LAYOUT HUNT GUIDE 30 May 2011

Hunting ducks out of a layout works well because the primary types of birds pursued are divers and sea ducks. Both types of duck tend to fly close to the water, which gives them a profile view of the decoys and a layout boat. Most puddle ducks will tend to approach decoys from higher in the air, giving them an overhead view of the decoys and the boat where the hunter waits. Typically this type of hunting is done with at least two people - one person hunting in the layout boat while the other watches and helps from the larger boat, or tender. Rigging multiple layout boats can be done as well, which allows for even more people to work into the rotation. One of the best benefits of layout hunting is the ability to get away from the shoreline and the other hunters. Few people can take advantage of the open sounds, bays, and lakes like a layout boat hunter. Since the hunters are not tied to a location and not worried about beating other people to a good spot, they can ride out into the water as the sun rises, watching for the areas with the most bird traffic.

What follows are chapters on the key issues related to layout hunting. This is not intended to be an allencompassing reference for every possible way to layout hunt. Instead it’s a guide for those who are just getting into the sport and need more information. When I started layout hunting, I searched for good resources and found some, but none that laid out all the components. Any item covered below can be done in multiple ways and is worthy of long-winded discussions. For those who want to know where to begin, I wanted to help with a jump-start. I’d like to thank Capt Jeff Coats of Pitboss Waterfowl for the use of some excellent photos. Several of his pictures show longline rigging, etc. He can be reached at www.pitbosswaterfowl.com Chapter 1-Decoys Diver decoys can run the range of materials like any other duck decoy, from wood, cork, or foam based to the commercially produced hollow plastic decoys. Usually larger decoys will work better when hunting on open waters and needing to attract birds from longer distances. Black and white tend to show up the best in open water conditions, and many diver and sea ducks have a great deal of these colors in their plumage. Many hunters recommend a minimum or 4 dozen decoys and some use as many as 200. My own experience has been that 8-10 dozen is a good number to attract birds and set a good spread. Self-righting decoys are a must - decoys are usually deployed from a boat and it can be very difficult to access a decoy that has tipped over. Since layout hunting can involve shooting low birds at close range, it is very common to accidentally hit decoys. Some hunters opt for non-sinking decoys (foam, cork, etc) while others patch plastic decoys until they are past their useful life and then replace with a new deke. The new layout hunter will probably use plastics due to their lower cost. Another practice is to use silhouette decoys on a floating Y-board. The Y or V board is a floating frame that supports three silhouette or shell decoys . This can be a great technique since oversized decoys can be used, adding to a spreads visibility. The Y boards are normally used for sea ducks or brant since they are not as cautious as other diver species and can be easily painted using mainly black and white. Since so many of the divers and sea ducks are black and white, starting a spread can be as simple as reusing other decoys and painting them black and white. The majority of my first diver rig was made of repainted mallards and other puddle-ducks. There are a fair number of hunters who use black paint on white jugs and bottles. This apparently works well for sea ducks, and can be used for the outer edge of a diver rig. Some converted dekes are shown below.

2-Longline rigging Decoys for layout hunting will fall into two categories: longlined or single-rigged. The value in longlining decoys is in faster setup and pickup. A dozen birds can be easily deployed off the side of a slow moving boat in under two minutes, and retrieved about as fast. In addition, it is usually easier to rig an anchor that will hold a line of 12 birds than it is to rig 12 individual anchors to hold single decoys in 2-4ft seas. Either way the hunter decides to rig his decoys, I would recommend using bowline knots as much as possible. These will hold and can normally be untied without cutting, which is very useful in the event that the decoy needs to be rigged differently. The typical longline rig has an anchor clipped to both ends and birds in the middle. The clip at either end allows the proper anchor to be used for the conditions, bottom, etc. The advantage to anchoring both ends of the line is to stop it from moving due to wind or tide shifts. Unless there are special circumstances, it is rarely advisable to only anchor one end of a line - winds or tides can push longlines together and create an ugly mess. The longline itself (sometimes called the “mother line“) can be a number of types of line….twisted & tarred nylon, braided nylon, parachute cord, etc. It should be dark in color and sink. Many hunters like to use a larger line that is easier to unwrap from a propeller. Smaller diameter lines tend to be cut by a propeller, where larger lines will wrap around the prop and stop it. It can be far easier to unwrap large line from a propeller than small diameter line.

