For Ambassador Tony Vandemore hunting season is a 365-day pursuit. A duck hunting guide, conservationist, and owner of the nation’s top waterfowl outfitter, Habitat Flats, his days start and end in the dark. Here’s his top five essentials to get him through a full day during waterfowl hunting season.
A LOT OF COFFEE
Most mornings I’m at the lodge by 5 or 5:15, but my day actually starts quite a bit earlier than that. Since I run a business, I've got emails and other stuff to do so I’m usually up by 3:30 or so and the first thing I do is make coffee. I’m not big on breakfast, it slows me down, so I’ll have several cups of coffee and maybe a protein bar or piece of bacon. I always brew enough to fill the huge Rambler® Jug in my blind bag and I bring my tumbler to refill throughout the day. Basically, I drink way too much coffee.
MY HUNTING PARTNER
Dash was actually supposed to be my daughter’s dog, but he’s an incredible bird dog. So while she’s in school, I make sure he stays busy. He’s essential and dogs in general are the best part of the hunt. It’s really incredible what they can do. A dog’s nose is so powerful that they’ll sniff out something we would never find ourselves. They’re also a great conservation tool because they make sure that every duck that goes down is accounted for. And honestly, the only person you never have to worry about being late is your dog — they’ll never stand you up.
I always bring his dog blind with us when we go out for a hunt. It has a shoulder strap to make it easy to carry around and a mesh bottom so the water that comes off him can drain out. The blind is set up in a safe place, away from any guns, and it keeps him hidden from the birds. It’s also his “place,” the spot he knows he needs to be. If I’m setting decoys in the water in the early morning, I don’t have to worry about him running off somewhere because he’s in his blind and won’t leave unless told to.
A PLACE TO WORK AND A WAY TO GET THERE
When we’re heading out early for a hunt, we load up the trucks to take to the rangers and drive those out to the duck blinds. We pile in everything we need for the hunt, so that’s guns, blind bags, the dog kennels, and yes, more coffee. In the duck blinds, we keep a Tundra® 35 Hard Cooler that's full of snacks, water, and whatever else we may need. Out in the wild, you have raccoons, mice, and all that stuff, so it’s hard to keep things from getting torn up and the cooler helps to keep everything from being eaten by anything other than us.
A TOOLBOX
I really hate wasting time — you never get it back. It’s really hard to get things accomplished if you’re constantly driving back and forth to retrieve things, so I like to make sure I start out with everything I need. The GoBox is my go-to solution. I have a LoadOut® GoBox 30 Gear Case that lives in each of my trucks 365 days a year and has a little bit of everything in it: crescent wrenches, pipe wrenches, filter wrenches, regular wrenches, sockets, but drivers, pliers, clamps, fuel fittings, fuel filters, oil filters, fuel hose, battery cables, oil, starting fluid, knives, rope, etc. It’s a hell of a toolbox and has enough room to throw in just about everything I might need.
THE RIGHT ATTIRE
Next to the Makers calls on my lanyard, I keep bird bands. They’re little metal pieces that a federal or state agency puts on a bird’s leg. They’re actually the longest standing data set for helping waterfowl conservation nationwide. You report to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service where you got this bird with this band, and they use it to track harvest data and migration trends across decades. But they’re really few and far between. A lot of people hunt their whole lifetime and never get one. I’ve been pretty fortunate to have a lot of them and for me, they’re a sentimental thing. I’ll sit in a tree and I’ll look at one of my old bands that I shot with my grandfather 35 years ago. It’s a good way to track memories.
Tony Vandemore is a hunter, waterfowl guide, conservationist, and YETI Ambassador. He owns one of the best outfitters in the nation, Habitat Flats, and when he’s not hunting or guiding, he’s dedicating his life to improving the livelihood of waterfowl by managing water, planting food plots, and maintaining habitats.
