Guntersville area...

[olepal]

I have family in Guntersville. I doubt I will ever hunt that area but am just curious as to whether or not there is much waterfowl hunting there. Don't want your secret locations, just general information.

olepal

 

[Fasteel72]

It use to be good not so much now. If we would get some cold weather to push ducks down it will be good at times. Wouldn’t waste my time on it.

 

[bird junkie]

What he is sayin is that there are more ducks there than stars in the Alabama sky

 

[Fasteel72]

What he is sayin is that there are more ducks there than stars in the Alabama sky

No sir, you have that backwards.

 

[bird junkie]

No sir, you have that backwards.

y’all for sure got the stars on lock. Deer/duck hunting down there years back and the first night I couldn’t believe the stars and how close they seemed.

 

[Fishun Injun]

On Guntersville.....whatever is migrating there shows up around T'Giving and that's it!! After a few weeks of heavy hunting/blasting the survivors raft up in the middle.

 

[oleww]

Setup for passing shots in the afternoon when the bass tourney fishersmen race back to the landings and bust up the rafting birds.

 

[De Shootinest Gent'man]

Hit or miss. Mainly miss. But some of my favorite hunts have been on that section of river. Not a place to go for limits, but more so for scenery and the chance to kill anything from scoters to pintail. When it gets cold and the ice spreads it can be an old school, freeze ur balls off type of hunting. That sun takes a while to get over the mountains but, when it gets like that the ducks show up. Problem is, they only stay for 24 to 36 hours and then it gets back to normal with highs in the 70s. Lol

 

[JP]

The four counties of north Alabama that border Tennessee produce ~60% of the cotton grown in the entire state. Have yet to see mallards tornado into a cotton patch.

This wasn’t always the case as in the 1950’s to early 1960’s, corn (not the flooded variety ) was prevalent in many fields in the region.

The eurasian milfoil outbreak that initially occurred in the late 1950’s was a boon for both waterfowl hunting and black bass fishing.

Establishment of state refuge areas (North Sauty & Crow Creek) as well as Wheeler NWR, all of which don’t allow waterfowl hunting have become warehouses for the birds that do show up. Great for birdwatching but not so for hunting.

Whitetail deer and turkey get the lions share of attention from the wildlife department with waterfowl a distant red-headed stepchild.

Now, if you resided there and learned the places to go, where and when conditions were right, it would be worth pursuing. Still, it would pale in comparison to other states’ opportunities.

G/O’s from primarily Arkansas have been quietly locking up farm ground in north central Oklahoma for the last few seasons. License plates from there as well as Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina showing up here and in Kansas speak as compelling evidence of just how bad waterfowl hunting has/is becoming to the south & east of here.

Our waterfowl hunting quality here in eastern Oklahoma (based upon 44 seasons experiences) had declined by ~55-65% as upwards of 90% of the ground formerly in row crops is now bermuda grass pasture.

IMO, until waterfowl hunting falls out of favor as a corporate social grace, the situation will continue to be such.

 

[JDO64]

Bottom Line Up Front…I’ve been swatting at ‘em for ~44 years and over the years, I’ve harvested most of the puddle and diver species of ducks, along with Canada geese on Lake G. I now waterfowl hunt Lake G for the incredible sunrises and to watch my Chessies work (when I do have the opportunity to pull the trigger). As stated many times before, the waterfowl hunting is hit ‘n miss and poor most of the time. Many factors attribute to this…The large refuges don’t help any, that’s for sure. Private hunting clubs adjoining the refuges certainly add to the hunting pressure, regardless of denials put forward by these club members. I noticed that the waterfowl hunting pressure on the Lake greatly increased after Duck Dynasty hit the airwaves. Waterfowl hunting became cool, and waterfowl hunting traditions were forgotten or ignored. Inconsiderate hunters setting up <100yds from one’s location & five minutes before legal shooting time, EXTREMELY loud mud motors, and ignorance of how to correctly scout waterfowl add to the frustration already created by low duck numbers. The weather has not helped as well with the freeze line being well above middle Tennessee. I highly doubt the waterfowl hunting on Lake G will ever return to the days of full limits with lead shot and the 100 Point System during the 70’s & 80’s. Current waterfowl hunting licensing and other requirements (checking in and out of WMA’s, permits, etc.) seem to increase the difficulty of hunting the WMA’s. Out-of-State hunting is encouraged for the local economy, but I’m starting to wonder if the ecosystem can support the increased numbers of hunters (both local and out-of-state). I‘m a disabled vet with difficulty walking any decent distance weighed down with waders, coat, decoys, blind bag, etc. There is one disabled blind that I know of (I’ve never hunted out of it nor have I ever heard any hunting reports regarding it). The WMA’s seemingly are set up primarily for access by boats of some sort and walking in to flooded areas. There is no land access for disabled hunters to these “remote” areas (such as the large area of Raccoon Creek WMA north of the HWY 117 bridge). I’ve gone so far as to meet with the Regional DNR folks to discuss disabled special permitting (for limited ATV use on the WMA’s), and I submitted a talking paper along with my VA disability paperwork. I was told the request was at the “Legal Department“, however, it must have died on the vine there because I never heard back from anyone. I digress…sorry.