People will often use a dropper which is a length of line between the motherline and the decoy. The reason for this is to allow a dog or boat to pass over without entangling the dog or prop. If the hunter is not going to have a dog in the longlines, the dropper can be reduced to nothing. Droppers do create the opportunity for tangles if the decoy is wrapped around the motherline, and for tangles with other decoys and their droppers. Some experimentation is recommended to find the system that will work for you. Droppers can also be of sinking nylon or a very heavy monofilament (400lb) with crimps to hold the dropper to the other rigging. There are many ways to rig the actual decoy. Some people will tie one end of the dropper to the decoy and the other to a long-line clip, whereas some will tie a short loop for a dropper and have the clips attached to the mother line. Long line clips can be found at many sources, including Doctari Longlines. The larger clips can be manipulated with gloves on, which is a key consideration. Some hunters prefer to have a swivel at both ends of the dropper to allow for easy bird changes, and removing birds in case of a tangle. Long-lining and layout hunting both have significant learning curves and you may find that you significantly change your approach after some experience, or after hunting or talking with other people.

There are two main approaches to using long-lines: remove the birds from the line when you pull them in the boat, or leave the birds attached for the full season. The advantages of pulling birds off the line every time is that the hunter can decide which decoys to place on the longlines for each hunt. If targeting sea ducks for example, he can leave the redheads at home. There are some disadvantages with removing the birds every time - it can take longer to set out and pick up a spread when every bird has to be removed. It also necessitates a way to store the mother line itself.

Longlines without birds can be stored on an electrical extension cord reel, a garden hose reel, or other similar ways. As the longline is brought on board and the anchor dropped, the line is clipped to the reel (or the clip at the end of the line already on the reel), and then reeled in as decoys are removed. The reel doesn’t have to be fancy, but will carry a lot of wet and potentially salty line in a boat on rough water. Try to select a reel that won’t damage other gear and that can stand up to the abuse of extreme cold, banging around in a boat, and saltwater. Decoys (on or off motherlines) can be stored in several ways. Many hunters use collapsible leaf bags for their strength, low cost, and compact storage. Others use plastic trash cans or storage bins to hold the decoys. The container should be easy to handle when full of birds, allow water to drain out, and collapsible or stackable to save space on the tender. Hunters with nice decoys will sometimes use slot bags to keep the birds protected while in transit. This setup also takes a lot of the worry out of tangling longlines since the extra line can be piled in the bottom of the slot before the bird is put in. If you want to do this, check the bag to ensure that the bottom of the slots are sewn to the bottom of the bag.

Regardless of whether the birds are left on the lines all season or not, they should be spaced out on the line to give good visibility. One approach is to have 3 to 5 feet between decoys on the upwind side and gradually increase that to 8 to 10 feet between decoys on the downwind side. This gives the effect of a tighter knot of birds feeling close together, with some hanging off the back. Divers will tend to land ahead of other feeding birds, and this spacing can help bring decoying birds in closer.

Anchors for longlines can be almost anything that will hold in the bottom conditions where you hunt. Weight and shape are the two factors that give an anchor its holding power. Some hunters like an anchor that can slide when pulled, allowing the longline to be dragged into place. Others want an anchor to hold and not move at all. Common anchors for longlines are sash weights (from old window frames), cups with concrete and eye-bolts, coated dumb-bell weights, and folding anchors. Anchors that hold in gentle conditions can have their holding power increased with a length of chain if wind or currents pick up. Longline weights can be stored in a 5-gallon bucket, milk crate, etc. It can be helpful to drill holes in the bucket bottom to let water drain out. 3-Longline & layout placement Longlines are normally deployed from a boat after setting the layout in place. The layout is usually set facing downwind, with the toe (downwind) side of the boat slightly angled to one side or the other to allow left or right handed shooters to have a better shot at incoming birds.

Once the layout is in position, the longlines can be deployed. A common way to do this is to motor the tender upwind of the layout and drop the upwind anchor overboard, paying out the longline. If the hunter throws out the line and doesn’t grab the decoys themselves, the line will often not get tangled. As the boat drifts (or slowly motors) downwind, the longline is deployed. If a decoy is slightly tangled or upside down, a quick tug on the motherline will often right it. Once all the birds are tossed overboard, the hunter will want to pull the line tight to take up as much slack as possible, which keeps the lines from shifting as much if the wind or current changes. The lines can also be dragged into position. One method is to deploy the longlines well upwind of their intended location, then use the tender to pull them into the right position. Lines are typically placed 8-15 feet apart. This can be enough space to drive a boat between longlines.

Over time, as the hunter has practiced deploying longlines and becomes more comfortable with driving the boat and reading the wind and water conditions, he should consider different decoy strategies. One technique is to deploy a longline and curve the bottom back into the wind, giving the longline a “J” shape to it. By curling a few lines, the hunter can create pockets for the birds to land in, directing them to a known location. Several longlines can be curled to form pockets, while others can be used to give the decoy spread mass, or to guide the birds into these pockets.

