As we look back from 2024, reflecting on the ever-evolving landscape of deer hunting access and strategies, the journey has been nothing short of enlightening and humbling. The quest for that best hunting spot, the anticipation of deer season, and the stories that emerge, like Eric Clark’s memorable bow hunt in November 2022, where he tagged a wide-load river bottom buck, are the types of hunts that fuel the passion of hunters everywhere. These experiences not only highlight the thrill of the hunt but also underscore the importance of access to quality hunting land. Here are three strategies that Eric has used over the years to continue to elvate the pursuit of a shooter buck.
State Wildlife Agency Programs
State programs offering access to private lands for deer hunting have been a boon for hunters seeking new territories. These programs vary by state, so it’s crucial to stay informed about the offerings in your area. For instance, Wisconsin’s Managed Forest Law (MFL) and Voluntary Public Access (VPA) programs have continued to provide hunters with opportunities to explore private lands, fostering a symbiotic relationship between landowners and the hunting community. These initiatives not only support conservation efforts but also open up new realms for hunters to pursue their passion.
Cooperative Agreements
The success of cooperative agreements between states and private landowners has been instrumental in expanding access to prime hunting locations. These partnerships are tailored to balance the interests of landowners with the hunting community’s needs, offering a structured approach to accessing private lands. In Wisconsin, conservation organizations have played a pivotal role in this regard, securing lands for public use while ensuring sustainable hunting practices. The draw systems implemented by some of these organizations have proven effective in managing hunter density, enhancing the quality of the hunting experience for those drawn.
Day-Lease Apps and Digital Platforms
The digital revolution has brought about innovative solutions to the age-old challenge of finding hunting land. Day-lease apps, likened to an Airbnb for hunters, have emerged as a game-changer, offering flexible access to private lands. Platforms like LandTrust have demonstrated resilience and growth, adapting to the needs of the hunting community and landowners alike. Eric’s own venture, the Where to Hunt GPS app, now known as OUTLND®, aimed to complement these services by providing real-time information on occupied and unoccupied lands, enhancing safety and efficiency for hunters.
Eric Clark’s success story from 2022, leveraging digital tools to secure his spot and ultimately bagging a warrior river bottom buck, exemplifies the potential of combining traditional hunting skills with modern technology. It’s a testament to how innovation, coupled with a deep respect for the past time and the land, can lead to truly memorable hunting experiences.
As we move forward, the key to sustaining and enriching the hunting tradition lies in collaboration—between hunters, landowners, conservationists, and technology providers. Embracing new strategies, sharing knowledge, and supporting conservation efforts will ensure that the legacy of hunting thrives for future generations. Whether through state programs, cooperative agreements, or digital platforms, the opportunity to explore new horizons and create lasting memories in the great outdoors has never been more accessible.
Every summer I start my practice sessions off the same way, shaky arms and loose groups. Am I terrible on the first session of the year? Not really, I’ve shot a bow for over two decades, so there is some inherit form there, but for my preferred hunting standards, yes…it’s pretty rough. I’d say the same goes for most bow hunters. As soon as hunting season ends, we all tend to put the bow on the hanger for a couple months. Some of us leave it up longer than that. A small offseason break is good but you don’t want to wait too long to break the bow back out and start shooting.
I like to follow a basic practice routine and schedule during the summers. I start somewhere in late June or early July. This will give me about two and a half to three months of solid practice before the season starts. My personal progression is pretty simple and an easy one for novice archers to follow. The progression is as follows: perfect your form, hone your skills, and then harden your nerves. Pretty basic right? Let’s take a look at each step and break them down into the most important aspects.
How to Practice
Before we dive into each step we need to briefly discuss how to practice. Your shooting sessions should be brief. There is no need to shoot 500 arrows a day, this could possibly accentuate bad habits. Instead stick to 15-20 well thought out shots. Practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect. Keeping your practice sessions short will force you to focus and make every arrow count. It also keeps weakness and shakiness from becoming an issue, therefore cutting down on the possibility that you develop bad habits. Want something else to fill your time? Do some archery specific exercises like theraband rows or shoulder blade retractions. It’s not shooting directly but it is beneficial to your archery success.
Perfect Your Form
This is how I like to start my shooting in the summer. I like to take the first two to three weeks perfecting my form. When you haven’t shot in a few months you can get pretty rusty. I like to start with a typical dotted bag or block target at 20 yards. Instead of focusing on stacking arrows on top of each other, really focus on your form. Proper back tension, proper riser grip, and proper trigger squeeze all need to be achieved on a consistent basis over the course of this period. Once you feel that you have achieved good, repeatable form, then we can start working on honing your archery skills.
Hone Your Skills
Now we can focus on stacking arrows. Your form has been built and you’re ready to start mixing it up. The next three to four weeks will be spent shooting varied shots. Start changing up your distances and angles. If your max shooting distance during the season is 40 yards, practice at 50 and 60. It’ll make 40 feel like 25. And imagine what it’ll make 20 feel like! Also practice your in-between yardages (27, 34, etc.). This is a great opportunity to learn how your sight pins perform at variable distances. This is the core of your summer practice. Change it up, we are building skill now, not form.
Harden Your Nerves
Finally in the last month or so before the season, it is time to start hardening your skill and your nerves. There is no better way to put ice in your veins than to shoot under pressure. First and foremost, shoot while people are watching. The added pressure of extra eyes scrutinizing your form is beneficial. It makes you focus and talk yourself through the pressure. Another way to pressurize the situation, while also adding a ton of fun, is to shoot in 3D competitions or shoot for dough in the yard. Get your buddies together on a weeknight and have an impromptu competition for $5 a guy. Nobody will put pressure on you like a buddy trying to win your money. The point in all this goofiness is to shoot at 3D targets, learn anatomy, and put pressure on yourself, that way when the actual pressure comes you’ll be prepared.
This is how I plan to tackle my summer this year. The key is to have a plan and stick to it. Remember perfect practice makes perfect and consistency is the goal. Go into this fall being a better archer than you were last year. Let’s get shooting!
There’s a common saying that boat stands for Bust Out Another Thousand (B.O.A.T.). Knowing that boats can become money pits is one of the main reasons some hunters prefer to head out to their local walk-in area or hitch a ride on a buddy’s boat instead. But what if I told you that you could build yourself a nice duck boat for under $5,000, and be able to access your local marsh or river?
With private land access becoming increasingly hard to come by, getting yourself out onto the water can greatly increase your hunting opportunities. Here in the state of Wisconsin, all navigable water is public. Article IX of the Wisconsin Constitution states that navigable waters are “common highways and forever free.” If you can access an area legally and keep your feet wet (or boat), you are good to go.
I’ve built several of my own duck boats, and even went into detail recently on the UPDUCK podcast, about how I built my own duck hunting boat. My duck boat journey has been a great learning experience on many fronts. When I bought my first Jon boat in high school, I had no idea what I was doing. I learned by making mistakes and evolving my design through many years of duck hunting. If you are reading this blog and are interested in building your first duck boat, I hope this information will help make your journey a little less intimidating, and potentially save you a few dollars.
I bought my first boat when I was 17 years old. 19 years later, I just finished building my 3rd duck boat. My latest boat is a 1436 G3 flat bottom boat. For Jon boats, 1436 means that the boat is 14 feet long and 36 inches wide at the bottom. I settled on a 1436 after considering the types of waters I wanted to navigate, the types of launches in my area, and the number of hunters/dogs I wanted to hunt with. There are many boat configurations to choose from, the important part is analyzing what areas you want to hunt, and then choose a size that best fits those spots. For me, I mostly hunt small rivers with boat “launches” that are usually comprised of dirt paths off the side of a bridge or road. Because of this, keeping my boat small and light was a requirement. In some situations, I have to pull my boat off the trailer onto the ground, and then drag it into the water. Doing this with anything bigger than a 1436 would not be feasible, especially if I’m hunting solo.
I bought my boat off Facebook marketplace in summer of 2022. I drove down to the Land of Lincoln with cash in my pocket, and picked up an old fishing boat that was, coincidentally, used primarily at a cabin in northern Wisconsin. The hull was in good shape overall, but needed a fresh coat of paint. The trailer looked to be in good shape, but you’ll never know for sure until you start diving into your build.
Purchase the boat and bring it home:
Materials: – Cash (Bank – $1200)
After I got the boat home, the first thing I did was pull the hull off the trailer for a thorough inspection of what I had just bought. Upon doing so, one of the trailer bunks snapped off and sent the boat toppling into the yard.
After the trailer was in better shape, it was time to start diving into the hull. I was fortunate enough to find a boat that still had factory paint, and was only used for fishing – us duck hunters tend to beat up our boats. However, the interior of the boat was scratched up and the paint worn off. I liked the factory color of the boat, and wanted to re-paint the interior. After getting a crazy expensive quote from G3 for spray cans, I decided to head to my local hardware store and see what they had. I pulled off a handle from the boat and had it color matched at the store. I decided to try an ultra-flat Behr outdoor paint. Because my household is currently run by my two young children, I opted to save time and not strip the existing paint. I knew it wouldn’t last as long, but let’s be honest, I’ll just throw another coat on top once it wears off.
