doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Where to hunt Ducks mid December suggestions.

One of my sons wants to go duck hunting mid December as part of his college graduation gifts. Can't complain about the trip expense as he finished in 2 1/2 years instead of taking five years like a lot of his friends are on tract to do. So where in TN, AR or LA should I be looking at for a great trip for him? Three to four days hunting for two hunters. We have done the boot area in MO several times but weather is either too hot or frozen solid every time we go there. Target date is the week before Christmas. Suggestions?

Lots of good outfitters/lodges around Stuttgart and Dewitt, Arkansas area. I've hunted at Double D a couple of times. Not a good place to freelance...Geo

I've hunted all over most of eastern AR, Jon, the places Geo mentioned and many more. It's all going to be a crap shoot ...... whether or not the ducks are there because of the weather, mostly. No way to predict it. But if I wanted to give it one shot and try to hit it big, I would look up around the Jonesboro, AR area, or Reelfoot Lake, TN. So many years I have been down around Forrest City, Brinkley, Dewitt, Marianna and Stuttgart hunting, and the ducks were "hung up" up around Jonesboro. Sorry I can't offer any specific outfitter recommendations in that area, but maybe someone else can do so. Reelfoot Lake, TN is pretty dependable in the late season. But when I was there about a month ago for teal I was hearing that most guides were booked up. Google BlueBank Lodge and give them a call and ask. If you can book something there you will be really amazed at the facilities. Great place to stay, great restaurant, great guides, all right there on the lake. Nice package, for $350/day.

Hope y'all have a great hunt. Congratulations on his completion of school!

SRH

You guys ever notice this site doesn't do the "Group-get-together" hunts?

By Dec our season is about done. If someone found a spot for a group of 6 kind of deal, I'd consider coming down.

Maybe everyone could bring a dish representative of their home?

Also, you might check into the Louisiana rice country down around the Gueydan area. "The duck capital of America".
JR

Zapper I know you keep up with the traffic on this chat-room. Really? Would you agree to meet up somewhere with a representative group of us misfits?...Geo

Sure.
I think it would be fun.
We all like the same stuff.
I have always wanted to see where all the wood ducks I raise end up.

It was winter of 1971 when I read an article in one of the hook and bullet mags about hunting flooded timber in the Grand Prairie region of Arkansas. There were an estimated 1 million wintering mallards in an 800 square mile region. The four of us drove a VW micro minibus from Athens, Ga., to Stuttgart at low speed. According to the article, we could camp. We booked �Slick� McCollum�s outfit for flooded timber shooting. We arrived in a driving rain and stopped at the police station for directions to where we could camp. �Huh?� �I suppose you could camp in the city park�. It was covered with a couple of inches of rain. Neil got us into the Mallard Inn, four of us in one room. I had pre-cooked about 10 lbs. of chili to be washed down with PBR. We heated the chili on a Coleman stove. There is no description suitably accurate that conveys the air condition in that room after two days. Maybe there�s jargon in an EPA reg that would. Slick doubled as the local coroner. There may have been bodies stored under the motel beds come to think of it, judging from the room�s odor. The duck hunting was fabulous. We divided up the costs of the trip, motel room, 10 lbs. of chili, a couple of cases of PBR, gas, licenses and guide fees. My costs for two days hunting was $75, more or less. �Slick�s� family still runs the business and I understand it is still tops. http://stuttgarthuntingclub.com/history

Geuydan has gone done considerably over the years, for marsh hunting I would look to either a cast and blast for ducks and speckled trout and redfish in Venice or south of Lake Charles. These areas hold large numbers of birds but you will see very few green heads. Also depending on the cold fronts, green heads have been much less constant in Mississippi and Arkansas the past couple of years, especially that early in the season.

Just look at the pics under the hunting thread, most of us look like we're older than dirt with faces that look like we were lucky to see 50!!!!