Retrieving longlines can be done in a couple of ways. Backing the tender up to the downwind edge of the longline (starting on the outside of the spread) is usually the best way to get to the lines. The downwind bird can be grabbed by hand or snagged with a boat hook. Another tactic is to use a folding anchor as a grappling hook. I started using this after watching “Deadliest Catch” and seeing how the fishermen were snagging the buoys on the crab pots with a grappling hook. My own method uses a 50 foot hi-visibility orange line with a snap hook on the end which connects to the folding anchor. If the lines start to get tangled, simply unclipping the anchor allows everything to be sorted out. Starting to pick up at the outside of the spread allows the lines to be peeled away from the rest of the decoy rig, giving the boat driver the most space to work with. If hunting in multiple water depths, the hunter can rig his longlines for a typical depth and then add extensions of the right length as needed. An electrical cord reel is an easy way to store the extensions. Since most hunters rig longlines with clips at both ends, the extensions can have a loop at one end to attach to the main line with a clip at the other for attaching to the anchor. Many hunters opt for a relatively short anchor line on the longline (25feet is typical) and use extensions of 25ft or more. The shallower depths where a lot of birds eat grasses allows for this shorter configuration. 4-Layout boat rigging Layout boats come in several flavors – commercially made purpose-built boats, commercially made multi-purpose boats, and home-made boats. There are many different manufacturers that make purpose built layouts designed for open water. Most of these have a “pumpkinseed” or similar shape to them. The advantage of this design is the lack of shadows cast by the boat, as well as providing a safe distance from the waterline to the cockpit edge. In addition, the boat can be very stable due to a large footprint on the water, reducing the amount the boat pitches due to waves or hunter movement.

This gives a great and stable shooting platform, and also makes it much easier to get into and out of these boats while on the water. Pumpkinseed design boats will sometimes have a spray shield or skirt that is connected to the edge of the cockpit. This can be kept down until the spray from wind and waves is a problem, when the skirt can be raised and held in place with a wooden block or strut. Multi-purpose boats can be used successfully for layout hunting, but their shape is typically not conducive to hunting in rougher conditions, since they are narrower (good for paddling, bad for stability) and have higher, more canoe-like sides. This design gives these boats a good load capacity, but makes it harder to hide their higher profile. In addition, they are typically less stable than a wider pumpkinseed design. Multipurpose boats are probably better suited for those hunting in shallow water where the hunter can stand if a problem arises. Anchoring a layout in open water usually consists of 5 parts in addition to the boat itself: upwind anchor, upwind anchor line, layout bridle, boat, downwind anchor line, and downwind anchor. The upwind anchor should be of sufficient design and weight to work well on the bottom surfaces common where the hunter will be. A Danforth-style anchor is usually good for sandy, clay or muddy bottoms, and when paired with a length of chain can hold a layout easily. Rocky or grassy bottoms may require a different anchoring system. The upwind anchor line should be approximately 3-5 times the water depth. This lets the load on the anchor be applied in a horizontal plane – too much vertical pull will cause an anchor to pull free from the bottom. Adding a length of chain between the anchor and line will help keep the pull horizontal, as well as provide chafe protection for the line.

The downwind anchor line can be much shorter and the anchor can have less holding power. The purpose of the downwind line is to stop the layout from swinging into the decoys nearby. Many hunters will use a short line and a mushroom style anchor. This is sufficient to stop any swing, while allowing for easy adjustment during a hunt. The downwind anchor can be clipped to a bolt under the layout, or tied to a cleat on the deck. A dark color for this line is ideal since approaching birds will be able to see it.

Some hunters will use the downwind anchor to pull the bottom of the boat in one direction a little. Pulling the downwind end of the layout to the right will give a right-handed shooter a more natural point of aim directly downwind of the layout. Pulling the toe of the layout a little to the left will do the same for a left-handed shooter.

Between the upwind anchor line and the boat itself is usually a bridle, which looks like a Y with a clip at each end. The purpose is to allow the single anchor line to attach to the two connection points available on many layouts, and distribute the anchor load between them. Using heavy stainless steel snaps makes for easy handling in the cold as well as long lasting hardware. Prior to getting the hunter into the layout, he should have a life jacket on – this transfer often takes place over cold water, and in poor weather conditions. In the layout, the hunter will want to have several items aside from his personal gear and gun: A handheld VHF radio for communicating with the tender, an orange safety flag in case the VHF doesn’t work (or for warning other boats of your presence), a mat or pad to lay on for comfort, and a tether to connect the hunters shotgun to the boat or lifejacket. Before the tender leaves the layout, the driver and hunter should agree on a VHF channel for communicating. Channels 68, 69, 71, and 72 are for non-commercial traffic and should be used for tender-layout transmissions. A two-way radio will also work, but if anything were to happen to the tender, having a VHF for the layout could make a big difference. Many handheld marine VHFs are also waterproof, which helps in a wet environment. Once in the layout, the hunter can remove the lifejacket – I typically place it between my legs or off to one side. I will clip the gun tether to the life jacket and the other end to the gun itself. The tether can be a sling or any rope or strap that will keep the gun from sinking if accidentally dropped overboard.

