Lake Henshaw Hunting Tips

[jlabs]

Hey all,

I am new to this forum, but have found a lot of great info! My friend is a member, so we are planning to go out on Saturday. I saw some old posts with some great info, but wanted to see if there is any updated intel from this year.

We have some green wing teal, widgeon and some mallard decoys as well as a couple of Mojos. Any other decoy tips. How many? What kind?

Any recommendations on where to hunt? Ive heard near the dam is good? We will probably rent a boat and set up on Friday.

I really appreciate it.

 

[ilovesprig]

Well, here's my answer from almost the same day and question one year ago...lol...The lake is not as low and lots of willows around the lake...So, it's a little easier building a blind...Numbers are still low with very few ducks using the lake overall...Good luck

Dec 17, 2018

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jlabs,

The lake is very, very low.....Which makes it very difficult to hunt....Hence, the very low kill numbers this year despite good numbers of ducks.

Let's start with your blind.....Pop-ups historically don't work on open shore lines or duck hunting.....Plus, how you going to shoot overhead out of it?.....If that's all you have, then the river mouth or somewhere where the back drop of willows is fairly close.....There are places like this, but getting a blind like that over a mile away really isn't feasible.....Most guys use layouts or build willow blinds.

Decoys.....You're hunting 90% widgeon and a few teal or mallards for the most part around the lake.....Those are the only 3 species you really need....Big water, big spread.....We try to use at least 8 dozen decoys....Again, not really feasible for most.

Unless you're on the X (and there doesn't seem to be one), spinners are almost a must.....The lake is large, even when it's way down.....We use multiple spinners, when we can.

 

[jlabs]

Ha, Youre right! I was hoping for a different answer this time around; like, the lake is loaded and hunting is wide open, LOL.

I guess we will give it a try and see what happens.

 

[nicapopolis]

I guess we will give it a try and see what happens.

This is how hunting works. You never know unless YOU go!

 

[Duck Stew]

Here is a truthful answer!lol The 3 spots that will produce some decent hunting will be sewed up by the 3 regulars that hunt there all the time, it's a MCC thing and there just isn't alot of good spots to hunt especially if the water is low. I will wish you good luck because you never know unless you go!

 

[jlabs]

Here is a truthful answer!lol The 3 spots that will produce some decent hunting will be sewed up by the 3 regulars that hunt there all the time, it's a MCC thing and there just isn't alot of good spots to hunt especially if the water is low. I will wish you good luck because you never know unless you go!

Thanks for the responses Duck Stew. Maybe those 3 guys will take the weekend off!

 

[Snake Charmer]

Never had anything but bad expeiences there with folks driving over my decoys and confronting me when I was there before them to get "their spot with"thats the way it goes" from management . I quit hunting after that in the early nineties after two seasons. I hear things have changed but cannot endorse what I don't know. Back then when that happened it was a hostile enviroment I had never experienced with hunters shooting birds out from under you and yelling and screaming at you to go away and it was their lake. Never was into confrontations so I moved on and wrote it of my list. Sad to say the least among sportsmen...

 

[ilovesprig]

Here is a truthful answer!lol The 3 spots that will produce some decent hunting will be sewed up by the 3 regulars that hunt there all the time, it's a MCC thing and there just isn't alot of good spots to hunt especially if the water is low. I will wish you good luck because you never know unless you go!

It's an MCC thing?...I agree there's not a lot of good spots, but as of last week, me and 5 other members were the only MCC members that have even hunted out there (my 3 haven't hunted there in 10 days)...It's been the same area the 5 times (2 Sundays) I've hunted...The back marsh is sewed up by guides or folks that get there early and get that spot...The only advantage MCC members have is we don't have to pay ($50.00), we can hunt Sundays, or check-in the day of the hunt (5:00 am).

