# 2018 Off Season Projects



## JerryH (Jun 17, 2014)

Well the forum is dead. Everyone must have stuff going on? Fishing? Decoy carving? Boat repairs? Wader repairs? 

Let's hear your project? Thanks to DallanC I got my decoy trailer axle alignment repaired, boat trailer is next


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## utahbigbull (May 9, 2012)

So far I have re-wired my LED bow light and wired in LED light strips to illuminate the inside of my boat and the front and rear decks while reconfiguring my light switches to run em. I’m totally revamping my spread for next season and have so far got 3 1/2 dozen new Avian’s (Wigeon, gads, and pins) in the basement all strung and weighted. A dozen new Tanglefree coots showed up yesterday and got them all strung and weighted last night. Since I’m going to try some more big water hunting, I have 6 Avian Cans showing up Thursday to add to my limited diver dec numbers. I have re-strung all my original decs as well. Now all I have left is to put a new prop on and re-grass the boat blind. Not sure what I’m going to do in the next 6 months....


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## goosefreak (Aug 20, 2009)

utahbigbull said:


> So far I have re-wired my LED bow light and wired in LED light strips to illuminate the inside of my boat and the front and rear decks while reconfiguring my light switches to run em. I'm totally revamping my spread for next season and have so far got 3 1/2 dozen new Avian's (Wigeon, gads, and pins) in the basement all strung and weighted. A dozen new Tanglefree coots showed up yesterday and got them all strung and weighted last night. Since I'm going to try some more big water hunting, I have 6 Avian Cans showing up Thursday to add to my limited diver dec numbers. I have re-strung all my original decs as well. Now all I have left is to put a new prop on and re-grass the boat blind. Not sure what I'm going to do in the next 6 months....


I like where your heads at! I'm gonna do the same thing, duck sihllos and more goose sihllos, a few more dozen pinnys, weigon, maybe some more mallards, Cans, bluebills, redheads. I want to explore some more "big water"

maintenance to my mudbuddy hyperdrive, valve adjust, reseal belt housing, belt tension, new grease.

But, first i'm gonna finish stalking up on all my Sitka gear..


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## shaner (Nov 30, 2007)

Burning as much of Satan's straw ( phragmite) as possible.


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## paddler (Jul 17, 2009)

utahbigbull said:


> So far I have re-wired my LED bow light and wired in LED light strips to illuminate the inside of my boat and the front and rear decks while reconfiguring my light switches to run em. I'm totally revamping my spread for next season and have so far got 3 1/2 dozen new Avian's (Wigeon, gads, and pins) in the basement all strung and weighted. A dozen new Tanglefree coots showed up yesterday and got them all strung and weighted last night. Since I'm going to try some more big water hunting, I have 6 Avian Cans showing up Thursday to add to my limited diver dec numbers. I have re-strung all my original decs as well. Now all I have left is to put a new prop on and re-grass the boat blind. Not sure what I'm going to do in the next 6 months....


Why the heck did you buy gagwall decoys? Shoulda bought more cans instead.;-)

Got the parts cut out for my canoe trailer, still working on learning how to TIG weld.


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## utahbigbull (May 9, 2012)

paddler said:


> Why the heck did you buy gagwall decoys? Shoulda bought more cans instead.;-)


Majority of my time is still in back pockets chasing puddlers. At the time I had the shopping itch for that purchase, all Rogers had was the gadwall / Wigeon combos. So I bought two packs of em. After that, for more Wigeons, I had to get two more packs off of Amazon.

I am rying to go all natural this year and match the hatch. Not quite canoe natural, but figured what the heck?? What will the Gads hurt?? They are some dang sweet Gads BTW!!! Trying to match what I see and that is Coots, wigeons, gads, and pins. But don't worry, I still have 6 months so I am sure more cans will find their way to my house


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## paddler (Jul 17, 2009)

utahbigbull said:


> Majority of my time is still in back pockets chasing puddlers. At the time I had the shopping itch for that purchase, all Rogers had was the gadwall / Wigeon combos. So I bought two packs of em. After that, for more Wigeons, I had to get two more packs off of Amazon.
> 
> I am rying to go all natural this year and match the hatch. Not quite canoe natural, but figured what the heck?? What will the Gads hurt?? They are some dang sweet Gads BTW!!! Trying to match what I see and that is Coots, wigeons, gads, and pins. But don't worry, I still have 6 months so I am sure more cans will find their way to my house


