Myself and Two colleagues made a trip down to Seadrift to Hunt with Brandon Kendrick of Ruffling Feathers Guide Service after a THF recommendation and what a treat it was. Diver limits with some of the biggest bodied bluebills I've seen! With that said, it's generally hard for a guide to be given a bad review after a successful hunt so here's what really made our hunt with Brandon a great one.
Initial impressions: arrived early to drop the boat in (a rarity these days with guides) - Knowledgeable, courteous, and fun guy to hang out with in a duck blind.
The stuff worth paying for: On the ride out, Brandon informed us that he noticed on his past couple of scouting trips that the birds seemed to be favoring an area 600 yards away from one of his blinds; he said if we didn't mind spending some time building a makeshift blind, he thought we'd have a better shot at killing birds. Having your clients hunt 600 yards on the opposite side of a prairie tank because the wind shifted overnight is one thing, but when Brandon pulled up 600 yards down the same stretch of coastline as the blind to a location with no distinguishing features, habitat, or structure separating it from the other blind...I admit I was skeptical. Nevertheless, as we were getting settled in, I realized his theory would be put to the test as another group of hunters spotted the vacant blind and piled in to hunt it. Over the next 3.5 hours we managed to scrape together a 4 man limit of divers, all the while, the blind just 600 yards away didn't shoot more than two or three times at most. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever for anyone to have hunted the location we did vs the original blind unless you truly did your homework. There were not a ton of birds around and it wasn't a fast and furious limit, you just had to spend the time on the water scouting and Brandon did just that.
Take Away: Awesome Trip with a class act guide who knows his stuff and definitely worth giving a call (936) 671-3407
