So between paying $3-5k + UTV + being on a waitlist for a Houston area duck club membership, a hunting buddy and I are considering buying a used boat and fixing it up and gaining access to more public waters.

Not looking for anyone's secret honey hole, but for validation that there is good public hunting within ~1.5 hours of Houston?

Looks like that would include Somerville, Conroe, Livingston, Galveston/bay, Anahuac.


Also, guess if any of you have a membership or private lease (or know a landowner) and are looking for 2 more guys, I'd be interested in chatting! Have a bunch of gear and willing to work.

I killed tons of ducks in the galveston bay complex in the decade or so I lived on the coast. There are almost endless places to go, you will just need to work at it and sometimes think outside the box.

Sea Speed said:

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I killed tons of ducks in the galveston bay complex in the decade or so I lived on the coast. There are almost endless places to go, you will just need to work at it and sometimes think outside the box.

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A buddy of mine does this around Port O'Connor.

His take on it would be "It is great as long as you don't mind shooting your two redheads and then fishing the rest of the morning".

The diversity of species may be different in the areas you would go.

Ones I've shot off the top of my head in and along the Texas coast from East Matty to Chocolate:

Green Wing Teal
Blue Wing Teal
Spoonie
Gadwall
Canvasback (pretty rare to get a good one though)
Redhead
Bufflehead
Golden Eye
Widgeon
Pintail
Mottled
Scaup (both types)
Ring Neck
Merganser
Scoter
Mexican Whistler

I've never shot a mallard on the coast, but actually have seen a small handful of them. Wood ducks are common in creeks, bayous and flooded timber areas.

I have personally never seen or known anybody that has shot a cinnamon teal, but I hear claims they are on the coast and in the rice fields here. I've never seen a muscovy anywhere but a local pond.

Used to hunt around corpus. Never shot mallards there either but did shoot a cinnamon teal once.

Do it. The adventure alone is worth it. Private is nice but public is more fun and more rewarding.

I guide duck hunts on public lands. Be prepared to be very mobile, keep it light, try to minimize gear, be prepared to hug up on shoreline marsh etc.

I've shot the above list plus a 5 curl mallard. Lots of bands. Banded redhead drakes are Purdy rare and I have three.

Get good at identifying birds in flight. As was mentioned above you are more limited by species than anything. May see 20k redheads and 5k pintail but you can still only kill 2 and 1....etc.

I don't build blinds. I hunt half and half out of my boat blind and hugged up in brush. Wife calls the boat blind Fort Grem.

SGrem said:

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I guide duck hunts on public lands. Be prepared to be very mobile, keep it light, try to minimize gear, be prepared to hug up on shoreline marsh etc.

I've shot the above list plus a 5 curl mallard. Lots of bands. Banded redhead drakes are Purdy rare and I have three.

Get good at identifying birds in flight. As was mentioned above you are more limited by species than anything. May see 20k redheads and 5k pintail but you can still only kill 2 and 1....etc.

I don't build blinds. I hunt half and half out of my boat blind and hugged up in brush. Wife calls the boat blind Fort Grem.

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What's your boat blind setup there? I'd like to do something like that for my skiff.

I built a custom scissor blind for my go devil years and years ago but only used it a couple times. Birds didn't much like it but i had the largest mud boat made so that may be something to do with it.

Beaver tail makes one and there are some others on the market. They should be popping up for sale here and there since duck season is over.

That's awesome!

I grew up and still hunt all of the areas you have mentioned. You can consistently kill birds if you have time to scout. If you don't have time to scout, good luck. You absolutely need a boat.

Don't worry about building a blind anywhere. Get a slough stool and use the natural vegetation as your hide. Be still and keep you face down.

And for the love of all things holy leave the mallard call at home.

Ha.....yep. I let people blow calls all they want until we see any ducks. Don't make a sound. Huge flocks of thousands of birds will come in from miles around with not one of them making a peep.

I haven't called at ducks in decades.

Marsh sits are the easiest. I usually bring a bakers dozen decoys per person.....everybody carries their own.

Also carry extra ammo to water swat em. They swim away fast. If their head is up keep shooting. Quickly.