5-Hunting out of layout Once the hunter is situated in the layout, and a check is done via radio, the tender can move upwind and anchor. The hunter in the layout should keep himself low in the boat, with his head just high enough to see over the deck of the layout boat. The sea ducks and divers will usually approach very close to the water and being lower can actually make it easier to see. Being in such a low position has some interesting effects - hats with brims usually offer little help since the winter sun is so low for so long. Many layout hunters find that a watch cap works well to keep their head warm without having a bill sticking out, and sunglasses can be a huge help when looking into the sun.

To help attract divers and seaducks, a hunter can use a diver call. There are several models available from the major supply companies. The diver calls are not as varied or complex as puddle duck calls, but worth knowing. Besides a call, a diver flag is a good way to attract birds. The flag can be any black or black and white flag. There are several options to choose from, but almost anything that is black and white will work. The flag is waved to attract the attention of distant birds. As they approach and see the decoy spread, the hunter should put the flag away and prepare to shoot. Shooting from a low position can be surprising for the first-timer. Many layout hunters will sit up and mount the gun in one motion, allowing for a faster shot on the bird. This can take some getting used to, which is best practiced in the backyard in the layout, or on the skeet field while lying on the ground. Having a selection of choke tubes will be worthwhile – sometimes the birds tend to skirt the decoys and shots are made at 35 or 40 yards. More often the birds are very close to the layout and a cylinder choke still isn’t open enough. Shooting birds at 15 yards from a layout is not uncommon.

Once the bird is down on the water, the hunter can call the tender on the radio and tell them what the situation is. A bird that is clearly dead can be left until it floats clear of the decoys, while a cripple needs to be shot again and picked up by the tender. As the tender approaches to pick up the bird, it is helpful for the hunter to point at the bird with the orange flag while telling the tender driver how far out the bird is. The easiest way for the hunter in the tender to get the bird is with a fish landing net. Nets with a longer handle are easier to reach out with, but also can be more difficult to store.

6-Sea ducking Sea ducks are definitely not as cautious as divers or puddle ducks. They will readily come into 3-4 dozen decoys, even with a boat plainly visible and next to the decoys. Often hunters are not too concerned about a complex decoy set for sea ducks – its common to just have 3-4 longlines out parallel to the boat. Many people who hunt seaducks will have specific decoys for the species they are after – scoter, oldsquaw, and eider. There are several species of scoter and eider, so having the right type of decoy will help.

Since sea ducks are less wary and picky about the decoy spread, hunters can start off their sea duck spread with repainted birds. Repainting a scoter can be pretty easy – a few cans of black and white spray paint will get the job done quickly. These decoys will likely take a beating – seaducks are tough, so hitting and killing them is not easy. Its always good to shoot a bird if it is on the water with its head up. This can be hard on decoys in the area. Having self-righting decoys is a must since the weather conditions can get rough and it may be difficult to access decoys in the middle of the spread.

