33 replies to this topic

[Bennie]

For you duck hunters out there that are not die hards here is another option for you. If you think about it, it beats sitting in some of the sweat lines. It is also cheaper for some people to pay a guide , than it is to buy a blind at $2000.00 to $5000.00 a seat. If you do the math you can go hunting with my friend Raith and some other good guides out there 20 days for what one seat in a decent blind will cost you. Raith charges $200.00 a head for the day. You also will have someone that can talk duck and goose for you so all you have to do is show up and hunt. That means you don't have to deal with decoys, brushing the blinds, a good dog, and calling ducks. Just show up and shoot. I will tell it like it is. Some days we smoke them and get limits and some days we don't. It depends are where the big grinds of ducks and geese are on a particular day and also weather plays a big part of it. For instance look at the difference in these two seasons due to weather. These where the same two blinds. In the 2007-08 season we took 2038 ducks and 262 geese. In the 2008-09 season we took 1050 ducks and 280 geese. Ray wrights the #'s down in a book every day. You want to try and book your hunts on the windiest days possible or the worst storms, those seem to always do good. Here is a you-tube link to an early season hunt last year that Raith did. I will also show a couple pictures of me and some ducks. Raith Heryford Duck Hunting Click you-tube link here!!!Ray and Bennie afternoon hunt.

[Shoot-it]

Nice video that sure looks like fun.

[Braz]

Nice video, and just down the road from me.

[ShooterJohn]

Bennie what you said makes a lot of sense. They not only get a real opportunity at getting birds but they get to see what goes into duck and goose hunting.

[wanapasaki]

Im going to treat myself to a duck hunt this year, so count me in! Just let me know, and I'll go in on it with you!

[Bennie]

Bennie what you said makes a lot of sense. They not only get a real opportunity at getting birds but they get to see what goes into duck and goose hunting.

John you are right. There is a lot of work to set up the decoys right at the beginning of the year. The mosquito's will kill a normal person out there. Trust me it takes a long time to spread a 1000 duck and goose decoys and I don't care what kind of bug spray you use. You will get bit somewhere. It is usually still hot when we do the blinds so a lot of clothes is not an option. They also have to be maintained all year. Some get shot and sink, and when the best weather comes it will blow some of your decoys all the way to the end of the check. The blinds have to be brushed at least twice a week when you start hunting them hard, and you have to go out and change the hole spread sometime to make it look different. It is a lot of work. A full time job during duck season to run a 1000 decoys per blind. I also forgot about retying weights, that is the part I hate most. Some of the other duck hunters here can come up with a bunch of stuff I am forgetting, I am sure.I will be glad to hunt with any of you but my hunting days usually only start after we get enough rains to shut down construction. With the economy the way it is I might get more time off than I can afford this year.

[mac]

Hi Bennie - I am usually up in the GV/NC area quite a bit as my family still lives there. I want to do some duck hunting this year - been years for me. I was born in Yuba City - family lived there for years. My dad and mom went to Yuba high. Uncle was the Dean out at Yuba College for many years. I checked out Raith's service and it looked good. I remember growing up and hunting the rice paddies when it wasn't out of question to knock on the rancher's door to ask permission (30yrs ago) to hunt pheasant or ducks. I know times have changed though. I'd be in for a group hunt if anyone else is...just let me know. AND, I'm willing to put in the ancillary work in prepping for a hunt.

[Bennie]

I will be glad too, wait until the weather is right and give Raith a call or pm me and I will set it up. Your uncle did not happen to be John Flairety did he?? I know I did not spell the name right but I used to work on his cars 25 years ago.

[mac]

My uncle and cousins last name was Souza....I'll leave it at that if you know them

[scdave]

I'm not one for paying for hunts.... BUT this actually sounds like a good thing. Especially for a newbee like myself. Keep me in mind if you're going to set something up or want someone to go with. My currently schedule only alows for a Sunday Hunt w/ travel Satuday eveing.

