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General News |
| Duck Calling |
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Here we are again reflecting back on another wonderful season and anticipating
an even better one. Christian and I are amazed at how our excitement continues
to build with each passing year. It perplexes us to think that so many of the
folks we know in the waterfowl guiding business have become discouraged over
the years. We attribute our love for what we do here at the camp not only to
the great spots we have to hunt but more so to the fine folks from all over
this great country with whom we get to chase ducks each and every day of the
season. For those of ya’ll who hunt with us, ya’ll know we put our hearts and
souls into doing all we can to fool as many of them rascals as we can – and we
love it! And, we’re so thankful that the folks who hunt with us make it so easy
for us to want to work hard for them for the sole purpose of experiencing the
breathtaking sight of a big “bunch” hovering over the decoys. What a privilege.
What a life.
Last year was our best harvest to date. In fact, while the 2005-06 season was,
by any measure, a huge success, the 2006-07 season’s harvest exceeded it by
over 50%. Folks, if you missed this past season, you missed a “whackin’”, I can
assure you. And, likewise, if you came this past season, I can say confidently
that you put a good whackin’ on them at least one day. It was unbelievable the
ducks we killed!
Farm Report
If you read last summer’s update, you probably remember my mentioning, among
many new spots, a field we call the “Big Field”. This past year was the first
time this field had ever had a pit in it, or ever been artificially pumped for
that matter. The Big Field was hunted 40 days last year (mostly by Christian,
no doubt – especially after he quickly discovered how awesome it was) and
killed 680 ducks. The thing averaged 17 ducks per day! (Now, for those of you
who think averaging 17 ducks in one single pit/blind over 40 days in a single
season ain’t nothing, I’d ask that you’d immediately get off this website and
either stay off it for good or call me and I’ll come hunt your spot at any
price!!!) We were elated by the success of this new spot. It seemed like
Christian had a nice bunch “hooked up” the entire season. The craziest
testament to how awesome the field was was the day I noticed from over at the
“Log Pond” that it looked liked Christian’s mud truck was parked in the field
with him. Come to find out, it died in the middle of the rice field about 40
yards from the edge of the decoys. I laugh now, but at the time I was thinking
he must just be wore out and didn’t want to walk all the way from the road to
the pit and just parked there intentionally. To make a long story short, they
ended up shooting 20 or so with the truck in the hole. Unbelievable. “What
stupid duck hunter would do that?”, the ducks must have thought, “It’s got to
be safe”. Actually, the truck was bothering the ducks, it’s just that the Big
Field was so awesome, it didn’t matter much.
Also, you may remember from last summer’s update our mentioning the
construction of the new blind, “BB-1”. The response was overwhelming. It seems
the blind has already become an institution. For you fans of BB-1, you will be
thrilled to know that it is our intention to plant the entire hole in corn this
year. We’re thinking we’ll be able to get in there by the second week of June.
The river’s been up this spring but hopefully it will be dry enough to plant by
then. Can you imagine…CORN in the buckbrush hole. The place will only get
better. For those of ya’ll who may remember how especially cold BB-1 seems to
always be, we’re planning on plumbing a bunch of single burner heaters to a big
propane tank. This should make it much more enjoyable during the slow times.
We won’t be as busy this year adding spots as we were last year. We will be
adding a new pit in what we call the “Mud Field”. The Mud Field lies
immediately to the east of the Big Field. The birds seem to always use the Mud
Field and Christian is confident it will be a dandy. The plan is for the Mud
Field to give the proven Big Field a rest every now and then. We’ll also be
relocating the West Field pit out of the crown and into the field in a rice
levee.
As a side note, we’re currently in negotiations in an effort to secure more
fields in areas both north and south of New Madrid. Our feeling is that if we
can afford it, we can never have too many options.
The most exciting news concerning the farm is the amount of acres which are
already planted in rice. For those of ya’ll who are aware of the current rice
market “debacle” relating to what is commonly referred to as “clear-field
rice”, you’re probably aware of its potential for severe impact on duck hunting
in the Delta. Frankly, we don’t totally understand what the deal is, but, it is
our understanding that there will be a hugely significant decrease in the
number of rice acres in the entire Mississippi Delta in the next couple of
years. For this reason, for most of the spring we fearfully assumed ours would
be in the same boat as so many duck fields in the region – riceless. We were
sincerely concerned about how the lack of rice would affect our hunting. We are
so thankful to report, however, that, though we may not understand the whys of
it all, the what of it all is that we will have at least the same number of
rice acres this year as last and possibly more. As the young folks say, we
wanna give a ‘shout out’ to Big and Little Peter Rost, our farmers. We can’t
thank you fellas enough. With the dramatic drop in rice production in our
immediate area, we can only imagine how powerful of a draw our rice acres will
be. Another thing to consider is the significant loss of corn acres in the
Missouri River valley due to recent flooding. We can only expect to have an
even more unbelievable year than last.