7-Tender considerations The tender will be a boat that has to manage a lot of desired characteristics…..large with space for decoys and layouts, seaworthy, able to handle abuse both inside the boat (dropped anchors) as well as outside (running iced-over channels on the way to open water). A tender used in the waters of a large bay or sound may be different than what is required in more protected waters. There are many types of tenders and this issue is a rich one that deserves more space than can be devoted to it here. This is also an issue that many people feel strongly about – boat brands, materials, and hull designed all have their fans. Almost any large boat can work as a tender, though it may not be ideal for certain locations or weather conditions. Knowing and being realistic about the limitations of the boat and the driver can make the difference between a great day on the water and a call for help from the Coast Guard. Probably the hardest part of driving the tender is getting close to the layout without hitting the anchor line, and driving over the decoys. There are a few techniques for both that can be very helpful. When loading or unloading the layout, use the tender’s motor to keep it adjacent to the layout. Some drivers will want to grab the layout anchor line and hold the tender with it. My experience has been that this results in the layout and the tender slamming into each other a lot. This approach can also shift the layout anchors substantially, leaving the hunter facing a different direction than desired. Since the tender will be used around so many anchor and longlines, there is a good chance that at some point a line will get wrapped around the prop. Have a plan for dealing with this when you start to layout hunt. When anchoring the tender, I typically move 600 yards or more upwind of the layout. This is far enough away to not affect the birds, but still close enough to see what is happening through binoculars and to hear any shots that are fired (if the wind isn’t too strong). If the hunter shoots a bird, the tender may need to be able to quickly drive over and find or pick up the duck. Many layout hunters will use a float on the tender anchor line to allow the anchor to remain the in the water. Simply untying from the line and leaving the float behind makes it easy to tie back up when the birds have been picked up. Dogs can be safely kept in the tender while layout hunting. My preference has been to have them there and to let them retrieve birds that have floated clear of the decoys. Some hunters have their longlines rigged with long droppers to allow the dog to swim over the motherline, allowing a dog to get a bird in the middle of the decoys. Testing this in warm and shallow water before the season will give the hunter and the dog a better sense of what to expect. No one wants a dog to get caught in longlines in rough water – it may be very hard to get to the dog to help it. 8-Transport Transporting a layout can be fairly easy, despite their large size and awkwardness out of the water. Many hunters will build a bracket for the layout to ride in. These are often just built out of lumber and allow the layout to ride on the gunnels of the tender, while the tender is on the trailer or on the water. Sections of carpet or pipe insulation can be added to protect the layout and the gunnels of the tender if needed. Some cradles are designed with the layout in one position for driving down the highway, with

another position available for transporting the layout while on the water. Given the length of many layouts (10 to 14 feet), it can be much easier to have the layout turned sideways while being carried in the tender on the water. This works well in open water situations, but the layout may need to be turned prior to loading the tender on the trailer. It will probably be necessary to have one strap or rig system for use while trailering, and another for use while hunting. Just be sure that the straps and attachments for hunting are accessible from the tender while in the water. It is easy to forget this while walking around a tender on a trailer at the ramp and can result in a tough situation once on the water.

Another option is to tow the layout. Some layouts will tow better than others due to their design. Some hunters also feel comfortable with layouts behind them in the water while others want it in the tender while driving. If you do decide to tow the layout, there are a couple of schools of thought. Most commercially built layouts will have one end that is ramped to give some lift – this is usually the head/upwind end and is the right end to tow from. Attach the bridle to the layout and then the tow line. Some hunters like to rig a frame to raise the layout just a little, making it easier for the boat to get on top of the tender’s wake. Others like to be able to adjust how far the layout is behind the tender so it hits the wake at just the right spot. Like many other topics, its recommended to test this out before trying it on open water in hunt conditions. If you are new to layout hunting, it may be easier to just carry the layout in the tender. If the layout has a spray shield, the hunter will want to secure this somehow while trailering the boat. Highway wind speeds can beat a spray shield and layout pretty badly, so strapping it down will help. One trick to help protect the layout from the straps and buckles is to use a section of neoprene – a section of old dog vest or waders is perfect for this. Cutting a slit in the neoprene allows the strap to be passed through, which helps keep the neoprene in place. This neoprene is good for straps holding the sprayshield as well as those holding the layout itself. Ratchet strap buckles that are blown around at highway speeds for hours can severely damage a boat. I tend to keep a couple of extra sections of neoprene in case one is lost on a hunt.

9-Setting up at Night Setting up a layout in the dark is only recommended for a seasoned crew in a location they know well. If the hunters know that the spot is good and that birds are working the area, it can make sense to set up before light. If the hunters are just arriving at a location, it may make more sense to wait until light and confirm where the birds are moving before setting out the dekes. This is an issue that some hunters feel very strongly about, both for and against. If you are unsure of any of the major variables (location, launch, waters, crew, weather, etc), you may want to wait until daylight. The hardest part about setting up at night is the need for the tender driver to maintain awareness of the layout and the longlines. This can be helped with a few simple tricks to keep everything visible. I will usually attach a light to the upwind cleat of the layout, and another to the downwind cleat. Glow sticks can be used, though I have opted for a battery operated glow stick so I don’t get stuck without functioning glow sticks when needed. Some of the battery operated glow sticks can be setup to flash – using one flashing stick and one steady allows the tender driver to know exactly where the layout is from anywhere, as well as its orientation. Longlines are the next item that the tender driver will need to track. I rig a high visibility decoy as the first and last birds on the line. This normally means a drake decoy, and using a magnum decoy is preferred. Sometimes I will mix species to get the right decoy where needed. Canvasbacks, Bluebills and other birds with a lot of white are great candidates for this position. These birds with a lot of white are easy to see with a spotlight or strong headlamp. To see the longlines and layouts, I have found a very strong headlamp is immensely helpful. A handheld spotlight is not easy to use since the tender driver will have one hand on the wheel and another on the throttle. Small, battery powered headlights that can push light past 75 yards are not uncommon, and some companies have a hardhat mounted light that can be run off a cigarette lighter or directly from the batteries. The boat driver doesn’t need to see everything perfectly – he just needs to be able to identify the layout and the first few birds of each longline. This is enough to deploy the next longline and pull it into position. Crew members will usually wear headlamps as well. It can be difficult in some boats to get lights setup so they illuminate the insides without blinding the driver. This is partially a function of boat design and partly a light choice. If the boat has nothing, starting with headlamps is usually easier and less expensive than rigging lights – most hunters will have a headlamp already.

