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Networking #8828172 04/04/23 12:58 AM
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For the public land guys how do you stay on birds all season? Do you have a network of buddies your always talking to and yall keep each other informed on where the birds are?

I pretty much run solo and at times have a hard time staying on birds. You know I got to work and have family so can't spend all my time scouting. Last year started off slow for me, took me a week and half or so to find birds. Got on them good right before thanks giving till Christmas. Then struggled till mid January and got back on them and did well through the end of the season. Just the way it goes chasing birds that get pushed around by weather and hunting pressure.

Do yall mostly just find birds on your own or have some guys yall talk to and keep each other informed on where the birds are?


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Re: Networking [Re: 2flyfish4] #8828242 04/04/23 02:34 AM
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Mostly on my own . A couple of guys I trade info with. Otherwise I don't know anything. LOL! I don't even share info with family, because they can't keep their mouth shut. I scout a lot & if areas are holding feed I always check my records & look in the same areas.

Last edited by DUKFVR; 04/04/23 02:36 AM.
Re: Networking [Re: 2flyfish4] #8828393 04/04/23 02:06 PM
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I find my own birds, that's part of the fun. That's hunting. Pulling the trigger is shooting.

Re: Networking [Re: 2flyfish4] #8828447 04/04/23 03:05 PM
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I do this a few different ways. One is just patterning. I have hunted waterfowl for 18 years now and based on water levels, temperatures, and talking with my farmers throughout the year on how they were able to do with crops, I kind of know where I want to be to start the season, mid season and late season.

I usually scout a week prior to the season starts though. I can jump on one or two bodies of water and know exactly if birds are in an area or not. If not, I move north to a few of the roost holes. I have my early season down pretty good though. I can almost always start my first 2 weekends off with a bang because its just that consistent for the last 15 years. Once a good freeze happens, then the games start in having to figure out how far south the birds have pushed.

My primary way of finding birds is scouting. But just like fishing, you know areas that hold birds, you just have to go look and try. If I strike out within the first couple hours of a set, I am on to the next spot. I hunt 2 days every week consistently the whole season. So I will hunt from sun up to sun down if I am not on the birds. I am super fortunate to have the ability to stay out over night and not be home. By Saturday morning (I hunt fridays and saturdays), I am usually on the birds. Sometimes a hole can be consistent for 2-3 weeks and sometimes thats all you get and have to start over the next weekend.

I have hunted with the same guy now for 10 years, and we think very similarly and we compare notes during the season. We go off past successes different times of years. I have a full collection of albums from every season and successful hunts and every pic is dated on the back. Also, farmers and connections. I rely heavy on my relations with farmers and what they are seeing on their property. I hunt a lot of private but probably spend 30-50% of my hunts on public during the season as well. If I know a good feed is happening on a property or a nearby property, I also know where there is some public that I can hunt those same birds. Most of my private stuff has come from hunting public nearby and following birds out and seeing which private they are going on. So it all started with hunting public somewhere near the private stuff I have access to now.

Time on the water for fishing and time out in the field for hunting. I rely on no mans word and my father told me a long long time ago... Believe half of what you hear and only what you see. I rely on my eyes to put me on the birds.

Re: Networking [Re: 2flyfish4] #8828454 04/04/23 03:15 PM
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I have a very small circle of trust LOL. And one of them rarely hunts now, mainly into fishing. I mostly find them on my own. I have detailed logs of what areas are right at various water levels. I narrow things down using that info and selectively scout. After each hunt I usually scout the next spot, even if it means loading the boat and going elsewhere.

Over the last couple years I've been hunting with some guys less than half my age. I gotta admit it felt kinda weird at first, but they're respectful guys and pretty mad at 'em. One thing that has changed with their generation - they have a large network of hunting buddies. They'll have 10 or so in their inner circle and a lot more in their group that they share info with. They find birds and all go after them together, burn the spot up pretty quick. Rinse and repeat. I gotta admit I prefer the old skool ways of keeping tight lipped and being able to stay in the same area for a while.


