The second split opener was just breathtaking here on the middle coast. Fast action and solid limits with plenty of birds for everyone it seems. Today we started gunning special guests Worth Mathewson, 18 year editor of Wildfowl Magazine. Worth and his wife Marge are in for a weeks long trip hunting layout boats with us here in Texas. Worth has gunned waterfowl all over the world and we consider it a great honor to have him here with us.
Layout boat hunting is not for everyone and there's a reason why we are the only outfitters in Texas gunning them. It is a lot of work to do it right and you can't smash them all the time, everytime. Layout boat hunting is a lot of fun though, and once exposed to it, it will hook you like nothing else. It's pretty much like Deer Hunting. Once you've shot a few deer with a gun, bow hunting them takes the sport to a whole new level. I remember the first time I laid back in one. I looked over my left shoulder and was looking eye to eye with my Gadwall decoys. That's when I knew we were in a whole new ballgame. We've been gunning layout boats since 2008 because of their deep roots in the heritage, tradition, and lore of waterfowl hunting. We also gun them because we can.
Worth told me, I'd rather shoot one duck from a layout boat than 100 from a shoreline blind. With Marge on the camera in the secondary layout boat, Worth gunned his Redheads and passed on plenty. The decoy set is everything in layout boat hunting and for the perfect picture, you've got to have the toenail draggers just right. Sitting in a layout boat, you only have about 130 degrees of shooting range. So if the birds are on your bad side, you can't even pull the trigger no matter how close they are. This was our first layout shoot of the year and it turned out pretty good. We're going to sharpen up a few things with a small shift in location and timing and see if we can get some serious commitment and those perfect pictures.
Late this week we will be hosting yet another TV crew in shooting a pilot for the Outdoor Channel.
We hope you have a great week, come see us!
Capt. Kris Kelley
Castaway Lodge
1-888-618-4868
www.coastalwaterfowl.com
Centrally located in Seadrift, Texas, Castaway Lodge encompasses two adjacent campuses covering 3.5 acres with 700' of bayou frontage and 15,000 sf of comfort, convenience, and privacy in the Heart of Seadrift!
