Waterfowl hunting has a remarkable ability to convince you that you need more stuff.

Walk through a sporting goods store in August and apparently you can’t kill a mallard unless you’re wearing $500 waders, shooting premium shells through a custom choke, sitting over six dozen perfectly flocked decoys, and carrying everything in a blind bag that costs more than the shotgun you started hunting with.

Trust me, I get it.

I’m probably the last person who should lecture anyone about buying waterfowl gear. I love experimenting with decoys, blinds, calls, boats, clothing and just about anything else that might make us more effective in the field.

But after enough seasons, we’ve also learned something:

Expensive doesn’t automatically mean important.

There are pieces of waterfowl gear where spending extra money genuinely improves your hunt. There are others where we’ve found the budget option does essentially the same job.

So with another season approaching, Danielle and I thought we’d break down where we think it’s worth opening the wallet—and where we’d rather save the money for gas, scouting and another hunting trip.

Decoys: SPLURGE…But Not Everywhere

We’ll start with the obvious one.

I’ve gone pretty far down the premium-decoy rabbit hole.

And I don’t necessarily regret it.

Realistic decoys can absolutely make a difference, especially when hunting educated geese later in the season or running smaller spreads where every individual decoy is highly visible.

But here’s the important part: you don’t need an entire trailer full of premium decoys.

For years, waterfowl hunters have been conditioned to think more is always better. Twelve dozen decoys must be better than six dozen. Twenty dozen must be better than twelve.

Sometimes it is.

Sometimes four incredibly realistic decoys placed exactly where birds want to be will outperform a trailer full of plastic.

That’s one reason I’ve become increasingly interested in experimenting with tiny spreads, unconventional setups and extremely realistic decoys. This fall I want to deliberately hunt some ridiculous spreads—four decoys, one decoy, strange midday sits and places where conventional wisdom says we should be doing something completely different.

I want to see how much of our success comes from the decoys and how much comes from simply being where the birds already want to go.

Verdict: Splurge on a core group of quality decoys if your budget allows, but don’t think you need 100 premium decoys before you can kill birds.

A dozen quality decoys that you understand how to position can be more useful than six dozen mediocre ones thrown randomly into a field.

Waders: SPLURGE

This one isn’t particularly close for me.

Good waders are expensive.

Leaking waders are more expensive because you’ll eventually buy good ones anyway.

If you primarily hunt fields, obviously this matters less. But if ducks regularly take you into cattails, flooded timber, marshes or cold late-season water, quality waders are one of the places we’re comfortable spending money.

Durability matters, but comfort matters too.

Opening morning and a 15-degree December hunt are completely different situations. Being able to layer properly underneath your waders is much more useful than simply buying the warmest pair available.

And nothing ends enthusiasm for a hunt quite like discovering a leak twenty minutes after legal shooting light.

Verdict: Splurge.

Buy the best pair that reasonably fits your budget, take care of them, and carry a repair kit.

Shotgun: SAVE…Mostly

This might make some people angry.

You don’t need a $2,000 shotgun to kill ducks.

You don’t need a $3,000 shotgun either.

They’re awesome. They’re beautiful. Some are incredibly reliable and enjoyable to shoot.

But a duck doesn’t know what logo is engraved on the receiver.

A reliable shotgun that fits you properly and patterns well is far more important than its price tag.

I’d rather hunt with a $700 shotgun that fits me perfectly than a $2,500 shotgun that doesn’t.

If you love premium shotguns, buy one. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying nice equipment.

Just don’t convince yourself it’s required.

Verdict: Save until you’ve taken care of the more important parts of your system.

Then splurge because you want to—not because you think the ducks require it.

Ammunition: SPLURGE…To a Point

Shotshell marketing can get ridiculous.

Apparently every new load hits harder, flies straighter and practically cleans the duck for you.

But ammunition is one area where performance actually matters.

That doesn’t mean you need the most expensive shell on the shelf.

What matters is finding a load that patterns well through your particular shotgun and choke combination.

Before the season, put paper up.

Actually pattern your gun.

Try a couple loads.

You might discover the expensive shell you’ve been shooting doesn’t pattern nearly as well as something significantly cheaper.

Confidence in your gun matters tremendously.

Verdict: Spend enough to get reliable performance, but test before assuming price equals effectiveness.

Calls: SAVE Before You Splurge

Duck and goose calls are another dangerous rabbit hole.

Ask me how I know.

A beautiful custom call is awesome. There’s craftsmanship involved, and supporting small call makers is something we’re always happy to do.

But plenty of affordable calls sound incredible.

More importantly, a $200 call in inexperienced hands is still an inexperienced caller.

If you have $200 to spend on calling, I’d rather see a new hunter buy a solid $40-$60 call and spend the rest of the summer learning how to use it.

Calling ability beats call price every single time.

Once you’ve developed your own style and understand what you want from a call, then buying a premium one makes much more sense.

Verdict: Save initially. Splurge once you know what you actually want.

Clothing: SPLURGE on Layers, Save on Camouflage

Here’s another one where marketing has gotten us.

Ducks don’t care whether your jacket and pants match.

They care whether they can see you.

