I'm trying to schedule a waterfowl hunting trip in early January for a group of 4-8 guys. We are definitely set on that timeframe. We are considering either going to the coast and doing a cast and blast, or heading up into the panhandle. We'd likely be driving from Austin and Dallas.

How is the panhandle hunting that time of year? I'd rather go to the coast for the option of fishing in the afternoon, but I could definitely be swayed into going to the panhandle if the mallard, goose, and crane hunting is as good as I've heard.

Any thoughts on which trip to take? I've never been to either area hunting, but all of us have a moderate amount of experience waterfowling.

I'm also looking for recs on locations, outfitters, lodges, etc.

Thanks

Panhandle. Most definitely. You can kill sandhills, geese, ducks, pheasant & quail up there.

You can shoot two redheads and maybe some teal at the coast.

I would go to lubbock. January not the best time of year but still plenty of birds should be there.

I hunted crane with longneck outfitters and he does a good job with crane.

http://www.longneckoutfitters.com/phone/index.html

Weather can be brutal but you never know

Dirty-8-thirty Ag said:

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Panhandle. Most definitely. You can kill sandhills, geese, ducks, pheasant & quail up there.

You can shoot two redheads and maybe some teal at the coast.

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Yep

Panhandle.
Coast is decent, but other than redheads, teal, and some pintails you won't get the variety of ducks you can get from hunting the Panhandle area.

What kind of duck hunting do you normally do? Where's your home hunting area?

If it were me I'd do panhandle, it's more of the duck hunting feel and weather. You can shoot a few birds on the coast but you can fish anytime of the year. It's just not my thing.

You can hunt Crane, ducks, geese, quail and varmits up in the panhandle.

Never hunted the Panhandle so my vote is the coast. Call Blake Muirhead in Rockport. Airboat ride. Hunt redheads, pintails, gad wall, widgeon, whatever else shows. Go wade fishing afterwards. Then a nice seafood dinner that evening. A great trip with a great guide

Not keen on longneckoutfitters. I took a party of 10 they did not split as was requested and was to be complied with. Hunted exclusively crane on one morning and we shot one bird at 70 yds. No, it is not just hunting. Too many people, plastic decoys with frost on them. This was not well done and not going back to them. We went same time of year you are scheduling for. Panhandle is fun and did have birds. First am was LARGE spread of goose, duck and crane decoys and we did alright. Still hunted as group of 10. Second morning only crane decoys. Lousy hunt

Tule Creek Outfitters in Tulia. I did just what you are planning with a group for about 10 years in a row and we were rarely disappointed.

If you're wanting to kill Pheasant up here you will need to com before Jan. 1 (end of season).

Also look at the Toledo Bend or Sam Rayburn hunts. Lots of mallards, canvasbacks, and wood ducks.

Go to the Scatters in Arkansas if you are making a special trip for it.

If it were me, I'd hunt the panhandle - but that's because I live and hunt on the coast every year and have never hunted waterfowl up north. The coast can be really good hunting and there are a lot more birds available than just teal, redheads and pintail.

schmellba99 said:

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Go to the Scatters in Arkansas if you are making a special trip for it.
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I don't what the Scatters is, but Arkansas is a good idea.

January up here is normally feast or famine. It may be spectacular, but it's equally likely to be an icy SOB. So icy that the birds aren't here anymore. Depending on how far into the Panhandle you want to go, Arkansas may even be a shorter drive.

Thanks for the tips everyone

It's a metric crap ton of flooded timber in the Pine Bluff/Stuttgart area that is just about universally considered the duck hunting capital of the world.

Dr.Pete said:

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Not keen on longneckoutfitters. I took a party of 10 they did not split as was requested and was to be complied with. Hunted exclusively crane on one morning and we shot one bird at 70 yds. No, it is not just hunting. Too many people, plastic decoys with frost on them. This was not well done and not going back to them. We went same time of year you are scheduling for. Panhandle is fun and did have birds. First am was LARGE spread of goose, duck and crane decoys and we did alright. Still hunted as group of 10. Second morning only crane decoys. Lousy hunt

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Interesting. I have hunted with plastic decoys for crane and didn't have many issues. Cranes in January are really tough as they have such good eyesight.

What type of field and cover did you hunt in?

Crooked Wings is a good outfitter, but I think Longneck is better for Crane. Just my experience with them both.

Can not argue I know all there is to know about plastic decoys. Frost on the decoys was a point the guide himself made. Can't say I've seen frost on a live bird. Lots of other outfitters seemed to make a point of using stuffed real birds for crane decoys. Another reason for a bad hunt I think is there were just too many of us. Was my first time hunting cranes and they are a very difficult bird to decoy

Dr.Pete said:

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Can not argue I know all there is to know about plastic decoys. Frost on the decoys was a point the guide himself made. Can't say I've seen frost on a live bird. Lots of other outfitters seemed to make a point of using stuffed real birds for crane decoys. Another reason for a bad hunt I think is there were just too many of us. Was my first time hunting cranes and they are a very difficult bird to decoy

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This is exactly what I was going to say hiding 10 guys for ducks/geese is hard. Hiding that many for Crane is probably near impossible.

When we hunt in Canada a group of 7 is large ideal is 3-5 that way there is enough to make for a hunt but not so many to hide and that's on fresh young uneducated birds in places with usually a good hide.

I would opt for a timber hunt in AR over both of those options

I've had some fun hunts with Muddy Water Outfitters out of Wichita Falls.