What will the gads hurt? "What will the gads hurt?", he asks. They could bring more gads in and you might be tempted to actually shoot them, that's what they could hurt. And then you might be tempted to actually try to eat them. You should get some greenwing, or more pins, or anything but gads.:grin:


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## JerryH (Jun 17, 2014)

I just picked up another dozen Avian X pintails from Field Supply. I'm moving away from my foamer spread and going back to plastics. I'm tired of the six slot bag game. Avian's are heavy but they are spot on and hold there paint. I keep a jet sled in the boat and it works as a good decoy bag. Toss them in, drop the hatch and go.


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## utahbigbull (May 9, 2012)

paddler said:


> What will the gads hurt? "What will the gads hurt?", he asks. They could bring more gads in and you might be tempted to actually shoot them, that's what they could hurt. And then you might be tempted to actually try to eat them. You should get some greenwing, or more pins, or anything but gads.:grin:


I'd rather shoot 7 gads vs. 7 teal personally..... Not much of a teal kind of guy.


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## paddler (Jul 17, 2009)

utahbigbull said:


> I'd rather shoot 7 gads vs. 7 teal personally..... Not much of a teal kind of guy.


What???? I've been roasting GWT on my gas grill. Really easy and tasty. I shot one gaddie this year, Heidi loved it.;-)


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## utahbigbull (May 9, 2012)

Not the first time I've been accused of being loco :crazy:

My wife reminds me of that multiple times a day!


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

let's see. putting pods on the boat. packing bearings and new tires on the boat trailer. Going try and make my own weights and lines. go through the decoys. new prop as well. Maybe new grass blind. If I can find the money i might buy more decoys. but i got to get a layout blind to use this year.


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## 7summits (Nov 28, 2017)

Nothing wrong with Gads, at all. Good eatin birds, guaranty after I cook them you would not be able to tell them apart from Mallards. This is the first thread that I have ever seen that someone doesn't shoot Gadwalls (nationwide).


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

7summits said:


> Nothing wrong with Gads, at all. Good eatin birds, guaranty after I cook them you would not be able to tell them apart from Mallards. This is the first thread that I have ever seen that someone doesn't shoot Gadwalls (nationwide).


I don't eat them either. They taste just like a spoonie. No thanks! They are pretty birds though.


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## paddler (Jul 17, 2009)

7summits said:


> Nothing wrong with Gads, at all. Good eatin birds, guaranty after I cook them you would not be able to tell them apart from Mallards. This is the first thread that I have ever seen that someone doesn't shoot Gadwalls (nationwide).


Gadwalls are like mallards, the taste varies according to their diet. Local gadwalls don't suit my taste at all. Gagwalls is more like it.


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## utahbigbull (May 9, 2012)

I have a jerky marinade that can make an old boot taste good. Gads make mighty fine jerky with it as most of my ducks and geese do! :grin:


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## 7summits (Nov 28, 2017)

Just not seeing it I guess. Every single Mallard I have dressed out has the same yellow fat that the Gadwalls do. Same food source for the most part, and same taste. And I shoot a lot of friggen ducks each year.


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## paddler (Jul 17, 2009)

7summits said:


> Just not seeing it I guess. Every single Mallard I have dressed out has the same yellow fat that the Gadwalls do. Same food source for the most part, and same taste. And I shoot a lot of friggen ducks each year.


The yellow fat is the problem. GWT and pintails have white fat, which is very mild, because they're seed eaters. Gadwalls eat the green parts of SAV, and that's the problem. Canvasback eat the tubers of sago pondweed, which is why they're excellent. I'll shoot an occasional mallard, but won't be targeting them. GWT, pintail and canvasback are reliably excellent. I find the local gadwall reliably nasty. To each his own, of course. If you like them, great.


