To quote my two sons "It's time for me to take a little easier when hunting" and the want to pick the tab for a couple trips - my choice.

Basic requirement all we need to do is shop with our shotguns and suitable clothing - all else needs to included and no lay-down blinds. Mexicp and Canada would be OK but prefer USA.

So my wish list starts out with (1) I"ve never hunted flooded timber and it looks like a lot of fun.

(2) Someplace you can shoot quail or pheasants between morning and evening waterfowl shooting/

(3) A commercial operation or club that takes clients - 100% wild birds not required.

One last thing. I've shot along the coast of the Northeast for sea ducks - once - a lot of birds and a lot of shooting which I enjoyed but I also found I'm not a sailor. It was cold, it was windy and I don't want to do it again --- ever!

Bill, I have local men in Arkansas where hunting flooded timber is king. Don't know about upland hunts but I'll ask. We have one here in TN but ducks are hit and miss, especially in the timber. We have temps falling into the teens soon. You want bright, clear days in the timber. It can be warm but no clouds or strong wind if you want to kill Mallards in the timber. I'll see what I can find for you. LDK

Couple of ideas..

Hackberry Rod and Gun Club near Lake Charles, LA. No quail or pheasants but great redfishing

Burbank Goose in Eastern Washington hunting Paul's Pond. Unbelievable mallard shooting, and lots of great upland hunting nearby.

Wildlife Farms near Stuttgart, AR. World class timber shooting, and tournament level bass fishing. Daniel and Miss Sally will take phenomenal care of you. I've never been able to finish my plate.

Eagle Lake Lodge in eastern Washington is spectacular too.

Finish Line Outdoors in SW oklahoma does a great crane, goose or duck hunt. One of the few outfitters in that area with a trailer blind, so no layouts. And SW Oklahoma has tremendous bird hunting.

That should give you a few options!

There is a place in the North Georgia Mountains called Wiley Creek Duck Preserve that might interest you. It's just about 50 miles north of Atlanta, so you could fly in, rent a vehicle and be there pretty fast.

Their website is: www.wileycreek.com

If you want to add quail, there are several plantations near Atlanta. I have been to Burnt Pine a number of times; it's a first-class operation. Occasionally they have tower pheasant shoots as well. www.burntpine.com

There are other quail opportunities near Atlanta that are not quite as pricey as Burnt Pine. My favorite is Big Red Oak Plantation, south of Atlanta: www.bigredoakplantation.com

There are probably others nearby as well, but they tend to come and go in Georgia, and I'm not in Atlanta any more, so Big Red Oak and Burnt Pine are the only ones I know for sure are operating. You could probably find others with an Internet search.

Hope this helps!

If you do a little research, you won't find any better or easier waterfowl hunting in North Am. than in middle to Southern Saskatchewan. There are some fairly high priced hunts but locals can be found that are much more reasonable. Much of the goose hunting in Southern Saskatchewan is from pits that are usually dug with a big drilling machine. The good guides move them daily as the geese change fields. The guy I used to use is retired but if you're interested, I'll try to contact him to see who he "willed" his business/drill to. I'm not completely sure he is still alive. From memory, goose season doesn't open until Mid-October, ducks are much earlier, but you want to go after goose season opens but not so late that you might be frozen out. There is some great and free mostly duck hunting on DU projects in the area, but they typically require a boat and/or more physical effort than an older hunter, especially one alone, would want to put out. Unfortunately, these days, that includes me.

I'd be interested in a DIY Sask. trip for ducks having just had a suckass guided trip in upstate NY. I'm all about DIY in general unless the logistics are infeasible.

I know this doesn't help the OP but Gato's post got me thinking.

Norton:

I'll be glad to give you more info, but the fact is that it is about 22-2300 mi from NH one way and, given your earning power, it would likely be cheaper to hire a guide and fly into Calgary or similar. Of course, if you can find a partner who wants to drive with a boat, a few dekes, and a dog that you could meet, it could work. A boat is not really essential but otherwise, you're going to have to knock on doors to get permission to hunt on private land/waters. That used to be pretty easy, but I am not sure of the current situation. The real problem was finding the owners, many of them go S for the winter.

The waters I'm talking about are relatively shallow, and don't require a "bigger" water boat. I have used a pirogue or a canoe, both worked well, but set up right, the pirogue was better for shooting out of, IMO. The boat has to be light enough to be manhandled to launch, not off a trailer. On the smaller waters I'm referring to a motor won't work, the lakes are usually too shallow. Like most duck hunting, a dog is not essential but sure makes it more fun.

We typically hunted in the Swift Current area which is in the deep South part of Sask. Depending on the year, there can be some fantastic hun and sharptail hunting in area as well.

You probably could do something similar in Canada much closer to the East Coast, but I have zero knowledge of those provinces or what or where a DIY might work.

Thanks Gato....that's good info and you're definitely right about the difficult logistics of DIY for me. My biggest problem seems to be finding time to do this stuff now that I can afford it.

We drove out to North Dakota a few years ago for a DIY fowling and pheasant trip.....it was a total bust due to weather and timing. It was a lot of effort for zero return.

Thanks again for your input.

Baja California would provide you with a unique opportunity to hunt Brant in San Quintin Bay. Birds migrate non stop from Alaska and are ready and willing to decoy. Birds arrive late November. It's an easy hunt or should I say shoot. You are dropped off on beach blinds or rocky points and the guides put out the decoys. The weather is very mild. The hunt can be combined with outstanding valley quail hunting on nearby ranches. Travel over the mountain to Mexicali and you can have South Dakota style 5pheasant hunting combined with gambel quail and dove. All of this is within 5 hours of San Diego. My son and daughter in law are Baja farmers and I spend a lot of time down south hunting and fishing. Aurturo Malo is a great outfitter that handles all these hunts. He has quality guns and ammo so it would be turnkey from San Diego. He has a web page. Something different. I just returned from my last hunt as the season ends in February. All of these hunts are suitable for older hunters.
lb