Mud it Down- The Key for more Ducks

As written here in WisconsinOutdoorFun.com

One day I was talking to Paul Giese of Team NuCanoe. Since I was planning on doing a few photo shoots with area duck hunters, Paul was giving me some pointers on duck hunting, . “The key that very few people know about ducking hunting is mudding.” Paul said. “Ducks see UV, so whenever I get new duck hunting clothes, or in this instance a new duck blind for my Frontier; I mud it down.”

“Mud it down”? I asked. “Yep.” Paul explains “Your clothes from the manufacturer have UV (ultra violet light) reflecting off them.  You might as well shoot flairs up and yell HERE I AM to the ducks, which have amazing eye sight and can see you form a long distance away.  The first thing I do, is I cover my material with mud. I let it dry and then I brush it off with a broom or scrub brush.  The mud covers and kills the UV reflecting. Mudding is the difference between getting (or seeing) one or two ducks, or having a bunch.”

 “For my deer hunting clothes I leave them alone.  If they are too dark, I look like a giant black blob. Deer can make out patterns, so if you have a good spot and you’re looking like a dark blob, the deer will see your outline. For that purpose, I like brighter camo.”


 I watched Paul put mud all over his new Frontier duck blind and returned the next day.  When I showed up, Paul started to brush off the mud.  I have to admit, I was surprised.  The bottom photo shows a spot that didn’t get mudded in comparison to a spot that got mudded. You can see the obvious difference.




Note: Paul Giese is La Crosse area native and is on  Team NuCanoe, a group of NuCanoe owners and is on the ice fishing team “Stripes R Good”.