Fowled Reality’s Eye on New Waterfowl Hunting Gear for 2013

It’s that time of year again when companies begin unveiling new waterfowl hunting gear for the coming year. Last year we had a collection of posts about new waterfowl gear and we’ll do the same this year. The SHOT Show was just a few weeks ago. This is an outdoor industry show where manufacturers from every outdoor industry come together. Since it takes place during the end of our season, we were unable to attend, but we’ve found some new waterfowl hunting gear for 2013 that has been put on the internet.

Look for more posts on new waterfowl hunting gear in the coming weeks. Even though the season is over, it’s never to early to start thinking about next year!

Bag’em Outdoors Windsock Decoy Bag

When snow goose hunting, you’re dealing with hundreds, if not thousands, of decoys. It requires lots of work that often takes place in muddy fields. The new windsock bags from Bag’em Outdoors gives snow goose hunters a solution for quicker transport, ease of storage, and cleaner decoys. Their new bags are made of the tough seed bag material. In the past, we’ve transported our Silosocks in six-slot honker bags. We end up with 20 dozen in a bag and stakes poking everywhere. Holes quickly get poked through the tops of the bags and carrying 20 dozen at a time get tough. The new bags from Bag’em can carry up to 15 dozen of any windsock style bag. The tough material will not get holes poked in it from the stakes and is sturdy enough to stand on its own.

The six-slot bags we used to use required two people to fill them. The material they’re constructed out of falls over on itself. Instead of one guy filling bags and the other pulling decoys, it required both people resulting in a longer tear down time. This is no longer an issue! Whether you use Silosocks, White Rocks, Northwinds, or any other windsock snow goose decoy, these bags are for you.

Winchester Blind Side HV

A faster shell will carry more energy upon entry, thus causing more damage and more downed game. Winchester has followed in the footsteps of other shotshell manufacturers and increased the speed of their Blind Side shell. The original was just 1,400 fps, but the new Winchester Blind Side HV is now 1,675 feet per second, which makes it one of the fastest on the market–way faster than the older Blind Side. The main marketing for Blind Side centers around the six-sided shot.

These shells are not filled with your standard rounded pellets, but rather small little cubes. They are said to result in faster kills and 250% more trauma. The cube shape also allows 15% more pellets to go into each shell. A typical three-inch #2 shell carries 1-1/8 oz. of shot. The ability of the Blind Side pellets to stack tighter allows for 1-3/8 oz. of shot to go into a three-inch #2 shell.

Mossy Oak Shadow Grass Blades

Mossy Oak is coming out with a new waterfowl hunting gear pattern, Shadow Grass Blades. The original Shadow Grass was great for the marsh and cattails. The new and improved pattern looks more high-definition. They’ve added detail to each blade, varied the layout of the blades, and added more color. The final product offers more depth and detail than the earlier version. Some grass blades on the new Mossy Oak Shadow Grass Blades are straight up, while others are bent, bowed, and broken over. It present a true to life representation of a typical scene you would see in a wetland environment.

ThermaCELL Heated Insoles

When it comes to waterfowl hunting gear, this one might be the most important. Whether you’re standing on a cold concrete pit, a frozen corn field, or freezing water, cold feet are a waterfowl hunter’s worst nightmare. As the mercury dips, the hunting always seems to get better. No one wants frozen feet to force them back to the house. This problem could be a thing of the past with the new ThermaCELL Heated Insoles. ThermaCELL has long been a player in the mosquito and gnat deterrent arena, but now they’re moving elsewhere. Their new heated insoles are wireless and rechargeable. No need for carrying around packages of batteries. You just need to keep track of the remote and remember to re-charge them at the end of the hunt.

The beauty of these is that they offer varying degrees of warmth. You are able to control how warm or hot you want them depending on the conditions you’re hunting in. This allows the waterfowl hunter to keep from getting too warm and begin sweating. Hot hands or heat packets for insoles offer no control over the heat they put off, often resulting in sweaty cold feet. Many times, when waterfowl hunters get cold feet, it’s from sweat, not from the cold itself.

Fowled Reality

Successful waterfowl hunting requires more than just walking to a marsh or a blind and pulling the trigger. Careful planning, preparation, and knowledge of waterfowl are required. There are so many aspects of waterfowl hunting that get overlooked. Both seasoned waterfowl hunters and first-timers often get a false sense of reality when watching typical waterfowl hunting videos. We're out to change this. Fowled Reality focuses on more than just the hunt. We aim to both educate and entertain. Our videos feature the work and stories that go into waterfowl hunting. Through careful planning and scouting, we strive to capture successful hunts from across the country, but not every hunt is filled with limits of ducks and geese. We are not afraid to show the hunts that didn't go as planned and explain what went wrong. Fowled Reality offers a unique perspective on waterfowl hunting versus the typical video. Follow along with us as we chase the migration and capture the highs and the lows experienced in waterfowl hunting.