10-Boat driving No amount of text can substitute for experience and practice with YOUR boat in conditions that YOU will face…gradually learning these skills is the best way to proceed. You can get killed with poor boat driving skills. Get training before attempting in adverse conditions. This is where the boat driver will earn his pay…backing the boat into the wind/current is normally the preferred approach since boats are much easier to manage this way than driving forward. Think of the difference between balancing the end of a stick on your finger, versus holding the stick by one end and it hanging down. In both situations, your finger acts as the motor and gravity acts as the wind and/or current. It is usually far easier to back a boat into position than to drive it forwards and fight to keep the bow directly ahead of the motor. If the bow starts to swing to one side, the wind will gradually turn the boat around. Some practice on the water will usually enable the boat driver to get the hang of it. To keep the tender next to the layout, use the motor for brief pulses of power. Remember that the motor can both pull and push – you can drive in reverse and forward (we all drive forward so often that we forget to use reverse for what its good for). Many people are familiar with driving the boat forwards, but are not used to the precision boat driving that makes layout hunting easier. To move the stern of the boat to the left/port, you can either turn the steering wheel all the way to the right and drive forwards – OR turn the steering wheel all the way to the left and put the boat into reverse. The effect is similar, but there are major differences. Combining both will enable a boat driver to position the tender adjacent to the layout while keeping the bow of the tender pointed downwind. This is something that can be practiced any time with a float anchored in open water. Practicing backing up to the float and to both sides of it, particularly in windy conditions, will give the boat driver confidence for the season. When back into rough water, the boat driver should be aware of how much freeboard there is and if there is water coming into the boat. A boat with a splash well can give the hunters a lot more confidence, but a boat without one can still be hunted. I used a flat boat for many years as my tender and always kept an eye on how much water was splashing over the transom with each wave. Keeping a bilge pump on the automatic setting can help, but the hunter should still verify what is in the boat. This can be harder when the boat has flooring – identify a spot where the bilge can be easily seen and check it often. This spot shouldn’t have a pile of gear on it, or anything else that would block the view. A steering wheel knob can be a huge help – trying to grab a steering wheel by the spokes or rim and quickly turn it can be hard when everything is wet or icy and the driver has on large gloves. The advantage that a knob gives are really appreciated when the driver is in tight quarters and needs to quickly turn the motor from side to side to push and pull the stern into position. The knob allows the driver to keep one hand on the wheel and one on the throttle – just where his hands need to be to drive the boat. When driving in the decoys, the boat driver should remember that getting the front of the boat on or over a longline is not a big deal. There are times when it may be necessary to put the front section of the tender over a longline. As long as there is sufficient space between the prop and the line, there shouldn’t be too much worry. Using the motor to push the longline away can help buy a few feet in really tight quarters.