Re: Networking [Re: 2flyfish4] #8828457 04/04/23 03:19 PM
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There's a public land spot we hunt, and luckily a buddy of ours lives 15 mins away and passes the area every weekday to get to his office.

But we are lucky he and fortunate enough he can do that, plus it gives him a spot to pull over and watch birds all week long before heading to a stressful day at work.

Good luck!

Re: Networking [Re: LarryCopper] #8828465 04/04/23 03:29 PM
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Originally Posted by LarryCopper
I have a very small circle of trust LOL. And one of them rarely hunts now, mainly into fishing. I mostly find them on my own. I have detailed logs of what areas are right at various water levels. I narrow things down using that info and selectively scout. After each hunt I usually scout the next spot, even if it means loading the boat and going elsewhere.

Over the last couple years I've been hunting with some guys less than half my age. I gotta admit it felt kinda weird at first, but they're respectful guys and pretty mad at 'em. One thing that has changed with their generation - they have a large network of hunting buddies. They'll have 10 or so in their inner circle and a lot more in their group that they share info with. They find birds and all go after them together, burn the spot up pretty quick. Rinse and repeat. I gotta admit I prefer the old skool ways of keeping tight lipped and being able to stay in the same area for a while.


I still live by the tight lipped rule. I will admit honestly that I lie straight to others faces lol. I wish success, I absolutely do, but I also respect effort and if they find them by putting the time behind the wheel like I do, then have at the beat down. But I dont share info that freely. It could mean having a hole to go to for 2-3 weekends sometimes. Hunt it for 2 days, let it rest for 5 and get at it again. That rest will keep birds in an area and I like being home to momma around 1 or 2 in the afternoon during the season when I am on a good area. But you better believe I will give it to sun down trying to get them figured out if I am not pulling the trigger.

Last edited by flashman252; 04/04/23 03:30 PM.
Re: Networking [Re: flashman252] #8828482 04/04/23 03:50 PM
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Originally Posted by flashman252
I will admit honestly that I lie straight to others faces lol.

I would never do such a thing whistle

I get it. There are a couple of guys that are on the edge of my circle of trust. I may not tell them the whole truth all the time. Which means 90% BS pretty much all the time. They're the young buck crowd so I know that info would spread fast.

Along those lines... whenever the subject comes up and the guy I'm talking to asks where I hunt, I instinctively clam up even if they don't hunt at all. Always the same answer... all the lakes around here. Kinda like getting back to the ramp and saying I caught a few knowing I got a quick limit LOL. Been burned enough times to know better I suppose.


Re: Networking [Re: LarryCopper] #8828528 04/04/23 05:35 PM
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Originally Posted by LarryCopper
Originally Posted by flashman252
I will admit honestly that I lie straight to others faces lol.

I would never do such a thing whistle

I get it. There are a couple of guys that are on the edge of my circle of trust. I may not tell them the whole truth all the time. Which means 90% BS pretty much all the time. They're the young buck crowd so I know that info would spread fast.

Along those lines... whenever the subject comes up and the guy I'm talking to asks where I hunt, I instinctively clam up even if they don't hunt at all. Always the same answer... all the lakes around here. Kinda like getting back to the ramp and saying I caught a few knowing I got a quick limit LOL. Been burned enough times to know better I suppose.


EXACTLY! I have got to the point, I just say one lake in particular. EVERYONE knows it, and its really good but just over run.

Re: Networking [Re: flashman252] #8828656 04/04/23 09:40 PM
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Originally Posted by flashman252
Originally Posted by LarryCopper
Originally Posted by flashman252
I will admit honestly that I lie straight to others faces lol.

I would never do such a thing whistle

I get it. There are a couple of guys that are on the edge of my circle of trust. I may not tell them the whole truth all the time. Which means 90% BS pretty much all the time. They're the young buck crowd so I know that info would spread fast.

