Making the move to the bootheel

[RUGER]

Group of us committed to leasing a pit in SEMO for next year.
Won't be a 1,000 bird spot or nothing but at least we will have a place to go when we want.
Next closest pit is just over 1/2 mile away.
Be nice not having to worry about swing shooters and one shot wonders while we are working birds.
Gotta brush up on my speck calling now. :D

 

[WilcoKen]

Group of us committed to leasing a pit in SEMO for next year.
Won't be a 1,000 bird spot or nothing but at least we will have a place to go when we want.
Next closest pit is just over 1/2 mile away.
Be nice not having to worry about swing shooters and one shot wonders while we are working birds.
Gotta brush up on my speck calling now. :D

Glad you have a place to go. Just came off my first season in the Bootheel. Our pit is in the Deering MO area. Our kill numbers were awful but most everyone else's were too. Tons of snows everywhere—sick of them really. Lol. I'm going to give it one more try in 22'-23'. It was a new style of hunting for me but I learned a lot.

 

[RUGER]

Glad you have a place to go. Just came off my first season in the Bootheel. Our pit is in the Deering MO area. Our kill numbers were awful but most everyone else's were too. Tons of snows everywhere—sick of them really. Lol. I'm going to give it one more try in 22'-23'. It was a new style of hunting for me but I learned a lot.

Yeah pit hunting is a different ballgame for sure.
Not my favorite by far but I am tired of the BS that tdub has pulled and sick of working my butt off for basically no birds.
I am kinda like you, I am gonna give it one more shot and if hunting over there isn't any better I will more than likely hang it up completely.
I absolutely love hunting with my friends and my son but I am to the point it is just tiresome.
I can hang out, cook and eat on my deck, plus there I can have a drink. :D

 

[Dodge Man]

SEMO is covered up with Pita these days, I hunted a few times over there this year. In some areas there are pits in every other field. They don't flood any fields that don't get hunted so not many birds are sitting in the area. We killed a total of 1 duck and a few snow geese. You will see a lot of birds but most are heading to Big Lake. I don't care if I ever go back.

 

[WilcoKen]

SEMO is covered up with Pita these days, I hunted a few times over there this year. In some areas there are pits in every other field. They don't flood any fields that don't get hunted so not many birds are sitting in the area. We killed a total of 1 duck and a few snow geese. You will see a lot of birds but most are heading to Big Lake. I don't care if I ever go back.

This is one of the things I'm learning as well. But our biggest nemesis was not controlling our field drain. Our field flooded 3" over the top of the pit back around New Years. Couldn't get the water off the field so we could drain the pit and hunt it. Beavers had stopped up the pipe in a major way. Resorted to hunting the levee which just didn't work. We killed 18 ducks and 8 geese. Awful. But I'll give it one more shot.

 

[tickweed]

Again, same old story. Pits now in every field. Hmmmm, wonder if it could be pressure over the yrs. I would never berate any spot, but think about this. If a spot is available, why is it available? If I was in a spot, that had lots traffic every year, killed on a regular basis, when would I let it go? The landowners, farmers in Missouri are making more off duck hunters than farming. They can put a pit anywhere, lease it. Most really good spots are long gone, big time money spots, been leased, or sold for years. Same everywhere. Big money game now if you wanna have a sure nuff kill hole. Good luck Ruger. I hope it works out. Specks are the best thing going

 

[bowhunterfanatic]

I'll try and give you some optimism Ruger...I don't duck hunt but a lot of my buddies do. They leased a field in SEMO this year, and while they didn't melt their barrels, they had a few really, really good hunts. Enough that they reupped the lease for the next few years.

 

[TAFKAP]

Hunting pits is all fun and games until your 18" of water gets frozen solid on a cold morning.

 

[RUGER]

Yep, lots of pros and lots of cons to hunting in a pit over there.
Only thing I know for sure is we have a better chance to kill SOMETHING over there than we do here.
Gonna try it a year and go from there.

 

[Bo Diddley]

Good luck Ruger! I do believe you will see more ducks on that side of the river! Hopefully trick a few!

 

[WilcoKen]

Yep, lots of pros and lots of cons to hunting in a pit over there.
Only thing I know for sure is we have a better chance to kill SOMETHING over there than we do here.
Gonna try it a year and go from there.

This is exactly my sentiments. It is way better than anything in middle Tennessee. And the license cost is not really that much either. Something else I'm going to try next year is hunting some of the public land options over there. To me, it's just better there.

 

[WilcoKen]

Hunting pits is all fun and games until your 18" of water gets frozen solid on a cold morning.

Yes and that 18 inches of ice encases your entire pit. I WILL be in control of our pump and drain next season.

 

[WilcoKen]

Again, same old story. Pits now in every field. Hmmmm, wonder if it could be pressure over the yrs. I would never berate any spot, but think about this. If a spot is available, why is it available? If I was in a spot, that had lots traffic every year, killed on a regular basis, when would I let it go? The landowners, farmers in Missouri are making more off duck hunters than farming. They can put a pit anywhere, lease it. Most really good spots are long gone, big time money spots, been leased, or sold for years. Same everywhere. Big money game now if you wanna have a sure nuff kill hole. Good luck Ruger. I hope it works out. Specks are the best thing going

Very good perspective. SEMO is a new game for me but I am learning very fast.

