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How's your duck
hunting been
this year? Ours, in north Alabama, has been spotty at best. Most of our
duck hunts have been spent shooting divers on the Tennessee River.
That's why I was so looking forward to a hunt with David
Melton,
of Delta
Duck Hunts .
David has several thousand acres of prime duck hunting real estate to
choose from. The flooded rice fields are only 15
minutes
outside of Tunica,
Mississippi.
Living in a neighboring state I knew that Tunica was home to four large
casinos, but I really had not heard much about the duck hunting. 
Wanting to share
my adventure I
invited my good friend Alan and my new son-in-law, Austin. When I
mentioned duck hunting and casinos it didn't take much more than a
micro second for them both to say yes to my invitation.
Saturday afternoon
we checked in at the Hollywood Casino Hotel . Nearby
Harrah's Casino of Tunica boasts "The Willows"
clay range, known as a premier clay course. Next year we may
add
‘The Willows’ to our weekend adventure. There are two or three hotels
in the area if you're not interested in staying at one of the casinos.
5:00 a.m. the next
morning we
meet David Melton and his crew at the "Blue and White"
restaurant. This local diner seems to be the hang out for every duck
hunter in the county and unofficial starting point for the duck
hunts. David
introduces us to Greg, our guide for the day, and we head out to the
flooded rice fields nearby. Greg has been been a professional Guide for
fifteen years and calls ducks down like bees to a
flower.
When we arrive, at the pits, the roar of several thousand geese were
ringing in our ears. It's this moment that the adrenalin kicks in and
you forget about the super cold wind and begin picturing all the ducks
you're going to shoot in just a few minutes. I couldn’t wait.
The very
low temperatures
and wind produced one of those 'holy crap it's cold' kind of mornings
that make you wonder why you ever wanted to duck hunt in the first
place. Just through sheer bad luck we found ourselves hunting
the
day of a cold front and the morning after a very bright and full moon.
It's not the best combination for a duck hunt. Two strikes against us
already. Once in the pit we still managed to get two geese and three
teal and missed several others. The sites and sounds were out of this
world. A beautiful sunrise, thousands of geese flying over and a young
black Lab that retrieved like a machine. Greg, our guide, was very
friendly and patient with three guys from north Alabama who are more
accustomed to hiding behind brush. Greg seemed disappointed with the
number of ducks, but I actually was pleased with it. Compared to some
of our recent Alabama hunts it was a jackpot. My son-in-law, Austin,
had a great time. He was top shooter with two geese and a teal. Some
one should have reminded him not to out- shoot his new father-in-law.
He may or may not be back with us next year. This was Alan’s first
guided duck hunt. I could tell he was excited
about the sheer numbers of waterfowl we were seeing and was having a
great time. Alan managed to out-shoot me, too. I sure will miss both of
them next year.
After a morning in
the pit we
were invited to a duck hunt with the Guides back at the Bullpen. No
hesitation on our part in accepting the invitation. We had seen
pictures of and heard stories about the Bullpen. The Bullpen is David's
shining jewel among the Mississippi mud and deservedly so. With wooden
decks, barstools and a coffee maker it's a duck hunters dream(see
'Building the Bullpen' pics here).
Oh, did I mention that it has 24 hour live feeds to the internet? To my
knowledge DuckHuntingLive.com
is the only internet site where you can view a live duck hunt over the
internet (insert link). David has five cameras setup around the Bullpen
for your viewing pleasure and it’s free. It's the coolest thing and you
should take a look. How's the duck hunting at the Bullpen? By the end
of the day seven of us had limited out on Pintails, shot some mallards,
shovelers and even managed a Speckle Belly Goose . Bottom
line, if
you want to visit a great location with great guides and have a great
duck hunt then you need to hunt with 'Delta Duck Hunts' in Tunica,
Mississippi.
I recommend you call them early to book a 2009 hunt. Contact
David Melton
4101 Dundee Rd
Dundee,
MS 38626
662-357-5152
Deltaduckhunts@hughes.net
Shotgunworld and Delta Ducks at "The
Bullpen"
(L to R) Greg(guide), Brett(guide), Coby(guide), Austin, Alan, Jay,
David Melton-owner(kneeling)
Reviewed
by: Jay Gentry (Shotgunworld)
Date: 26 January 2009
(See
more pictures, of our hunt, in the forum photo
gallery)
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