This hunt is offered by Roanoke River Waterfowl on our privately owned land and impoundments in Eastern NC. Species include Blue and Green Wings, Wood Ducks, Mallards, Black Ducks, Widgeon, Pintail, Gadwalls, Canvas Back, Blue Bills, Red Heads, Canada Geese and Tundra Swan. Permit is required for Tundra Swan and application deadline is Oct. 1st. 100 percent success rate on Tundra Swans. We have a no shoot no pay policy. Hunt waterfowl in morning and quail in the afternoon. Price is 400 per day and includes all food and lodging.
Roanoke River Waterfowl LLC
Outfitter is Captain JC Purvis
252-826-4288
www.roanokeriverwaterfowl.com/

Hey Captain, what months is the waterfowl season open and what months are usually most productive, primarily for ducks ?
Is there a minimum number of hunters you would book ?

Thanks for your time,
Bob

The Atlantic Flyway Commission give us a 60 day season. Best is Thanksgiving through Jan 25. Diver hunting is better later in the season. We have regular calendar migrations but the best is when we get a weather driven migration. Once it gets cold up North we start really holding birds. Like to have at least three to a blind but I do not pair people with other groups unless they are a single.

I'm interested. Do your BWTs leave, or stay for the duration of the season? We rarely see them here in MA, and the GWTs leave early when the cold comes. What are your success rates like on cans, please? Also, are your quail wild or stocked?

Thanks for any information.

Kamo Giri, I can't answer completely for Capt. Purvis but I have lived and hunted a lot of my life in NC and in eastern NC. I may be interested in doing this hunt myself or going along with some AR members. To answer your question on BWT and GWT you have it backwards from my experience. BWT are always the first to leave and hightail it south when the first cold weather comes. GWT stay longer and until it gets cold, they usually hang around but will not stay as late as Mallards, Big Divers, etc. Waterfowl hunting on the coast of NC is pretty much like everywhere and is hugely dependent on weather and wind. Give me the right wind anyday.

I am assuming he is hunting wild quail as the eastern NC farming country used to be loaded with them. Could be pen raised but with his quoted prices I doubt it. Lots of windrows in this country and they always hold quail. I am sure Capt. Purvis will answer fully but I thought I would add what I knew.

We have two migrations of Blue Wing Teal. First is our September Season and the limit is 4 birds. Birds during this season are not in full plumage. Along the Roanoke River Delta we get another push of Blue Wings in late January. This is one of the trophy birds that duck hunters crave. They are in full plumage and make a beautiful mount.


When the Cans show up in December they stay on lake here in NC and a river in Southern VA. I get lots of calls about Cans from duck hunters/collectors that are working on their Master/ Grand Master Waterfowl. We can only shoot one Can per day but I can guarantee you that I will get you in shooting range of a Canvas Back. Days that we hunt Canvas Back we set up specifically for them in Open Water areas. Keep in mind that my Canvas Back hunts are not on private land and we are hunting public waters. I have a scissor rig and hard to get permits that allow me to hunt areas that do not have a lot of pressure. We have a lot of duck hunters here in NC and I work diligently not to hunt pressured areas. All of my puddle duck hunts are on private land.


We do have wild quail here in Eastern NC but nothing like in days past. Quail Hunting is one of my favorite activities and I have the dogs to prove it. Unfortunately, we do release birds on the farm. I have a contract with a good grower and he has the best flying birds in this region. I also have surrogators and raise birds throughout the summer but even the surrogated birds are not the same as wild birds. I would not trust anyone that tells you differently. My long time quail hunting buddy passed away not too long ago. He was my mentor when it came to quail hunting, bird dogs and developing habitat. He was an ace fighter pilot during World War II and in his early ninety's he was still walking up to three miles with one of his favorite bird dogs. He was a great man and true gentleman.
Feel free to call me with any questions or request for references. I can provide the experience of a Southern Plantation quail hunt but we do not have the wild coveys that we did twenty years ago.
http://www.flambeauoutdoors.co...g/staff/clark-purvis

Can you hunt canvas backs and the other ducks in the same day. Also how many quail can a hunter take and if you hold out for the better duck hunting times is the quail hunting still good in like jan. I may try and get like 4 guys to do the hunt it sounds like some good fun hunting.

It is possible to kill other ducks than Canvas Backs when we are set up on open water with diver rigs. Other ducks that we harvest are Scaup, Red Heads, Ring Necks and some puddle ducks. Quail hunting is available throughout our Waterfowl season.

quote:

Originally posted by Capt. Purvis:

Hey Skipper,

You have any idea how refreshing it is to get a straight answer out of a man asked a direct question? No need for a response, as it's a purely rhetorical question, but put it this way, from a passionate bird hunter and fella admittedly silly about waterfowl: I'll be calling you to book a trip soon.

Thank you, and look forward to discussing details with you in the near future, sir.

quote:

To answer your question on BWT and GWT you have it backwards from my experience

We're not communicating, friend. The precious few BWT that we might see during legal season never stick around, and your average duckman is lucky to even lay eye on one. The GWT are also cold-shy, but we do occasionally get into some early in our local season, and if you're lucky, after maybe 50 days in the blind on the marsh in late season might be able to see, and if really lucky have a chance to send some steel 4s at one in full-plumage. Funny thing: the nicest GWT I ever saw locally was killed a mile and change offshore off cape cod, over a mussel bed, over which we'd set out a few gang rigs of eider and ww scoter. Friggin' wacky bird came buzzing into the spread with a flock of canada geese, of all things. I'm guessing previous head trauma. That little gummer flew to the beat of a different drummer!

The beauty that I proudly display in my home came from Idaho, BTW. To put that into perspective, consider that in perhaps 700 outings for ducks over the past almost-couple of decades, I've seen perhaps two GWT drakes in prime breeding adorned splendor. I've *never* laid eyes on a mature BWT drake.

BTW, I've been fortunate enough to take 23 species of waterfowl in a season locally. But of course, we get sea ducks and brant, as well as a nice variety of puddlers and divers...


Just clarifying, and cheers.

Sir,

I will be more specific! My quail are released. Canvas back hunting. Once they get here there is a 85% chance you will get a shot. If you do not get a shot, you do not have to pay! Green Wing Teal hunting. We shoot them in NC from November through January. They are one of are most common species. Blue Wing Teal. There are here throughout September and October. We get another push of Blue Wings in late January. This happens every year here in NC. This past year I was holding Blue Wings in my impoundments from January through March. I killed a full plumage drake this past January and it is on the wall in lodge. I will post some pictures when I get back to my office the first of the week. Feel free to contact me with any questions.
Regards,
Clark

clark, where are you exactly? I live in Eastern NC in Goldsboro.

I have three lodges in Eastern NC and another that I lease on the Eastern Shore. My main lodge is near the Roanoke 8 miles East of Scotland Neck.