 

[woodyard]

Hey ruger we would be a just a little less than half way from Calico Rock! Lol

 

[RUGER]

Hey ruger we would be a just a little less than half way from Calico Rock! Lol

Ducks in the morning, trout that evening ! :D

 

[tickweed]

Ducks in the morning, trout that evening ! :D

Im sure you will kill some. I wasnt trying to make you feel bad. And yes, it will be way better than some of our members from middle Tn. You know I wish you the best.

 

[GUNNERX2]

Wish you all the luck Ruger with your new digs. I've got to admit, hunting out of a pit is my least favorite way to hunt ducks and or geese.

 

[Cache]

There's a peace of mind that comes with hunting private. I think you will find it much more enjoyable. No more worrying about the sky busting and lack of respect on public.
Be ready to drop everything and get to the pit when it turns on. Even a bad pit can have really good days. Good luck!

 

[THE DUKE]

Best of luck, with the way duck migration has changed in the last 4yrs I couldn't do it.

 

[Don'tDrinkTinks]

I have a pit in East AR and even though we had a less than stellar year I love it. I've learned a lot. Few tips for you…

1. Buy a generator, sump pump, and an ice eater. No matter what you do that pit will more than likely flood at some point. Our 16' pit will pump out in 30 mins or less with the pump I have. I hard pvc piped the outlet. Beats a hose hands down. Ice eater has been a life saver. If your field is 18" deep with water there's no way in hell it's freezing solid. Thickest our ice got was 3/4" this past season but when it did we had a lot of open water with the ice eater.

 

[Don'tDrinkTinks]

Also, I bought a Predator 2200W generator at Harbor Freight and it's been awesome. Starts up quick and easy, very quiet, and was only about $600. Actually came in handy during last week's ice storm when the power went out.

 

[TnKen]

I have a pit in East AR and even though we had a less than stellar year I love it. I've learned a lot. Few tips for you…

1. Buy a generator, sump pump, and an ice eater. No matter what you do that pit will more than likely flood at some point. Our 16' pit will pump out in 30 mins or less with the pump I have. I hard pvc piped the outlet. Beats a hose hands down. Ice eater has been a life saver. If your field is 18" deep with water there's no way in hell it's freezing solid. Thickest our ice got was 3/4" this past season but when it did we had a lot of open water with the ice eater.

Good advice. We have a 24' pit and it takes a lot of 5 gallon bucket scoops to empty it. We use a trash pump when it's available, and it saves a lot of work. We have an ice eater that will make a hole, but when the fields freeze over the ducks leave. It will give you an open hole when it starts to thaw. It can get epic on a thaw with the only hole open.

 

[Don'tDrinkTinks]

Good advice. We have a 24' pit and it takes a lot of 5 gallon bucket scoops to empty it. We use a trash pump when it's available, and it saves a lot of work. We have an ice eater that will make a hole, but when the fields freeze over the ducks leave. It will give you an open hole when it starts to thaw. It can get epic on a thaw with the only hole open.

Yesssss… hunting the thaw is when you'll kill 'em. I've had one of those epic hunts and it's what hooked me!

 

[RUGER]

Yesssss… hunting the thaw is when you'll kill 'em. I've had one of those epic hunts and it's what hooked me!

I was there for one of those as well. It could have been the hunt of a lifetime but the decoys were all jacked up from the ice.
We had 400-500 ducks tornadoing our spot about 7 or 8 different times.
Quit even taking notice of the geese that were in the air there were so many.
Absolutely amazing sight.

 

[spoonie]

My experience in the boothill hunted a few different spots.
-the mud sucks there
-hopefully the farmer you lease from let's you stash your 4 wheeler somewhere so you don't have to drag it with you every time
-the mud sucks
-if your spot is to close to the road decoys will go missing
-usually got to cover levee Around pit with several full bodies
-the mud sucks
-thaw days are usually a gimme sign it's going be a good day
-afternoon hunts can be really successful
- the mud sucks
-on the slow days you can go to the boat and play a round of poker or craps.

Best of luck to you, I enjoyed it over there but my crew dropped out of the semo game a few years back. The variety of species you can kill in a single day was always fun.

FYI the mud sucks

 

[Dodge Man]

My experience in the boothill hunted a few different spots.
-the mud sucks there
-hopefully the farmer you lease from let's you stash your 4 wheeler somewhere so you don't have to drag it with you every time
-the mud sucks
-if your spot is to close to the road decoys will go missing
-usually got to cover levee Around pit with several full bodies
-the mud sucks
-thaw days are usually a gimme sign it's going be a good day
-afternoon hunts can be really successful
- the mud sucks
-on the slow days you can go to the boat and play a round of poker or craps.

Best of luck to you, I enjoyed it over there but my crew dropped out of the semo game a few years back. The variety of species you can kill in a single day was always fun.

FYI the mud sucks

I agree with everything especially the Mud! The way the mud sticks to everything is one of the top reasons I don't hunt in SEMO more often. I recommend Do Not pull a trailer with finders through a muddy field. We tried it a few times hauling in snow goose decoys. The finders caked so full of mud the wheels quit turning. Man I hate that mud!

 

[cbhunter]

@RUGER can I get a refund??

 

[TNGunsmoke]

Advice from a friend of mine that used to hunt up there, if you are asked if you want the field burnt or rolled, have it burnt. Stems and stalks of whatever crop, combined with the mud will destroy axle boots, and get wrapped up and caked into/around places you really don't want it.

 

[RUGER]

@RUGER can I get a refund??

Send in your balance due then we will talk about it lol

 

[RUGER]

Is it muddy over there ?
Wonder if it's worse than Mississippi?

@gasman