[mac]

dave, looks like theres a couple of us in the San Jose area, so if something is pulled together maybe a truck pool? I am more than willing to drive...Bennie, also I shouldn't have placed a "z" in my uncle's last name it's with an "s" (Sousa)

[Bennie]

I'm not one for paying for hunts.... BUT this actually sounds like a good thing. Especially for a newbie like myself. Keep me in mind if you're going to set something up or want someone to go with. My currently schedule only allows for a Sunday Hunt w/ travel Saturday evening.

Nobody wants to pay for hunting and I understand that. But duck Blinds cost a lot of money. Raith puts up to $50,000.00 out some times on blinds. He then has to go out and do all the work getting them ready. The worst part is he has to put all the money out 5 or 6 months in advance, on signed contracts, believe me there is lawyers involved and they are not cheep either. He also has to carry insurance for his guide business and that is not cheep either. Honestly this is a good deal for someone that will not hunt over 10 times a year for ducks. Even if you do it yourself in these conditions think about the cost of a just one seat in a blind and 250 decoys 10 bails of straw, decoy weights and line to secure it with. I know that there is people on here that do duck hunt by their self's. All I am saying is Duck Hunting you are going to pay one way or another. Also if you are new to duck hunting this is a good way to learn how to do it, from spreading the decoys to calling. I call Raith= Magpie for a nick name because he never shuts up. You can go hunting with him and he will answer questions if you ask. A lot of the people he takes fishing have fished for years and pay him to go out a learn how he does it. He does not have a problem with it. They see him at the docks and all the fish he catches and know after several days of watching him that he is on to something. The same thing happens in the rice fields. He is not lucky he makes his own luck by trying hard at it. I hunt with him all the time. I will tell everyone just like it is. Some days are great and some are not that good, but you take those same chances wherever you go. Even if you buy your own seat in a blind and decoys, you will have good days and bad days. With that said I will say there are some places where the duck hunting is always good, but some of those clubs cost $250,000 to get in to and they are only for sale when someone dies or retires. I have only got to hunt clubs like that a couple of times in my life. Raith goes to them several times a year. The rich guys will take him out there to call for them. You can usually get limits of what ever kind of ducks you want to shoot at these places in less than a hour. Raiths blinds that he takes clients in are not like that either, when we get limits we hunt hard and about half of a day. It is not the best duck hunting that there is, but he has a lot of repeat customers. Some of them come one time get mad and never come back that is the way it is. I would be a lier if I told you different. Depends on the ducks and the weather, seems like the ones that hit it on a couple of good days end up coming back every year. That is the way it is if you have any questions just ask, it does not hurt any thing, or cost too much to call Raith and ask???

[mac]

+1 Bennie -- and that's we all it "hunting" Like I said I'd be up to pay the couple hundred to have fun, work hard and just enjoy getting out in the field with the possibility of some good duck meat to bring home.

[Bennie]

Contact me when duck season gets here and I will tell you when we are banging them. I would say sign up for opening day but sometimes where Raith is we have a hard time getting the water there. We did not have water on the blinds opening day last year, it was one check away and comming. We did not kill a duck, but got limits of geese.

[mac]

I'll contact Raith. I'll ping a few folks I know but if anyone is interested in signing up for 2 dates let me know.

[timmy]

I will be contacting them soon. My son comes home on leave for Christmas, and I want to take him on a goose hunt.

[Bennie]

Here is a couple of pictures from last year.

[bzzrd feedr]

Bennie makes a lot of sense for the newbie/part time waterfowler. It gives you an excellent opportunity for a successful hunt rather than learning by the school of hard knocks like I did.

[BullsEye]

I sent you guys an email via your website asking about a guided hunt. I would love more info. Never been out for ducks and the price looks reasonable too.

[Bennie]

If any one wants to set up a hunt call Raith at 530-870-2697, He can answer all your questions. Raiths computer is down right now. He has no way to even get his e-mails. Here is a couple more pictures from last year.

