Ducks on Lake Whitney?

[Pat Miller]

Is it worth the time and trouble to scout the lake?
Never been there before and I'm expanding my possible areas of locations to score.
Any help/suggestions is appreciated.

[eastxhunter]

Ducks errywhere

[Texas Grown]

Ducks errywhere

Oh yeah? Show-em to me on Whitney.




Pat, from my 35 years if hunting it, the best years are when the water level has been way down. Then comes up right before the season. When it's down, lots of vegetation grows out on the beaches. When the water comes up and covers that vegetation, it's really really hard not to find fowl there. But as long as they allow the lake to fluctuate through the summer and into the fall, most of the migrators from the central and Rocky flyways just keep going south. There are always some that rest there. But once the shooting starts, they move to private tanks surrounding the lake. It sits almost in a V pocket in the middle of the migration routes. Without the flooded vegetation, there is little to nothing to hold them there. However, there will always be a few flying through.


In 2009 we had the last perfect conditions. Lake had been down all summer. Rain started filling it up from the upper Brazos basin in Sept and Oct. And ACE held back the water. It was really hard not to pull into a place and get 3,000 to 5,000 birds up. Word got out, and I saw hunters from all over the state there. I ran a lot of hunts that year. And helped a lot of TBHers here get their first bird, many of whom got a big bull sprig for their first. They were really thick that year. And it was hard to tell my clients to hold off cause the sprigs were everywhere and always pouring into the spreds.


I've seen it similar in years before that. And we've had near the same a couple times since. But not the same as 2009.



I'll be out there again this year, doing the same things I always do.