Store

Welcome to my personal hunting store! Almost everything on this page is a product that I use and like, from duck calls to a knife sharpener to ammunition to books. If anything is not the exact item I own, I note that it's a substitute. If you have any questions about any the products, don't hesitate to email me.

Clicking on an item's name will take you to its page at Amazon.com, Cabelas.com or GanderMountain.com where you can decide whether or not to add it to your cart. Sales are processed on their sites, not mine. If you find any links that aren't working, please let me know by emailing me.

Thank you for shopping through NorCal Cazadora - I appreciate your business.

Gear

Wingsetter 8-in-1 duck whistle: This is a vital piece of equipment on my lanyard because it's so versatile in the marsh - I can do teal, wigeon, pintail, wood duck, drake mallard sounds. The pintail whistle requires that you learn how to trill, which isn't easy at first. But I bought a wingsetter whistle that does the trilling for you and I hated it - the sound wasn't as authentic. I recommend using this whistle and taking the time to learn to do it right.

Duck Commander gadwall call: I love this call because I rarely hear any other hunter using it, so it's a good way to stand out when you hunt in earshot of other hunting parties.

Duck Commander hen teal call: I remember the first time I heard a hen teal. It was a moonless morning with dense fog, and I couldn't figure out what the hell the Wicked Witch of the East was doing in the marsh. Turns out that crazy laugh was a hen teal, and you can sound like that too with this call. This will set you apart from all the people who do really bad drake teal tweets.

Nikon Monarch waterproof 10x42 binoculars: I just got a set of these from Nikon this year for review, and I'm really enjoying them in preliminary testing. What I particularly like about them is that they're waterproof, so I can throw them into my blind bag without fear. Yes, my duck blind bag. You'd be surprised how often I want to use binos in the marsh to see things that are out of range for my eyes.

Super Mag Hauler Game Cart: This is made for hauling big game, but I use it exclusively for hauling duck decoys over long distances in conjunction with the sled you see below. It's a great combination: Roll it to the edge of the water, then slip the sled into the water and pull it to the blind.

Viking sled: This can be used for hauling big game through the snow, but I use it to haul duck decoys over long distances in conjunction with the game cart you see above. It's a great combination: Roll it to the edge of the water, then slip the sled into the water and pull it to the blind.

Decoy weights: I don't own these, but my friend Charlie does and if I ever feel like changing up the weights on dozens of decoys, I'd get these. Here's why: When you put a traditional lead weight at the end of a line, you always end up with lines and weights tangled in your decoy bag, no matter how careful you are. But with these, the weight acts as a hook, and the stretchy line allows you to hook that weight tightly around the keel of the decoy. No more tangles!

Jerk rig: Hunting ducks on a no-wind day? Here's a great way to get your decoys moving. I will tell you right now this is not the easiest thing in the world to use. The clips that attach to decoys are hard to work with cold, wet fingers, and you have to remain aware where the line is so you don't trip on it when going out to retrieve a bird. But it beats motionless decoys, bigtime. I've had birds come in from the stratosphere when I was just periodically twitching the line.

Shell belt: I used to fish shells out of a box in my blind bag. No more - I love this shell belt, and love even more that it's so adjustable. It can go up to a 60-inch waistline, but more importantly for women, you can also make it pretty small.

Camelbak hydration system: This is the perfect way to carry lots of water on vigorous spot-and-stalk hunts, and because it's a backpack too, you can use it to carry other stuff. What I love about my Camelbak is that it keeps the water surprisingly cool - great for my warm-weather hunts. I know you can get Camelbaks at REI, but REI refuses to stock camo, so Cabela's is the place to go. Note: This is the version I wish I got - I got one without the backpack, and immediately regretted not spending a bit more for the pack.

Bushnell Elite Scope: When I bought my rifle, I assumed I'd get a Leupold scope because of its reputation for quality. But I'd used Leupold scopes before and I HATED how difficult it was to turn the magnification ring - I really had to wrench it, which is not what you want to be doing when you've got game in shooting distance. My local gun store recommended this Bushnell scope and I've been very happy with it.

Face paint: Do you suffer from having a pale face that flares ducks? I do, so when it feels like I'm just scaring 'em away, I paint my face with this stuff. It's waxy and smells like crayons, but it works. While you can remove it with soap and water, I use make-up remover - it just comes off faster that way.

Caring for your gear

PEET wader dryer: Sure, you can dry out your waders by stuffing them with wadded-up newspaper and changing the newspaper frequently, and your waders will be dry in at least three or four days. Or you can get serious and buy a PEET dryer and have your waders perfectly dry overnight, ready for a second consecutive day of duck hunting. And bonus points, they don't stink.

Hoppe's No. 9 Powder Solvent: This is my favorite solvent for cleaning my shotgun.

Hoppe's Lubricating Oil: I like to keep my gun clean and well-oiled, and this is the oil I prefer.

