With a big Artic push coming in, our team hit the lakes and rivers to scout for migrating geese. Blake was the only boat out of three to find any, and find them he did. Everyone has heard about the X spot, but not everyone has found it. Well I must say, this was the X spot!

The only downside to this was that it was on public water so I knew we had to get there early. So, the night before we rigged up more floaters with longer cords for deeper water and headed out @ 3:oo am.

Once arriving at the landing, we launched our Team WC Xpress 18' Bayou Duck Boat. It was 17 degrees with 20 mph winds and the water was "white capping". We trimmed our Gator-Tail 35, zipped up all of our Drake Waterfowl Gear, and rocked on to our destination.

Five minutes before legal shooting hours we had 10 mallards light in our decoys and I thought this was going to be good. Right before legal time… they flew off. Lol!

After legal shooting hours came we heard distant shots on the wate. Our "crew" got our game face on. Within minutes we had a flock of three come in and zero left out. Man, what a way to start off that bitter cold morning! Three more vollies came in and we harvested three limits by 7:15!

We've taken more birds than that in a hunt, but with all of the scouting we put in and having them "do it right" with "in 'yo face action", in crazy weather, and on public water, made this a truly epic hunt.

After a few pictures, we loaded up our Xpress and headed back to the landing before anyone could see where we had hunted. I typically don't mind sharing some information, but I think we will keep this to ourselves!

Good Hunting ~ Daryl
#teamwreckingcrew
#itswhoweare!

After a good cold front some new birds pushed in and our crew took advantage of it. Blake and I had been scouting several different fields and we had one that was really drawing them in.

The night before the hunt we hooked up to our Team WC enclosed trailer, filled with full bodies, shells and layout blinds heaters so all we had to do was get in and "crank her up".

Once we got to the field and unloaded all of our gear we still had 20 minutes before legal shooting hours. So we started singing and dancing around, just having good 'ol fun (it's all about fun with us) until crunch time.

Shortly after daylight, we started hearing honks off at a distance. We could tell that they were in the air and not coming our way. Blake and I started with our RNT Warbird Goose Calls really loud to try and get their attention. They slowly quartered our way but passed our field. Just before giving up we noticed the lead bird swung back and rest of the flock followed. The flock circled 3 times before committing and when they did, it was game on.

High five's and loud hollering followed after we were jacked up from calling them in from such a far distance. We had three other volleys, which made for an awesome hunt for everyone.

With friends and family experiencing another great morning in God's Great Outdoors, it doesn't get any better than this, especially in our home state. WeHuntSC!

Good Hunting ~ Daryl

#wreckingcrew #it'swhatwelivefor

The weather channel definitely got this one right. With freezing rain and gusting winds, our “crew” headed back out for another morning of Waterfowling. Once the freezing rain stopped, the temperature dropped to a delightful 10 degrees. Even in the midst of some of the coldest temperatures we’ve seen in a while, we gathered all of our reliable Drake Waterfowl Gear to ensure a comfortable hunt.

With the ground frozen, we utilized round decoy stands and shell body decoys instead of stakes for full body decoys. Once the ground blinds were in place, we hunkered down just before the morning light arrived.

Once the sky started to lighten up we had a small flock of divers fly by with 100% thrust on (the fly by was similar to a fly by from the movie Top Gun). Around 7:30am, we heard a distant honk and Blake and I started running our RNT Warbird Goose Calls and suddenly a flock of 5 “Canada’s” broke over the trees. They turned and started to fly across the field so Blake started calling aggressively and the geese responded immediately.

They circled one time and then cupped their wings and dropped their feet down and glided right into the decoys. I hollered “WRECK EM” with us harvesting three out of the five.

The beautiful sight of God’s creatures in those conditions is why we do what we do. It would have been real easy to stay in the bed, but “it’s what we live for!

Good Hunting ~ Team Wrecking Crew

#WreckingCrew #WeHuntSC 

It was time again for our annual Arkansas Timber Hunt with our good friends Taylor Sweetin, Eric McKinney, and the rest of the “Cuttin Outdoors” gang. Blake and I loaded up our Xpress 1860 bayou powered by a Gator-Tail 35 hp motor and headed to Clothing World in Columbia to meet my dad. 

Once loaded up, we settled in for our twelve hour drive. We always look forward to seeing our good friends and some cupped wings in the “green timber”. It was a long ride, but we had a good time along the way.

After arriving in Stuttgart the first place we stopped was to see Butch Richenback at the RNT shop. The shop was full and Butch was swamped. We talked with Butch just a few minutes and then went next door to Mack’s Prairie Wings to buy some shells.

Early the next morning, we met up with our friends from “Cuttin Outdoors”, and then followed them to the boat landing. We had an awesome boat ride jumping logs and weaving through the trees. Our Xpress Boat and Gator-Tail Motor performed really well.

It wasn’t long until shooting hours after we had set out all of our decoys and our video cameras. We were very excited. Feeling “jacked-up” would be an understatement.

Shortly after day-break the mallards started flying and working our spread. Once they committed we hollered the signal “Wreck’em!” and the shots rang out.

It turned out to be a hunt of a lifetime, with three generations hunting together with our good friends, Taylor, Eric, Grant, Cody, Brett and Mason of “Cuttin Outdoors”.

We can’t wait to show the footage, so stay tuned for more wrecking from “crew”.

Good Hunting ~ Daryl
#teamwreckingcrew

Most every duck hunter has dreamed about hunting in Arkansas at one time or another. When you set out to hunt in Arkansas you have a few things to consider. One major problem is to decide whether to hunt public land or to hunt with a guide service. In our recent trip we opted for hunting with a guide service. In this blog entry I’d like to share information about a great experience we had with Graveyard Guide Service. If you are considering hunting with a guide service, Graveyard Guide Service is located in McCrory, AR (just north of Stuttgart) and is a great place to go.

