Killing Ducks and planning for Bucks!

September 16,  

I recently had a great trip to the state of Kentucky for an early season Wood duck and Teal hunt.  I proudly consider Kentucky my 2^nd home and have made trips to the Bluegrass state multiple times each year dating back to 2007.  This was my first trip on Lake Barkley duck hunting and it will be a fond memory for years to come.  On the opening morning of Teal and Wood duck season we arrived at the launch around 4:45 am.  We launched at the Linton public boat ramp which is located about a mile from the Tennessee line as the crow files and headed north out on the big lake.  Lake Barkley is a man made lake fed by the Cumberland River.    Kentucky Lake is a sister lake and it’s fed off the Tennessee River.  The area between the two large bodies of water is known as the Land Between the Lakes (LBL).  From my limited experience Lake Barkley is very large and shallow in many spots making it a challenge to navigate especially in the dark.  Our good friend and his brother have many years’ experience on the lake and made it look easy.  During the early season most of the hunting is done in makeshift land blinds constructed from driftwood and other debris found on the muddy banks of the lake.  It’s just another part of the adventure scavenging for bling material in the dark and listening to the ducks and geese quacking in the distance. 

 Most of the duck hunting on this southern end of the lake is geared around a man made duck pond in the middle of the lake.

  The pond is rather large and closed to hunting later in the year and used as a duck sanctuary.  We had a successful hunt and had shots at geese and wood ducks. 

 We saw several groups of Teal but couldn’t bring them in close enough to enjoy the action.  After the morning hunt we took time to ride the lake and look for potential spots for the floating blind to be deployed for the winter duck season.  

 We all entered the duck draw that decides on blind placement and I will discuss that topic a little later in the article.  We wrapped up the early duck season and got a much appreciated invite to a dove shoot on a large farm just outside Pembroke, Ky.  When we arrived at the corn field, that must have been close to 60 acres of fresh cut corn, the doves were thick.  We saw many birds roosting on a power-line in the middle of the field and several hundred feeding in the extremities of the field. 

  After several hours of steady action we found ourselves cleaning around 50 birds as a group.  Now we are closing in on the main excuse we had to make this trip, stand placement and camera deployment on a new tract of land we leased for the upcoming Whitetail deer season.  We reached the hunting land with the ATV’s and had a great time exploring the new lease, with a slight rain keeping the heat down and my pants wet on the seat of the old quad.  We identified 3 new stand locations and setup 3 new cameras as well.  So as I sit here quietly typing at my desk I wonder what images are currently on the cameras.  It will be a couple of long months before that answer is revealed.  Now back to the Duck Draw which is a big event in the Western Kentucky area.  We traveled a little over an hour up to the Lake Barkley dam and the crowd waiting was astonishing.

  I later learned it was well over 500 applicants entered into the drawing.   We had 11 in our group and needed several more apparently. After much heartache the group finally got a draw and all the most desirable blind location had already been pinned on the large double 4’x8’ maps.    We selected 2 locations with plans of having 2 blinds for multiple locations to choose from when the big birds get flying later in the year.  By law each blind can hold a max of 4 hunters and must be occupied by the owner 30 minutes prior to legal shooting hours.  If the blind is not occupied 30 minutes prior to shooting hours it is up for grabs to any hunter on the lake. What is normally a trip spent working on the deer lease turned into a great bird hunting trip that I will remember for years to come. 

 Questions or Comments
alakingfish@gmail.com
Shelby Byrd

Happy memories and the marching on of time

Hunting is often about more than just the hunt.  Before humans had the ability to pass on knowledge through written word they used stories and dancing.  As a kid I loved nothing more than to sit around the old wood stove at the hunting camp and listen to stories from the elders about hunts from the past.  My dad would tell me the story of killing the 12 point buck when he was 12 years old.  And then there was the story of old Billy Phillips, or "Red Man" as he was called, shooting the buck and then finishing it off with a stick to save bullets.  Our freezers may empty out over the summer but the stories from the past year remain strong in our memories.  And it is not just hunting stories; on a   beach fishing trip to Fort Morgan Alabama, someone who will remain nameless fought a 10' piece of carpet for an hour swearing it was a "Monster Red Fish".  It's just another memory now but the retelling only makes the moment live on forever.

 George Byrd with a deer he killed in the 1980's. 

That's me (Shelby Byrd) in the back of the truck.

 Growing up, our family helped to found a hunting club.  Most of the members didn't join for the hunting, they were there for the escape, the opportunity to swap stories and just get away.  One member had a grill strapped down on his tailgate and grilled while hunting.  Some guys spent all day playing on the C.B. radio.  And man talk about entertainment, give 30 people a C.B. and just sit back and listen, it gets very interesting.  Everyone had a C.B. handle, or name.  Dad was Hummingbird and still to this day walking through Walmart someone will call out "What's going on Hummingbird".

 Kentucky Bucks.

Jeff Slaughter, Shelby Byrd, Joe Perkins.

Now a days the hunting has changed for my family but the stories remain.  Now we take a trip to Kentucky several times a year and get caught up on all the old memories on the 7-8 hour ride.  I enjoy hearing my buddy Tim relive the days when he was chasing deer on the back side of the old Bond farm.  My friend Jeff tells the story of the first deer he remembers seeing on his motorcycle on the back side of the Slaughter farm.  He thinks to days back when he was young and deer were rare in the area.  Things change with time, but the stories remain. 

 Tim Bond with a monster buck.  The year Tim killed this deer he shot at 5 different deer with a bow before picking up his rifle.

Back to the C.B radio, have you ever hunted with a guy called Booger?  How about Lucky Strike or Thunderbird, maybe Hondo or Rockin "H"? These old nicknames may be a thing of the past but they still hold a spot in many of our memories.  These days I'm trying to introduce my daughter and wife to the hunting and fishing culture that I grew up enjoying.  I hope that they will find the same joy I have experienced.  My daughter loves for me to tell her a story from when I was a little boy each night at bed time.  She's heard most of them before, several times, but she still seems captivated each time and wants to hear more.  "Daddy is it too late for a story?" 

Shelby, Jennie and Emily Byrd.

What are your favorite hunting memories, stories from a time gone by,
 or tall tales about hunting or fishing?

Questions or Comments

alakingfish@gmail.com

Shelby Byrd