1st Annual New Year’s Eve Duck Hunt

We hooked up at 3:30 AM at Bastrop Bayou to load the kayaks and then headed out into the balmy early morning darkness on what turned out to be the First Annual New Year’s Eve Duck Hunt. This was a great inaugural duck hunt for Gulf Coast Texas Outdoor Magazine and I want to thank Vince and Carlos for showing me The Spot.

Only two things could have made this a better hunt:First, we could have seen more ducks and second, we could have killed more of the few ducks we did see. We bagged one and probably should have bagged at least two or three more that came in close enough. But this is called duck hunting, not duck killing your limit every time you go out.

Actually, three things could have made the trip better. The third thing that could have been better is more water in the canal we came in on when we was going back out. The canal was barely passable when we paddled the kayaks in and after the tide went out, it was not passable even barely for a big guy like me. I had to drag my yak for about 250 yards along the second leg of the canal that turned directly into the brisk northeast breeze. I was dead in the water, like, er, a dead duck. I had to get out and hump it or sit there until the tide came in. Since I had no idea when the tide was coming in…

At this point I wasn’t too happy but looking back I have to admit the video would have been way more entertaining if someone else had a video recorder and could have filmed me on my belly and knees, pushing my kayak through about a hundred yards of quicksand in the mud lake just to get to the canal opening. It was only after that I had to drag my boat for 250 yards, loaded with gear, thirty to forty yards at a stretch, alongside the rattlesnake and gator infested bank of a canal that could be called Dry Gulch when the tide is out, except for the canal is quicksand too or I could have just waded down the canal pulling the boat. But no.

I know I tend towards hyperbole at times, but when I say the place was nothing but quicksand I am strictly serious. Anyone who has been wading in the bays and marsh can attest to it. As soon as I stepped out of the kayak I would sink immediately up to my knee and If I didn’t pull out fast the mud would be to mid-thigh in a matter of seconds. The only way to go through it was to lay on top of the mud and slog my way along, like some kind of mud snake with a kayak.

I told the two boys that the lack of water in the canal is a deal killer for hunting this spot via kayaks. They asked what that means and I said it means I can’t do it again as dragging the bottom so much will damage the boats and the strain would probably kill me. I am by no means a couch potato but the exertion from toting that kayak is indescribable. I recommend a set of the tow dollies to stow in the boat. If you only ever use them once, they will have paid for themselves thrice fold.

So even though I said I wouldn’t kayak to this spot again, after checking the tidal charts upon returning home I decided I would try the spot again under the right conditions. One condition really. There MUST be some water in the canal and in the lake. Kayaking is no fun without water.  At least a nine inch tide is a minimum and a foot is preferable.

Freeport tidal charts

The Spot is a pretty good spot in my estimation and I don’t even mind telling you all where its at because I don’t believe there is more than maybe 1% of anyone who would even try to get to this spot. First, if you come the way we came, you will need a kayak. Go to the mouth of the Brazos River and paddle across. Find the little canal and port your kayak from the river to the canal. Reboard the kayak and paddle about a half mile down this narrow canal until it opens into a mud lake. I can’t find a name for the lake on any charts but rest assured it is just a mud flat with a few inches of water on top. There in front of you when you exit the canal is a little island that my guests claimed was called Lost Island, which is not hard to understand why.

Kayak route to duck hunting spot

Watch the video: