Bootheel Report

[WilcoKen]

Figured I would report on our experience so far this season. We are at 7 ducks for the season. Pit has been hunted 6 days (2 weekend hunts and 2 weekdays--4 hunters). Last year was rice, this year beans. From what I can tell, last year was better as far as ducks wanting to be in our field. Last year we killed 27--embarrassing--but realistically only hunted about 10 days. This year, they just dont seem interested. We have tried spreads ranging from 20 dozen down to 6 dozen. Spinners and no spinners.

We got a bad field. I dont think I will be doing this again next year. I will just go back to crappy middle tennessee hunting in a dry blind (if i can get one). Better than crappy hunting in a wet, muddy pit 4 hours from home. What is your experience so far?

 

[cbhunter]

Ruger can give you exact numbers but I think we are at about the same number of hunts and around the same amount of ducks killed

Beans also. Hopefully it gets better

 

[RUGER]

Our group has hunted a total of 6 times.
Opening day there were 9 of us and we killed 5.
Every other day we have killed 1 per day.
Every hunt has been between 4 to 6 hours.
Total of 10 birds for the year so far.

It will get better.

 

[WilcoKen]

I will try to keep this thread updated after each hunt. I plan on hunting Saturday. Supposed to be a little cooler. Maybe things will pick up.

 

[Cache]

Hope it gets better for you guys. This front coming through the next few days might be just what y'all need. Even bad fields can have good days. Next week looking good.

 

[RUGER]

I don't really think we have a "bad" field but after talking to my son yesterday I think we need to cut some darker brush from around the field and cover up some of our rice stubble.
We think it may be a bit "bright" or something.
The worst thing for them this weekend was the weather.
Fogged in unless it was raining and then they would work but not finish for some reason. (Gadwalls so who knows)

 

[WilcoKen]

I don't really think we have a "bad" field but after talking to my son yesterday I think we need to cut some darker brush from around the field and cover up some of our rice stubble.
We think it may be a bit "bright" or something.
The worst thing for them this weekend was the weather.
Fogged in unless it was raining and then they would work but not finish for some reason. (Gadwalls so who knows)

Yeah the patch of beans left around our pit has darkened up a pretty good bit. Our fastgrass is tan and has a little sedge mixed in. Probably be a good idea to darken our grass up some. We will need to have some ducks come in our field to see if any changes we make work. That hasnt been happening much. Lol.

 

[Remington700]

I have a friend that hunts over there. Said opening weekend was good, but now waiting on nonlocal birds to show up. He told me about bird flu in the ducks and they suggest not eating them. I had never heard of it in the duck population. Here is what I found when I googled it.
https://agriculture.mo.gov/avian-influenza.php

 

[Bullfrog]

SEMO used to be a fun place, then came the people and pressure. There are still some fields worth having, but they have gotten few and far between, and the chance of a crew giving one up is slim. It takes a considerable amount of time over there to figure things out, but for most anymore, a field full of water, a pit, and 6 gun barrels sticking out of it, is nothing more than padding for a farmers pocket.

 

[WilcoKen]

SEMO used to be a fun place, then came the people and pressure. There are still some fields worth having, but they have gotten few and far between, and the chance of a crew giving one up is slim. It takes a considerable amount of time over there to figure things out, but for most anymore, a field full of water, a pit, and 6 gun barrels sticking out of it, is nothing more than padding for a farmers pocket.

I am still new to the style of hunting there, but am seeing this. It's taken me 2 years. The novelty has definitely wore off at this point. There is a reason our pit was put up for lease. But, maybe I will be proven wrong in the coming weeks. That said, if we don't make it to 150 this year, I am done.

 

[Bullfrog]

I am still new to the style of hunting there, but am seeing this. It's taken me 2 years. The novelty has definitely wore off at this point. There is a reason our pit was put up for lease. But, maybe I will be proven wrong in the coming weeks. That said, if we don't make it to 150 this year, I am done.

