# Butler Island Quota hunt.



## lancek742 (Dec 2, 2015)

Got selected for the 7th hunt at Butler Island which is pretty late in the season. What can we expect. We usually hunt in and around Columbia and Jefferson counties. Not sure which decoys I should take with me. Any suggestions


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## jasper181 (Dec 2, 2015)

Hopefully there will be a good freeze up north and push some birds down, right now there isnt much to be had. As far as decoys I would bring what you have, I usually bring dozen Mallard and call it a day. If you want to mix it up have at it, be prepared for sky busters and coot shooters .


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## lancek742 (Dec 2, 2015)

Thanks. I think I might take a mixed bag but not sure. Can't be any more sky busters and coot shooters than what we see on Clarks Hill lol


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## Beta Tau789 (Dec 2, 2015)

be fairly mobile, prepare to stay till noon if you draw a good blind. a dozen decoys is plenty...


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## across the river (Dec 2, 2015)

lancek742 said:


> Got selected for the 7th hunt at Butler Island which is pretty late in the season. What can we expect. We usually hunt in and around Columbia and Jefferson counties. Not sure which decoys I should take with me. Any suggestions



There are several threads on this, so you can search Butler and read all you want on it.  It is an old rice plantation.  There are roughly 30 rice fields (blinds) and you will draw for a blind.   They will take you out on a pulled wagon and drop you at your blind.  You will have a little john boat to cross the ditch and then you can walk wherever you want within you "blind"at that point, in chest waders of course. The ducks will have been siting on two or three of those blinds all week (usually the ones along the river), and if you draw one of those you will likely have a decent chance of killing some birds.  The ducks that come in will head there at daylight and get shot at.  Those that don't get killed will fly a mile high over the other blinds while people blow hail calls at bluebills and pop off at ducks a mile high.  If you end up on a blind in the middle of everybody it can be rough and it is dove shoot at that point.  Occasionally a bird will make it through the madness and decoy, but it will mainly be passing shots if you aren't in a spot they want to be.  The birds that get killed will typically be a mixture.   I would take mainly divers (bluebills/ringnecks) and mix in a puddler or six if you want to, but I wouldn't take more than one bag of decoys just from a hassle standpoint.  If you take a mojo you need to take a 3+ foot pole to put it on or take a floating one.  You won't see a mallard, but you can kill a gadwall, teal, or woodrow there along with the divers.   Again, it will all depend on your draw, but don't get you hopes up and expect it to be anything special because it is a quota hunt.   You can take two other people with you and if your group kills five I would consider it a good hunt.


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## lancek742 (Dec 3, 2015)

Thank you for the information. Hopefully we will get a good draw. If not it will at the very least be a new hunting experience for us which is never a bad thing. Good luck to all this season


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## triton63 (Dec 3, 2015)

I will be there on Dec 12 and again on Dec 19.  I was drawn for the 12th and my buddy drew the 19th.  I have read all the bad reviews of the place but like you said, it will be an experience and looking forward to seeing what is there.  Our beaver swamp that was full of woodies last year is dry with nothing but grass this year so seeing any ducks will be an upgrade from what we have at home.


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## lancek742 (Dec 3, 2015)

Triton63 let me know how it goes when you all get back


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## Golden BB (Dec 3, 2015)

64 birds killed last weekend. Pray for some better weather.


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## MudDucker (Dec 4, 2015)

Butler Island is located in Georgia.  That is all.


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## triton63 (Dec 12, 2015)

Hunted Butler Island this morning since it was my first time getting drawn for the quota hunt there.  There were four blinds available for stand by hunters.  It was warm.  Low around 52 degrees, clear blue skies and a high in the mid 70s today.  Not ideal for ducks but great for bugs and mosquitos!  Saw a lot of sky busting and a few ducks fell.  Then it seemed many hunters got bored and started walking around kicking up coots and taking some of them.  We packed up and left on the 9am truck.  The trailer was full of hunters and only 4 ducks taken by about 20 hunters on our trailer. Not sure about the other groups.  

I saw at least 5 ducks drop from some very long, high passing shots. We were in an area in the middle so every duck we saw had already been shot at before flying over our area.  My buddy was drawn for next weekend but we will not be making the trip.  Not worth the 5+ hour drive for what we saw this time of year.  Maybe the January hunts will be better.  Heading to Mississippi or Arkansas next time.