Along those lines... whenever the subject comes up and the guy I'm talking to asks where I hunt, I instinctively clam up even if they don't hunt at all. Always the same answer... all the lakes around here. Kinda like getting back to the ramp and saying I caught a few knowing I got a quick limit LOL. Been burned enough times to know better I suppose.


EXACTLY! I have got to the point, I just say one lake in particular. EVERYONE knows it, and its really good but just over run.

I always say "I don't tell people where I hunt, especially duck hunting". I have no problem saying that, and I say it several times a year. And when I pull up to the boat ramp and someone asked "How did you do", I'm honest here too and tell them "I shot the F*** out of them, how did you do?"

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Re: Networking [Re: 2flyfish4] #8829386 04/06/23 02:11 AM
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There’s nothing more rewarding than finding birds and having a great hunt the next day or days on public, but I’m not going to lie. I’m glad I don’t have to deal with all the BS that goes along with that noise any more.


Re: Networking [Re: 2flyfish4] #8829387 04/06/23 02:15 AM
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Interesting. I figured more of yall had some close buddies you shared intel with to stay on the birds. But im like most yall, I run solo almost entirely and have a few buddies I talk with but never share much with them. And even if they tell me they are on birds and I'm not I rarely head their way. I've got my spots and normally aren't out of birds for very long. Tell people all the time I hunt certain lakes, you know the lakes everyone knows and that are overcrowded. I never really hunt them and normally just down play any success I have.


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Re: Networking [Re: 2flyfish4] #8829642 04/06/23 05:45 PM
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Originally Posted by 2flyfish4
Interesting. I figured more of yall had some close buddies you shared intel with to stay on the birds. But im like most yall, I run solo almost entirely and have a few buddies I talk with but never share much with them. And even if they tell me they are on birds and I'm not I rarely head their way. I've got my spots and normally aren't out of birds for very long. Tell people all the time I hunt certain lakes, you know the lakes everyone knows and that are overcrowded. I never really hunt them and normally just down play any success I have.


-I definitely down play success.
-I have 1 buddy I share notes with and am completely honest with. The first couple years were funny because we got to a point where we could call each others lies because we are so avid. Finally just said we would hunt with each other solely and be completely open and honest. One of the best decisions of my life was trusting that guy as he is an absolute gentleman and best friend at this point. The card we give all the farmers has both our names on it and phone numbers.
-We have started really branching out and traveling. There is one group in another state that we have invited to hunt, felt out, and now travel with to other states. Whenever we have lost birds, we holler their way and get an invite. When they lose their birds, they holler our way and we get them on birds. Again, tight lipped group and love them like family. This has worked out real well last 2-3 years.
-Farmers have been our biggest key to success and info. They have no reason to lie. I send thank you cards out (up to 82 cards now) every fall so they remember us. On the farmers that have let us hunt more than 10 years now, we send a gift basket and goodies. We really take care of our landowners and it has paid off tenfold over the years for us.

Last edited by flashman252; 04/06/23 05:51 PM.
Re: Networking [Re: 2flyfish4] #8829654 04/06/23 06:30 PM
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Definitely helps to have a close group of friends you can trust. Birds change spots so frequently on public and even private it helps to have more eyes looking for them. I use to hunt a lake around DFW and knew the warden well, we both liked to hunt certain spots and we would give each other details on where we hunted and saw birds. That info helped me find new areas to hunt.

Re: Networking [Re: 2flyfish4] #8829809 04/06/23 11:25 PM
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No.

It’s been my observation that’s a quick way to burn something down.

Re: Networking [Re: 2flyfish4] #8831245 04/10/23 02:31 AM
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We share info to a degree. Ours is different though, we goose and Sandhill hunt, and I don't have the goose decoys to hunt by myself. I have 2 people that have decoys, and we share info. Every weekend there's anywhere from 4-10 of us out scouting. Either the person with the best connection to the landowner calls, or whoever finds the birds does. I'm not huge on hunting 10-12 people, but if 8 guys are out looking, then they all deserve a spot in the field.

We are hunting private land, but it's all done by calling farmers and landowners. I try and take care of my landowners too, give them some goose jerky, and a good bottle of liquor if they like.

