Day 1

The hole that was producing earlier in the week was froze up and we had to keep breaking ice with the 4 wheeler.
Couldn't figure out why the few birds that were working us kept flaring...hmmm wonder what it could be...

Ended up with 2 Mergs, I wasn't sure what was hurting us more, the everlasting ice, or the guides calling. Heres a pic of the blind


We called it a day around 9, and me and the gf decided to run up to Macks PW. If you haven't been there in person, its like a duck hunters paradise. You walk in and look up and you've got a flock of 50 mallards trying to land on you, many sporting jewelry, All of those were strategically placed just out of reach.

Ended up leaving with a new call, a few t-shirts, and a wader dryer.

Then walked over to RNT and got a private lesson from Mr. RNT himself Butch Ritchenback, he played with some of my calls and re-tuned one for me.




Day 2 was supposed to rain all morning and be pretty cold, but the guide said he found some birds so we decided to give it a try, when in Rome right? Unfortunately the birds gave us the slip and never showed, ended up with one GWT.


Over all, had a great time, we didn't kill many birds but the experience was awesome. Plus I've never seen so many ducks and geese in my entire life.
Nearly every field looked like this

The fields that were flooded had just as many ducks on it, it was just one of those times where they wanted to be where we couldn't hunt them.
All in all, like I said the experience was awesome, Im so glad that I got the opportunity to see it in person. I would highly recommend anyone who has a passion for duck hunting to go check out the duck and goose capital of the world!

Awesome!

Great pics!! Sorry about the hunts!!

Ill be up there next year for sure.... wonder when the best time to go is

First I would like to say that your Girlfriend did a very cool thing for you, and Stuttgart has a way of showing you the duck hunting world without even killing a duck.

But I sure hate to hear that they didn't put you on the birds that I know are around there, not saying you should have brought out limits everytime but you sure should have seen more ducks than that!!!
And don't even get me started on a guide that's in Arkansas and can't "Run a Duck Call",
Anyway glad you had the experience.

cool!

Cool. MACK's is a great place.

That's the problem with Arkansas lots of people want to go hunt Arkansas because everyone talks of all the great duck hunting , it is too hit and miss you either kill em or do as you did and crap out , you can have a lot more consistent duck hunting right here in Texas or Oklahoma

Glad you had fun, looks cool

Gotta agree with this, but even still theres something to be said about a trip to Stuttgart. Every waterfowler should do it at least once before they die, if even to just go to Macks. Glad you had a nice trip, even without shooting a heavy strap!

In a situation like this, I know a guide can't control the birds but you killed one GWT and 1 merganser. Does the guide still hold his hand out to get paid? He had to know he was not holding birds. I would rather a guide cancel or try to reschedule my trip if he does not have the birds.
I am sure hanging around the town was a great experience but I am sorry you did not have better hunts.

We hunted the public land there and we would get a couple each. The locals would limit out daily on the public land.

Stuttgart is not the "Duck" capital of the world, it's the "Duck Hunting" capital of the world. It's a cool place to visit though- You'd be surprised how many hunters drive all the way up there to not shoot squat.

If every field was holding feeding birds, why didn't y'all set up a field hunt?

That's true.

The sign you pass as you enter "Welcome to Stuttgart, rice and duck capital of the world"

All the locals that I talked to said just before Christmas is typically the best

Merganser Capital of the World

Tourist trap. Seems a couple birds PER BLIND is the norm up there for an out of stater paying a guide.

Its a long story but we ended up just paying for lodging, and they kept our deposit. I will not be going back to this outfitter, the amount of birds in the area was ridiculous and I told him several times both before we left and after we got there that I would rather reschedule than go into a dry green timber hole that's been hunted hard all season long with no birds. After seeing all the birds in the fields I said I would rather hunt ducks and geese than the same situation. He assured me that he had found birds and that although we may not kill limits, we would have a good shoot, which was fine with me. Its not like we shot a box of shells either and just didn't connect, I fired 4 shots the entire trip. 1 at the merg, and 3 at the teal (sky blasting like a MF) killing it on the third shot. The Boss man is who my gf talked to, to set it up. He made it sound like he was going to go with us as soon as we got there to get our licenses and then he would pick us up at the lodge and take us to the spot. When we got about 15 minutes from the lodge we text him to let him know. His reply was to meet him at the country store in Ethel at 530. 1) not knowing where the heck ethel is or the country store, and 2) not having our license yet, our reply was what about our license and how do we get to the country store. He said in Dewitt there's a Philips 66 who can print us some licenses. Apon receiving that message I looked to my left and I was passing that gas station. I pulled over, we got out and started to go in when this white truck started honking and yelling at my gf, Taylor. I walked over to the driver and he said he was the owner of the guide service and basically re-told us everything he sent in a message, his response to the Ethel question was "you cant miss it". How he knew it was us, im still not sure, we didn't tell him where we were, just that we were almost there, maybe it was the Texas license plate. Anyways we look up the address of the country store at 5am the next day and head that way. We get there and there's two guys inside both wearing camo. I go inside, introduce myself, and tell them Im looking for Craig. One of them seemed to be confused so I called him on it, saying whats wrong with looking for Craig? His response was are you sure your going with CRAIG. I told him what Craig had told me, and he said oh yea, your going with me, he was supposed to tell you yesterday. I work for Craig. He also told me that Craig had double booked us. At that point I was tired of all the confusion and just ready to get into the woods so I just went with the flow. Like I said I had a good time even though we didn't kill birds. The actual guide Corby was cool, kept the jokes coming, kept the mood light like any good guide should, just couldn't make his DC Mondo sound remotely close to a duck. The actual owner Craig was not heard of again besides one text at 9pm Saturday telling us to meet Corby at the same Philips 66 for day 2. The lodge was nice, the scenery was great, the birds were there by the millions in every direction, just didn't want to be where we were.