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## QuackHead90 (Dec 12, 2015)

We also hunted it for the first time.  We drew a blind in the middle but had teal sitting in decoys 10 minutes before legal shooting time. They flew 2 minutes before time but we were still covered up in ducks until about 730 then they started coming in high. We ended up killing 5 teal between me and my dad. We should have limited but had the wrong chokes in first thing. All in all it was a good hunt with a change if scenery. Most of the blinds in the middle was so thick with reeds and weeds that the ducks couldn't even land.


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## king killer delete (Dec 12, 2015)

Golden BB said:


> 64 birds killed last weekend. Pray for some better weather.



X2x2 Very cold weather up north.


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## pignjig10lb (Dec 13, 2015)

Hunted blind 4 and we killed two teal. Did not shoot at any more birds,  their was no birds to shoot at.  Might have seen 13 ducks total, you can see a long ways at Butler.  One blind killed 14 coots,  that's all the had.  In three trailers 6 ducks killed,  place is dead.  If you get close to the ditch theirs no warming,  you'll drop should deep.  Even with my walking pool,  never felt it,  I was gone and waders full of water.  I'm just glad it was not cold, did not float the hat,  my head was all the was out of water.


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## Beta Tau789 (Dec 13, 2015)

pignjig10lb said:


> Hunted blind 4 and we killed two teal. Did not shoot at any more birds,  their was no birds to shoot at.  Might have seen 13 ducks total, you can see a long ways at Butler.  One blind killed 14 coots,  that's all the had.  In three trailers 6 ducks killed,  place is dead.  If you get close to the ditch theirs no warming,  you'll drop should deep.  Even with my walking pool,  never felt it,  I was gone and waders full of water.  I'm just glad it was not cold, did not float the hat,  my head was all the was out of water.



Warm weather was a blessing, that could have made for a loooooong morning. Glad you made it out all right. I always walk with a pole at butler, it can double as a mojo stand too.


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## pignjig10lb (Dec 13, 2015)

I had my walking pole that doubled as a mojo pole,  it's now in the canal lol


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## mikelew (Dec 14, 2015)

No birds  we had one of the "best" blinds and only had 2 ducks decoy.  Had a small group of teal before legal light saw maybe 20 ducks the whole morning.  If you have to drive more than 30 minutes I would seriously reconsider coming until we get some cold weather!


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## homey (Dec 14, 2015)

triton63 said:


> Hunted Butler Island this morning since it was my first time getting drawn for the quota hunt there.  There were four blinds available for stand by hunters.  It was warm.  Low around 52 degrees, clear blue skies and a high in the mid 70s today.  Not ideal for ducks but great for bugs and mosquitos!  Saw a lot of sky busting and a few ducks fell.  Then it seemed many hunters got bored and started walking around kicking up coots and taking some of them.  We packed up and left on the 9am truck.  The trailer was full of hunters and only 4 ducks taken by about 20 hunters on our trailer. Not sure about the other groups.
> 
> I saw at least 5 ducks drop from some very long, high passing shots. We were in an area in the middle so every duck we saw had already been shot at before flying over our area.  My buddy was drawn for next weekend but we will not be making the trip.  Not worth the 5+ hour drive for what we saw this time of year.  Maybe the January hunts will be better.  Heading to Mississippi or Arkansas next time.



I live 15 mins away and won't dare go hunt there. One day this GON group will believe me when I give them reports


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## steelshotslayer (Dec 14, 2015)

It takes the North to freezing up to get any decent number of birds down there and even then it is hit and miss.


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## duckslayer10 (Dec 14, 2015)

Terrible opening day for the second split. Pulled the trigger once.


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## g0nef1sshn (Dec 14, 2015)

More than me


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## DRBugman85 (Dec 22, 2015)

Hunting at the Altamaha WMA is a JOKE,The DUCK COMMANDER want to be show up by the hundreds a week before the season and chase any(not many)ducks out of the area,then opening weekend its a bunch of village idots running all over the impondments  settin up 50 yards from others then blow a duck call that sounds like a crow call.All the cold wether in Canada can blow in and it want be any better with the management having the water 5 foot in the ponds.As for Butler Island what a fire drill with worse idots and worse management.I save my money and go to Mississippi or Arkansas there is lot of WMA,s that have great duck hunting.


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## king killer delete (Dec 22, 2015)

Folks it is like this. When it's 80 degrees in New York City you ain't going to have ducks. To many folks  for sure. Everybody thinks because it says waterfowl the are going to go there and kill ducks. Not hardly.


