Barn Burners and Lessons Learned: Why Every Hunt Counts
By Logan Burditt, Co-Owner & Executive Producer – Heartland Waterfowl
If you’ve hunted waterfowl long enough, you’ve had days where the plan works perfectly… and days where it blows up in your face. Both are part of the grind. And if you’re like us, those lessons learned in the blind stick with you just as much as the barn-burner hunts where geese and mallards finish right in the kill hole.
Reading Birds, Not Just Maps
Scouting with OnX Hunt and glassing fields with Vortex Optics sets the table, but the real test comes when the birds are overhead. Do they like your spread? Is your hide brushed tight with Tanglefree gear? Are your Duck Lander Calls convincing enough? Sometimes you hit it perfect. Sometimes you wish you could hit rewind. Either way, the takeaway is the same: keep learning.
The Gear That Keeps Us Sharp
When hunts get tough, the right gear keeps you in the game:
- Beretta shotguns and Kent Cartridge shells for clean, confident shots.
- Carlson’s Choke Tubes to adapt when birds don’t finish the way you want.
- Tanglefree decoys and Mojo Outdoors spinners for a spread that grabs attention.
- First Lite clothing and LaCrosse Footwear to stay warm, dry, and ready.
- Blue Otter Polarized sunglasses to cut glare and pick out high flyers.
- Double T British Kennels for retrievers that work as hard as we do.
Brotherhood and Camp Life
When the guns are cased, the fellowship keeps rolling:
- Brewing Dirty Duck Coffee at camp.
- Firing up the Grilla Grill to sear fresh birds.
- Tuning a Turtlebox speaker while swapping stories.
- Using Old Timer Knives and MEAT! processing gear to clean and prep the day’s harvest.
- Hitting the lake in the off-season with a Gen-Y Hitch in tow.
It’s more than a hunt — it’s a lifestyle that runs year-round.
Barn Burner or Bust
We chase limits, sure, but a true win is when birds finish exactly where you want them. The days when it doesn’t happen? That’s fuel for the next hunt. Because whether you’re busting ice with a J2 Outdoors Ice Ripper or packing Dirty Duck Wipes after breakfast at the diner, you know the grind never stops.