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## Raptor1 (Feb 1, 2015)

Don't happen to have that recipe handy do you::grin:? I've some folks I know smoke them for me and they come out tasting mighty fine. I was even tempted to shoot a couple of spoonies and see what they could do.



utahbigbull said:


> I have a jerky marinade that can make an old boot taste good. Gads make mighty fine jerky with it as most of my ducks and geese do! :grin:


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## utahbigbull (May 9, 2012)

Here is what I've been doing the last few years. Can't make it fast enough if I take any to work, it's gone in minutes.

http://www.ducks.org/hunting/waterfowl-recipes-wild-game-cooking/spicy-goose-jerky


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

utahbigbull said:


> Here is what I've been doing the last few years. Can't make it fast enough if I take any to work, it's gone in minutes.
> 
> http://www.ducks.org/hunting/waterfowl-recipes-wild-game-cooking/spicy-goose-jerky


 going have to give this a try next year since i just grounded up all of my birds


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

Does painting the inside of my house count? Got all of the ceilings painted, and several walls two toned.


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## JerryH (Jun 17, 2014)

Fowlmouth said:


> Does painting the inside of my house count? Got all of the ceilings painted, and several walls two toned.


What camo pattern? lol


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## paddler (Jul 17, 2009)

Fowlmouth said:


> Does painting the inside of my house count? Got all of the ceilings painted, and several walls two toned.


Not if your wife wants you to do it.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

JerryH said:


> What camo pattern? lol


One of the projects was painting and redoing the guest bedroom. I picked up a new bed too. I got rid of my duck camo bedding and went with something different this time. (I had a bed in there a few years ago and moved it downstairs for my daughter). The window valance is camo though!

I want to pick up 5 dozen dive bomb goose silhouettes before the season, and a new pair of waders. That's about all that's on my list for waterfowl season.

Oh, the painting was my idea, not my wifes.


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## JerryH (Jun 17, 2014)

Looks nice. Heres the lowdown on guest bedrooms. Put plenty of dead $hit in there that nobody feels comfortable sleeping in there. Relatives are like fish. After a couple of days they start stinking. Lol


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## shaner (Nov 30, 2007)

@Jerry. 
Amen.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

I picked up two 14 packs of the Big Al's Canada goose Silhouettes. Now I am in the process of fixing leaky waders. (the $100 waders) I finally retired my Cabelas breathables after 6 seasons, mostly because goosefreak makes fun of the 8 tire patches and the 2 pounds of Shoe Goo.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

I scrubbed and washed 4 dozen mallard, pintail and spoonie decoys tonight. They look so good cleaned up, I can actually see the detail and colors again. I still have another 8 dozen teal and wigeon to scrub, probably just take them to the car wash.....:smile:


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## utahbigbull (May 9, 2012)

Just finished replacing all my trailer bearings, races, wheel seals and hub caps today and put the new prop on the BW 23 SS. I went to repack the hubs today but enough water got to the bearings the last couple years, I just decided to put all new bearings and races in this year. Tomorrow I’ll start getting my blind re-grassed. I’m sure it’s all the same, but we’ll see how the Rogers grass holds up vs the tanglefree grass I had on the the last three seasons. I have all my new avian decs I bough this summer (dozen pins, 18 wigeon, six gads, six cans) and the dozen new tanglefree coots and strung and weighted along with all my new decs and old decs I’ve scrubbed up all in new bags. Interior boat lighting has been put in and the complete re-wire of the boat is done. Two cases of shells arrived a couple weeks ago. Almost ready!!


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## utahbigbull (May 9, 2012)

I’ve also been working with my new pup Willow that I got late February. Been working with here EVERY single day for at least 20 minutes a day. She’s six months old yesterday and is doing AMAZING! She’s retrieving pigeons I pop with the pellet gun like crazy, sits and comes to whistle, heels and delivers to hand. Right now we’re e-collar training forcing to piles and hand directions. She’s picking that up quick. I’ve never had a dog train this easy, it’s kinda scary. She is definitely bird crazy dog!! I got her a layout field blind a couple days ago and first time in the yard she was going right in on command, staying and retrieving out of it like a seasoned pro!! I sure can’t wait to see what she can do this fall!!!!!


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

I got a few more old GHG Hot Buy mallards painted up. I'm just happy I finally have a use for them now. I think they look better as redheads anyway.....I did paint a handful of the greenheads just to see what they would look like.


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