Bootheel Report

[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?

 

[Bgoodman30]

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

Harvested field flooded. Sometimes dry as well. Honestly can't remember one time finding beans in a ducks crop.

 

[TnKen]

I think they eat the invertebrates in those bean fields. Our field rotates beans and rice, and we don't notice any significant difference.

 

[RobbyW]

I know of groups in NE AR and the boothill that are over 300 birds. It's all about location, experience, and skill

 

[tickweed]

I know of groups in NE AR and the boothill that are over 300 birds. It's all about location, experience, and skill

Location location location

 

[RUGER]

2 of our guys went about lunch today.
They killed 1.
Guess we are just a little farther south than the birds are yet.

 

[WilcoKen]

2 of our guys went about lunch today.
They killed 1.
Guess we are just a little farther south than the birds are yet.

Leader of our group just called and said "a thousand ducks right next to our field".
He's hunting tomorrow. Im going over Saturday. Shoot, we may get to double digits by Sunday. We just need 3. Lol.

 

[Dodge Man]

Leader of our group just called and said "a thousand ducks right next to our field".
He's hunting tomorrow. Im going over Saturday. Shoot, we may get to double digits by Sunday. We just need 3. Lol.

Y'all better enjoy it while you can. With the temperatures coming next week it is going to lock up everything. With multiple days in a row below freezing and single digits at night it will be after Christmas before it thaws out again.

 

[RUGER]

Y'all better enjoy it while you can. With the temperatures coming next week it is going to lock up everything. With multiple days in a row below freezing and single digits at night it will be after Christmas before it thaws out again.

I'm off the week after Christmas

 

[gasman]

I was all over SEMO and NEA today, traveled lots of roads. Saw plenty of snows but very few ducks.

 

[Hduke86]

I was all over SEMO and NEA today, traveled lots of roads. Saw plenty of snows but very few ducks.

Well…….. there was a time that I knew of a guy that saw a eagle in a parking lot