 

[Snake Charmer]

When was the last time some MCC regulars took newbies out to teach them the lake ? Not an accusation just asking, NBK back in the day very graciously taught me the sport and held my hand for many years until I was able to work side by side with him and get it done as well and encourage others at his behest. Also I wonder how many would be hunters have been turned off by how its goes when other folks who want what they want don't put a hand out to newbies and send them in a direction with info as to how they may do well. Years ago I showed up at Sutherland without a clue and only a boat motor and some decoys, a couple of guys that I drew before them out of dumb luck and me asking the audience what to do sent me to a good shoot. When was the last time any of us saw that happen? This might be another reason why hunter numbers continue to decline because the current folks are not doing enough to bring others in and I don't mean just family. Waterfowl hunting from my experience has become over the past thirty years very territorial and hush hush ( as well as other game pursuits) because of the lack of opportunities available while they still exist but are not shared. I get that but it may be a reason while the numbers of hunters continue to fall. I left waterfowl in the late ninetie's after Cibola became toxic. IMO because of the enviroment in Cali because of politics and anti hunting politics that exist many folks have been reluctant to help others and share what they have and that from my perspective is a death sentence to hunting in this state because if you don't bring others up the ladder then no one will follow and support what you believe in and the numbers will continue to decline until it is all gone. The junior hunter thing is great but the kids can't drive themselves to the field so we need to bring all the adults we can into the game to push it forward. Sorry for the rant... It's just how I see it

 

[Aeon]

Duck hunting is territorial, akways has been and always will be. It's the nature of the game. Very limited area to hunt and once blown out you just can't hike farther into the back country. If you had double the guys at the Shaw the birds would be gone!

It takes years to learn a new spot. No one is going to show you the ropes. It takes time and effort and then maybe once they know you won't give up and are willing to beat your head into a wall, you might be accepted into a locals spot.

Where I hunt is more or less public land (plaster city) aka LCRA. Lots of new guys come and go. It's dangerous and hard to access. Took 3 years before the local mayor would even say hi or slow down as he roared past me. Only after I put the work in and got the tools to hunt there was I welcomed in. The guys that just show up get their decoys squished into the mud. If you survive that then just maybe you can come play.

 

[Aeon]

Ps. I'm not saying I step them into the mud. That would be mean. I'm saying I run them over with a 17x8 airboat with a armored bottom. So it's much more funny than mean

 

[sdhunter]

It's an MCC thing?...I agree there's not a lot of good spots, but as of last week, me and 5 other members were the only MCC members that have even hunted out there (my 3 haven't hunted there in 10 days)...It's been the same area the 5 times (2 Sundays) I've hunted...The back marsh is sewed up by guides or folks that get there early and get that spot...The only advantage MCC members have is we don't have to pay ($50.00), we can hunt Sundays, or check-in the day of the hunt (5:00 am).

MCC folks lock up the good stuff, because they leave their gear out, their claim is staked.

 

[Wildgame]

It is hard for the new guy to want to get involved in fighting for hunting rights and access to land when the first you learn is DIY.

 

[HATCHET1]

If i lived in so cal..id join MCC for sure! I hate public land, i need gates with locks, keys and combos...and roads!! Plenty of roads!!

 

[TRICER]

I love how everyone always knocks MCC. The envy is real. Cry me a river, life’s not fair.

If you want to learn to hunt you are going to learn to hunt. Problem is people are lazy and want everything handed to them. I do not come
from a hunting family. I got my hunting license at 13 years old and tagged along with anyone who would take me dove hunting. Hunted birds in my 20s and right around 30 stupidly took up big game.

I wanted to hunt wister so I started hunting wister. I figured it out as I went along. If everything is handed to you you will never learn. I once took the president of DU duck hunting. I was so intimidated because it was only my first season duck hunting and I thought this guy was gonna laugh me off the refuge. The guy didn’t even have a plug in his gun. He had been spoon fed every duck he had ever shot. Long story short trial by fire is the best way to learn to hunt. I fail way more then most but I also have more drive than most and that is the only way I have been successful.

I have 50 guys who want me to take them hunting problem is none of them want to do any work. I will help any guy who is willing to put in the work. I would much rather help the guy who is striking out than the guy who doesn’t go out because all the good spots are taken etc etc etc.

This is why my hunting partners are 11 and 13 year olds. If they complain just a quick knock upside the head and back to business.

 

[Deleted member 27310]

Dang… all good input guys. Many perspectives, all have a valid point IMO.... and that's why I mostly hunt solo and away from crowds. But I don't mind sharing some hunting info to help out a rookie.