Justin & Jason with Graveyard Guide Service both try to ensure that your hunting experience is a “hunt of a lifetime”.  They typically hunt over flooded rice fields, dry fields, and recently they’ve started hunting over some flooded timber for the ones who like to hunt in really close scenarios.

One thing that is a little different about Graveyard Guide Service is that they specialize not only in ducks, but in Specklebelly Geese as well. While hunting in the fields this additional specialty really adds to a mixed bag of waterfowl that you can get.

On our hunt there was something I vividly remember and that was that while hunting in the blinds, typically around 8:30, Jason would fire the grill up and man those biscuits and gravy will “smell it up”!  So yes we chowed down right there in the blind and this is just another example of how Graveyard Guide Service goes out of their way to ensure you have a great hunt and enjoyable time. After the hunt, which usually ended around 1:00, they picked us up from the pits in their side-by-sides and then drove back to the lodge for a great lunch.

So if you are thinking (dreaming) about hunting in Arkansas, gives the boys at Graveyard Guide Service a shout GraveyardGuideService.com. Believe me we had a blast and plan to go back, real soon!

Here's a YouTube video where Drake's Migration Nation hunted with Justin and Jason of the Graveyard Guide Service

With hopes of shallow ponds and swamps freezing my father Pete (74) and I decided to hunt the river as the temperatures dropped in the low teens this past weekend. We were very optimistic on the way to the landing, but after arriving and seeing only one other boat at the landing our hopes slightly dropped. We thought we may have guessed wrong.

With all of our Drake Waterfowl gear on we managed the 19 degree boat ride really well.  Once, we got to our hunting spot, my dad and I starting throwing out all of our Drake Breeze-Ryder duck decoys.  I was very interested to see how well this year's models would work. We got the decoys out and got situated into our hunting spots and waited on daylight.

Shortly after day break, we had a pair of mallards fly across the river. I picked up my RNT Short Barrel and started hammering them. They responded immediately with a wide turn. They circled several times and within minutes they were feet down and wings cupped over the decoys. I hollered to my dad, “Wreck em!” and wreck’em he did, getting both of them one right after the other.

After retrieving his pair of mallards and getting settled back in we had two different pairs of Mergansers to work our spread. We managed to harvest three out of the four mergansers. During the next thirty minutes or so, we had a lull in the action not seeing many birds at all. Around 8:30, I heard a single "honk" and my dad hollered "Start calling". I picked up my RNT Warbird goose call, and started calling. Shortly, we spotted him up the river, coming down wings cupped and feet down.  He sailed the last 200 yards and started to light in the decoys and I hollered to my dad again, “Wreck em!” and, again, he did just so.

This was the coldest day of the year so far and one I will remember forever. Hunting with my dad, is truly a blessing.

Good Hunting
Team Wrecking Crew

This was the first opening day of duck season that I wasn't standing in water beside an oak or cypress tree and that is due to the fact of having mild temperatures and the lack of migrating birds. We found some geese in one of our leased agriculture fields a few days before the season opener and we made the decision to hunt them instead. 

We loaded up our enclosed trailer with layout blinds, full body and shell Canada goose decoys and headed out to the field.  After playing the wind and setting out our spread we began getting "locked & loaded" for the legal shooting hours.  

It was very cloudy and it had been raining and early on this morning there was some fog so we adjusted our style of calling for those conditions.  We had Blake Langley filming for us and he did an outstanding job for the conditions, location, while being mindful not to spook the birds. We had two small flocks work in and we managed to harvest five.  

Shortly after our last volley, I saw a pair of mallards flying across the field and I picked up my duck call to give them a try.  I made the comment, how sweet it would be to call them in our goose spread.  They responded almost immediately and told the boys, "Game on!” They were very high, but they descended quickly and worked well with the wind. After five circles, we had them where we needed them.  When I called the shot, "Wreck em!" shots rang out and the drake fell, as no one even tried the hen.  So instead of icing on the cake, we added a big beautiful greenhead to the mix. We gave high fives and laughed for several minutes, over what had just happened.

Team WC ~ It's what we live for.

Schofield’s Ace Hardware in Florence, SC had their annual “Waterfowl Day” this past Saturday, and team Wrecking Crew (Ty Parker, Justin Thomas, Blake and I) supported their event along with having a Meat Duck Calling Contest for the youth and adults.

We brought our WC1 Xpress Boat powered by Gator-Tail 35, to use as a calling stage for the contestants.  The kids really had a blast with the decoy display, layout blinds, and being able to step up in our Xpress boat.  We tried to simulate a real hunt as much as possible and still have fun.

We had three calling contests: JR, Intermediate, and Adult contests, which Schofield’s donated lots of great prizes for the winners and all of the youth received gift cards for participation.  Also, for the adults, Schofield’s offered a $20 gift card just for entering and how cool was that?

Along with the contests, our “crew” continued to support Schofield’s by representing our sponsor’s: RNT Calls, Drake Waterfowl, Yeti Coolers, and Mountain Khaki’s.  We generated a lot of buzz with our Xpress Boat and Gator-Tail Motor and WeHuntSC.

It was a fun filled day, with lots of duck calling kids and adults, camo clothing and eyes in the skies, looking for the migration in the Pee Dee Area.

We appreciated everyone who came out to the event and would like to thank not only our sponsors, Schofield’s but our crew members(Ty Parker, Justin Thomas and Blake) who supported the event.

Good Hunting ~ Daryl
Team Wrecking Crew