There is a difference.

Quality clothing matters enormously in waterfowl hunting because we’re often sitting still in miserable conditions. Wind, rain, snow and freezing temperatures expose bad clothing systems quickly.

But you don’t necessarily need the newest camouflage pattern.

Spend money on your base layers, insulation and waterproof outer shell.

Those pieces actually keep you hunting.

A brown jacket that keeps you warm and dry while you’re properly concealed is infinitely more useful than the newest $400 camouflage jacket that doesn’t.

Verdict: Splurge on performance. Save on fashion.

Blinds and Concealment: SAVE Money, SPLURGE Time

This might be the biggest one on the entire list.

You can buy an incredible blind.

If it looks like a blind sitting in the middle of a field, you’re still going to flare birds.

Conversely, we’ve hidden ourselves in some pretty basic setups and absolutely finished birds because we took the time to disappear.

Natural vegetation is free.

Use it.

Match what’s around you.

Pay attention to shadows.

Hide faces.

Cover movement.

And for the love of everything waterfowl, don’t brush a blind once in September and assume it’s going to match every field until December.

Verdict: Save your money and invest your time.

Concealment is one of the few things in waterfowl hunting where effort can outperform money by a massive margin.

Optics: SPLURGE

A good pair of binoculars might help you kill more birds than another dozen decoys.

That’s because scouting kills birds.

Being able to sit half a mile away and identify what birds are doing without disturbing them is incredibly valuable.

Where exactly are they landing?

Are they feeding or loafing?

Which side of the field are they using?

Where are they entering?

Are they actually geese, or have you spent fifteen minutes staring at someone’s round bales?

We’ve all done it.

Quality glass lasts for years, and we use binoculars across hunting seasons.

Verdict: Splurge.

You don’t need military-grade optics, but buy something clear, durable and comfortable enough that you’ll actually use it.

Blind Bag: SAVE

This might be controversial considering how many $150 blind bags exist.

It’s a bag.

It carries things.

Keep shells dry. Keep essentials organized. Don’t overthink it.

In fact, I’m becoming more interested in hard cases for certain hunting equipment because they’re waterproof, durable and easy to organize consistently.

Whatever system you choose, organization matters far more than the logo on the outside.

Verdict: Save.

Spend the difference on something that actually affects the hunt.

Dog Gear: SPLURGE on Safety

Ember has changed the way we think about this category.

There are plenty of dog accessories you don’t need.

But when something involves the safety, comfort or control of your hunting partner, that’s not where we’re interested in saving twenty bucks.

Quality stands, properly fitted flotation when conditions call for it, first-aid supplies and dependable training equipment are worth buying.

The dog is doing some of the hardest work in the marsh.

Take care of them.

Verdict: Splurge where safety is involved. Save on the gimmicks.

Boat Accessories: It Depends

Duck boats might be the greatest financial trap ever invented.

There’s always another accessory.

Another light.

Another storage system.

Another mount.

Another motor upgrade.

Before buying anything for the boat, we’ve started asking one simple question:

Does this solve an actual problem?

If the answer is yes, it’s worth considering.

If the answer is, “No, but it would look awesome…”

Well…

Sometimes we still buy it.

We’re only human.

But the most valuable boat upgrades tend to improve safety, reliability or organization.

Navigation lights? Important.

Reliable batteries? Important.

Bilge pump? Important.

Another gadget because someone on YouTube has one?

Maybe not.

Verdict: Splurge on reliability and safety. Save on gadgets until you know you need them.

The Biggest Splurge: Scouting

Here’s the funny part.

The single most valuable thing in waterfowl hunting is basically free.

Scouting.

I’d rather hunt with two dozen beat-up decoys in the exact field the geese want than own 200 of the most realistic decoys ever made and be hunting half a mile away.

Location fixes a lot of equipment shortcomings.

No amount of equipment fixes a bad location.

Spend the gas money.

Wake up early.

Drive around.

Watch birds.

Learn their routines.

Get permission.

Then come back and watch them again.

That investment will improve your success more than almost anything you can order online.

Buy Gear That Solves Problems

This is probably where our philosophy on waterfowl equipment has landed.

We’re never going to pretend we don’t like nice gear.

We do.

I especially do.

Danielle has probably watched enough packages show up at the house to confirm that.

But we’ve gotten much better about asking why we’re buying something.

Does it make us safer?

Does it keep us comfortable enough to hunt longer?

Does it make setup easier?

Does it make us more effective?

Does it solve a problem we’ve actually experienced?

If yes, spending money can make sense.

If the answer is simply that everyone online seems to have one, maybe wait.

Waterfowl hunting can become incredibly expensive if you let it. But that’s not what makes it special.

Some of my favorite hunts haven’t involved giant spreads or expensive equipment.

They’ve involved a handful of decoys, good friends, a dog, terrible weather and birds doing exactly what we’d hoped they would do.

That’s the stuff you remember.

So splurge where it matters.

Save where it doesn’t.

And use whatever is left in the budget to actually go hunting.

Because the best waterfowl equipment in the world isn’t worth much sitting in the garage.

– Max & Danielle
Burley Outdoors