# In defense of any duck guide that may be bashed on here



## Rack Ranch (May 25, 2004)

I'm a seasoned hunter who has killed ducks and geese all over the state and have had some of the worse hunts this year. Haven't figured out what is going on but numbers where I hunt have been down. Even hit my 30 year automatic Wood Duck hole on Lake Livingston this week and never fired a shot. Opening morning of 2nd split was a bust for me in the marsh as well. 

Remember, just because you hire a guide doesn't mean your hunt is automatic...


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## TexasDux (May 21, 2004)

I had a great reply all typed out but this will probably just get closed anyway like the other thread. Seems you can only make positive posts here.


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## BigBuck (Mar 2, 2005)

*Ducks*

I agree with RackRanch. I also am a seasoned duck hunter. I have gone out in what I thought were primo conditions to find mostly empty skies, and kill easy limits when conditions were not optimal. I mostly hunt in the Port Mansfield area now, with an occasional hunt on the upper coastal marsh or cultivated fields. The numbers down in Port Mansfield are just not there this year. This time of year there are many thousands on the open water (mostly Redheads), but not so this year. Still have had a few really good hunts, but mostly just average. I think all the rain has a lot of ducks hung up and have not completed their usual migration. 
Whatever, but Rack is correct, ducks hunting can be a hit or miss proposition, even for the experts.
BB


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## Momma's Worry (Aug 3, 2009)

went from Liberty to High Island yesterday.....no geese and only a hand full of ducks seen sitting on the ponds.......


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## JFolm (Apr 22, 2012)

Scouting leads to the knowledge of knowing the number of birds in the area. If you are not seeing a decent amount of birds then why would you take guys out that drove 2 hrs to get there? Oh that's right, they didn't scout! 


That says a lot about his character in my opinion. I couldn't do that to people but I guess we are different.


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## Rack Ranch (May 25, 2004)

I remember a few years ago I was scouting for early teal and found the mother load the Thursday before the opener. Called a couple buddies and told them "bring it", I'm on the birds. They all went out, spent the money to get their gear, and we shot two. LOL

Birds had moved on... Sucked!!


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## tealnexttime1 (Aug 23, 2004)

*reply*

well this year has been just one big roller coaster ride. shoot em up one day and next few days don't fire a shot. we have the same amount of geese flying around our place ha years past and we see alot of ducks flying sometimes, but they dont usually hit our place. we have zero food for them . the leases around us are shooting like crazy though so there are birds . these days i think the norm is to really crop a place up good . and the guys w/ no food are gonna pay for it. we do ok w/ no food source, but i'd say 40% of my hunts on our lease this year have been slow. i aint complaining at all , just saying what it is, food helps, they gotta eat. and i gotta say the same thing happened to me as rock. smoked em friday , brought in some guys sunday. told em "it was on" and we didnt fire a shot. **** i hate that ****!


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## chuck leaman (Jul 15, 2004)

This has been the year of kill the $&^$^ out of them hunts or next to nothing hunts. Not many middle of the road duck hunts this year like in normal years. They can be here today gone tomorrow. My buddy limited in Garwood Thursday morning and they shot 1 on the same pond with similar conditions Friday. There has lots been lots of extra water out there for most of this season.


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## wennis1 (Nov 5, 2008)

Early on in the season we had good hunts on the prairie and the marsh. The last few hunts at either location have sucked. We have been skunked three hunts in a row. We are just not seeing a good amount of birds. Was the rice harvest larger this year or something?


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## Trouthunter (Dec 18, 1998)

*Well Pat*



Pat P said:


> I had a great reply all typed out but this will probably just get closed anyway like the other thread. Seems you can only make positive posts here.


You've been around a long time and you should know the rules better than any newbie but they should read the FAQ as well.

6. BBB BS (aka gripes about a business)

17. No guide bashing.

Don't like the rules go somewhere else.

It's really a simple matter.

TH


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## aquafowlr (May 21, 2004)

My season is the worst Ive ever had. I haven't killed a duck in a month. And it hasn't been for a lack of tring. Hunted the bay and prairie. Just not my yr.


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## Category6 (Nov 21, 2007)

corn really helps, at least that what I've found


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## Rack Ranch (May 25, 2004)

Unhumorous humor is better spent on those clowns that now ruin TTMB....Contribute to the thread topic or keep your fingers off the keys...



Category5 said:


> corn really helps, at least that what I've found


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## Dukman (Sep 21, 2007)

Category5 said:


> corn really helps, at least that what I've found


Yea, corn works good but Call Ducks work better.


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## Run-N-Gun (Jul 5, 2007)

This season has definitely been sub-par for our standards across the board. We have had some really good hunts and think our season has been very respectable all things considered, but we have had to work HARD and scout HARDER to try and keep the consistency there.


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## grand poobah (Nov 6, 2007)

*My 2 cents*



JFolm said:


> Scouting leads to the knowledge of knowing the number of birds in the area. If you are not seeing a decent amount of birds then why would you take guys out that drove 2 hrs to get there? Oh that's right, they didn't scout!
> 
> That says a lot about his character in my opinion. I couldn't do that to people but I guess we are different.


