1-0

Matt Opsahl, Maverick Outfitters

If you’re like me, there are a lot of things that signal waterfowl season is really about to begin. You finished your early season hunting with resident goose and early teal, and you’ve been in a bit of a holding pattern since. The anticipation for the rest of the season is starting to really eat at you. Your blinds are brushed, fields are flooded, decoys are strung, guns are cleaned, trails are cleared, calls are tuned, and your dogs seem to have a little more “jump” in the morning. 

Another key indicator for me is that football season is in full swing. If you watch a lot of football, you can take a lot of lessons from it. If you haven’t noticed from my previous articles, my life revolves around waterfowl hunting which means that I have a really easy time taking lessons from other passions and relating it to waterfowl hunting. It seems that during this part of the football season, a lot of teams will come out with a motto, “let's be 1-0” which conveniently enough has now become my motto for this upcoming season. Waterfowl hunting, whether you're guiding, fun hunting with buddies, or jump shooting a small creek before work should be FUN. If you’re doing it right, you're spending time with people you want to be around, you're watching the world wake up around you, and doing something you love. My point with the 1-0 motto is to try to focus on the present and what’s in front of you. Focus on what you can control on the hunt your physically on. Try not to worry about what someone else is doing, what’s going on 5 states North of you, and for the love of god, LEAVE THE PHONE IN THE TRUCK. You only have so many seasons, cold fronts, rain days, snow days, and everything in between to enjoy. As our season really kicks into gear, let's all try and start each hunt 1-0. 

Tools to Stay 1-0: 

1.) Social Media: I’ve talked about this before, but I’m going to bring it up again. Social media does NOT make you a good hunter, outdoorsman, or conservationist. Social media is a wonderful tool to stay connected, meet new people, market your business, etc., but it should not define your hunt or hunting experience. If you’re on social media, try to build other hunters up instead of measuring yourself against them. We’re a small community, let's all do our best to make it more cohesive and less divisive. 

2.) SCOUT hard: 

Scouting should be a part of your process no matter your style or means of waterfowl hunting. The scout sets the tone for the upcoming hunt. In the context of “starting 1-0”, scouting is HUGE. After all, proper preparation always prevents poor performance.

3.) Leave whatever happened prior to the hunt in the truck:

Stay off your phone in the blind, It’s a lot easier to shoot birds when you’re not looking at your phone. Life is stressful and we’re all moving at 100MPH which makes it really hard to truly be where your feet are. If you had a fight with your wife, your kids are misbehaving, work isn’t going well, LEAVE IT IN THE TRUCK. The blind should be your happy place to quote Happy Gilmore. Enjoy the people your with and the environment your in, its a pretty special scene!

4.) Show up earlier than you have to:

A great hunt can get ruined by feeling rushed. Get to your spot early. Get your spread set, touch up your blind, drink a coffee, talk to your dog, and enjoy being quiet in the dark.