I've got a redhead on my wall that survived 20 shots and a 3 mile boat ride chasing after him. It was that 21st shot that did him in.

I agree with your assessment about calling but will call on occasion. If I do, I employ the tips or tails method… no sense in blowing on a call if they're coming in already

I know a guy that shot 2 in one hunt in January. That pond was adjacent to the pond I shot mine in 2019 or so.

They're rare but they're down here.

People blowing mallard calls on the coast is the reason why the duck call has been named the best conservation tool in hunting since it's inception.

There are only two calls that 60% of the time work every time :

Stepping out to pee

Playing with your phone - specifically to answer a work related call or email

There's ducks to be killed everywhere. You've just got to put the time and effort into finding them. The internet is your greatest friend and largest enemy all in one. It will provide for you but will also lead every Tom, Dick, and Harry to you as well.

My suggestion is make a friend that's already hunting the public grind then you bounce stuff off him and vice versa. There are more places to hunt than what it appears but it takes hours and hours of research. I suggest a subscription to OnX and anywhere you think might look ducky, you need to start there and see what it shows. You're gunna need a boat, walk in hunting can still be successful but once you bring a boat into the equation you'll be singing A Whole New World.

Not trying to be an ******* saying all this btw. I joined 2 duck hunting forums 17-18 years ago when I was fresh out of high school. I asked about areas and was basically told what I just said in a not so nice way. I started out with the APH permit and booklet and ran with it.

ttha_aggie_09 said:

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I know a guy that shot 2 in one hunt in January. That pond was adjacent to the pond I shot mine in 2019 or so.

They're rare but they're down here.

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Mallard calls work.....it's the inability to actually call, or call way too much, or call at the wrong time that pushes ducks away.

I had a buddy that could call well above average...but he called the late season like it was the opening weekend, and by then the ducks were a bit wary and would flare off early. When we finally got him to quit calling, lo and behold....we got to shoot.

No callng is better than crap calling
Very little calling is better than a lot of calling

Learn to use a teal whistle

bobby_axelrod said:

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Used to hunt around corpus. Never shot mallards there either but did shoot a cinnamon teal once.

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I've only had mallards on the shoreline 2, maybe 3 times. Every time it has happened neither myself nor my buddy shot, because we were scratching our heads wondering what mallards were doing on the coast and never brought our guns up.

schmellba99 said:

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bobby_axelrod said:

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Used to hunt around corpus. Never shot mallards there either but did shoot a cinnamon teal once.

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I've only had mallards on the shoreline 2, maybe 3 times. Every time it has happened neither myself nor my buddy shot, because we were scratching our heads wondering what mallards were doing on the coast and never brought our guns up.

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I find this very hard to believe.......I don't know anyone that wouldn't be over the moon shooting a greenhead on the coast.

Been hunting the coast for well over 10 years. Have never seen one outside of the canal communities

I shot one in west bay. I'm convinced it was from one of the canal communities but I still shot a mallard in the salt marsh.

I also shot a random single snow goose off the diversionary. I missed the first two shots because i was so wtf. I was walking in the spread and it flew by back by where my blind was about 10 feet off the ground.

Maximus Johnson said:

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schmellba99 said:

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bobby_axelrod said:

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Used to hunt around corpus. Never shot mallards there either but did shoot a cinnamon teal once.

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I've only had mallards on the shoreline 2, maybe 3 times. Every time it has happened neither myself nor my buddy shot, because we were scratching our heads wondering what mallards were doing on the coast and never brought our guns up.

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I find this very hard to believe.......I don't know anyone that wouldn't be over the moon shooting a greenhead on the coast.

Been hunting the coast for well over 10 years. Have never seen one outside of the canal communities

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Guess it's hard for you to believe then, but you do you I guess.

Sea Speed said:

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I shot one in west bay. I'm convinced it was from one of the canal communities but I still shot a mallard in the salt marsh.

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We figured they were some pond pets that got lost or decided to go exploring. Both of us kicked ourselves for staring at them and not shooting.

If I lived by any of these areas, would love to scout. Unfortunately for me, driving 2 hours round trip multiple times a week doesn't really work for where I'm at in life at this time.

