any suggestions on a good outfitter on the coast (matagorda area) for day hunts?

Bay Flat$

Coastal Wings

Stay away from Drake Plantaion

I've hunted with the Drake Plantation several times....aways had a good time. I'd say one of my top 5 hunts ever was with them.

What was the problem you had? My only issue is it takes me a long time to get there or I would hunt with them more.

You want a bay hunt or private pond hunt?

We are based out of the Bay City/ Matagorda area. Here's a link to a few of our client's testimonials over the years. http://www.run-n-gunadventures.com/report/viewforum.php?f=2&sid=8ac60c97f07792958301adc053411b18

Are you looking for guided or unguided where you are just dropped off at a blind?

Bay




Either one. I'd like to be able to learn the bay a little.

We do either or and can show you around after the hunt since you are interested in learning the bay...pm'ed you my number

hey fetch I looked at the website you have listed. Do you know what it would cost me for a blast and cast and minimum people needed? What would be included?

Thanks

I have been on four guided hunts with Drake Plantaiton. 1 was a skunk no shots fired. Never killed more then 7 birds with 6 to 8 people in our party. I haven't had any results to give me a reason to recomend them. Brian's a nice dude and all but I defintely won't be recomending them. Sorry its just a personal prefrence.

Pm on the way CW

It's all a part of hunting...no shots fired would make me mad and I wouldn't pay for that, but shooting 7 birds isn't a bad hunt. Just because you have alot of guys in your blind doesn't mean you'll shoot that many more birds.

People tend to think just because they spend money they will limit out. Mother nature is in control not us. We can only try our best.

Well said Corey.

Yeah no offense but not shooting lights out every hunt doesn't mean they are a bad outfit. To me it just makes it sound like you haven't hunted for long enough to understand it's hunting. It's not like the Duck Commander is limiting out every hunt either.

If you said they didn't show up on time, didnt call you, were not professional in any way, were jerks, something that would justify a negative review I would understand. But as is you would be disappointed with any outfitter in the state on any given day.

I may be young ,but I have some experience. I'm 19 I have been hunting since I was six. So I understand not every hunt is a limit or even a bird. But out of 4 or five hunts ((Plus one more hunt that my Family went on that I missed which was a skunk.)) I just haven't seen results. I understand that as guides you don't control mother nature. But you do control the ability to scout and such and determine the best possible hunting you can give. I'm not saying that D.P. was a bad outfit. I'm saying that we havn't had alot of luck with them and they havn't given me a reason to want to recommend them to anyone. For example in Lake Charles I recommend Paradise Hunting Club. When I was younger we went out with them we didn't shoot many birds ,But the guide was really knowledgable and was happy to teach me as a kid. (( I was 13? I think at the time of that hunt?)) Quite a few things about hunting geese. Spreads,what shot to use and why,a it made the hunt go by faster and showed he cared about his customers. I'm just saying..that I haven't had a whole lot of success with the outfit. Please don't take it the wrong way and make it all about limits. Many things could impress me...but I just wasn't very 'impressed' with the outfit. I have a right to my opinion and I was just stating it. But as a guide..you are paid to take us hunting. I understand there are some things you just can't help...but it is your job to make sure you do the best you can for your customers to shoot a few birds. If it doesn't work out then oh well. I wasn't intending to get put on blast or argue over it. Killing Birds is only half the hunt..I enjoy being out with my family and spending time together. I dont mean to sound like a jerk or put anyone or their buisness down ,and I don't mean to be disrespectful...I was just saying I wouldn't recommend that particular outfit....Also. We allways ask to shoot geese over ducks...we can shoots ducks back home we come down here to shoot snows. The limit on snows is 20 per person which I know is alot of birds to shoot. But I think if you add all of ours trips together There isin't 20 geese all together? Thats kinda poor. And its not due to shooting as usually we dont use half a box of shells..Sorry just havn't really had any luck. No trying to step on any toes. Let me get off this Soap box now lol.

In my guiding expierience I have had great hunts and I have had 0's. Every guide, I dont care who it is, will have a bad hunt every now and then. If I take a party of 4 out and the kill 7 ducks I wouldnt call it a bad hunt. Some clients are not the best shooters and can't hit a duck. If you go on a hunt and see a lot of birds and manage to bag a few I would call it an ok hunt. It is ok to have a bad hunt with an outfitter, but when you have 3 or 4 bad hunts in a row thats a different story. You should look at how hard the guide is working to get you birds, if he is moving the hunters around and shuffling to find the birds that is all a guide can do.