Our biggest problem is competing with Cadillac on farmers he hasn't done wrong yet. A bottle of whiskey doesn't compare to a $500+ payday if the farmer hasn't been burned.


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Re: Networking [Re: KWood_TSU] #8831262 04/10/23 03:01 AM
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Originally Posted by KWood_TSU
We share info to a degree. Ours is different though, we goose and Sandhill hunt, and I don't have the goose decoys to hunt by myself. I have 2 people that have decoys, and we share info. Every weekend there's anywhere from 4-10 of us out scouting. Either the person with the best connection to the landowner calls, or whoever finds the birds does. I'm not huge on hunting 10-12 people, but if 8 guys are out looking, then they all deserve a spot in the field.

We are hunting private land, but it's all done by calling farmers and landowners. I try and take care of my landowners too, give them some goose jerky, and a good bottle of liquor if they like.

Our biggest problem is competing with Cadillac on farmers he hasn't done wrong yet. A bottle of whiskey doesn't compare to a $500+ payday if the farmer hasn't been burned.


Why don't yall beat them at their own game. If there are 8-10 of yall, everyone pitch in $50-$75 bucks for the land owner. Its a pretty nominal cost and puts some real money in the land owners pocket. I bet they will start calling you when they have birds in their fields which should cut down on the yalls gas money running all over the place looking for birds. Personally I'd be more than happy to pitch in $100 for every hunt as long as there are birds.


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Re: Networking [Re: 2flyfish4] #8832136 04/11/23 07:01 PM
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Originally Posted by 2flyfish4
Originally Posted by KWood_TSU
We share info to a degree. Ours is different though, we goose and Sandhill hunt, and I don't have the goose decoys to hunt by myself. I have 2 people that have decoys, and we share info. Every weekend there's anywhere from 4-10 of us out scouting. Either the person with the best connection to the landowner calls, or whoever finds the birds does. I'm not huge on hunting 10-12 people, but if 8 guys are out looking, then they all deserve a spot in the field.

We are hunting private land, but it's all done by calling farmers and landowners. I try and take care of my landowners too, give them some goose jerky, and a good bottle of liquor if they like.

Our biggest problem is competing with Cadillac on farmers he hasn't done wrong yet. A bottle of whiskey doesn't compare to a $500+ payday if the farmer hasn't been burned.


Why don't yall beat them at their own game. If there are 8-10 of yall, everyone pitch in $50-$75 bucks for the land owner. Its a pretty nominal cost and puts some real money in the land owners pocket. I bet they will start calling you when they have birds in their fields which should cut down on the yalls gas money running all over the place looking for birds. Personally I'd be more than happy to pitch in $100 for every hunt as long as there are birds.


Cant do it. Way I understand it is they are leased for the year. I dont venture in the panhandle near as much as I used to. Cadillac creek has really gobbled up a lot of area. No matter how hard I try to get permission in that area, I always get the "Cadillac Creek has it" answer. I even got stopped by a game warden in the area when I was scouting. He did the normal check of license etc etc and then just told me he felt bad for the little guys as no one is hunting the area unless you book with them. There are a few areas they havent quite got locked down, and slowly some farmers are opening back up, but for the most part, they stepped in and they are running the show in that area. Sucks because I used to hammer down on geese for many many years in that area. Havent been back in quite awhile. Other birds in other areas that are untapped still. End of the day though, I still refuse to pay for any of the land I hunt.

I tell all my landowners, the second I buy into a lease for the year, I have a contract to be there until the end of the season. If we do this based on a hand shake, you can kick me off anytime you like and it is always based on privilege being here. I promise I will take care of you and your land as long as I am allowed to be here. It has worked very well over the last 18 years and has got to the point where some farmers have gone out of their way to make sure we have a guest house to stay at or electrical to plug in trailers if we want to bring them out to their property. Our main landowner (who has let us hunt his property the longest now) had a dam blow out many years ago. He has a big cattle operation and when we heard about it, we all ponied up about $600-$800 to rent equipment to go repair it. We hauled the tractors out and spent an entire 2 days repairing his dam. The old man walked out with a check book and asked what he owed. I told him a hand shake and to keep allowing us out every winter. I explained to him, the amount we paid still was pennies compared to what some people pay to hunt geese around the country and that it was never about money and always about respect for his property.

