Rice Fields And Layout Blind-help Needed

[cajunbbq]

Hello,

My name is Darron Hicks, I am 35 years old and I have been chasing Ducks since I was. My father and I have own the Cajun Cookers hunting club in Wiener Arkansas for the last 20 plus years and have enjoyed your product for years. We recently went to GHG decoys exclusively at our club last year (45 dozen) and were very pleased with the results. The reason I am contacting you is concerning hunting with the use of Lay out blinds in and around rice fields. I have watch ducks over the last 5 years get more and more leary of pit blinds and they seem to be concentrating in the center of fields. I feel that portable lay out blinds are going to be more and more effective in the years to come and I am gearing up to be very mobile this year to say the least. We control almost 3000 acres and as you can imagine you can’t put a pit every 50 acres. This brings me to the reason for my e-mail. Have any of your pro-staffers done any of this type of hunting? It seems the only information that I can find is on dry field hunting in the northern states. I have outfitted a polycarbonate hunting coffin with a slightly modified elimator pro and this blind will sit with a very low profile in up to a one foot of water which is the maximum we generally have in our fields. I am looking for information on decoy setup, as well as suggestions for the best types of decoys to use. I love the full body shells which we use on our rice levies and am curious if these have worked effectively in shallow fields. Thanks for making some great products and I would certainly appreciate any suggestions that anyone in your company might have and would be happy to contact any one if necessary.

Sincerely,

Darron Hicks

Cajun Cookers Hunting Club

Wiener Arkansas



Home Address

41 Bloomington Cove

Jackson TN 38305

731-217-5166

[Alex Hilburn]

Darron,

Let my try and take a stab at your question. Lots of us, and other hunters will use layout blinds in the middle of fields. If you use one of our full framed blinds, such as our new ground force, you can use a Neo-Tub, which to put it simply, is waders for your blind. It will keep your blind dry in up to 8 inches of water. The blinds also have loops on them, giving you the ability to weave in rice stubble, or you could buy our killer weed kit to deck out the blind, and once you get that part done, your blind will completely disappear!! The birds have no idea that you even exist.

As far as decoys, as long as the water is shallow enough, the shells will work perfectly. You could also use the full body decoys if you chose to do so, but the shells work just as well! One foot of water is a little bit too much water to put the shells in, as well as the neo tub and blind. But yeah, if its shallow enough, a lot of guys will use the shells and full bodys in the fields. Place them like you would see the live birds in the field. A lot of guys place a few around their blinds to help hide them a little bit more.

I am in AR as well, and have done a lot of the same kind of hunting that you are asking about. Those layout blinds definately give you a lot more options when it comes to being where the birds want to be!!

Good luck to you this season, and I hope this help! If you have any questions feel free to post up or shoot me a PM.

Thanks bro!

[Walt McCord]

I dont think I could have put it any better! Just a little 2 cents of mine. If the water is about a foot deep and you cannot use a layout blind, try getting a few pallets and putting down and then laying your blind on them. I do this alot and it works great!!

[Bill Cooksey]

Darron,

Tell your father I've missed his food ever since moving to Memphis. Believe it or not I was pushing him on ground blinds several years ago.

Alex and Walt have given you great advice on the blinds. The layouts are easier to get into the fields on 4-wheelers than coffins, and frankly they are a lot easier to hunt from in my experience. The pallets Walt mentioned is a great tip, and I even know a guy who built a platform with pontoons on the bottom and layouts on top. He'll float it wherever he wants it to be in a field, lets air out to sink it to the appropriate depth and starts hunting. When he wants to move he airs the pontoons up and takes it where he wants it.

On the decoys, I have used full bodies in up to four feet of water. Cut a piece of 1/2 inch PVC to the appropriate length with a 45 degree angle on each end. Put one end in the ground, drop a RealMotion Stake in the top and set a decoy on it as usual. The limiter naturally drops to the lowest point of the angle, and the motion is limited as normal. The same would go with shells, but you would cut the top flat and drop the MotionStake in. Obviously the motion wouldn't be limited.

They are more visible and move easier than floaters. Ducks will eat them up. Do the same thing with about 3 FFD Specks and it's death.

Bill Cooksey

[cajunbbq]

THANK YOU To all who took the time to offer a few suggestions. I have only toyed with this type of hunting but I am going to devote quite a bit of time to it this year and feel I will be well ahead with your advice. Looking forward to opening in Missouri on Saturday and good luck to all. Thanks again for the help.
Darron