DIY Public Land Duck Hunting: The $500 Season vs the $5,000 Season

There are two ways to duck hunt in America.

The first: You book a guide, show up with your shotgun, and someone else handles everything—the scouting, the blind, the decoys, the dog, the calling. You pull the trigger and go home with birds.

The second: You scout your own spots, haul your own decoys through the mud at 4 a.m., hide in a blind you built yourself, blow your own call (badly, at first), and maybe—if you did everything right—shoot a few ducks.

The guided route costs more money. The DIY route costs more everything else. But how much more, exactly? And at what point does one approach make more sense than the other?

Let's run the numbers. (For a full breakdown of what gear costs, see our duck hunting startup costs guide.)

The DIY Season: $500-$1,500

We're talking about a hunter who already owns a shotgun and basic camo, hunting public land within driving distance of home, using modest equipment and putting in sweat equity instead of writing checks.

License and Stamps

This is unavoidable regardless of how you hunt:

Non-resident licenses are significantly higher ($100-200+), so DIY hunting usually means hunting your home state or neighboring states.

Decoys

The forum debates rage about how many decoys you "need." The answer for public land is: fewer than you think.

Budget approach: Buy used decoys from Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, or garage sales. Post-season clearance sales (February-March) drop prices 40-60%. A dozen beat-up mallards from a retiring hunter will still fool ducks.

We'll budget $150 for a starter spread.

Decoy Rigging and Bags

Decoys need weights, line, and something to carry them in:

DIY weights made from concrete and eye bolts cost almost nothing. Serious savings here.

Budget: $50

Calls

You need a mallard call. You don't need a $150 competition call.

A $25 double-reed call will kill every duck a $150 call will—assuming you learn to blow it. YouTube and practice are free.

Budget: $25

Waders

Non-negotiable for most duck hunting. This is where cheap gear fails.

Buy the best waders you can afford. Leaky waders at 5 a.m. in December ruin everything. Post-season clearance is your friend—$300 waders for $180.

Budget: $175 (mid-range on sale)

Blind/Concealment

Public land often means natural cover or portable blinds:

Many public land hunters skip expensive layout blinds entirely—brush in against a treeline, sit in flooded timber, or hunt from a boat.

Budget: $50 (camo netting and natural cover)

Transportation

You need to reach the water. Options vary wildly:

For budget DIY, a used kayak or canoe opens up water most walk-in hunters can't reach. This is where you gain an edge on pressured public land.

Budget: $300 (used kayak)

Ammunition

DIY hunters often shoot more shells—you're learning, missing, and hunting more days.

Budget: $150 (moderate season, budget steel loads)

Gas

Driving to spots, scouting trips, pre-dawn hauls to the marsh.

Budget: $150

The DIY Season Total

That's year one, when you're buying gear. Subsequent seasons drop significantly:

Year 2+ recurring costs:

• License/stamps: $75
• Ammunition: $150
• Gas: $150
• Replacement gear: $50
• Annual cost: ~$425

A DIY duck hunter who already owns gear can run an entire season for under $500.

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The Guided Season: $3,000-$8,000

Now let's look at the guided approach. We'll price two scenarios: a single destination trip and a "two trips per season" plan.

Single Destination Trip (3 days, Stuttgart or Louisiana)

One trip per season: ~$3,000

Two Destination Trips

Many serious waterfowlers book multiple trips—maybe Arkansas in December and Texas in January.

Add a third trip or upgrade to premium lodges, and you're easily at $6,000-8,000/season.

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Side-by-Side Comparison

The math is stark. A DIY hunter can fund five full seasons for the cost of one guided trip.

But cost per hunt isn't the only factor.

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When DIY Makes Sense

You have time to scout. Public land success requires knowing where birds want to be—today, not last week. That means pre-dawn scouting trips, evening reconnaissance, and adapting constantly. If you can't invest 2-3 hours per hunt in scouting, DIY results suffer.

You're building skills. Calling, reading birds, setting spreads, working a dog—these take years to develop. DIY hunting is the training ground. Guided hunts where someone else handles everything don't build these skills.

You have huntable water nearby. If you live within an hour of decent public marshes, WMAs, or rivers, DIY is a no-brainer. If the nearest huntable water is a 4-hour drive, the math changes.

You enjoy the process. Some hunters love the scouting, the gear tinkering, the 3 a.m. wader-pulling ritual. The ducks are almost secondary to being out there doing the thing.

You're on a budget. A $500 season versus a $3,000 trip is a simple calculation for many hunters.

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When Guided Makes Sense

You're hunting destination locations. Flooded timber in Arkansas. Coastal marshes in Louisiana. Pintail limits in Texas. Some experiences don't exist on public land within driving distance of most hunters. You have to travel, and when you travel, guides provide access.

Your time is limited. If you get 3-5 days per season to hunt, spending two of them scouting empty water is brutal. A guide guarantees you'll hunt birds—not wonder where they went.

You're learning the sport. Counterintuitively, a few guided hunts can accelerate your DIY education. Watch how guides set spreads, listen to how they call, note where they position blinds relative to wind and sun. Then replicate it at home.

You want the social experience. A guided lodge trip with four buddies is qualitatively different from shivering alone in a kayak at 5 a.m. Some hunters value the shared experience more than the per-bird cost.

You're hunting new species or locations. Diving ducks on the Great Lakes. Sea ducks in Maine. Pintails in the Panhandle. New water and new species have steep learning curves. A guide flattens the curve.

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The Hybrid Approach

Smart waterfowlers often do both:

DIY locally, guided for destinations. Hunt public land 20 times per season near home. Book one bucket-list trip to Stuttgart or Louisiana. Total season cost: $1,200-1,500 + $3,000 = $4,200-4,500.

You get skill development, high hunt volume, and one destination experience—without choosing between them.

Use guided trips strategically. Early in your duck hunting career, guided trips teach you what "good" looks like. Once you know what you're doing, DIY delivers more birds-per-dollar.

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Tracking the Real Costs

Whether you're DIY or guided, expense tracking matters:

DIY hidden costs:

• Gas adds up faster than you expect
• Gear replacement and repairs (wader leaks, decoy damage)
• Snacks, coffee, hand warmers
• Boat maintenance if you run one

Guided hidden costs:

• Tips (15-20% is significant)
• Ammunition (not always included)
• Meals outside the package
• Bird shipping
• Rental cars and fuel

The difference between "I spent about $3,000" and knowing you spent $3,247 is the difference between budgeting accurately next season and wondering where your money went.

Log expenses when they happen. Not at the end of the season when you're trying to remember if that Cabela's receipt was decoys or Christmas gifts.

For more on waterfowl tactics, gear, and destinations, see our Ultimate Guide to Duck Hunting.

Plan the trip. Hit the blind. Split the tab.

Start Tracking Your Trip