I threatened to get into duck hunting a couple years ago. Even PM'd bamaeyedoc and a few others and got some helpful info but I never had the opportunity to actually go hunt. So now I'm thinking I just need to plan a trip and go. Maybe this far in advance of the season I can make it happen. So here's my question, Where can I find an outfitter who won't break the bank? (I have absolutely no idea how much a duck hunt costs) I'd be taking my 16yo son and probably looking for a two day hunt. At this point I'm flexible but I don't have a clue about where to go or who is a reputable outfitter.
Thanks for any suggestions!

Go out of state. Arkie, and miss have some excellent public land if you got a boat.(25hp or less) in some places. Tenn has some great opportunities here. If you want to call in love with duck hunting you need to get off this high ground and head west into the river delta.

If you plan on deer and duck hunting. You better get a second job. Lol. If money was no option I would go to Arkansas late December first of January.

If your like me and can't spend good money. Do some local pond and swamp scouting. Get some steel shot and do twice as much scouting as deer hunting and you will be ok

I would look for one in the alluvial floodplain of MS.

If you have a boat, go hunt public land in Arkansas. My buddy and I did this last year. We had never been on the wma's before we got there. You don't even have to have a boat. There are walk-in areas. It's worth the trip just to ride around in the afternoon and look at all the birds. You'll get addicted. We both got in leases over there this year.

I got no boat, no decoys and almost no money! Just trying to find a nice easy entry level hunt where we could see if its something we want to invest our time in over deer hunting. Thanks for your input. We were thinking MS delta and a little north due to convenience.

You could go battle the crowds up in Scottsboro then! There are some walk in places there plus it's in state so it wouldn't cost much. Check out Swan creek, mallard fox creek, and mud creek.

Im thinking about shooting some ducks too this season. Our club has a 20 acre pond and another small 1/4 acre area that holds water. What would we need to do to set up for some ducks. Do you need to bait them for awhile to get them accustomed to coming to an area and then stop before you plan to shoot them or just need some decoys, if so how many? What about cover? If you are standing around the shallow end of a pond, it is going to be hard to stay concealed. Like I said, a complete newby here too.

In response to muzziehead-

It really depends if you already have birds using the pond. Once season kicks up, I would go sit and watch it one morning. I'm sure you have something using the 1/4acre swamp & pond. Ducks have excellent sight and can spook easy so Make sure to be completely camo'd with facemask,gloves etc. If the pond has any cover make sure to utilize it, if there's no cover, make a couple little brush blinds early before season so The birds will be used to it. I don't usually use but maybe 2-3 decoys on ponds-just as a confidence decoys. Mostly, If ducks are using the pond, they'll come without even using decoys or calls. If you notice the birds favor one side of the pond vs the other, hunt that side. On rivers and lakes I usually position the wind coming from my back, left-right or right to left, ducks normally light into the wind.

I've duck hunted all my life and am better at it then I am deer hunting. If you get any specific questions I'll try to help the best I can

What part of the State are you in? I've hunted leases in Arkansas a few times, and It was always great. It's not a good taste of how duck hunting in Bama is though. Alot tougher here.

If you ever hunt near Waldenburg, Ar , go check out Josies Steakhouse. Make sure to make reservations early, You can thank me later.

Buc Vegas? As in Hoover? Shoot me a pm if so, I might can help you out

An outfitter is going to run you $450 per hunter per day. You've figured out a hard truth about duck hunting. It is expensive. Gear, travel, and time start to add up. Throw in a boat, a dog, and you can get into some serious cash pretty quick. Joining a lease in the MS delta or AR will run about $2000/year if you can find a good one with good people. Duck lease drama can be 10x what a deer club is.

Public land is a great option IF you make time to scout. That is a must. You cannot just drive up to the White River (for example), put your boat in, find any opening in the timber and expect greenheads to rain down. The guys that are really successful on public land do lots and lots and lots of scouting. They spend more time scouting than hunting but it pays off in heavy straps of mallards.

Having said all this, duck hunting is the most fun you can have with your clothes on! I love it and I just wish I was close enough to decent hunting so could do it more!

Good luck. PM me anytime.

Dr. B

if i were you and i was deciding if i wanted to duck hunt or not, i would stay here in alabama and get my feet wet with some wood ducks. they will be in just about every secluded pond in the woods or just about any swamp. you dont need a call or decoys to hunt woodies either, just do a little scouting. it will surprise you where you will find wood ducks too. i have permission to hunt a little piece of property by my house that has a spot in the back of a grown up field that holds water in the winter, it may be 3/4 acre. any given morning during duck season i can go there and see over 100 wood ducks and easily shoot my limit. scouting is important too, from my experience with wood ducks they will all land in pretty much the same area. you can hunt a 1 acre pond and if you are on the wrong side of it you may just watch ducks all morning and never have 1 come close enough to shoot. i like them to dang near be landing in my lap. with woodies you have a hard core fly in for about 15 minutes right at sunrise, when you are scouting you need to get there in the dark and see where they come from and where they land, and dont scare them.

wildlife inc in mississippi is a good place to book a hunt in mississippi. arkansas has so many places you can book a hunt its not even funny, realfoot lake in Tenneesse is a pretty cool deal that has alot of outfitters. I definatly would stay away from the public timber in ark and miss, they dont mind out of staters but if you get in the way or act like you dont know what your doing theyll let you know real fast. Plus alot of the public waters in arkansas have racing and your standard 25 merc wouldnt stand a chance against.

Racing isn't necessary to kill birds in Arkansas.....

I'll put you and your son on some public land wood ducks around here for $75/gun. I'll even give your money back if you don't have fun.

Can't beat that..

You need to look up bass whacker guide service. Give John a call he scottsboro and guntersvile is where he spends every day of his life. Good guy good prices. Tell him Derrick referred ya

Pennys has some awesome fried chicken

Wow