At the Camp
Our biggest changes this year will be at the camp. Most important is our new
mandatory lodging policy. Beginning this season, we will only be hunting
folks who stay at our camp. We expect this policy to
hugely benefit the efficiency and enjoyment of our entire operation. Frankly,
the only recurring problems we have involve coordinating the morning’s hunt
with non-lodgers. Furthermore, when we began to realize that the inevitable
couple of groups each year who left unhappy were without exception non-lodgers,
it became a no-brainer to make the change. We recognize this change may not
initially be received favorably by everyone but it is a simple fact that we
cannot honestly think of one single group in our three years of being in
business who stayed in the lodge and left less than thrilled with their trip.
The simple reason is – if you’re a duck hunter, you cannot stay at our camp and
not have fun. Ours is a duck camp, through and through. Right or wrong, we’re
not spending our evenings jacking around shootin’ pen raised birds or trying to
act like we need to do a bunch of bull to “entertain” our guests. We’re at duck
camp - we’re talkin’ duck; we’re getting our duck hunting junk ready for the
next day; we’re fixin’ the mud rigs; we’re strategizin’ on how best to kill
ducks the next day; we’re stringin’ decoys; we’re tunin’ up dogs; we’re tunin’
up calls; we’re practicin’ callin’; we’re philosophizing about ducks and duck
hunting; and, the list goes on and on. But, most importantly, we make a point
to include our guests in everything we do. Why? Because our guests are duck
hunters, dat-gummit. I’ll say it again – if you’re a duck hunter, you cannot
stay at our camp and not have fun. We are “eat up” with duck hunting and we
really don’t give a dime for nothing else. And, among all the fun things we do
all day long (including the hunt), there’s probably nothing more exciting than
when we announce in the evening the final, set-in-stone plans for the next
morning. Starting this year, no one hunting with us will miss out on this
ritual. This year there will be no one showing up at the camp, 3 minutes before
time to go, when we’re making final preparations and interrupting the flow of
the entire camp by asking, “who we going with? where we going?”. What a shame
to have missed out on a sleepless night anticipating the morning’s hunt knowing
exactly when you’re leaving, who you’re following to the field, what they’re
driving, and finally, what blind/field you’ll be hunting. We’re so excited for
everyone to be enjoying the same experience – livin’ it. And, quite frankly,
the disorder in the morning caused by non-lodgers’ arrivals, obviously by no
fault of their own, is the only thing that consistently makes us crabby.
For those of ya’ll who have enjoyed hunting with us in the past and did not
lodge with us, don’t you dare decide not to come because of this change in our
business. At the risk of boring you with money talk, please bear with me for a
bit while I explain to you that you simply cannot justify in financial terms
deciding not to hunt with us based solely on our new lodging policy. We want to
remind you that we are committed to not increasing our rates. Our “locked-in
rate” policy remains unchanged and will do so for as long as we can pay our
bills. If you aren’t aware of the “locked-in rate” policy, it simply means that
whatever the rates were your first year, it continues to be your rate as long
as you continue to come. So, for example, for those of you “hotel-ers” who have
hunted with us since we started in New Madrid, your fee for staying in the
lodge will be what it would have been had you stayed in the lodge your first
year, i.e. $300. Now had we gone up $50 a year (as is customary) since your
first year, you would be looking at $250 for just a hunt. You simply cannot pay
for a room, eat, buy gas for the trip to and from Sikeston, etc for $50 no
matter how many ways you split these costs. And, as mentioned earlier, if you
aren’t at duck camp you simply aren’t on a duck hunt. So, we’re making the
decision for you ‘cause, yes, in this case we DO know what’s best for you. If
you’re a duck hunter, we want you at our camp and, trust us, you’ll want to be
here. And, if you aren’t a duck hunter or have no desire to be one, we don’t
want you regardless of where you’re staying.
We’ll be crazy busy this year making room for additional folks. By July, we
should have a big addition to our existing lodge completed. The addition will
include a 24’x30’ great room complete with fireplace and tons of comfy seating.
It should prove to be a nice place to hang out and pow-wow. The existing
lounging area will become the “Mess Hall”. We will also be purchasing a new
trailer home which we will place where the big Con-X storage container is
currently. The trailer will be outfitted throughout with bunks - bunks from one
end to the other. Big groups will take the room designed to be the living room
which should have at least four bunks (8 beds). The other three bedrooms will
have at least two bunks in each. Be assured, we’ll have ample room. We’ll also
have a washer and dryer in the trailer, which will be a nice addition to our
camp. Also, the addition will include another restroom and a 10’x24’ mud room.
If you have any questions regarding the new lodging policy, please feel free to
contact us.
‘Til This Winter
We look forward to another great year. All indications are that we should
expect continued and improved hunting success. Everyone have a safe and
enjoyable summer. We can’t wait to see all our friends this winter. By the way,
ya’ll better get to bookin’. As of today’s date, our bookings are where they
were in October last year. There will be many who are sorry this year for
waiting. ‘Til then, Christian and I wish ya’ll the best.
-Keith |
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