I understand that half the fun is seeing the sights and visiting Macks and RNT and all that stuff.

But only 2 birds. That would be a hard pill to swallow after paying for travel, lodging, time off work, etc...

I just have to think that outfitter was a joke. Especially since he's guiding in Arkansas and couldn't run a call.

I've seen the work you do on public around here, I bet you could have done way better on your own hunting public out there.

I'm thinking about going out there next year but after hearing this I will have to think long and hard and do my research on the outfitter before I pull the trigger.

The good guides in the Stuttgart area charge 300 plus per person for a morning hunt. Anyone charging less than that and you are taking a gamble. What guide did you go with? And I sure hope he wasn't calling that a timber hole.

The outfitter was Big Creek Guide Service. They had awesome reviews and had a video on the front page of their web site. They weren't the cheapest and they weren't the most expensive so when booking it my girlfriend thought it was a good median. When I found out that she had booked it, I first wanted her to cancel it because I couldn't wrap my head around spending that kind of money for 6 birds. But she reminded me of how I've always wanted to go, and it was on my bucket list of places to go. And Yes they did call the iced up spot a timber hole. Not what I was expecting!

Hi! I'm the wonderful gf yall speak of. I definitely feel like the guides took advantage of us. The only time the boss man was even slightly friendly was when I was booking the hunt. I asked for field hunts and he said and I quote "there's no birds on any field around here". Total bs. Before the second day, I called to let him know that we weren't happy and would much rather hunt geese or hunt a field or not go at all if we were going to have a repeat of that first morning to which his response was "yall are going to hunt a reservoir outside of town". If the guy who actually went with us, who was alright aside from his awful calling, hadn't told the boss man to cut us a break, I sure as heck was not going to be paying him what he expected. He would've gotten more than an earful of pissed off girl.

This is sad..... Guides have really gone bad man!

Well it will just help the good ones business the way I look at it. Bad reviews have their way of spreading and the good guides like some of the ones that we have on here will only profit from the bad guides loss of customers.

Stuttgart's reputation has made it easier to set up a guide service there and make some money. There are some good ones, but as with anything it's the 95/5 rule, 5% of the guys are killing 95% of the birds. There are some very good private ground places that are there if you have the money. Then again you can hunt probably two hours from there and have a better hunt and spend less money on average.

We all get skunked eventually, it hurts twice as much when you pay for it..........three times as bad when you pay and travel for it.

Sorry you got the run around man. Just like anywhere, hunting is hunting, but it does sound like you got a raw deal.

Every field and piece of woods around that area is leased and/or owned by a hunt club. You can't guide on public so the outfitters are stuck with with what they have pretty much. There's only so much scouting you can do, they either have birds or they don't. This is also why the older and more prominent places have such a foothold. Over years and years they've slowly expanded and now have options and more holes to spread hunters out on.

Bottom line... it's really easy to have a few awesome hunts... it's extremely difficult to have consistent success all season. So just about anyone can go make a sweet video and post straps of green, very few can deliver what people have in their head of what Stuttgart is about.

Some advise for those thinking about making a trip, use these forums and the local Arkansas forums, ask about the clubs from the guys who live there. You spend a season or two around there and everyone knows who owns or hunts what fields and what pieces of timber. It's hard to keep a secret when someone is doing well.

That said, the good well known clubs are that for a reason, they're good. You want the real deal in your face timber, either take some extra time and go do it yourself on public, or pay what they ask.

No matter how it turned out... awesome gift!

I think there's a difference between getting skunked and getting cheated... it feels like these guys knew they didn't have birds and just wanted the money anyway. I mean, they already had half as a non refundable deposit, why risk a bad reputation for a little more cash?

I don't believe you have a woman. Pics or she's make-believe.

Not true. Peckerwood Lake is located less than 10 miles north of Mack's Prairie Wings. Bayou Meto is 12 miles away and the White River is less than 20 miles away. There IS public land.

That said, there is a ton of hunting pressure. I don't know these guys but it sounds like they are a fly by night outfit. And that pic of your "timber hunt"...that's NOT an AR flooded green timber hunt.