Dunno where you guys are at, or what you're paying...but it is also true that you get what you pay for when it comes to a field lease.

 

[WilcoKen]

Dunno where you guys are at, or what you're paying...but it is also true that you get what you pay for when it comes to a field lease.

I will share this for comparison purposes. $4000 for a 50 acre field. (We split 4 ways). Pit is 4 miles south of 412 and about 4 miles east of Kennett. There are 3-4 pits about 1 mile away east, west and north that are hunted. No others that are close have hunters. $4000 seems below the norm to me. We are definitely getting what we paid for.

 

[Bgoodman30]

I will share this for comparison purposes. $4000 for a 50 acre field. (We split 4 ways). Pit is 4 miles south of 412 and about 4 miles east of Kennett. There are 3-4 pits about 1 mile away east, west and north that are hunted. No others that are close have hunters. $4000 seems below the norm to me. We are definitely getting what we paid for.

We used to lease a field off TT. It was really good when it was on but mediocore at best overall. That place could be great hunting but too many TN hunters have brought their big blind habits over there and hunt daylight to dark. No pit should be hunted all day IMHO...

 

[WilcoKen]

We used to lease a field off TT. It was really good when it was on but mediocore at best overall. That place could be great hunting but too many TN hunters have brought their big blind habits over there and hunt daylight to dark. No pit should be hunted all day IMHO...

Trying to think where TT is. We are between C and J.

 

[hootywho]

"Available" pits/blinds are available for a reason.

 

[cmn]

I don't really think we have a "bad" field but after talking to my son yesterday I think we need to cut some darker brush from around the field and cover up some of our rice stubble.
We think it may be a bit "bright" or something.
The worst thing for them this weekend was the weather.
Fogged in unless it was raining and then they would work but not finish for some reason. (Gadwalls so who knows)

I know people don't want to believe me but for 25+ years I started brushing ALL my pits with oak. Makes all the difference in the world as far as cover and shadows. Can't help the duck numbers though. Commercial guide since 1986...old time duck hunter told it would change my look and be a big bonus....almost laughed out loud...almost. Best duck advice I ever had. Will look strange to you but brush piles are brush piles

 

[cmn]

I will share this for comparison purposes. $4000 for a 50 acre field. (We split 4 ways). Pit is 4 miles south of 412 and about 4 miles east of Kennett. There are 3-4 pits about 1 mile away east, west and north that are hunted. No others that are close have hunters. $4000 seems below the norm to me. We are definitely getting what we paid for.

way low for a good pit....I was getting 6-8k when I moved back to Tn. for hunting. Hunting SEMO for about 20 years

 

[TnKen]

Location, location location applies in the duck world too. I have seen identical fields side by side and one on fire and the other hardly shoot. I use to have several thousand acres to hunt in Arkansas, and some fields produce and some don't. If I had the answer to why I could be a millionaire.

 

[WilcoKen]

Location, location location applies in the duck world too. I have seen identical fields side by side and one on fire and the other hardly shoot. I use to have several thousand acres to hunt in Arkansas, and some fields produce and some don't. If I had the answer to why I could be a millionaire.

This is what i am experiencing now. One is not exactly on fire but they do have considerably more shooting than us. Actually way more.

 

[WilcoKen]

way low for a good pit....I was getting 6-8k when I moved back to Tn. for hunting. Hunting SEMO for about 20 years

Yep. Middle TN public WMA blinds kill more than we do. $4k should've been a red flag.

 

[tickweed]

Not being critical, but also depends on the group of hunters. Pits are very hard to hunt, call from, stay hid in. Realism on spreads is very important. Bigger is much tougher on still days, ice days. Water movement is important. Some fields will kill with you standing in the wide open. Others look set up good, a duck wont look. As stated before, if a lease is open, it's usually for a reason.