11-Safety issues Safety is a pretty major factor when hunting in large bodies of water in the winter. There are unfortunate stories every year about hunters who lose their life, or those who come close. I had several friends who had a very close call and many people learned a lot from that experience. Some of those lessons are referenced below. This is by no means a comprehensive list that covers anything and everything – there are always new products or methods that can make this safer. Layout hunting is inherently dangerous: cold water, frigid air temperatures, driving boats in close quarters, waves and wind, darkness, guns, and hunter fatigue have the potential to make a day on the water lethal. I don’t think that this means that layout hunting can’t be done in a safe manner with some good precautions, but there should be some serious thought put into safety and planning. The first rule I have on my boat is that everyone wears a PFD when the boat is moving (setting out decoys is excluded from this). If a boat were to strike an underwater obstacle at speed, a life jacket could mean the difference between floating and sinking, particularly for an unconscious hunter wearing waders or heavy clothes. There are plenty of kinds and styles of life jackets out there for the choosing. One factor that should be considered is their visibility. A camo life jacket will not help the wearer when they really need to be seen and plucked out of the water. I have switched to all orange life jackets (with reflective patches) in my boat and they are easily stored away or put in an empty decoy bag to keep them out of view while hunting. In addition, all of my life jackets have a whistle, emergency strobe light, and loop of heavy cord on one shoulder. I brief people that if they go in the water, they have three jobs – turn on the light, blow the whistle, and when a line is thrown to them, to connect it to the loop on the shoulder. I don’t want a cold guy in the water to lose strength in their hands and drop the rescue line. As mentioned earlier, the hunter getting into and out of the layout should always have a life jacket on. Falling between a tender and layout would be ugly and could easily knock someone out. In addition, the hunter should always have an unloaded gun and should show the boat an open action before handing over the shotgun. If layout hunting with just two people (one hunting, the other in the tender), I ask the person in the tender to wear their PFD all the time. If they were to go overboard, the person in the layout would not be able to do anything to help. A life jacket would at least give the tender driver floatation while they figure out how to get back in the boat. Re-entering the tender from water can be a tricky issue and one that all of us hope to avoid. On my first tender (a flat boat), I had a folding boarding step mounted to the transom. This would give the person in the water at least something that they can use to get over the transom and back into the boat. This may not be a practical solution on every boat, but there is another option. Almost every large outboard has a tilt/trim switch on the outside of the motor housing. If the hunter hugs the motor and stands on the cavitation plate, they may be able to use the trim as a boost back into the boat. Every person in the boat should also have a knife readily accessible. I mounted one on the shoulder of my PFD in case a line gets wrapped around someone and needs to be cut before hurting them or dragging them overboard. A line may also need to be cut if it wrapped around the prop and the motor is needed immediately. As the boat captain, I have an orange life jacket with pockets and have a few extra items in there in case things go really wrong. I don’t ever think I will need them, but my approach is to prepare like I will. Besides the same flashing light and whistle that every life jacket in my boat has, I carry a zip-loc bag with

handheld flares and a flare gun with cartridges. In addition, I carry a submersible VHF radio and a Personal Locator Beacon. These are perhaps one of the greatest safety devices available. There are a few different models, and some have slightly different features, but in a jam all the hunter needs to do is turn it on and make sure it can see the sky to get GPS signals and transmit its location. The price on these has dropped dramatically recently and some units can even be rented (BoatUS has a rental program). The locator beacon (almost the same as a boat ePIRB) will send out two transmissions. One goes out to satellites and passes an identifying code and GPS position for the boat, while the other beacon is for local search and rescue aircraft or boats to use as a homing signal. It may seem like overkill, but I have several friends who had a swamped boat and couldn’t give their location to searching helicopters, extending the time it took for a rescue. Another good safety item is an extra kill switch cord. This also assumes that the boat driver is using the kill switch. I definitely use mine when motoring out to a spot, but will usually not connect it when setting out layouts or longlines since I often have to step away from the console. The boat is also usually moving at very low speeds at that point, so the chances of my being thrown overboard by a rogue wave are small. The extra kill switch cord should be in a place where the other people on the boat know to look. It would be frustrating to be in the boat looking for the extra switch while the captain is out in water, potentially hurt, and the crew can’t start the boat. This leads us to something that can be very important – crew knowledge. If you hunt with the exact same people all the time, the crew will develop the understanding of what to do in an emergency. Some hunters will find themselves with people who are new to hunting, new to layouts or both. Having a safety briefing for them may sound over the top to some, but giving everyone a few minutes’ worth of clear information about what to do in an emergency could really pay off if needed. I keep a safety briefing that is laminated in the boat – one side is the briefing and the other is my float plan. The float plan has the key information about the boat and the people on it – name, age, medical issues, ability to swim, etc. This information may be needed by the Coast Guard or the hospital in an emergency, and you don’t want to rely on your memory in that case about what medicine someone is taking. Before I leave the house, I leave another laminated copy of the float plan with my wife, but the flip side is a listing of Coast Guard districts covering the places I hunt (instead of the safety brief). I will usually circle the right district phone number with a dry-erase marker so my wife knows which one to call. I email or text her before each hunt with: where we are going, when we will be back, etc. A search on the internet for “float plan” will give you some good options for using or tailoring. If a crew member does go overboard and is recovered, they will be wet, probably shaken, and likely tired from time in cold water and the effort involved in getting back in the tender. Maintaining their body temperature may be an issue, depending on the weather and water temp. As the season gets colder, I will carry a complete change of clothes in a dry bag that is stored in the boat. This covers a hunter from head to toe and includes towels to get them dry. Having a small space heater and area where someone can get warm is advisable, though not always practical on a tender with a lot of gear. Small pop-up blinds used for deer hunting are inexpensive and can provide some temporary shelter from the conditions while getting into dry clothes. Maintaining awareness of the weather is one of the biggest ways to avoid an issue when hunting. There are many jokes about the weatherman’s abilities, but when out in large water the hunter will have to deal with whatever comes his way. My preference is to check the weather on the way to the launch with a handheld radio tuned to the NOAA station, or using a smart phone. Once on the water and ready

