Duck hunting Old Hickory.

[TNhunter]

I've been duck hunting one weekend with a friend about 20 years ago. Had fun even though it was supposedly the worst day duck hunting the guys I went with had ever had in their 30+ years of duck hunting. I don't think i even pulled the trigger the whole weekend. We saw ducks for about 10 mins both days right at the beginning of shooting light. I didn't need another hobby since all my spare time was spent turkey hunting, deer hunting, kayak fishing or hiking/ backpacking. My son started duck hunting with some of his college buddies over in Knoxville last year and I've been wanting to give it a try. I'd try to find some place on Percy Priest but a guy I work with that used to kill lots of ducks on priest said that was a total waste of time now a days. Are there any of the blinds on Old Hickory huntable without a boat. I walked the bottom where blind 11, 12, 14 are today and looks like you need a boat to get to 12 and 14 and you can walk to 11 but would need a boat to retrieve anything killed. I have a kayak I could use if necessary. I assume most all the OH blinds are hunted most weekend day but what about the week days. Are most of them hunted those days too? What about 11, 12, 14 are those blinds hunted most every day? And how can you get the combination to that lock on the new gate TWRA put up across the road in that big bottom where those three blinds are?

 

[TNReb]

I've just started to hunt OH a little bit this year myself. Unfortunately a lot of people who have good knowledge about the duck hunting are reluctant to give it out. I guess I can't blame them, but oh well.

You can get to 83 with a Kayak fairly easily, and it has a a boat cover so you could pull your kayak up under it. It's about 2.5-3ft deep around the blind. With that being said, I haven't had much luck out of that blind in 2 hunts. The guys in 82 were killing them one morning (a flooded field).

You could probably walk to 81, 82, 85, and 86 if you wanted to put in the effort. I haven't even looked at those blinds, so I don't know what they're like.

You might be able to walk to 17-29 also - but again - be prepared to put in the effort.

I've only been to OH on two Saturdays this year, and most any decent blind from 0-80 was taken. Several weren't, but they were blinds with hardly any cover that weren't in great spots.

Regarding the combination lock - I doubt TWRA gives out the combination. Your best bet would be able to lookup the Old Hickory WMA Manager's information on the TWRA website/guide and ask them.