North Texas Duck Hunting-Scouting Part 1

Scouting Basics...Step1

These steps can be used on any lake

North Texas duck hunting can frustrate the inexperienced waterfowl hunter who is just starting his quest for ducks. Many start out all excited only to find out that it is not as easy as just setting out decoys at any good- looking spot. Many hours must be spent scouting and reading what you see and where you see it. DO NOT ask any questions on the forums. You will be very disappointed in the foul answers you will receive. Do your own homework it will better the results and add to the fun. I love to scout for the new areas to hunt you never know what you will find. The hunter needs many hunting spots on each lake. You are not the only one looking so it is best to have several backups. So be ready to move if your chosen spot has another party already there. Do not just move across from them MOVE to your back up (Don't be lazy). You should have plenty of time if you arrived at the lake EARLY.
(1)The first step is to pin point which Lake or lakes you want to hunt. To do this use the many satellite programs offered. Google Earth is the mainstay but Bing maps has better imagery. This does not show lat or long. Flash Earth shows both Google Earth and Bing Maps at a touch of a button.

(2) Next is to find the lake authority to learn the regulations to hunt waterfowl on the chosen lake. I will pick a lake at random as an example. Lake Lavon, Lavon Tx. Put Hunting lake Lavon in the search box. Then see what pops up. This works for most any lake you want to hunt. The Lake authority phone number and regs will pop up on their link.

(3) Then as you can't buy a lake map for every lake in your state put fishing lake Lavon in the search box just as before. Then I only use the parks and wildlife links for the next search. A lake access link pops up. This shows you all the private and public ramps on this lake. Now you can pin point these ramps on the satellite image. On the ramp access link you will see the lake level which is very important. Lake level dictates just how far your boat will travel on the lake and the key shallows.

(4) It is a very good idea to track the levels of each lake through out the season. This log will come in handy year after year to tell you what is out there at any checked level. The logged routes on your GPS will be the same at these lake levels year after year. On My next series of Tips I will tell you how to zero in on the ducks at the lake from the information you have just learned sitting at your computer. These are the (4) steps to finding the lake, lake authority, ramps and water level at Lake Lavon. You can use these same (4) steps on your area lakes also

Richard is the owner of North Texas Duck Hunts and North Texas Dog Trainers. He has 33 years of waterfowl hunting experience and 18 years experience training working retrievers and all breed dogs. You can contact him at
http://northtexasduckhunts.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyICN8iNzGk This shows what proper scouting can archive..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPBR-tpN8rs