Butch or I scout our fields everyday sometimes twice a day. Ducks are harder to scout but seem to show up when the shooting starts especially on weekends. When it raining the prairie seems to grow ducks and then they dry up when the sun comes out.
Geese move from area to area but this year load up a field and don't even come back to it the next day. I wish I had enough land to hunt a feeding field but nobody does, you would have to lease the entire prairie.
Sunday the 22 we had no wind, few birds, only extremely high clouds. We had singles and several nice groups come in, ended up with 13 geese but should have had 18-20(but that's always the case).
Yesterday had the same condition but more geese in the area and only shot 2 geese.
My point is people book weeks two months in advance and you just deal with the conditions given. You looked for expierenced guides and look at the professionalism they show in the field.
Now I had 2 coolers call me on Saturday evening to hunt Sunday. I told them the condition didn't looked very good, one group came and one put it off. Many days a season we go out with low expectations and to well or vise-versa(probably spelled wrong). 
If you cancelled every hunt when it wasn't looking good you'd be out of business. Now don't beat me up, my hunting reputation is pretty good just speaking from a guides point of view.

Happy New Year!!!
Thanks Sammy Romano


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## 4thbreak (May 20, 2005)

Definitely a down year goose wise, but considering how good last year was you could see it coming. Still some good shoots out there, meaning the bird per hunter is over 10, but they aren't a gimme like last year.


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## JFolm (Apr 22, 2012)

grand poobah said:


> Butch or I scout our fields everyday sometimes twice a day. Ducks are harder to scout but seem to show up when the shooting starts especially on weekends. When it raining the prairie seems to grow ducks and then they dry up when the sun comes out.
> Geese move from area to area but this year load up a field and don't even come back to it the next day. I wish I had enough land to hunt a feeding field but nobody does, you would have to lease the entire prairie.
> Sunday the 22 we had no wind, few birds, only extremely high clouds. We had singles and several nice groups come in, ended up with 13 geese but should have had 18-20(but that's always the case).
> Yesterday had the same condition but more geese in the area and only shot 2 geese.
> ...


Thanks for your input. I understand it's not a perfect world but why not be a straight shooter and not lead a group to believe something that's not true.

I will leave it at that. Don't want to break any more rules.


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## Category6 (Nov 21, 2007)

Rack Ranch said:


> Unhumorous humor is better spent on those clowns that now ruin TTMB....Contribute to the thread topic or keep your fingers off the keys...


seriously?


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## jjarrard (Sep 12, 2006)

Call me crazy but in my 15 plus years of experience the first 3 weeks of the season is the only time you can count on any sort of consistency. It is always hit or miss for me after that. Call it weary ducks, blind shy, no birds in the area whatever. I think they figure out where they aren't getting shot and they stay there. I hear people say the ducks are still up north because of the DU ponds, or it isn't cold enough, or there isn't enough food here. If that is the case then why are there so many birds here at the beginning of the season and seems like so few at the end? Just my 2 cents. I'm only a weekend warrior. And I gave up hunting after the split years ago. Too cold and too slow. 

The only thing I recommend you try this time of year to improve your chances is to hunt when the cold front first blows in. 25 mph plus winds seem to stir the ducks up and make them want to decoy.


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## Longshot270 (Aug 5, 2011)

I think they are staying more inland. I don't hunt ducks much but I do watch for them. I've been seeing more than usual over here.


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## [email protected] (Jun 25, 2005)

We have had a decent year on the coast down here near Rockport but our redhead numbers are way down this year. Typically this time of year we have hundreds of thousands of Redheads and you will have group after group in the decoys and can pick and choose the prettiest drakes to shoot. This year not so much, we have to call the shot on most groups in the decoys because you aren't sure if you'll get a chance at another group. We are having a pretty average year on Pintails and Wigeon and Gadwalls and Mottle Ducks though. If we are struggling to get our limits of Redheads then I can't imagine how tough hunting is elsewhere.


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## Capt Jim West (Feb 24, 2010)

The East side of Houston has always held a lot of ducks. As the season goes on a lot of birds find their way onto several closed areas of the refuge system. There are thousands of birds in these close areas right now. Also some property's are just better duck hunting than others. The outfitter with more property can run more hunts. But when you run a lot of hunts, consistently having good hunts is still an on going problem. The weather plays such a big factor in bagging your birds. Opening day of the second half was a prime example of the way my season has been. I ran 4 guided hunts that opening morning. It was foggy that open day. The front didn't hit until later that day. Two of the hunts just sucked and the other 2 were just fair at best. The next day I ran 3 hunts with a stiff north wind and all 3 hunts whacked em pretty good. It seems that we all have our good hunts and we all have our bad ones too. It is what it is.. Its duck hunting...


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## Chuckwagon (Aug 30, 2006)

I have no dog in this fight whatsoever. Just my observation from my little corner of the world.

