Off-Season Work and Planting Food Plots For Ducks | The Process | Into The Woods with Rusty Creasey
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ก.ย. 2024
- We are about halfway through the off season. This is a highlight reel of a few of the major things I've done so far.
Banded Gear
Avery GHG
Red River Dodge
Browning Shotguns
Realtree Timber Camo
Apex Ammuniton
Man, that is awesome Rusty!!
thanks for watching!
You know, Rusty-
You oughta take a minute and read this article printed in Southern Illinois newspaper in 2000.
I really like your TH-cam Channel, but if in your lifetime you fail to see the mallards coming South, one has to understand the DRAMA began before we took up duck hunting.
Here is what I am talking about-🤬
The goose is no longer the golden egg.
Southern Illinois used to bill itself as "The Goose Hunting Capital of the World."
When conditions are right, this region is still one of the prime goose hunting locations in the country. Unfortunately, the right conditions haven't occurred with any regularity for the past few seasons.
The fickle nature of the Canada goose migration was threatening well-established hunting clubs with extinction.
"I was losing customers for years because our hunting was so poor," said C.J. Worthington, owner of Worthington's Hunting Club at Olive Branch.
In desperation, club owners turned to duck hunters. Established goose clubs began managing for ducks and several clubs managed primarily for duck hunting have sprung up in the past few years.
The results have been remarkable.
"Five years ago, we probably didn't kill 100 ducks," said Collin Cain, owner of Grassy Lake Hunting Club at Ware. "We killed 1,500 ducks last year. That's a pretty good year to be a secondary resource. Most club owners are farmers. It has really helped in that aspect."
The new emphasis on duck hunting has probably saved the industry in Southern Illinois. At the least, it is definitely the wave of the future.
"I think that's etched in stone," Cain said. "What's happened is, 10-15 years ago, opening day was my best day. We didn't kill one goose the first two weeks of the season this year.
"The geese get here in the middle of January. As far as I'm concerned, you can start the season in the middle of December."
"The last year, the geese didn't get here until the last 10 days of January," Worthington said. "If that's all I had to depend on, I might as well lock my doors. The geese had been staying up north, and so had the hunters.
"The hunting was just so poor, if you didn't try to do something else, you'd be out of business."
Cain said his decision to place more emphasis on duck hunting was made easier by improvements the Illinois Department of Natural Resources made at the nearby Union County Refuge.
However, there was some personal expense involved.
"The state has done such a good job of holding ducks, I put in some wells and flooded 25 acres of standing corn," he said. "I've got guys, that even in January, they want to come up and shoot ducks instead of geese.
"It's just the best thing. It's 10 times better than I thought it would be."
Although operating independently, most club owners arrived at the same conclusion. The net result has been remarkable.
The last 2-3 years, we've done more work, flooding more area and leaving more corn standing for them," Worthington said. "Most everybody was thinking along the same lines. There are a lot of people doing the same thing and it's just holding more birds in the area."
The flooded corn is attracting large groups of mallards, but hunters have also been shooting wood ducks, gadwall, widgeon, pintail, teal and shovelers.
"We get a little bit of everything," Worthington said.
"Anybody that really manages for ducks, they're going to have to spend some money," Cain said. "You'll have to put some levees around the fields. The levees are pretty minute.
"The wells were the biggest expense. That's the one key thing. We used to levee it up and wait for it to rain. That doesn't fly. You'd have ducks one year out of three."
Holding the ducks in the area is the key because the ducks are more predictable than geese.
"What happens is, the ducks come down whether it's foul weather or not," Cain said. "We have enough ducks to hunt for 3-4 weeks."
"The ducks seem to migrate, where the geese come out of Canada and see all the golf courses and the cooling lakes," Worthington said. "If the snow doesn't hit up there, they just stay there.
Great video rusty. Keep them coming!
Thank you!! Appreciate you watching!!
So simple. But oh so challenging.
Yes! Mother Nature can throw ya a bunch of curve balls!!
So I can plant the rice seed in the water? Then pull water off two days later?
Yessir. It should start to sprout and then stick to the mud and come on up.
Thanks ! Planting Monday. Fingers crossed 🤞
Sorry , one more question. How tall should I wait to start letting water back on it?
@@jamesbragg5135 when it get 6-8 inches tall you can put some on it. Anytime is fine long as it doesn't try to float. Long as it stands tall and on it own you're fine.
This is my first year planting my duck holes I’ve usually just hunted whatever food god provides on my property. This year I went with Mack’s prairie wings mix with jap millet, brown top and golden top millet, rice, buckwheat, and dwarf corn. So far got a good stand about a foot or 2 tall. Good luck to y’all.
Glad you are working to make your spot better!! Best of luck to you as well!!
I’ve planted rice and millet this year, curious what weed killer you use and what fertilizer works best?
I plant clearfield rice so I spray it with beyond, permit plus, perc plus, and surfoil. Newpath is in the beyond which will kill conventional rice. I just put urea out over the top of my rice. Ideally I'd put triple nineteen down at planting but I just can't haul all that into the woods.
I just got my rice and millet planted a few days ago, I had to wait for water levels to come down. Do you think my rice will be OK? I know I'm late getting it in this will be my 1st year doing rice
If u are down here in the south it should make something. Millett will be fine only issue there is that planted this early sometimes it will make and then seed will shatter off and sprout. If I plant millett it’s usually in august. But yes you will have some good for sure!
I’ve planted it as late as July 7 and it made about 50% of what it would have planted n late may or first week of June. But it did make.
@@RustyCreasey thanx for the reply... the rice I bought was titan variety its supposed to have a shorter growing cycle. The Hancock seed website said 75 days but I don't know much about rice
@@jasonwaldon4351 if that's the case you'll be in great shape!!!! I'm about to plant some 78 day corn and have no clue what to expect!! I reckon we both shall see!! Good luck!!
@@RustyCreasey Good luck to you as well! Love the videos man keep em coming. I love the waterfowl habitat management videos that have been coming to TH-cam in the last few years. I've learned a ton. There was always deer habitat stuff but the waterfowl habitat videos were hard to find. I'm glad that people like yourself are putting the info out here for everyone else to learn from. Again thanx buddy!
@@jasonwaldon4351 appreciate you watching and following along!
Do you do a youth/veteran hunt during youth/veteran weekend? If so I am a disabled veteran and a 13 year old son looking for a trip this season.
Hey Rusty I intend to buy one of your signature calls from Echo what are the chances of getting to blow it one morning hunting with you? I know the answer is probably slim and none but you never know unless you ask. I would love to experience just one biblical morning. A frustrated duck hunter.
Would love to help but not something that I decide. I just take the owner and his guests which are usually his friends and family and business acquaintances. Thank u all the same tho!!