5 reasons why you should hunt on a weekday

Midweek mallard mania

by Bret “T-Bone” Amundson

Shooting a limit of ducks on a weekday is one of the most satisfying moments a duck hunter can have.

ducksgroup101012 — Here’s a limit of ducks taken on a recent Wednesday morning on public land

It usually means you’re swapping the business casual for the business camo. Passing on the paperwork to get a firm grip on the double reed.

For most it’s not within the realm of possibility. In fact most of my friends and family respond with an angry text if a picture pops up on their phone mid-week.

I may have been disowned.

But if you can get away for a morning hunt, do it. It’s worth it.

ducks101012 — A mixed bag of ducks can be a fun way to learn about different species

Here’s why.

1) THERE ARE ONLY SO MANY WEEKENDS IN THE FALL. If you’re like me, you wait all year long for fall to roll around. A couple of weekends later and it’s over Johnny. Why invest the time and money in something that you’ll only do a handful of times out of the year? Get out and enjoy it. You will have the inevitable wedding or blizzard that will keep you from getting in the field, so use some vacation time in October to whack some birds out of the sky. I’ve never been to Mexico. Never been to Florida. My vacations usually revolve around a hunting or fishing trip. Sure I miss out on drinking beer on the beach, but I’d end up just sitting there wishing I was doing something. Anything.

2) THERE IS LESS PRESSURE FROM HUNTERS. Whether you’re hunting public land or scouting for big flocks, you’ll have less competition during the week, giving you more opportunities for land access. The one downside of this is that there aren’t other hunters pushing game around. But if you do your scouting and find the “x”, then you don’t need help.

3) THERE IS LESS PRESSURE FROM HUNTERS PT 2. If you hunt public land there is a good chance that some of that land has been hunted recently. Going mid-week offers the target species a chance to rest a bit from the bullet-dodging activity from the previous weekend.

4) FEWER RECREATIONALISTS. You also have fewer jet skiers, bird watchers and other outdoor enthusiasts that have the right to be there, but could ruin a good hunt.

5) MORE WEEKEND TIME WITH FAMILY. This goes against what I’m saying a bit, but if you can go during the week, then it allows you to free up some weekend time when the wife wants to go look at curtains. As much fun as that sounds, I would not be happy sacrificing blind time to do it. If I shoot a limit of mallards the day before, then it’s not quite so bad.

Buffle — Whoa. The colors man…the colors..

Get out during the week if you can. Make time for it. It’s worth it. You may get disowned, your buddies might make you buy the first round and your boss may ask you to stay late when you get back, but it IS worth it. Life it too short to let each fall pass you by. When the migration or rut is on, get after it!

by Bret “T-Bone” Amundson