Books

Hunt, Gather, Cook: Finding the Forgotten Feast: This book takes you through the world of wild food - foraged, fished and hunted - with compelling tales, instructions and recipes. And it was written by none other than my boyfriend Hank, with the majority of the photos done by me.

The LeMaster Method: I love, love, love this book because its primary identification method uses ducks' bills. If you ever find that the duck you downed was not what you thought it was, and you can't figure out what it is, you can literally hold the duck's bill over the illustrations at the beginning of this book and make a perfect match. Yes, you're supposed to ID birds before you shoot, but I have never met a duck hunter who wasn't surprised once in a while by what smacked the water.

Food handling

FoodSaver: For me, the whole point of hunting is bringing home the best food on earth, but if you stick it in a  flimsy bag in your freezer, it's not going to last long. In our house, we vacuum seal all of our game meat with FoodSaver, and we've found it works really well. You know those freezer surprises - something you find at the bottom that's more than a year old? We sometimes find stuff like that too, and the vacuum sealer has kept the meat in good condition. 

Wusthof knife sharpener: I have not mastered sharpening stones, so I use this for sharpening kitchen knives, and it works really well. Note: This isn't the exact model I have, but it's the same style.

Wusthof kitchen shears: These are essential for breaking down birds, whether it's snipping off the ends of wings or cutting through pelvic bones. What I love most about them is that they come apart for thorough cleaning.

Clothing

Prois women's Ultra Long-Sleeve T: This is my go-to shirt for warm-weather hunting because it's made with fabric that wicks away sweat. It's also got thumb holes in the sleeves to help keep the sleeves taut if you're a bow hunter.

Prois women's Eliminator Jacket: Absolutely waterproof - taped seams and all. This is a shell, with room for layers.

Cabela's Cazadora women's waders: The name is not a coincidence - I helped design them. These waders have a velcro strap system so you don't have any bulky buckles getting in the way of your gun mount. Body is designed to accommodate not just average-sized women, but tall or large women too. It'd be awesome if you could choose body sizes in addition to boot sizes, playing mix-n-match, but the market for women's waterfowl waders is really small, and that kind of variation is expensive.

Smartwool long johns: These are a must for duck hunting because while they're lightweight, they do have the primary benefit of wool: They keep you warm even when wet, so whether you've broken a sweat or let a little marsh water into your waders, you'll stay warm with these.

Smartwool undershirt: Same as above: These are a must for duck hunting because while they're lightweight, they do have the primary benefit of wool: They keep you warm even when wet, so whether you've broken a sweat or let a little marsh water into your waders, you'll stay warm with these.

Ghillie jacket: I just got this for Christmas, and while it says it's for big game, ignore that: This works AMAZINGLY WELL for duck hunting. All that floofy stuff did not get in the way of my gun mount, but it did conceal me really well - so much so that birds were much slower to flare when I got up to shoot. It's a terrific investment! Especially when you get it for Christmas from your boyfriend. Thanks, Hank!

Art

Feather photos: Looking for some out-of-the-ordinary hunting art? Check out my feather photography website. And to answer the question everyone asks: When offered a choice of finishes, I always choose lustre because it resists fingerprints, but is still very vivid.

Skulls as art: This art thing runs in the family - my mom is a super-talented artist who can do amazing things with the skulls of animals you kill. Click on over and check it out.

Miscellaneous

SKB gun case: The first gun travel case I got was cheap, and I hated it. The locking mechanisms were hard to use, which is NOT what you want to deal with when you're checking baggage at a busy airline counter. When that case finally got a hole in it that made me reluctant to surrender it to baggage handlers, I decided to replace it with a good case. My SKB came with an unconditional warranty - $1,500 in coverage for any damage to its contents. It's bulkier, but I feel much safer with it. And the locks actually work.

Grabber Hand Warmers: It took me a couple of seasons of duck hunting to figure out the best way to stay warm. I found that most gloves that were any good for keeping cold air and water away from your hands were too bulky to put on my trigger hand. Now I do this: I keep my shooting hand warm by popping one of these babies into my wader hand-warmer pockets, then keeping my hand there much of the time, and I put a glove on the other hand, which just holds up the gun. This system works really well for me.

Foot warmers: It gets cold in the marsh. Slipping these air-activated heating inserts into your wader boots will get you through that chill of pre-dawn. While I don't need them early in the season here in Northern California, I will by the time winter settles in.

Floor mat: I know, a floor mat is a floor mat is a floor mat. I tossed my original floor mat because it was pretty much shredded, then I proceeded to shred the underlying carpet. I saw these at a hook-n-bullet store one day, and thought why not? I'm not afraid to sport camo, and these looked perfect for the mud I'm always tracking into my car. If you drive a small car like I do (Toyota Rav4), you can cut this down to fit correctly. Easy peasy.