and a possible move to a 20 gauge Weatherby Sorix. The final offseason want is a bigger motor, upgrading from a 35 horsepower surface drive with a goal of reaching upper teens speed when fully loaded.

This episode is a full season review driven by real data and a clear look at what I am changing heading into next year.

Partners

Flight Day Ammunition
https://www.flightdayammo.com Discount Code: NAW10

Weatherby
https://www.weatherby.com

Mammoth Guardian Dog Crates
https://www.mammothpet.com Discount Code: GUARDIAN15

TideWe
https://www.tidewe.com Discount Code: NAW18

Shotty Gear
https://www.shottygear.com Discount Code: FDH10

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