That one act of kindness spread like wildfire among the farming community. It was funny as to how many cattle farmers knew about us for the next two years when we would knock on their doors to ask for permission. One guy who hadnt let hunters on his property in 20 years allowed us out shortly after that and to this day we are the only ones allowed on that property. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS take care of your landowners.

Last edited by flashman252; 04/11/23 07:06 PM.
Re: Networking [Re: 2flyfish4] #8832800 04/12/23 09:55 PM
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I like public, don't have to pay anybody anything.

Re: Networking [Re: Guy] #8833346 04/13/23 06:42 PM
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Originally Posted by Guy
I like public, don't have to pay anybody anything.

Coming from the deer lease side of hunting I prefer leased property, if the place is trashed you know who did it and no fighting over spots. I miss the lease I was on, had to let it go due to a TurboTax mistake on two years taxes. The last I heard it was being turned into a solar pannel farm mad bang


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Re: Networking [Re: RayB] #8833478 04/13/23 10:16 PM
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Originally Posted by RayB
Originally Posted by Guy
I like public, don't have to pay anybody anything.

Coming from the deer lease side of hunting I prefer leased property, if the place is trashed you know who did it and no fighting over spots.

Another thing I like about public is the variety. One thing I have always said about duck hunting, public vs private...Private provides a sense of relaxation, public provides a sense of adventure. Beating Barney to your spot will put butter flies in your stomach, no butter flies with private.. But I have learned to avoid Barney for the most part, but when I do run into Barney, I do not let it bother me. I had a private duck lease for about 6 years, and I just got bored with it. And one year I was on private lease with others (duck club), and that was worse than public, one year of that was enough.

Re: Networking [Re: Guy] #8833483 04/13/23 10:23 PM
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Originally Posted by Guy
Originally Posted by RayB
Originally Posted by Guy
I like public, don't have to pay anybody anything.

Coming from the deer lease side of hunting I prefer leased property, if the place is trashed you know who did it and no fighting over spots.

Another thing I like about public is the variety. One thing I have always said about duck hunting, public vs private...Private provides a sense of relaxation, public provides a sense of adventure. Beating Barney to your spot will put butter flies in your stomach, no butter flies with private.. But I have learned to avoid Barney for the most part, but when I do run into Barney, I do not let it bother me. I had a private duck lease for about 6 years, and I just got bored with it. And one year I was on private lease with others (duck club), and that was worse than public, one year of that was enough.


Ya we often talk about this as well. If we had one lease and one place to go, the sport would become a dud real fast. We send out just over 80 thank you cards every fall to our farmers who let us hunt and we hit a lot of private. No way we hunt that many properties in a season, but they sure know about us every year. We make sure to keep in touch with them as they make sure to keep in touch with us. It keeps the adventure and the relaxation alive and we rarely have any "Barney" issues with our relations with our farmers. Also, most of our public is pretty hidden still as most do not venture quite where we go. A few places we see people but most still are unventured.

Re: Networking [Re: flashman252] #8833500 04/13/23 10:48 PM
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Originally Posted by flashman252
We send out just over 80 thank you cards every fall to our farmers who let us hunt and we hit a lot of private.

Way too much sucking up for me. roflmao

Re: Networking [Re: 2flyfish4] #8833828 04/14/23 03:53 PM
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public I still hunt birds are always in same spots. no need to scout


Donate to TX Youth hunting program.... better to donate then to waste it in taxes

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Re: Networking [Re: 2flyfish4] #8833895 04/14/23 05:24 PM
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not trying to brag or toot my own horn, but having friends with private land and pit blinds has been great.
super fortunate and grateful for them

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