[Bennie]

Went out and checked Raith's big blind last week. Decoys are out. Water is on. Geese are there! This is the big 8 man blind that the movie was made out of. He is booked solid first two weekends. Should be real good hunt for whole first week. Probably weather dependent after that. He may still have spots for middle of week?? Here is what the sky looked like over the blind. Sorry I am no photographer.The blind is where the white Decoys are.They were papering in pretty good.

[ehd]

nice photos and fun to see!!

[Moe]

Not many people understand the work or the expense that goes into running a guide service. I guided at Mendota and Tulelake back in the 60's before moving to Alaska and I can tell you it's hard, hard work. For the average Joe who only hunts a few days out of a season the expense alone can be staggering. That is if you want to be successful. I used to see a lot of guys with a dozen decoys and a poorly trained dog trying to compete with the big boys and I felt sorry for them. That's the way I started and I know it can be tough. Sure, there are times when that's all you need but to be consistently successful you need gear. And you need expertise. It may sound like a lot of money but consider the cost of decoys, vehicle, boats, motors, blinds, dog, etc, and the work of setting all that stuff up plus the hours of learning how to blow a duck and goose call and you'll realize that it's cheap. All you have to do is get out to the blind, pay attention to what the guide tells you and shoot. All of your expense is clothing, gun and shells. Not too shabby.Right now I have all of that gear for myself including a Duck Naked picker. In total I have about $13,000 tied up in waterfowl hunting gear and I don't even guide any more. I'm not even counting my truck in that cost. Something else that's invaluable is if you want to learn how it's done you will see first hand the right way to go about it. That guide spent a lot of time learning his craft and it will look easy but believe me it isn't. Hunting with a guide will put you years ahead in knowledge. One of my pet peeves when hunting is the poor sap who went out and bought a call then sits in his blind blowing it all morning sounding god awful and not only annoying the c**p out of everyone around him but scaring away the birds. You generally don't have to put up with that when hunting with a guide. Most guides will tell you to leave your call at home.I hunted with a guide service when I went down to Texas on a snow goose hunt in 2003. Texas was too far to haul all of my gear and even though I have 400 snow goose "rags" most of my gear is for the west. I got a 3 day hunt including lodging and meals for $700. Each day we hunted over 2000 decoys and killed a bunch of geese. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

[ShooterJohn]

It's that time of year again. For all you new guys this is a way to get in a good day of hunting without the frustration of lines and reservations.

[mac]

John, thanks for bringing this back up. I didn't make it last year, may try this year.

[Bennie]

It is not time to go with Raith right now. He does not have water yet due to the weather this year. The rice is late getting out. I will tell you all when it is on. He had one of his guides do a Speck hunt over a dry field with two guys opening weekend. They killed two specks, but did good on Mallards due to the weahter opening weekend. They were happy with the hunt due to the Mallards. They got eleven. Me and Ray were deer hunting all weekend and that kept us real busy. Here is the Deer pictures of opening weekend of Duck season.

[BullsEye]

Good job on the deer! I'm still looking into a duck hunt I will have to call a little later in the season. Anyone recommend a choke and shot for a 20 gauge 870?

[Bennie]

I shoot a Modified with #2's or BB's. But take your gun out and pattern it on big pieces of cardboard. Every shotgun and choke is different. You will learn a lot and know what your shotgun and choke is doing at different ranges.

[BullsEye]

I shoot a Modified with #2's or BB's. But take your gun out and pattern it on big pieces of cardboard. Every shotgun and choke is different. You will learn a lot and know what your shotgun and choke is doing at different ranges.

Whats a good range to pattern a duck gun at 30, 40, 50 yards? Pattern it inside of how large a circle 8 inch like a pie plate? Sorry this is all new to me. Thanks for the help.

[Jeff]

30" circle at 30 yards.