Kansas Waterfowl at 180 Outdoors

Three days in Kansas at 180 Outdoors, temperatures below freezing, five hunters, 55 ducks and 10 geese; if you love hunting waterfowl, you'll love what follows. 

I left Louisiana in a short sleeve shirt and arrived in Kansas, 13 hours later, needing a heavy coat.  Temps were going to be below freezing with a high in the low 30's the following day.  When I drove up the drive at 180 Outdoors and walked into the lodge, I finally met the guys I'd be hunting with.  For you Northerners, the name Jim Crowly may be a familiar one.  Jim and his compatriots, Kirk Ijams, Bill Brown, and Jeff McMahon of the Dance Hall Doctors (back-up band for Tim McGraw), were in from Illinois and Tennessee to film and enjoy a great hunt.  Being the lone man out, I expected to enjoy my hunt, but never expected to become one of the family.  I was included from the start and hit it off great with all of the guys.  They were fun and light hearted while staying professional.  These guys made this hunt a hunt-of-a-lifetime for me.

We started off Tuesday morning in a cut, corn field with Canada geese and duck decoys.  We had a couple pairs of widgeons buzz us early on, though it was Canadas we had the luck with.  I've hunted snow and blue geese, and specklebelly geese for most of my life.  This was my first experience with Canada geese.  We each took a greater that morning but the rest of the day was as dry as the gulf coast during last fall's drought.  Still though, a Canada was enough to keep me happy and upbeat.

Day two we moved to a soybean field.  We set up for ducks only.  As daylight hit, our first flight of ducks dropped in on us.  I don't mean they moseyed on in, I mean the DROPPED on us.  Gadwalls fell from the sky again and again.  We had close to half our limit when the mallards started flying.  Over and over the ducks swooped in.  Our shots were head-on, the ducks cupped and committed.  By 8:30 in the morning 30 ducks were in our possession and our days duck hunt was over.

I've had plenty of days where we killed a limit of ducks.  I've never seen the huge numbers of green heads like I saw at 180 Outdoors.  By the time the mallards reach Louisiana, they are wary and split into pairs and small groups.  For the second half of our hunt, we were picking and choosing which ducks we would shoot at.  Kirk, a passionate trap shooter, was the first one done.  He and Jim, on the right flank, were able to take better advantage of the ducks flight patterns and finished out quicker than Bill and I on the left end.  We switched places and finished strong with the last three ducks being nice mallard drakes. 

Once back to the lodge, we cleaned up and headed into Cherryvale for breakfast at a small diner.  We talked and shared stories and forged friendships.  We ate good at that little blue restaurant. 

We set up that afternoon in the corn field we'd hunted the first day.  Only one flight of Canada geese flew over that afternoon, but two less flew away.  We added a Specklebelly to the mix before dark and made it back for backstrap and potatoes and onions that Matt with 180 cooked up for us.  I'd been hoping for some good lodge food and we got it.

Thursday, our final day, we set up on the same bean field, though with winds from the southwest instead of the north, we set up across the field from where we hunted on Tuesday.  We had to work harder for our birds, and take longer shots, but we still ended up finishing only a couple ducks short of our limit.  I was able to leave with my six ducks, but we weren't able to fill every one's bags with ducks.  We were also able to take a pass shot on some snow geese, one of which I dropped, and the guys called in another flight of Canadas.  By and large, we ended up with another great hunt.  180 Outdoors has the birds.  I had never hunted ducks over a dry field, as they are usually wary by the time they reach Louisiana and like to stick to open water. 

My experience was fantastic and I will remember and cherish if for as long as my mind remains whole.  I made some friends and I hope my paths will cross with these guys again one day.

I put 1400 miles on my truck and spent 24 hours driving to duck hunt.  Would I do it again?  You bet.