 

[Grnwing]

Had a good friend lease a field in beans and he invited me to join. I declined primarily because it was in beans. I have killed ducks up north in beans but down in the south I just dont see the same usage. Beans will not last as long once the field is flooded, they will rot, and will not provide the food that other crops like corn and rice will or even a flooded weed field. So now if you have a bean field its not providing a lot of food and only providing a place to rest or roost and once those fields get hunted the stale birds will move onto other places. This is only my observations and some of you may have great success.

 

[Dodge Man]

Had a good friend lease a field in beans and he invited me to join. I declined primarily because it was in beans. I have killed ducks up north in beans but down in the south I just dont see the same usage. Beans will not last as long once the field is flooded, they will rot, and will not provide the food that other crops like corn and rice will or even a flooded weed field. So now if you have a bean field its not providing a lot of food and only providing a place to rest or roost and once those fields get hunted the stale birds will move onto other places. This is only my observations and some of you may have great success.

We killed several ducks the past 2 weekends that were packed so full of soybeans that when we hang them on a stringer upside down there were soybeans everywhere on the walkway of our bind. I would say half the ducks we killed opening day had soybeans in them and were are miles from any flooded fields. I am hunting in a Cypress swamp.

 

[WilcoKen]

Not being critical, but also depends on the group of hunters. Pits are very hard to hunt, call from, stay hid in. Realism on spreads is very important. Bigger is much tougher on still days, ice days. Water movement is important. Some fields will kill with you standing in the wide open. Others look set up good, a duck wont look. As stated before, if a lease is open, it's usually for a reason.

Sage advice--all of it. The "leader"of our small group decided on this field. Hard-headed. He has duck hunted for many years but few have been in pits. The first thing he did last year was cut off the brush gates of the pit. Ducks would NOT finish. One of our guys is 6'3'. One likes to stand up all the time. But occasionally last year we would kill a few--thats after I put the gates back on and brushed them. The biggest issue though is that we just have a field that ducks do not want to look at (thats the reason it was open). I will be splitting ties with this group after this season ends.

 

[tickweed]

I have standing corn in the lower part of my field. The shallower end had beans. This is where the mallards are trying to work now.

 

[WilcoKen]

Had a good friend lease a field in beans and he invited me to join. I declined primarily because it was in beans. I have killed ducks up north in beans but down in the south I just dont see the same usage. Beans will not last as long once the field is flooded, they will rot, and will not provide the food that other crops like corn and rice will or even a flooded weed field. So now if you have a bean field its not providing a lot of food and only providing a place to rest or roost and once those fields get hunted the stale birds will move onto other places. This is only my observations and some of you may have great success.

There are beans all under the surface of our field the combine left. Saturday I noticed they are swelled and starting to rot. Basically at this point we have a 50 acre glass water lake. With a pit smack in the middle of it. Last year the field was rice with standing stripped stalks. From what I saw, ducks preferred to be in that environment.

 

[Duck dogn]

My old boss killed 25 plus 1 goose sat and I think 27 plus 1 goose sun in the bootheel

 

[RUGER]

Sage advice--all of it. The "leader"of our small group decided on this field. Hard-headed. He has duck hunted for many years but few have been in pits. The first thing he did last year was cut off the brush gates of the pit. Ducks would NOT finish. One of our guys is 6'3'. One likes to stand up all the time. But occasionally last year we would kill a few--thats after I put the gates back on and brushed them. The biggest issue though is that we just have a field that ducks do not want to look at (thats the reason it was open). I will be splitting ties with this group after this season ends.

LOL The FIRST thing we did was attach brush gates to our pit. LOL
Well after we pumped the water out of it anyway.

 

[Bgoodman30]

Some of the greatest concentrations of ducks I have ever seen have been on bean fields but they were not eating beans..

 

[WilcoKen]

Some of the greatest concentrations of ducks I have ever seen have been on bean fields but they were not eating beans..

When you saw this, were the beans standing in water or had the field been cut then flooded?