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## jasper181 (Dec 22, 2015)

DRBugman85 said:


> Hunting at the Altamaha WMA is a JOKE,The DUCK COMMANDER want to be show up by the hundreds a week before the season and chase any(not many)ducks out of the area,then opening weekend its a bunch of village idots running all over the impondments  settin up 50 yards from others then blow a duck call that sounds like a crow call.All the cold wether in Canada can blow in and it want be any better with the management having the water 5 foot in the ponds.As for Butler Island what a fire drill with worse idots and worse management.I save my money and go to Mississippi or Arkansas there is lot of WMA,s that have great duck hunting.



I generally agree but living 40 minutes away I have had some really good hunts down there. Not many in the last few years but I have killed a many a limit including big ducks in the past.


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## king killer delete (Dec 22, 2015)

jasper181 said:


> I generally agree but living 40 minutes away I have had some really good hunts down there. Not many in the last few years but I have killed a many a limit including big ducks in the past.


It was a great place back in the 70s. No electric winch action built blinds and allot of ducks. Plenty of Deer hunters. That was when it was not cool to be a duck hunter. Most folks would say all that work for a duck.


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## DRBugman85 (Dec 22, 2015)

I,ve hunted the Altamaha WMA for over 50 years and agree the 60,s & 70,s was the last of the DUCK HUNTING there,then the INTERNET got started and BOOM every hunter with a boat&motor started going to the impondments and had no respect for any one over time I just gave up and started to hunt out of state.After seeing over 100 trucks at the ramp on opening morning I sure don't have to tell ya WOW all the ducks in Georgia cant stand that many hunters in a small area,some sleeping in the boats,others standing on the dike to make sure they were first in the ponds.NO THANKS.I spend my money in a states that has lots of WMA and little pressure.For the ones who fight that stupidy have fun trying to kill a duck in the Altamaha WMA.


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## duckyaker90 (Dec 22, 2015)

king killer delete said:


> Most folks would say all that work for a duck.



I still ask myself the same thing.


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## across the river (Dec 22, 2015)

DRBugman85 said:


> I,ve hunted the Altamaha WMA for over 50 years and agree the 60,s & 70,s was the last of the DUCK HUNTING there,then the INTERNET got started and BOOM every hunter with a boat&motor started going to the impondments and had no respect for any one over time I just gave up and started to hunt out of state.After seeing over 100 trucks at the ramp on opening morning I sure don't have to tell ya WOW all the ducks in Georgia cant stand that many hunters in a small area,some sleeping in the boats,others standing on the dike to make sure they were first in the ponds.NO THANKS.I spend my money in a states that has lots of WMA and little pressure.For the ones who fight that stupidy have fun trying to kill a duck in the Altamaha WMA.




You are getting you decades mixed up.  The internet didn't become popular until the mid-ninties, and it was well into the 2000s before the majority of people used it.  Anyone hunting there before 2000 wasn't there because of the internet.   We hunted it a lot in the mid nineties, and it wasn't that bad. Killed a lot of ducks on that place.


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## MudDucker (Dec 23, 2015)

across the river said:


> You are getting you decades mixed up.  The internet didn't become popular until the mid-ninties, and it was well into the 2000s before the majority of people used it.  Anyone hunting there before 2000 wasn't there because of the internet.   We hunted it a lot in the mid nineties, and it wasn't that bad. Killed a lot of ducks on that place.



Yea, it wasn't the internet.  It was an article in I think the DU magazine that brought the flock.


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## mcarge (Dec 23, 2015)

across the river said:


> You are getting you decades mixed up.  The internet didn't become popular until the mid-ninties, and it was well into the 2000s before the majority of people used it.  Anyone hunting there before 2000 wasn't there because of the internet.   We hunted it a lot in the mid nineties, and it wasn't that bad. Killed a lot of ducks on that place.



Killed a bunch in the late 90s, early 2000s. The last 10 years have killed that place between the pressure and habitat change.


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## redneck_billcollector (Jan 25, 2016)

MudDucker said:


> Yea, it wasn't the internet.  It was an article in I think the DU magazine that brought the flock.



I hunted it a good bit in the 80s, it was pretty much a yearly mention in the Georgia Sportsman's magazine and Bob Kornegay would write about it if not once a year, every other year.


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