Posted By: takemking
Panhandle Virgin - 10/25/17 12:52 AM
Looking to make my first trip up to the panhandle this season with hopes of bagging a mallard or two. Long story short is I'm a Louisiana native that moved to Houston a year and a half ago. I've never hunted north of I10. I've hunted from Galveston to Venice and everywhere in between. I've settled in here in Houston and found some amazing public opportunities. But one thing I just can't find consistently down here anymore is mallards. So I've decided to try my hand on the playas. In all honesty I'll be going into this blind having never hunted up there before. I'm not worried so much about finding birds as I am about being prepared to hunt the right way once I get there. Any advice you guys might have for me is greatly appreciated. First off I've never hunted water deeper than 2-3 feet. Do the playa lakes get much deeper than that? Should I be considering buying a layout blind and hunting waters edge or is it possible to hunt standing in waders if I bring adequate blind material? I've got a good dog so bird retrieval should not be an issue either way. I plan to take a week off of work and put in the time to scout, but are there any recommendations on what part of the season would be best? My thought was to wait until it's late January and cold. If there's anything I'm not considering that I should please let me know.