The only constant in hunting is that no two seasons will be exactly the same! The 2011-2012 season was certainly no exception with Mother Nature throwing curveball after curveball. Leading up to the season we saw everything from areas of drought and crops needing a timely drink, to areas along the Missouri River experiencing record flooding. By and large, we were extremely fortunate at Habitat Flats and despite the hot temps and dry (for the first in five years) summer, our crops and moist soil habitats received a couple crucial rains which allowed them to flourish.
Our early pushes of ducks we call 'calendar ducks', they come at the same time of year based on the hours of light in the day. When the early ducks came this year, they came in big numbers and the hunting was excellent! Overall, duck season was unseasonably warm and after the calendar ducks came we never saw the large mid-late season pushes we are accustomed to. Luckily through our extensive habitat management practices in the offseason and pressure management practices during the season, we were able to maintain excellent hunting from the beginning to the last day of the season and put together our best duck season ever!
With the ending of duck season on December 27th, the New Year was ushered in with near record high temperatures and a January Canada Goose season filled with it's share of struggles. The warm temps had what Canadas were here, spread out and not in near the numbers we normally have. Not once were snow covers put on the blinds or did open water become a hard thing for the birds to find. We were forced to do a lot of bouncing around, hunting one small group of birds and moving on to the next. All in all, we had some good hunts but really had to work for them!
The Spring '12 snow goose season was yet again very much different than years past. The warmest January on record had the adult birds, who comprise the better part of the front half of the migration, good start. From there the migration seemed to string out with new birds showing up every couple days and birds leaving almost daily. With birds not sticking around our area and staging like normal, it made patterning them difficult at times. We had to trust in the good traffic lines we hunted and get on good feeds when the opportunities presented themselves.
It's hard to believe it is already pretty much over as it seems like just yesterday was the beginning of February and we were just getting started again! I guess the old adage that time flies by when you are having fun still rings true. We had a lot of good hunts with new guests and old friends. The memories made in the field and in the lodge are irreplaceable and will fuel the drive in the offseason while gearing up for next Fall. We were able to get some great stuff on video throughout the Spring season, including another great episode of RNT-V!
The ending of snow goose season is bittersweet in that another waterfowl season has come to an end. However, with the emding of one chapter is the beginning of another....habitat management! Habitat management makes the offseason ALMOST as fun as hunting season. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing the fruits of our labor and elbow grease in the offseason pay off and watching the thousands of waterfowl that come every Fall enjoying the table we have set for them. Sticking with that old adage, this offseason will fly by and it will be opening day before we know it!
National Wildlife Week always brings back fond memories of spending time in the outdoors hunting and fishing with my grandfather. For me, fishing and hunting is more about the time we spend with our friends and family, and less about the game or fish we might harvest. My grandfather told me when I was very young that conservation was important and that it has a significant role in what makes us who we are. He used to say, “Conservation is the wise use of what God has given us.” Some of the most important lessons I have learned were with my granddad walking behind bird dogs in the central plains, in the duck blind, or fishing the numerous farm ponds of my home state, Oklahoma. I learned a lot about patience, respect and integrity.
I grew up in a much different Oklahoma in the eighties than my grandfather did during the depression. The Oklahoma of the nineteen thirties was in pretty bad shape; the dust bowl and improper game management had taken its toll on wildlife throughout the state. My ...
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So often these days I see the same faces at the draw every year. Same old groups of good friends that spend their weekends in a grass covered blind, standing in a flooded cornfield, or wading through the cattail covered marsh. For many years I can honestly say that I was apart of those groups, but the last few years I have taken it upon myself to take new people out with me and look and ask for new people to join my parties.
In the last few years I have taken two people that have never duck hunted before, one guy that had fallen out of it and was trying to start up again and one guy that had just started duck hunting and did not know many people that were in the sport (this guy was a complete stranger the first time I went hunting with him). Taking new people is what keeps our beloved sport alive. So many people today have never been hunting, kids go through life never being taught the fundamentals of the outdoors.
We are a dying breed and the only way for us to grow and thrive is if we all take it upon ourselves to find someone new to take them into the blind and invite them into a passion that will only grow stronger everytime they go.
Vanishing Paradise and its partners have, for several years, been the Sportsmen’s voice for Coastal restoration in the Gulf of Mexico. One of the Vanishing Paradise campaigns highest priorities became reality today.
Conservation and our waterfowl populations received a much need boost today with the passage of the RESTORE the Gulf Coast Act. The act was authored by Senators Nelson (D-FL)-Shelby(R-AL) and Landrieu (D-LA), the amendment (#1822) was passed with a 76 to 22 vote and will be added to the Senate Transportation bill. RESTORE represents a significant bipartisan consensus among lawmakers from across the nation. This legislation will dedicate 80 percent of the Clean Water Act fines from the 2010 Gulf oil spill to restoring the Gulf Coast and also includes a much needed increase in funding for the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. The LWCF provides money to federal, state and local governments for the acquisition of land and water to benefit conservation and recreation, including hunti ...
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This story starts on Thursday November 12th. Our friend Nicole had finally decided to tag along with Matt and I on a duck hunt that coming Saturday. Nicole had never handled a shotgun before, let alone dreamed of actually killing anything with one, the first step was making sure she was comfortable with the 12 gauge in her hands. After her crash course training, she felt comfortable both shooting the gun while standing, and from the blind. Friday came and after classes were over, the game plan was set for the morning to come. The alarm clocks were set and we all climbed into the bed anxious to see what the next morning had in store.
4am brought screaming alarms and sleepy eyes. I awoke Nicole and Matt and we started layering our clothes for the hunt that was upon us. A quick stop at the gas station to refuel and we hit the road. Matt, like usual, took advantage of the 45min car ride to the field and squeezed in a quick nap. Now I don’t ...
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We'll be discussing the do's and don'ts for waterfowl guides by focusing on advertising, operations, and communication. There are thousands of great waterfowl hunters who start a guide business and only focus on the hunting side of the business and disregard the basics of running a company. The largest difference that we see between those companies that succeed and those who don't is how they market their business.
Today a small business owner has has more great and affordable marketing tools at their disposal than ever like Facebook, twitter, blogs, YouTube etc. Some of the fundamental marketing tools that every great business needs today are a website, Facebook page, YouTube channel and twitter page. Once all of these are understand up, be sure to post pictures, videos and content on a regular basis. Remember to tell the story about your business so people can understand why your company is so great and why the want to partner with you.
More to come later this week on ...
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Last season I was sitting in the duck blind with a client and his son, when his son leaned over to his dad and said "dad where are all the ducks" his dad calmly said " just be patient we have 10 minutes before shooting" and his son replied "The duck hunting game on my Wii doesnt have a shooting time and there are always duck flying"
This little conversation got me thinking how lucky I was that my dad took me hunting as much as he did, My dad traveled alot when I was growing up but every time he went fishing or hunting he always took me, I think that if he would have left me at home I might be one of the adults that still likes to play Nintendo, but instead I became a waterfowl guide in NE WI. What happened to dads or moms taking their kids hunting or fishing? I know that kids these days have alot going on, but so did I when I was a kid, parents need to start taking some time and spend some time with their kids afield. Parents need to stop using nintendo as a babysitter. ...
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Enter to Win a Cast and Blast Giveaway!
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If you’re anywhere near Oklahoma City this weekend, you need to check out the Oklahoma Tackle and Hunting Show. You won’t want to miss all the fun or the opportunity to get a friend, neighbor, or kid excited about hunting and fishing. While you’re there, make sure to stop by the HuntDucks booth.