 

[JakeSCH]

I love how everyone always knocks MCC. The envy is real. Cry me a river, life’s not fair.

If you want to learn to hunt you are going to learn to hunt. Problem is people are lazy and want everything handed to them. I do not come
from a hunting family. I got my hunting license at 13 years old and tagged along with anyone who would take me dove hunting. Hunted birds in my 20s and right around 30 stupidly took up big game.

I wanted to hunt wister so I started hunting wister. I figured it out as I went along. If everything is handed to you you will never learn. I once took the president of DU duck hunting. I was so intimidated because it was only my first season duck hunting and I thought this guy was gonna laugh me off the refuge. The guy didn’t even have a plug in his gun. He had been spoon fed every duck he had ever shot. Long story short trial by fire is the best way to learn to hunt. I fail way more then most but I also have more drive than most and that is the only way I have been successful.

I have 50 guys who want me to take them hunting problem is none of them want to do any work. I will help any guy who is willing to put in the work. I would much rather help the guy who is striking out than the guy who doesn’t go out because all the good spots are taken etc etc etc.

This is why my hunting partners are 11 and 13 year olds. If they complain just a quick knock upside the head and back to business.

Well said. I think most want to be spoon fed (I know I did) but that is because you don't know what you don't know. If I was spoon fed there is no way I would enjoy it near as much as I do now (year around obsession). So much of the joy of hunting comes from finally figuring out those missing pieces of the puzzle.

 

[duck-boy]

I keep hearing hunter numbers are down. That might be true in general but I find that in SoCal there are no shortage of duck hunters. I keep waiting for the numbers to go down. Then maybe I'd be more likely to drive to Kern with a better shot of getting on. SJ is a joke with all the people there. Not any shortage of newbies there.
We definitely are experiencing a shortage of opportunities to hunt duck in SoCal with low quotas at Kern, the sea receding and issues at Wister.

 

[Duck Stew]

WOW!!!!! What a bunch of overly sensitive grown men! I in no way bashed MCC or have a bunch of envy for it's membership properties , I hope your opportunities are many, just trying to help a guy with a truthful answer so he knows what he is getting into. The place doesn't have a bunch of good area to hunt and never will. ( unless they were to fix the dam so they can hold some water). TRUDUCT try not to be such a HATER. it's just duck hunting and the crappie fishing is way better than the duck hunting.

 

[Wildgame]

I do not believe most beginner hunters want to be spoon-fed. It shouldn't be a characterization of the new hunter in general. If you have friends who are new hunters and do not want to do the work that's because those friends are people who do not want to do the work, not because the new hunter in general, do not want to do the work. The new hunter just doesn't really know where to start other than getting a license....Do the work? WTF does that mean to the new guy? go for a long hike in the woods? ..seriously. It is hard to know where to begin other than the license and the regs. It can also be intimidating to wander around the woods or mountain for some just as much as the regulations are not the easiest to find. Sure you have the ones who take the bull by the horns and go and do it, but that's not everyone.

Let me ask, have you ever invited someone and told him/her."I will go hunting with you, you pick the spot and tell me why you picked it" or " I will take you to public land to look for bunnies and quail or dove". (no need for the spots to produce, really, it is about the experience.)

All it takes is a little social hunting experience for the new guy to get hooked and stoked. The new guy IF indeed really interested it takes it to the next level.

I was supposed to get into large game hunting with a buddy of mine. He bailed and didn't even bother to get a tag...so here I am with a deer tag and no clue, I mean zero. But I wanted to pursue it. I did my research I bought my gear and went. It wasn't easy, I had to force myself into the woods alone and until dark. Not a big deal if you lived an outdoors lifestyle hunter or not, but if you didn't it is not easy.
Now with some disappointments under my belt and some legit encounter with large game, things are a little easier. I have gone at least 10 times so far this season and I will go at least 2 more before the end of the year. I am lucky that my schedule at least for now allows it.

My buddy now wants me to take him out next year..my answer? Get your Onx, pick a spot, tell me why you think that might be a place to check and I will go with you, no hands out. But I will go out with him.

*Take the right new guy out for a small game or to scout a new area. It is good to keep the hunting tradition alive and keep our lands open.