Need Honest Advice:

[Ducslayer]

I am in need of some honest advice.

For the past 15 years I have gone on a family camping trip to Santee Cooper. Well, the lake is dern near dried up and I have 3 youngsters that are itching to go duck hunting.

With the usual spots dried up, Is there any point in going and trying to hunt the big or open water??

Thanks in advance for your help,
Catto

[Turd Ferguson]

15 years is a long streak to break- How much fun is being had the other 18 hours of the day that you are camping? Family time can be Fun time no matter what the scenario- MAybe ask the family its opinion- if they truly enjoy the camping trip I say you better go ahead and get the gear ready. Keep the tradition alive- one day these family members will go the other direction and you will be asking for "One more camping trip, no matter what the conditions"

Would it be possible to go camp somewhere else like a river that WILL have water?

[romeocadet08]

had some buddies head out this weekend to try and locate some good pot holes that were still holding water. Well they found some but didn't see a single bird, not even a woodie. Very discouraging thus far.

The only problem with this is, when duck season FINALLY gets here and if we don't get anymore rain then all the ducks are going to be a whole lot more concentrated with the constant water level becoming lower and lower and that means the hunters are going to be a whole lot more concentrated. WOW, what a run-on sentence!!!

Honestly, i think that all the ducks are going to raft up in the middle of the lake and in the middle of the channels, as long as its not too rough, and it will make them almost impossible to kill.

There will always be woodies around, no matter what. I'd say come on down for the camping trip and find an ole' slew somewhere and let them take whacks at woodies all morning.

Where do yall usually go when yall come down? I'll finally be able to get out this weekend and do some scouting on my own. I might even go look for an arrow head afterwards.

[Ducslayer]

Thanks for the friendly replies guys.

We will be camping regardless of the duck situation, No way I am breaking a tradtion.
Just wondering if it will be worth rigging the boat and battling all of the new stumps.

We camp on the island and put in at Jack's creek.

We usually hunt Billups Slew and "Hole in the wall"

You can't even get near any of the usual places and The young un's won't be able to hack a mile long romp through the mud so I was thinking of trying the open water.

I would really like some advice on where to go or what to look for to just get a couple of Woodrows for the young un's to shoot at

I really am lost on where to go near Billups since most of the potholes have dried WAAAAAAAY up.

Thanks guys and if you are down during the opener come by and say hello.
I will be the big guy in the 20ft duracraft with 3 youngsters looking for ducks

[romeocadet08]

since you will have the boat with you you could easily make the short drive to the upper part of the lower lake, i.e. Black's Fish camp. From there you have Braswell's slew to hunt, which has a substantial amount of water still left in there. that is always a sure woodie whackin morning hunt. If you are familiar with Goggle Earth i can send you some aerial photos marking Braswell's slew.

There are even a few decent size timber ponds in that same area that are fed by natural springs that always have water regardless of the current "drought" situation. You can access these from foot and wont need the boat, but there are always gators in there and we usually stay out of there until late in the second season. I don't know if you want to take young kids in there. You would also need some hip waders. There are only a few places in there that are over your waste. I have a couple of extra pairs of hip boots, but they are cold as hell.

Shoot me a PM and let me know what you are capable of doing as far as traveling to the lower lake. i would be more than glad to show you some holes that you would be able to hunt.

When are you planning on coming down? What size boat do you have?

[quackaddict]

Originally posted by Ducslayer:
I will be the big guy in the 20ft duracraft

[Green Heads Only]

If you can find the ducks you can easily hunt them now. Shoot, the middle of the lake has more cover than it has had in over 30 years! With the low water it is practically black with stumps sticking up everywhere. You could even hunt off of many of them. IF YOU CAN FIND THEM!

[SwampDunkey]

For what its worth I saw a ton yesterday but they were all in cages in the back of JAB's truck......... Just kidding....... Don't cut my head off...... I thought it was funny.....