Duck hunting has been real tough. Here today, gone tomorrow. Before and after a front seems to be the best days.

Everything tends to go in cycles IMHO. Been hunting the same area for 30 years. We have a couple of good duck seasons, then a couple of bad ones...always been that way.

We have been fortunate to have a ton of geese and cranes this year.


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## peckerwood (Jun 9, 2012)

I put a guided duck hunt on my bucket list for this coming season,and I mainly want to do it because you cats seem to enjoy it so much.I've never paid a guide in all my years of hunting,but see no other way,so I'll be paying for someones time,use of equipment,and knowledge,and in no way will I expect a guide to put me in the middle of all the ducks I need to kill a limit.It would be great and wonderful,but I'm after the adventure.I'm glad hunting aint like Six Flags,where you pay your money and know exactly which rides will be fun.


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## beachfisher9 (Jun 23, 2013)

*Birds have wings*

Birds have wings and fish have tails. Here today gone tomorrow. It pays to be in the right place at the right time. Or sing-a-long with Dr. John.
( showing my age )


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## Jrodgers (Jul 13, 2013)

The only way to have a guaranteed hunt is to go on a flighted mallard hunt.


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## goatchze (Aug 1, 2006)

Longshot270 said:


> *I think they are staying more inland*. I don't hunt ducks much but I do watch for them. I've been seeing more than usual over here.


This might be the case. While this year hasn't been as stellar as some, we've been seeing good numbers of ducks. Mallards seem to have just made it down in decent numbers. Thus far it's been a decent season (and we usually do best in January).

This is Robertson county.


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## Bucksnort (Jun 29, 2004)

Had a good season this year(all before the break) but I've been going with a good guide who does his homework, on some great private land which, makes it easier and worth the price.


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## Brandon Zahn (Jan 12, 2012)

Our first split was record setting stellar. And our second split has been above average. We had a week in there on the December full moon where our hunts were dropped into the teens, but for the most part we been limiting. Pays to have a ton of water and a ton of well managed land. I think my average is right around 30-33 ducks. The geese are good when the weather permits it just seems like the days we have goose hunts we can't get the weather and the good days everyone wants to shoot ducks. Crane hunts have been phenomenal. And we are still currently holding 10-15k cranes and 30-40k geese.


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## Shiner (Nov 30, 2012)

We hunted Monday out by Stuckeys on I-10 between Winnie and Anahuac and killed 17 ducks & 15 geese


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## Sean Hoffmann (May 24, 2004)

There are a butt ton stacked along Laguna Shores Rd. today and yesterday. Redheads, pinnies, wigeon, etc. all loafing like it's a summer day. More there than I've seen in years.


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## rope875 (Jan 2, 2014)

*Duck Numbers in rockport*

Overall, seems like we're only seeing about 25% of the numbers that we normally see in the Rockport area. We shot 16 one day and 2 the next day.


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## Rack Ranch (May 25, 2004)

LOL, Sounds like a lot 



Sean Hoffmann said:


> There are _*a butt ton *_stacked along Laguna Shores Rd. today and yesterday. Redheads, pinnies, wigeon, etc. all loafing like it's a summer day. More there than I've seen in years.


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## TexasDux (May 21, 2004)

Trouthunter said:


> You've been around a long time and you should know the rules better than any newbie but they should read the FAQ as well.
> 
> 6. BBB BS (aka gripes about a business)
> 
> ...


There is a difference between giving someone a heads up on a guide that was not attentive to the hunt and his clients and the experience you had vs outright bashing.


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## El Capitan de No Fish (Sep 20, 2007)

The numbers are down on the coast because there is water everywhere inland. The last few years have been lights out on the bays because of the drought. Not the case this year.
As long as we've let our ponds rest, we have good hunts.


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## GunDog (Jun 6, 2006)

I am hoping that the decrease in birds on the coast well help all the new blind building people move back towards their inland haunts. Fingers crossed


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## steverino (Mar 8, 2006)

*What is a Butt Ton?*



Sean Hoffmann said:


> There are a butt ton stacked along Laguna Shores Rd. today and yesterday. Redheads, pinnies, wigeon, etc. all loafing like it's a summer day. More there than I've seen in years.


I've heard of metric ton, short ton, long ton, net ton, freight ton, etc., but what is a butt ton? Don't tell me that it's a round object used to secure or close a garment! I guess I don't know because I'm not a waterfowl hunter!!!


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## Sean Hoffmann (May 24, 2004)

Steve, if you see 20 deer at your feeder, you're looking at a butt ton!



steverino said:


> I've heard of metric ton, short ton, long ton, net ton, freight ton, etc., but what is a butt ton? Don't tell me that it's a round object used to secure or close a garment! I guess I don't know because I'm not a waterfowl hunter!!!


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## steverino (Mar 8, 2006)

OK, I got it! Then all of them are heads down, tails up and facing away from you! I guess that's when you decide to make a Texas Heart Shot, right? I'm learning!!!


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