Was last year's lease a bad memory? The best time to find a good lease isn't October when everyone else is looking for wetter pastures. Start asking around now. You might even want to place an ad in some small, weekly newspapers in your area and see who calls.

If you ever hunt small sloughs by yourself without a boat you might want to consider a belly boat. That's basically an innertube with a seat. Many come in Advantage camo and work well (and more often, actually) for small-water fishing. Buy one now, fish in it to get used to it and you'll be a veteran next fall who can access out-of-the-way sloughs your buddies can only dream about hunting.

If your duck boat doesn't double as a fishing platform be sure you ran all the excess fuel out of the engine. Might want to check the bearings on the trailer, too.

Make sure your blind, if it's cloth, wasn't put up wet with decaying vegetable matter in it. Spread it out so it can dry completely, clean it thoroughly and put it up until next fall.

Now's the time to scout for blind material. Cane doesn't grow just anywhere and modern farming techniques don't leave many whole corn stalks behind. You might want to contact a farmer now to save you a few rows. Just make sure the corn goes to the birds or squirrels, though.