Reelfoot Lake (Updated with Pics)


Eric -

Having wasted/dedicated my life to the outdoors, and waterfowling.

As I have posted before. I have gunned many times in three of the four flyways. Have yet to hit the west coast cuz it's a long drive, and I'm not as young as I used to be.


The East Coast, Mid West ,and West are each steeped in rich waterfowling history. Ya just gotta dig a little deeper for the West (before ya hit Cali), but it is there.

I don't know what you consider the Mid West, but either side of the Mighty Mississippi states, have been a waterfowlers dream since the get go.

North America is so rich with waterfowling history. I had to narrow it down to what ducks, and geese I wanted to hunt, and how to hunt them. Each place is a unique destination.

Deep South hunts have always attracted me, but the further north west I went the more birds, peace and quiet (except for snow geese) I found. Guess it's in my blood.

Hopefully a guided deep southern hunt is in my future, as most of my waterfowling has been freelance. I want to add that to my Been There Done That.


As for calls. It boils down to what folks use for decoys as well. Old School or New, and how much work and effort they wanna put into it.

It matters more to peoples ears than to the birds.

If ya encounter a hunter with a Reelfoot style call, when he or she gets busy with it, ya won't forget it.

Even though I have many calls, and do enjoy having and sometime using them. I firmly believe the best call is a good rig of decoys.[smile]


Best regards
Vince
 
I learned to call on a Dennison Stradivarious call. For a long time, I didn't think any other call could match up to them. Of course, I eventually found the right "many" other calls that could do a lone hen or a good tone highball. If you're around Newbern on your trip, ya might want to look into a Dennison if the grandson or any of the family is still making them.
 
Have a blast! I would call it a destination, if I had not herd of the 100 yard shots and crazy locals... Take pictures, and video!!! And a few trophies, however you define a trophy!
 
I haven?t witnessed anyone trying 100 yard shots, but the locals can be a little different. The lake has a very contentious history.

40-50 yard shots are pretty normal though. Just the nature of hunting big spreads out of open water blinds and working big flocks of ducks.

The calling is different for sure. They blow a call at basically any duck they can see and blow until the ducks leave or you kill them or they pass out from running out of oxygen. There are so many blinds with huge spreads that you have to keep their attention or they?ll work someone else.
 
Vince, I wish you have a good trip& I am sure you will bring back some fine Memories. I Know After 60 some yrs.of hunting ducks across the U.S. & other countries,My kids want me to Write a book on those trips & experiences that i always enjoyed so much. YOU will never forget as well .Good luck Again PAUL
 
Good for you Eric. I have done some traveling to hunt and just to visit our wild places over the last 15 years but really increased it in the last few. I remember the trips fondly but surprisingly don't remember many days at work.

Take lots of pictures I have not made it to that part of the country.
 
Last night I returned from my two day Reelfoot Lake hunting trip. First off I want to thank Patrick Green for including me in his hunt that he started coordinating last summer. Patrick works for a company that treats unwanted aquatic vegetation and lived on Reelfoot a large part of last summer getting to know this large body of water. When I say large I mean about 20 square miles of boat wrecking stumps, logs, and every imaginable underwater hazard in a lake that is shallow through out its entirety. Patrick arranged for us to hunt with two first rate guides, Jared Poore and Will Bradshaw. Folks here will find it interesting Will is the great-great nephew of Cigar Daisy and his family is originally from Chincoteague. He too is a wooden boat builder and decoy carver. Jared is an employee of TN Wildlife Resource Agency and was exceptionally knowledgeable of the lake and its management, not to mention a very likeable individual. The conversation with our guides never stopped rolling.

Having now seen Reelfoot Lake in person I better understand why it is a difficult place to freelance. The unbelievable beauty of the lake hides the treacherous just below the surface. It would take far more time than a few trips a year there to learn where to and not to put your boat, and mistakes could be costly. The blinds, totaling around 200 on the non-refuge portions, are humongous, like 24'x30' and capable of gunning 6+ men with a boat slip and eating area. Decoy spreads typical number in the 100s. Ownership of the blinds is very interesting. A portion of the blinds are owned by the state who conduct an annual draw where the "winner" has control of a blind for the entire season. The private blinds are registered with the state. When the person that registered the blind passes away his blind becomes property of the state and entered into the draw. Basically private ownership will become a thing of the past in the next generation. These facts make it very difficult for freelancers and explain why the hunters are largely people who grew up in the area or their guests/clients.

Thursday hunting was fairly productive in-spite of most blinds reporting slow hunts. Our group produced a mixed bag of divers and puddlers and nearly had opportunity at specks. Those things just wouldn't fully commit. Friday was uncharacteristically slow due to zero wind and fog all day. Luckily I'll be returning in late January to have another crack and yet again experience this unique waterfowling destination.

I took a new-to-me camera on the trip and struggled somewhat learning how to use its bazillion features so these pictures will have to do until I learn better how to use it. Next time I plan to be more prepared.

Eric


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The boat ride to the blind y?all hunted opening day is something else, isn?t? And it feels weird blowing wide open through a decoy spread but that?s where some of the boat ditches run.
 
Michael

The boat rides were fun. Twisting and turning 30 mph through canals, creeks, and channels amongst cypress tress and sunken hazards. I have been to St. Francis Sunken Lands that were formed by the same earthquakes and there are striking similarities as well as differences. Beautiful country.

Eric
 
Eric,
Sounds and looks like a very unique experience. If there is one thing I've learned over the years, it's to take the opportunities as they present themselves. Just like ducks, they may not make a second pass. Glad you were able to add another good time to the memory bank.
 
Love the foggy morning shots Eric. Glad you were able to get out there. Seems like quite the adventure. While I don't think that the lakes here are as large as Reelfoot, there are a couple lakes down here that are reservoirs that hide all those submerged logs and trucks. It is a bit nerve wracking to putt over the lake at night....can't imagine hauling ass through it.

Do the decoys stay out there all the time? Or are they placed every morning of every hunt? And is the lake open all day every day?
 
Very cool and great pictures, I like the second one where he is looking to the sky.
I can't imagine using all those decoys but I don't see any motion decoys. Is that something they use out there?
 
Dani & Ben

The duck decoys are left out all season. Several hundred in fact plus goose decoys too If you look close you can see they use a lot of headless black filler blocks. Seems like the mantra there is go big or go home. Our guides put motion in the decoys by mounting a trolling motor underwater and angling the prop up. When ducks were working they'd flip a switch in the blind to get the motor pumping. It puts a lot of ripples out there. There were about three or four car batteries in each blind we hunted to power it all. Hunting is everyday of the regular season but shuts off at 3:00. Seemed like most parties stay on the water until then. It's easier to hunt that long when you are comfortable. One thing I will say is don't expect most shots to be legs down over the decoys. It happened but more often they were 30-45 yard pokes. I think whenever you have blinds nearby the philosophy becomes "Get them at the first possible chance so someone else doesn't mess it up."

Eric
 
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