A Guide’s Guide to Un-Guided Hunts

Thinking about a waterfowl hunting trip to a new area this year, but wondering how to make it all come together with the high cost of fuel and a limited budget? If you want to avoid the overcrowded public areas, have the gear, expertise and desire to do so … un-guided hunts may be just what you’re looking for.

When we first offered un-guided hunts through our service, we recognized a real need for the option. Arkansas was selling a record number of out-of-state hunting licenses and public hunting ground was so over crowded a hunter needed to carry his own tree with him, just to have a place to hide. Increased hunters meant excessive hunting pressure and the extra pressure didn’t allow the ducks time to rest and get comfortable with the public ground. Supply and demand took over and our un-guided services came to be, but we soon discovered we had a lot to learn about un-guided hunting and un-guided hunters. It’s those experiences and the lessons I learned, that I rely on if we use an un-guided service for a film shoot.

Here are a few pointers that may help you determine if un-guided hunts are for you, starting with a few simple questions:

• Do you have the equipment necessary to insure success?
• Do you want to take all the gear with you?
• Do you want to spend your time scouting or hunting?
• Do you have the expertise you need to read and call the birds?

Depending on your answers, you may be a candidate for an un-guided hunt. Un-guided hunts are often a successful way to explore new areas, without having to spend your time scouting or dealing with the problems of overcrowded public hunting areas. Like any other form of a hunting trip, there are a few things you may want to consider before finalizing your plans.

How do you find the exact location where you will be hunting?
It was less than an hour until shooting time when I received a call on my truck phone. It was our un-guided hunters and even though I had drawn detailed maps to each of our hunting locations, these guys couldn’t find the spot … they were lost! They had driven back to a small rule community to use a pay phone and I got the call just as I was leaving my truck with my guided hunters. When that day’s hunt was over, I took the map and retraced the steps myself. To my surprise, someone had moved an old yellow landplane that had been sitting in the corner of a field for years. That landplane was the marker I had used so the un-guided groups would know where to turn and head down the field road to the pit. Lesson learned, never do an un-guided hunt where you have to find your way to a new area in the dark! Be sure they have someone show you the way. Things do look different at night and you do want to find your hunting location in a timely manner.

What do you do the second day of your hunt, if the first was less than you had hoped for?
This is something you should review with your prospective host in advance. How many locations are available for your host to choose from and what is their policy on moving you the second day? It doesn’t matter where you are, or how good a location may have been the week before, you’re only concern is what’s happening while you are there. Birds make unexpected shifts and simply aren’t there at times and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. However, if that happens, be sure your host will move you to a different location the next day? What if the reverse situation happens and you’re in the spot the birds want, with limits in record time. Will your host leave you there for day two, or will they move you and use the spot themselves? If your host offers both guided and un-guided hunts, how do they determine who gets the pick of locations? Expect the obvious answer to this question. Guided hunters pay more and while no one can guarantee the outcome of a hunt, higher priced hunts normally get first choice. Be sure your host has enough quality spots to provide all their hunters with proven locations. Last season I ran across a group of young hunters, doing an un-guided hunt with another outfitter in my area. They were set up under a dead tree, within thirty feet of the center of a well-traveled gravel road. I visited with them, out my truck window, is how I found out the details. I don’t think the edge of a gravel road was a location they would have expected!

How often does your prospective host hunt their locations?
Waterfowl burn a lot of calories and body fat when they migrate. When they find an area they want to use, it will be for the rest they need, or to replenish the nutrients used in their flight. If you’re going to be hunting a spot that has been shot every day for weeks or months, expect trouble. Comfortable birds mean happy birds and happy birds normally mean a higher success rate for hunters. Consistent hunting pressure on private ground will have the same affect as overcrowding on public ground and the birds are not going to stay around for that.

Who provides what equipment for the hunt?
All of our fields have buried pits in them, so no one needs to bring a blind, but you will need your own decoys and an ATV. Some outfitters rent specialized equipment, like layout blinds. Equipment is an important issue on any hunt and the equipment you have, or don’t have, will play a role in the outcome of your hunt. Field decoys are important in the dry fields, but would be of little use to you in the shallow floods of an Arkansas rice field. The same thing goes for the layout style ground blinds. You really need them in dry fields, but they’re almost impossible to use in a flooded rice field. Don’t take equipment for granted and don’t expect certain things will be provided; only to find out you are wrong when you arrive. Will, or does your host provide you with up to date information? You know how to hunt and a mallard is a mallard anywhere you go, but up to the minute information about the birds activities, may be the added touch you need for success. If it’s your first time to hunt an area, ask your host for details about how they hunt. We provide written tips we call, do’s and don’ts.  These types of tips provide valuable insight that may help adapt your hunting techniques to what works within a given region. Knowledge is, and will always be, a valuable tool and you need to feel comfortable with the person providing you with the information.

Be honest with your host about your ability.
This will prove valuable to your host and they should be able to better prepare you for what to expect. Different regions provide different opportunities and the birds work differently. If you come to Arkansas, you had better have your game fine-tuned. Often times you will see thousands of birds a day, flying over the flooded rice fields, but these aren’t ducks that are coming back to a pothole. These birds have been called to and shot at all the way down the flyway and make for great sport, if you can work and read them. If you question your ability, discuss it openly with your prospective host.

The list of questions and concerns can go on and on, but one thing is for sure … no matter where you live or how often you get to hunt, its nice to see and experience how it’s done in other areas. With interest in waterfowl hunting at a high and the ever-present problems of overcrowding on public ground, you might want to review your options and give consideration to accepting a little help from an outfitter. Why not try your hand at being your own guide, after reading …”A Guide’s Guide To Un-guided Hunts”?

Charles “HammerTime” Snapp
Snapp1@sbcglobal.net 
www.arkansaswaterfowl.com