Billions - don't get discouraged by the lack of scouting time. Get your boat and get out there. Half the fun is the planning, trying to figure it out and running the boat. Sure, you'll lay some goose eggs but you'll hit a few times and it will be worth it. Every lake you mentioned has potential. I've hunted Sommerville, Granger, Choke, Livingston, Port Aransas, etc. Some unproductive hunts but a lot of great memories! Good luck.

OP, a thought.

Finding a dove lease with a tank that holds water year-round leads to the possibility of paying a few extra bucks to hunt the tank for ducks.

This situation worked for me. The property is inside Loop 1604 and maybe a whole 30 minutes from the house. It's yielded a ton of species over the years (granted mostly gaddies and teal). Some hunts are awesome, some are slow. But that's duck hunting.

I've never tank hunted. I don't get it - like are you sitting there waiting and have you ever gotten a limit?

I always took it to mean you basically jump shoot ducks off the tank and once you do they're pretty much gone? So you're probably getting a couple at best? Which is a cool bonus for a dove lease, but I don't think that would scratch my "duck hunting itch" (getting out there, being in the blind, slinging the gear around, etc.)

Some Texas ponds will grow really good sub surface grass. The right ones can be surprisingly good. You might have 50-100 birds hitting a 1 acre or less spot. They'll all pour in early but you have to capitalize on every opportunity because you're only getting chances on the birds that were already committed to the spot for the day. Get hid well and it can be extremely easy hunting. Dang near borderline cheating.

Went on a run of 3 or 4 seasons going to Peach Point WMA. Would go 2 or 3 times a season. This was 15-20 years ago. So...maybe not all that valuable info...

Had a few incredible trips with thousands of birds in the immediate area, and a few with mostly barren skies. In other words, duck hunting.

The procedure of blind/area assignment and hunters honoring ethical hunting practices presented no problems that I can recall.

There's not a whole lot to it. It's no different than hunting a large reservoir or the marsh. You put out decoys and sit in a blind and shoot ducks as they fly in.

I guess it depends on how one goes about getting their "duck hunting itch."

If shooting limits is your goal and you're considering public within an hour and a half of Houston, rock on.

Personally I don't care if I shoot one or shoot six on a given hunt. But to answer your question, yes limits happen even on small tanks.







As for species from this particular tank over the years...

GW teal
BW teal
Gadwall
Spoonies
Widgeon
Redhead
Scaup
Bufflehead
Ruddy
Can

Duck hunting is all about being where they want to be when they want to be there.

Good luck!

If you don't have time to scout (most of us don't) your first year or two will really be learning the areas that hold birds year over year.

Feel free to PM me and I will give you a few places to start. I would recommend learning one bay system or lake like the back of your hand. Eat the elephant one bite at a time. I know people that only hunt one bay system out of Galveston and consistently kill limits.

SanAntoneAg said:

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There's not a whole lot to it. It's no different than hunting a large reservoir or the marsh. You put out decoys and sit in a blind and shoot ducks as they fly in.

I guess it depends on how one goes about getting their "duck hunting itch."

If shooting limits is your goal and you're considering public within an hour and a half of Houston, rock on.

Personally I don't care if I shoot one or shoot six on a given hunt. But to answer your question, yes limits happen even on small tanks.







As for species from this particular tank over the years...

GW teal
BW teal
Gadwall
Spoonies
Widgeon
Redhead
Scaup
Bufflehead
Ruddy
Can

Duck hunting is all about being where they want to be when they want to be there.

Good luck!

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I don't know if you're still on that lease but man you hit the jackpot there.

bobby_axelrod said:

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I've never tank hunted. I don't get it - like are you sitting there waiting and have you ever gotten a limit?

I always took it to mean you basically jump shoot ducks off the tank and once you do they're pretty much gone? So you're probably getting a couple at best? Which is a cool bonus for a dove lease, but I don't think that would scratch my "duck hunting itch" (getting out there, being in the blind, slinging the gear around, etc.)

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What do you think being on a waitlist for a "duck club" was going to entail? A whole lot of rice paddie pond popping or water that's been planted for ducks, in other words….ponds.