I have duck hunted for a few years. I learned a long time ago this one fact. If one uses numbers of birds to judge his duck hunting success they are not going to hunt them for very long.

It is all about the good times. If I kill a bird then the bird dies. If I don't kill a bird then the bird lives. It is that simple.

Give up now Galvestonhuntr... you're outnumbered by guides around here. LOL...

I'm on Galvestonhuntr's side. If you are getting slow hunts several times the guide should have gave warning before the hunt that it may be slow or tell them to postpone the hunt. Sure freak things happens sometimes and the birds just don't show up, but shouldn't happen often when paying for hunts.

When I guided frequently, I would scout and hunt enough to get a pretty good guess at how many birds to expect. If I expected a skunk or a couple birds in a hunt, I would be honest with them and try to persuade them to hunt a different day. Like many outfitters though, I had a guarantee for paying clients.

If you are part of a club or not paying for a fully guided hunt, it is a diffeent story.

^^^ This

I guided part time (10-15 parties) for 15 years. While I have curtailed that to just a few hunts with a few groups of long time customers, I always, back when I was taking on new clients and even today with just few my regulars, give them the opportunity to make the call on my bird reports. If birds are scarce I offer them the choice to either reschedule or cancel altogether if no other dates are available for their schedule. IF they still wanted to go based on a poor scouting report, then that was on them and I made no guarantees of success. Guiding, I dont care how big or small you are of an outfitter or guide service, is all about reputation and referral. Bad hunts are gonna occur. Like others have mentioned, we can't control the weather or bird movement. But a guide, IMO, should do his homework by field scouting and being in tune with current and approaching weather. Over the years there were times that I put a big ol mess of birds to bed, only to come back the next morning with clients and see nothing but skirls playing in the trees. Didn't mean I didn't put in the work to give my clients the best chance of success rather just one of those things. Of course, I comp'd the hunt and they returned later in the season and we waxed em.

Communication is key between guide and client. I know that alot of bigger outfitters book waaay in advance. But still, IMO, I feel an outfitter oughta have the decency to call it straight if there ain't no birds. The " well, that's why they call it hunting and not killing" mantra that many guides like to hide behind after their clients never fired a shot yet their hand is out for the money has never set well with me and I'm sure most others.

My point here is that based on Galvastonhuntr's story it was all about not shooting birds....numbers. Like I said in my last post if they do something unprofessional then that's another story...if you feel they are not working for you to find birds then that's something...but again it was all about the numbers. Like I said I've hunting with them but I'm no big time customer of theirs...I've been on 4 hunts with them...two decent hunts....one incredible, and one bad one. To me that's hunting and I'll take it.

I agree with Homey's message about communication being key. Overall I'd just be very careful about throwing someone's name in the mud on a public side without giving some really good reasons for it. Everyone has a right to an opinion and all but sometimes it's best to keep it to yourself unless you think someone is really bad or a crook (of course they are all crooks anyway...just ask Wayne). I think it's unfair that you had a couple ok hunts and a couple bad hunts and then you trash someone's busness because of it.

I'll add a +1 for the fellows at Run-N-Gun Adventures out of Bay City. I spent a morning during this year's early teal season with them and had a great hunt. Our crew limited out in all of about 45 min. but more important than putting us on birds was the way we were treated.

Questions are answered quickly, communication was good, equipment and gear is well maintained, safety wasn't overlooked and the dog work is top flight. If you're looking for overstuffed leather sofas and a wine list thicker than a Cabela's catalog this ain't your place but if you want a good hunt with guides that treat you like a hunting buddy and not just another chance to make a dollar check them out.

I agree that it's called hunting & not killing for a reason. I also agree that no matter how good you are, you're gonna skunk, but in Galvestonhuntr's defense, not to step on any toes, DP actually has pen raised mallards. That they have basically trained where the water supply is. When you sign on for their hunts, they stuff the birds full of dry food & no water the night before. Since there's only a few spots these birds know to get water, it's like shooting fish in a barrel. If there were skunk hunts, that's pretty jacked up.