Each October we gather the crew and camo the duck blinds on the private property I'm granted access to. This past Saturday was that time. We got five camouflaged, two of which were brand new and bare. The whole crew was whooped by the end of the day, especially me. This coming weekend we've got another four to go. I'll drop boards in the water control structures and with that all of the pre-season preparations are done, with the exception of getting boats ready. I think I may have put more hours into this off season than ever before and thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with my son and his friends who have all become my hunting partners. I am the old one in the bunch now by more than a factor of two. Seems like yesterday I was their age. Damn time goes fast.

Eric

They look good. We did the same last week. We just have to wait for the rains now, which we have a 10 day forecast of stormy weather. Lots of birds have moved into the area, so when our spot starts to flood, it should be good shooting.

Tony

We are in our typical October dry cycle. But long range forecasts are calling for more dry instead of the typical heavy winter rains. But they are also calling for below avg temps. We've been in a wet/warm cycle for so many years I can't remember what a dry/cold year does for the hunting.

Eric

I did the same thing--notice I said I did. My "helpers" always find an excuse not to help-lol. Thats ok as my son is about 3 hours away and my dad has earned the right to just observe and give me advice as I am brushing the blinds. Our layout boats pretty much always ready to go--we simply top them off with natural vegetation the first day we use them.

Blake

I can't even see your blinds in the top two pictures. Are the cypress volunteers or were they planted while you developed your WRP? I planted some bare root cypress at my shop and after 8 or so years they are starting to get some size. Several have that really nice conical shape like yours, while a few resemble mushrooms leaving me wondering what they will look like with no top as they get bigger.

Eric

All of the blinds in the thread appear well brushed, those ducks are in big trouble! The part I find fascinating, coming from a coastal area where water is where it is year round, is building waterfowl blinds in a dry field. I fully understand the flooding concept, it just looks like better upland bird cover than waterfowl habitat at the moment. I guess it must be nice to work on the blinds while standing on dry land, it's less fun up to your chest in the water.

Yes planted somewhere near 100 saplings 16 years ago. Probably have 75 or so which survived. I also planted 300 various oak trees of which 0 survived.

This is the first year I didn't mow around the cypress trees. I always mowed at least twice a year around them so they didn't have to compete with the other vegetation for nutrients, etc. Until the last 6 or 7 years they were completely under water for approximately 4 months every winter/spring from floodwaters. They really have grown significantly over the last 6 or 7 years which now allows the top of the trees to be above the floodwaters.

Blake

One of the fields we hunt sits right on the TN River and went fallow for several years. In that time succession really kicked in and trees exploded. A lot of tupelo, green ash, sweetgum, red maple, black willow, etc. The ducks were using it heavily. There was hardly a day in 2017-18 we didn't kick 500 or more off the overgrown pond. We got the "bright" idea to clean it up and return it to row crop to have flooded corn. Guess what? We've killed very few ducks since. I started thinking about why that happened and came to the realization that on that part of the river there are numerous clubs with flooded grain fields. Our corn was nothing the ducks couldn't find in other nearby places. But what is missing on that part of the river is good cover. A lot of clean fields and not a lot of flooded cover. We shot ourselves in the foot by removing cover the ducks obviously liked. We have returned it to fallow ground and manage the water for moist soil plants and are working on creating more cover there and elsewhere. Bottom line, trees, not just mast bearing, can be quite beneficial, and there has to be a balance of food and cover. Nothing shocking there, but I had to experience it first-hand under my control to really appreciate it. I have observed numerous new clubs form and it seems like the first thing people do is "clean up" the place by removing trees and undergrowth and then plant as much food as they can. You can see why. We have it drilled in our heads you have to hunt flooded corn. Well, when everyone does it, I can guarantee the guy that goes in the opposite direction and provides cover will hold more ducks.

Eric

Eric

Below is a view of my 88 acre waterfowl property inside the highlighted area. You can see the rows of Cypress trees in the lower part of the pic and the pit in the center of the pic. The section of the property below the cypress trees has been left alone for 16 years. The rest of the property has been managed for smartweed and barnyard grass and from the pics above you can see it is fully covered in it and thick. This property is completely surrounded with a levee. This property was a crop field 16 years ago when I purchased it. Thought you might find this interesting and only confirms what you stated. My duck numbers went up substantially when converted from corn to a moist soil unit.

Y'all have done a great job on camoing the blinds. Hope we get rain in the south that Eric can use the blinds

Blake

Great looking place you have, and they only get better with time. I can see you have buffer zones between you and the nearest roads. We've learned that too is important and planted pines to keep ducks from getting spooked by vehicles and farm equipment that go up and down the roads close to one of our ponds.

Eric

Thanks. I'm optimistic we'll have water. Most years it is spilling over the top of the water control structure so we can get by with less rain than normal.

Eric