Most waterfowlers consider themselves to be hunters first and boaters second -- if they consider themselves to be boaters at all. Nevertheless, much waterfowling involves boats, cold water and sometimes rough weather conditions. Both water and boating safety should be uppermost in the waterfowler's mind.
*Don't overload. We want our duck boats to be small, maneuverable and easy to hide. Then we want to load them with lots of decoys, big dogs and maybe a couple of buddies. Play it safe; make two trips.
*Carry a change of warm clothes in a waterproof bag.
*Carry a compass, fire-starting supplies and signal flares.
*Carry the correct number and type of personal flotation devices. Have one of them on about 50 feet of rope as a "throwable" float.
*Consider a hand-held two-way radio or carrying a cellular phone.
*Take a boating safety course to better understand both the rules and peculiar hazards of boating, especially in cold weather.

Picking up your decoys can be the most tiring and hazardous part of your duck hunt. We place a lot of decoys by tossing them out. However, to pick them up, you have to go to each and every one, pick it up, wrap the anchor cord and carry it back to a collection point. That's a lot of wading about or maneuvering the boat, leaning over, etc.
Don't get so focused on picking up the decoys or in such a hurry that you fail to be cautious. Watch where you're wading; you may have tossed a decoy over a deep spot.
Use a wading staff, preferably one with a small hook on it to reach out an pick up decoys in difficult places. Use that same staff, or a longer one with a hook, from the boat to avoid having to lean over the gunnel. Some boat hunters cut a small notch in a boat paddle to help them snag decoy lines.

Want to be a better duck caller? Find out where the ducks want to be and set up there. If you are located where the ducks want to land, where they feel secure and are accustomed to being, you can look like a real genius with a duck call.

Simple scouting before or during the season will tell you a lot about where the ducks want to be. Watching ducks from a distance as they fly their routes, pick their feeding areas and settle in to roosting spots will clue you in to their daily routine. Scouting farmlands, seeing what is planted and where, is another good idea. If private land is involved, start trying to get hunting permission early.

Having found a good spot, make sure you can find it before daylight. Things look a lot different in the dark. Even if you are only a short distance from a favored duck landing spot, you will be hard pressed to bring them to your decoys.

Successful duck shooting is a study in deception. Everything you do to a duck before you pull the trigger is directed at deceiving him. The blind, the camouflage, the decoys, the calls, the whole of both the primary and secondary equipment, tactics and traditions of duck hunting is all about fooling ducks into thinking your location is a safe place to sit down.
If you've ever had the opportunity to fly over a waterfowl concentration, you probably saw that the water was muddy. Ducks muddy the water when they feed by rooting around the bottom.
Flying ducks expect to see muddy water where other ducks (your decoys) are "feeding." Once you've set your decoys, go out at regular intervals and stomp around. Not only does this make your spread look more natural, it also camouflages your decoy anchor lines.
Stirring up the mud works almost as well as a bathroom break when you haven't seen ducks in a while. As soon as you leave the blind, here come the ducks!

Goose hunting differs from duck hunting in a lot of ways besides the size of the birds. Goose guns and loads are often bigger. Geese are more often shot over land than over water. The decoys are bigger in size and numbers and often the strategy for setting out goose decoys is very different.
However, the biggest difference about goose hunting is that the goose hunter must really know the species of goose he's hunting. The three main species geese we hunt --Canadas, Snows and Speckle-Bellies (White-Fronted Geese) -- have different vocabularies and habits. They also tend to more frequently hang out with and decoy to their own species. Even when feeding in the same field, you'll see each goose species more or less staying near its own kind.

Learn the habits of the goose (or geese) species you will be hunting. Set your decoys in a mixed spread appropriately. Learn and master the calls of each species for the best goose-getting success.