Small Game

FULL-SIZE FUN FOR ALL AGES.

If one of your biggest passions involves hunting small game, you’re in the right place. Our small game hunting videos and articles will provide you with key insights and information on how and when to hunt your small-sized quarry, and more effectively put you hot on the trail of sought-after squirrels, rabbits, pheasants & doves.

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When the Hunter and the Dog Become One

We have a waiting list of people who want one of the pups we breed here at Mossy Oak’s GameKeeper Kennels. I'm often asked, “How many pups can Mossy Oak produce in a year?” We’re not about production. We don’t breed our females until they’re 2-3 years old. So, we've got a lot of young females that will come into our breeding program in the next several years. Right now, we only have four females

Small Game, Waterfowl, Mossy Oak, Mossy Oak GameKeepers

The Demand for British Labs for Hunting

Watching a well-trained hunting dog perform the task he's been trained to do is like poetry in motion. The dog’s breeding and training go on display as the dog does the work he’s meant to do. Perhaps “work” is not the proper term. Maybe watching a dog enjoy the sport he’s trained for is a better way to describe the pleasure that a dog achieves when he does the tasks that are born and trained

Small Game, Waterfowl, Mossy Oak, Mossy Oak GameKeeper Kennels, Mossy Oak GameKeepers

Why Raise and Work with British Labrador Retrievers for Hunting Dogs

Since Mossy Oak had experienced and knew British Labs and their fine qualities, and Bill Gibson had experience training British Labs, we felt they were a good breed of dogs with which to start our kennels. British Labs are hunting dogs, they have great dispositions, and they're bred and trained to be hunters’ companions.

Small Game, Waterfowl, Mossy Oak, Mossy Oak GameKeepers, Mossy Oak GameKeeper Kennels

The Story Behind GameKeeper Kennels

Mossy Oak wants people to be able to live their best lives outdoors. We believe that one of the best ways to achieve that goal is to have a great field companion. We want to be able to touch people’s lives with high quality dogs. Mossy Oak feels that the relationship between the hunter and the dog is as big a part of being outdoors as hunting is.

Small Game, Waterfowl, Mossy Oak GameKeepers, Mossy Oak Properties, Mossy Oak GameKeeper Kennels

Hunting Waterfowl on the Heartland’s River Systems

Hunters are permitted to hunt the river systems here in Missouri. However the rivers will be deep and cold during the winter months. Big chunks of ice will float down the rivers. So when we hunt the rivers, we never go out to hunt without having at least two boats.

Small Game, Waterfowl

Getting Private Land to Waterfowl Hunt

I'm often asked, “How do you get permission to hunt those big agricultural fields in Missouri?” The answer is really simple. I own an excavation company. So, I work with landowners every day. I understand the problems that they have with waterfowl hunters, and I've learned how to solve the problems that cause landowners not to let watermen hunt on their properties.

Small Game, Waterfowl, Land Management

Learning that Necessity Is the Father of Invention for Duck and Goose Hunters

One of the best goose hunts we've ever had up here happened after we had put all our decoys out. I pulled the trailer that we carry our decoys in back to a spot where I could hide the truck and the decoy trailer. Before I could return to my blind, the other hunters all had filled their limits of geese. As I mentioned, the fellows I hunt with are pretty much all seasoned veterans.

Small Game, Waterfowl

Hunting Ducks and Geese on Sandbars

When we duck hunt the Missouri River, most of the time, we’ll set up on sandbars. Instead of using duck decoys, we’ll put out Canada geese decoys. We use full body as well as floater goose decoys. Occasionally, we will put out a few duck decoys, but the majority of our decoys will be Canada geese.

Small Game, Waterfowl, Mossy Oak

Waterfowling 101 in the Heartland

I hunt the Missouri River as well as some large lakes, and I have some private ground where we duck hunt. To be honest, our duck hunting is the very best right at the end of the season. We haven’t had a good flight of early ducks here in Missouri for about the last 3 years. Warm weather has held back the migration for us here in the Midwest, just like it has for hunters

Small Game, Waterfowl

Ducks Unlimited partners offer new Mossy Oak® Shadow Grass Blades®

As the Official Camo of Ducks Unlimited (DU), Mossy Oak has developed a DU-specific Shadow Grass Blades pattern for DU partners. The DU-specific pattern features the DU logo embedded within the pattern, making it easy for waterfowlers to show their passion for hunting and support of conservation.

Small Game, Waterfowl, Mossy Oak Shadow Grass Blades, News, Mossy Oak

DU celebrates 80 years

Sunday, Jan. 29, marks Ducks Unlimited's (DU's) 80th anniversary. Started by a small group of sportsmen on a mission to save North America's waterfowl populations – and the continent's strong waterfowling traditions – DU was founded in 1937 during the Great Depression and one of the worst droughts in history, far from ideal circumstances for an organization in its infancy.

Small Game, Waterfowl, Conservation, News

How to Set Up Your Decoy Spread and Get to Duck Hot Spots Before Other Hunters

Our decoy spreads are different in most of the holes we hunt. We know that ducks don’t like to fly over decoys or other ducks before they land. So, if we have a north wind in our face, we don’t put any ducks on the south side of where we’re hunting. If we have a north wind, we’ll concentrate most of our decoys on the north side of our duck hole. Later in the year,

Small Game, Waterfowl, How-To

What To Do When Hunters You Don’t Know Move Into the Spot You're Hunting

When hunting public lands, a common occurrence is to have other hunters come into the area where you're hunting and want to hunt there, because they can tell by all the shooting that they hear that you’ve found the ducks. I've found that the best approach to take when this happens is to kill the other hunters with kindness, and be extremely cordial to them.

Small Game, Waterfowl, Mossy Oak Bottomland, Mossy Oak

How to Know Places to Avoid and Where to Hunt on Public Lands

My friends often ask me, “Brooks, when I want to hunt on public waterfowl areas, what do I need to look for there?” I explain, “Search for balls of feathers and shotgun shells. If you see them on the place you think you want to hunt, don’t hunt there. More than likely, someone has shot ducks from that spot the day or two before you’ve arrived. But when you see a spot that has individual

Small Game, Waterfowl, How-To

How to Dodge Hunting Pressure on Public Land Waterfowling Areas

One of the reasons we spend more time duck hunting in Arkansas than we do duck hunting in Mississippi is that we’ve found fewer and fewer places in Mississippi where we can dodge hunting pressure. We've discovered that if we can walk into an area rather than going to it by boat, our opportunities are much greater for dodging hunter pressure than if we use a boat to reach the places we want to hunt.

Small Game, Waterfowl