Winter Duck Hunting with Reelfoot Lake’s Billy Blakely: Part Two
John E. Phillips 11.30.11
Talking Ducks Down
Author’s Note: “I hunt every single day of duck season,” says Billy Blakely, chief guide at Blue Bank Resort on Reelfoot Lake near Tiptonville, Tennessee, located between three waterfowl refuges and only a short distance from the Mississippi River, one of the premier duck hunting regions in the U.S. “I’ll guide 80+ days per year for ducks.” When Blakely takes a party of duck hunters out to Reelfoot Lake for a day of hunting, he often carries 4-10 hunters at one time plus a dog, guns, ammunition and food. Blakely usually will carry his party about 2 miles before they set up to hunt. That 2 miles of the lake includes stumps, shallow water, deep water, brush and ice. If he is hunting from his permanent blind, he pulls his boat into a covered slip.
Question: Billy, what do you do when a warm front comes through, and you can get into your permanent duck blinds on the lake?
Blakely: We use our boats to go through the shallow marshes and get back to our duck holes in the grass and the timber where we have our permanent blinds. I like a War Eagle boat, because it’s big and can carry a lot of equipment and people, yet it still can run across Reelfoot Lake’s shallow water without getting stuck.
Question: What’s the difference in the types of ducks that you take in the shallow-water blinds compared to out on the open water?
Blakely: We usually take many more mallards and teals back in the duck holes where we have our permanent blinds than we take when we hunt the open water. We also take fewer diving ducks back in those duck holes.
Question: What is an average day of duck hunting with you at Reelfoot Lake?
Blakely: We almost always get our limits.
Question: What type of calling do you do?
Blakely: I do a lot of really loud calling, because we have so much competition from other hunters in the places that we hunt. I call loudly and hard. I usually have an assistant guide with me who is also calling loud and hard.
Question: What call are you using?
Blakely: I like the Primos Wench. When I first see the ducks, I hit them with hard, hail calls. If those ducks are really flying high, we stay on them with our calling for a pretty good while to bring them down. When the ducks are about 50 yards from the blind, we ease up a little more. When they are 50 yards and coming to the blind, we use quacks and chatters. If they pass over the blind but not close enough for the hunters to get a shot, we give them come-back calls.
Question: What is the biggest flight you’ve had come into the blind in December?
Blakely: Between 150-200 ducks came in at one time in one flight, and we landed 15 or 20 of those ducks in the decoys before I called the shot (told the hunters to come up out of the blind and shoot).
This article is part of a series on winter duck hunting. Click here to go back to part one, an introduction to hunting ducks in the winter. Click here for part three wherein Billy Blakely explains why you should talk loudly and have a lot of decoys.
John, the 2008 Crossbow Communicator of the year and the 2007 Legendary Communicator chosen for induction into the National Fresh Water Hall of Fame, is a freelance writer (over 6,000 magazine articles for about 100 magazines and several thousand newspaper columns published), magazine editor, photographer for print media as well as industry catalogues (over 25,000 photos published), lecturer, outdoor consultant, marketing consultant, book author and daily internet content provider with an overview of the outdoors.
Phillips has been a contributor to many national magazines, has been affiliated with 27 radio stations across Alabama serving as their outdoor editor and wrote for a weekly syndicated column, "Alabama Outdoors," for 38-Alabama newspapers for more than 13 years. Phillips was Outdoor Editor for the "Birmingham Post-Herald" for 24 years. Phillips was also the executive editor for "Great Days Outdoors" magazine for 3 years.
The author of almost 30 books on the outdoors, Phillips is a founding member of the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA) and an active member of the Southeastern Outdoors Press Association (SEOPA). Phillips also is the owner of Night Hawk Publications, a marketing and publishing firm, and president of Creative Concepts, an outdoor consulting group.
Phillips conducts seminars across the nation at colleges in freelance writing, photography and outdoor education besides teaching courses in how to sell what you write to writers' groups. Phillips received his photography training as a still-lab photo specialist for six years in the Air Force. He was the chief photographer for Mannequins, Inc., a Birmingham modeling agency, for 11 years.
While serving as 2nd Vice President of the Alabama Wildlife Federation, Phillips was in charge of all press releases for the organization as well as serving as Chairman of Alabama's Big Buck Contest, which he founded more than 30 years ago. He also was president of the Alabama Sportsman's Association for three years.
Phillips is the recipient of a Certificate of Merit from the Governor of Alabama and the Department of Conservation for his work in the outdoor field. Phillips is vitally interested in the outdoors and travels the nation collecting personalities, stories and how-to information for his articles and features.
EDUCATION: B.S. degree from the University of West Alabama with a physical education major and a history minor.
EXPERIENCE: 10 years parttime and fulltime physical director for YMCAs and 34 years as a freelance writer, photographer, editor, book author, lecturer and daily-content provider for websites. Currently, Phillips is a field editor for Game and Fish Publications; serves on the editorial board of Grandview Media; is a regular contributor to 12 internet magazines and a daily content provider for 8 websites.
WRITING AWARDS: Runnerup - Best Outdoor Magazine Feature - 1981 - SEOPA; Certificate of Merit - Awarded by Alabama's Governor for writings on conservation; Most Outstanding Sports Writer in Southeast - 1983 & 1984; Best Outdoor Feature in Alabama, 1987 - Alabama Sportswriters' Association 3rd Place; Best Book of the Year - 1989 - SEOPA; 2007 - inducted into the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame as a Legendary Communicator; 2008 - received award naming him 2008 Crossbow Communicator of the Year from the Crossbow Manufacturers' Association; 2009 - GAMMA Honorable Mention for Consumer/Paid Best Essay for July/August 2008 in "Southern Sporting Journal."