to hunt, I like to check again (usually two hours after my initial check). Spending a couple of minutes checking the weather every few hours can keep you ahead of developing conditions. The ability of current smart phones to show radar and weather fronts is a huge benefit for the open water hunter. None of this information means that we should ignore what is right in front of us. If threatening clouds approach, the seas begin to build, or the wind steadily increases, the hunters should reassess their setup. My rule of thumb is to ask myself if I would still be set up the way I am if the wind increased another 5mph. It can just take a few minutes for the wind to build and create conditions that are threatening. If this happens, prioritize what needs to be done. I advise my crew that people are the highest priority and that gear can be easily replaced. Sitting in a warm house, this seems obvious, but we have all heard of hunters trying to recover decoys in bad weather and winding up in a very serious situation. No decoys or layout boat is worth anyone’s life and can be replaced for far less than the cost of a night in the hospital. 12-Where to go Now that you have an idea of how to work this game, the next question is where to go. The answer is kind of simple – anywhere there are large concentrations of divers or sea ducks. The three coasts (Pacific, Atlantic, and Gulf) all have excellent gunning for birds in inland bays and sounds, as do the Great Lakes region and several provinces of Canada with large lakes. The presence of grasses is a strong attractant for many divers since they often feed on submerged vegetation. Checking maps and other resources for these is a great start before heading out on a long road trip. In addition to these major regions, any major lake can have divers. The pools on the upper Mississippi are known for concentrations of divers, as are many large, shallow lakes throughout the country. Knowing the depth, bottom type, and kinds of underwater vegetation will help determine what areas are worth pursuing. Ultimately, time on the water, talking with other hunters, and experience will steer the hunter to the locations that perform. More and more articles about layout hunting are appearing in duck hunting magazines. They often reference locations that you can pursue or use as starting points. 13-Reality check Layout hunting is amazing fun, but there are some significant factors that explain why everyone doesn’t do it. The gear needed for the layout and 8 dozen longlines can easily start at $2,500. And this isn’t even considering the costs of a tender or traveling to a location to hunt if you don’t happen to live in a hotspot. The time it takes to set out for a hunt can be significant as well. Likely the hunter will rig their setup and hunt that way for several months before changing something. There are several techniques presented in this guide, but not all of them will work everywhere and for everyone – being open to change and to ideas from others can be the best way to improve on your current approach. There are also other effective methods that may not have been included for the sake of space. Once you have everything needed to hunt, you will need to keep it somewhere. Dekes can usually be stored in a garage or shed without much trouble, and a layout can be propped against the wall or stored outside with a tarp over it to keep the rain out. The learning curve on driving a boat in severe weather is steep. Combine this with the skills needed for marine navigation and you have even more challenges to work through. As has been noted before, this is probably the most difficult part, and one that simply has to be learned by experience. Books, discussions, and pictures can help with concepts, but the skipper has to put these into practice on the

water in similar wind and wave conditions. The costs for poor boating skills can be high – practicing and learning how to handle one’s craft simply cannot be over-emphasized. Most tenders and trailers are fairly light, but the weight from 8 dozen longlines, a layout, anchors, etc can easily add 750 pounds to the tender’s load. The tender needs to be able to carry that weight plus the hunters and their gear, the motor and other boat gear, and still be under the load capacity. This usually means having a larger boat as a tender. There are few ways to risk your life faster than overloading a duckboat in winter weather. Besides the impacts on the tender, all of the additional weight also requires a stronger trailer to get this gear to a hunting spot. Layout hunting isn’t for everyone – it can be hard, there are a lot of different skills needed, and the cost to start can be high. Before jumping in, it may make sense to hunt with a friend or a guide to get a sense of what is involved. 14-Sources for info I have intentionally not mentioned tender manufacturers and decoy manufacturers as there are so many and so many opinions and options. These other companies or sites can be found on the internet. This is not an all-inclusive list, just a starting point. Websites: Refuge forums – all things duck hunting related Duckboats.net – large focus on duckboats and carving The Hull Truth – great advice on boating, motors, electronics, etc Layout Manufacturers: Bankes Boats Bonneville Boats Four Rivers Mighty Layout Boys Waterfowl Works Longline Rigging Doctari Longlines – excellent clips, lines, etc/ Green Head Gear Magazines Wildfowl Ducks Unlimited Books: "Hunting Diving & Sea Ducks" by Gary Kramer "Duck Decoys and How to Rig Them" by Ralph Coykendall