I'd recommend you save your money and do the trip again, next time take your kids. That gf of yours...she sounds like a keeper.

Go to jonesboro arkansas, less pressure, less city folk, less
DD wannebies

Thanks for posting about your bucket list trip to hunt ducks in Arkieland. It is also on my bucket list and I hope to one day make it a reality. And I will be sure to steer clear of the outfit you used on your trip...from your pics and description, it looks like they are a "one-trick-pony" operation.

What call did you get from Mack's and how was your visit with Butch?

Thanks again and I agree, your GF is a keeper!

Gig 'Em!!!

Butch was awesome, very friendly, and of coarse an amazing caller. the calls of mine that he blew will never make that sound coming from me. I bought a HOBO call. Its basically the same thing as an echo. The founder of hobo was there and sold me on it after I went though and tried several of his calls. He also showed me a video of Mitch Moreland of the Texas Rangers running one of his calls. pretty cool!

Did Butch work with all of your calls or only RNT calls?

He is not supposed to tune/blow any calls other than RNT. Apparently he got in trouble a few years back when he tuned a customers Echo call for him. The guy supposedly videoed it and posted it online.

Come on man are you serious? You know that ain't happening.

Unfortunately we had a very similar experience over the weekend, although we did manage to shoot a few birds. 10 of us killed 50 over the course of 3 days. BUT the guy running the outfit took out a group of 6 each morning and managed 1,3, and 2 birds total. Took the group out Saturday to the SAME spot that we hunted Friday and only shot 1 duck. That kind of angered us since his website advertised they had access to 3500 acres of artificially flooded timber. We got to see 2 cypress breaks in three days of hunting on a 160 acre piece of property.

They did take a group of 4 each day to the refuge. First day was decent with 24 birds, Second day to the exact same spot we shot 13, and the last day we shot 7. What was frustrating is they wailed on their duck calls from the moment they saw the ducks until the ducks left the area. There was no soft calling, parked the boat 10 yards from the nearest decoy and didn't bother covering it. Action looked like it was going to pick up Saturday so we started passing on hens. Had a single hen land in the decoys. We saw it and decided to pass. After yelling "kill it, kill it" several times and no one shot it, one of the guides stood up and water swatted it. Next flock was four hens, we all passed and the same guide stands up and drops 2 hens.

I saw more ducks Sunday than any other day. They would come in on a string until they got about 50 yards out and then they would flare straight up. The problem is when shooting through the trees you couldn't really shoot down the lake and could only shoot straight in front over the decoys. About time they made it to the decoys they were 60 yards up and climbing.

I asked one of the guides if they could pick up robo, move the boat a couple hundred yards down the lake, and if they could lay off the "Quad Call" and only use some soft chatter and quacks when they were working. I was told robo brings in more ducks than it flares, the ducks can't see the boat through the trees, and the "Quad Call" works. Well something sure as hell flared the ducks for 3 days straight and they did nothing different. They are simply lucky there are so many birds in the area a few of them are dumb enough to drop right in.

I know the video is horrible, but someone please let me know if they've ever heard calling like this before.

Also saw huge flocks of snows everywhere. We talked to multiple people that were hunting without guides and were from out of state. Nearly all of them were shooting limits of mallards EVERY day. We saw the limits with our own eyes. All of these people were getting limits and our guides couldn't get a duck to finish. 90% of the ducks we shot were over the tree tops, they WOULD NOT come within 40 yards of the decoys.

Ive taken Mitch duck hunting, and he could be a guide for me hands down. Very talented duck caller

My Gf videoed the entire conversation for me to be able to go back and remember the tips he gave me. We were there for at least an hour. Actually stayed and shot the bull with him until 20 minutes after closing time. Great guy, All im saying anymore about Butch is look at my lanyard in some of my other pics and then take what you want from it.

I have had around fifteen friends go to Stuttgart at different times over the years all with different outfitters and every single one of their experiences sounded exactly like the lead post in this thread. ESPECIALLY the lame calling. From all of their accounts it was like nobody around there EVER tried calling at anything other than FULL BLAST and nonstop.

I would like to go to MPW for once just to see where I have sent all of that money too over the years but other than that I feel like I can consistently kill more ducks right here in Tejas thank you very much.

I like a Mojo as much as anyone but if ducks are flaring that is the FIRST thing I yank out of the Spread.

And keeping a boat that close to the blind is just stupid arrogance I don't care how great a guide you are.

You took that all wrong, butch is there for anyone who comes into the shop, just go to the window and you will see him there to tune or help in anyway he can.
The question was did he tune any other call, other than RNT, and I'm here to tell ya that ain't happening!

Im here to tell ya that a pimiento cheese sammich rules!!

Just got a text from the guide saying he wants another $200 cuz there was confusion with his other guide. Looks like he's gonna get an ear full after all!

If his Guiding ability was as high as his nerve for asking that you would have had a much better experience in the first place. Rip him a new one.

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She's a keeper!

Pimento cheese AND ham is way better.