Paint the hull:
Materials:Gallon of Ultra-Flat Behr Outdoor paint (Hardware store – $50)Cheap spray gun (Amazon – $30)Air compressor
After a few coats of paint, the boat was looking brand new again. It’s amazing how much a fresh coat of paint can take any old Jon boat and bring it back to life. As I mentioned above, my boat builds have evolved through the years, and I try and make upgrades along the way. For this build, I decided to try out Hydro-Turf. After talking with friends and fellow duck hunters, the Hydro-Turf seemed like a great way to make the boat safer, make the boat quieter, save the paint job, and overall make the boat look a little more badass. By no means is Hydro-Turf necessary, but it does have a lot of benefits.
With the Hydro-Turf installed, it was time to start electrical. Electrical is one of the most time-consuming parts of a boat build. It is very important to have a plan a head of time and know what types of lights, how many lights, and the location of said lights. With a small boat like mine, I didn’t have a need for anything besides lights and a way to start the motor. I wanted a light bar up front, a few interior lights, and navigation lights. I wired everything up to a 2-gang switch panel to run the interior and navigation lights separate from the light bar. This was important in the event you are passing someone in the dark. Some tips for electrical:
Run a bead of silicon caulk between the housing and the clear cover on your light bar. This will help it stay water-tight.
Use quick-connects for your wiring to save you time in the winter when you want to remove all of your lighting.
Research the wiring on your switch-panel in order to eliminate the permanent light that stays on even when you’re not using the lights.
The blind is a piece of the project that I went back and forth with. Because my boat is smaller, I wasn’t sure if it was worth constructing another home-made blind. On my previous boats, the blind did not function very effectively, and sometimes ended up being more of a hassle than it was worth. In some situations, you can either stand/sit in shallow water with a marsh stool or find an area that has some surrounding public land to sit on. Despite my best efforts to pass on building a blind, I decided to put another one together. In the end, I’m glad I did. On my last two boats, I’ve had success using Bimini top brackets and caps to construct a basic scissor-style blind. If you have ever been on a pontoon boat with a canopy, the framework is exactly like most boat blinds. The Bimini hardware easily attaches to electrical conduit, swivels to either side of the boat, and is easily removed from storage or transportation. Throw on some camo, and you’re ready to go.
Build the blind:
Materials:Ø3/4 electrical conduit and elbows – (Hardware store – $100)Bimini top eye end caps (Amazon – $10)Bimini top deck hinges (Amazon – $16)Golf practice net – (Amazon – $40)Camo systems netting (Fleet Farm – $150)Raffia grass – (J. Stern – $40)Zip ties – (Hardware store -$10)
Now for the main course, the motor. My previous boat had a Swamp Runner longtail kit paired with a small 212cc predator motor. This set-up was a great starter kit, and got me where I needed to go. However, after buying a 2-foot longer boat, I knew I would need more horsepower. Captaining a “Thai” longtail kit is like steering the Titanic. Because of this, I decided to purchase a Backwater Inc. longtail kit. I headed over to my nearest Harbor Freight and picked up a new 459cc Predator motor. The Backwater kit is all American made, and it shows. This set-up was a huge upgrade from my Thai kit and pushes my 1436 at about 20MPH.
Install the motor and longtail kit:
Materials:Backwater longtail kit – (Backwater inc. -$1400)Predator 459 motor – (Harbor Freight – $450)
Installing a grab bar was a minor upgrade to the boat, but one that required me to get creative. My previous boat had a grab-bar comprised of electrical conduit that was mounted behind the middle seat. My new boat is longer and did not allow me to swap it over. I decided I wanted a grab bar that swiveled down and out of the way for storage, so I purchased a grab bar directly from Backwater Inc. After I mocked up the mounting bracket on the side of the boat, I quickly learned that the sides did not have enough rigidity to support my weight hanging on the handle. I was determined to make the grab bar work, so I found a few pieces of aluminum angle iron, tied it into the ribs on the sidewall, and then celebrated with a beer. The build was complete!
Grab Bar:
Materials:Grab bar – (Backwater inc. – $175 )Angle iron (found in garage)
Time to hunt:
Materials:Duck boat rig: – (Total: $4,500)
Overall, I’m very pleased with how this build turned out. I was able to use the boat quite a few times this part waterfowl season, and never had any major issues (aside from sand eating my prop). If you decide to go down the duck boat build road, I hope you’ve learned a thing or two from my build.
