You are absolutely correct. I sure do miss the old days before the duck commandos.

Me too

You mean when the top-waters showed up.

There was a club in arkie called Topwaters started by some Alabama guys

I hunted with a well known young feller. Andrew got me my first Can. It took 3 trips and he was known for killing Cans. My second trip up someone loaded his boat trailer full of dead ducks. I had to get them off the trailer and put them in my truck bed and backed his trailer in the water. It was pretty crazy back then and it was pre-duck dynasty.

I wanna say it was 07 or so. Alducks was a thing and lots of drama at times. I learned that many of the guys a good friends but online you’d think otherwise. It was just part the deal I guess.

Me three, some good times back in the days. Once that show came out, what used to be duck hunting was all over.

So it got worse than it was in 2006-2007?
Every boat ramp we went out from was packed mid week to boot.

I don’t know when duck dynasty and all that came out, but, yes, 2005ish was the Alamo. After that, it steadily got bad. It eased up around 2010 for a year or so then it’s been horrible ever since.

Ah….the good ole Alducks days. I was supposed to get up with a guy on there to go hunt Canvasback but it never worked out. I wanted one so badly. Still do.

Heck I can get you one of those If we had them consistently. I’ve killed so many I quit shooting them. Redheads too. I’ve got pics somewhere on an old phone of redheads lining the truck. Tailgate, down the bed on each side, across the tool box, and across the roof of the truck. People wouldn’t believe the ducks we used to kill on Guntersville before the yuppy folks ruined it all. Idk if I have any on this phone, I’ll check.

These are a few I could find easily on my new phone. All these ducks were killed on public WMA’s and TVA owned waterways. Some flooded timber, sloughs, and big water. I wish I could find all the pics from the good ole days, we killed them with no remorse. Most hunts were a lot less people in a group that what you see now. I love seeing pictures of folks bragging where they killed 15-20 birds but had 10 people to do it. We killed em like that but far less people. Idk what the statute of limitations are, so I don’t wanna say too much lol.

Not to derail the thread, but something I’ve always wondered. Are the ducks on guntersville a part of the Mississippi flyway or they stragglers from the Atlantic flyway? Basing off the river i guess it could go either way?

Mississippi. But that’s why west Alabama is getting more of the birds now IMO. Those ducks are shifting more westward due to pressure on guntersville and the surrounding areas is what I think. Swan creek and that area still has a lot more birds than weve had in years. Im sure 100 different people will give 100 different theories, but, that’s mine.

Always thought that area was a melting pot of the Atlantic and Mississippi flyways.

Alabama has never been in a flyway so to speak and even less so now.

I used to really enjoy hunting public land for ducks in both Alabama and Arkansas. Lots of really good hunts in flooded timber. Similar hunts would cost way more than I could afford. The end for me was a pair of guys who walked into a hole in Alabama.. Decoys were set and we were waiting on legal. These yahoo's walked into our kill hole and started putting decoys in the middle of ours. They couldn't understand why they couldn't sit directly across the slough (75 yards) and shoot ducks. Was about to get real but my buddies woke up and they were not going to fight 5 of us. They moved 100 yards around the bend and shot at every duck they saw. Bet they shot 4 boxes of shells and I didn't see a duck fall.

They still do the same stuff. Last year we waited at the ramp to have first pick. Got the spot we wanted set and was waiting on shooting light. 20 min before shoot time a boat pulls in not even 100 yds from us and starts throwing decoys. We could hear em talking they were so close. I hollered that they were only making it bad for both of us. They just kept on. Sky busted everything that passed by.

I grew up with shot fallin on my roof….they blowed up the world…im not a duck hunter..i have been..just not my thing…i have annihilated ducks just for kicks an giggles..yes i was legal…i lived on the water..dang things were in the yard..it wudnt hard to do. When i was a kid they was thiusands of ducks…now..j just dont see ducks like i did…i work in and around guntersville every day….i hadnt seen chit for ducks lately. I know some of the best duck hunters in marshall co and they still mash ducks..but they tell me it is infinitely harder to do..and not just that..a bunch if guys have wuit all together unless they got some ponds or flooded fields to hunt. Also, these duck commander snapchat welps..i work with some…an they cant kill ducks for chit…i am literally bottom of the barrel on duck hunting traditional knowledge..i suck at it and do NOT..want to learn…but i have been exposed to second hand duck hunting my whole life…an i rekin i am the duck hunting advice and tip giver now🧐….when i know more about duck hunting than the ones burnin down the water..yall…theys a real problem out there…i wouldnt hit a dog in the hind leg with ever duck ever…but dang..these kids are worse than clueless…i really hope turkey hunting doesnt get any worse..but if these little chits ever get a wild hair…ima put sugar in their gas😐

The same crew duck hunting today will be in the turkey woods this spring. Learned both from YouTube.

The real public land duck killers in North AL don’t post anything on social media! Facebook, instagram, Snapchat, others have played just as much a role in increased pressure on public land than anything and that goes for all huntable species! The thing about hunting a migrating animal is you have bad years and good years and hunting in the south it all depends what the weather north of us does in any given year to reflect how many ducks make it this far south! Then the local weather still plays a role in what is killed on public land! There is still piles of birds getting killed on regular bases all over the south on public lands though, the smart ones have just realized the social media clout ain’t worth the pressure it brings and that’s why you aren’t hearing as much ab it these days!

Yep. Just like there are plenty of big deer that get killed every year that never see social media...too many people ruins everything.

Chevydude2015 for the win....."too many people ruins everything". To add to that, you can have a lot of people hunting and if they follow the rules and respect other hunters and the resource it can work. Too many don't.