Duck hunting in Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee

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Depending on where in western KY you are in it is about as good an area, at times, as there is in the country. Don't discount southern Illinois and Indianna....especially Illinois...there is some fantastic duck and goose hunting in southern Illinois and a pile of commercial outfits and they are pretty reasonably priced. Also some fairly affordable clubs and blind leases, or there used to be.

That’s great! Any specific recommendations?

Owensboro, about an hour NW of Bowling Green.

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That’s great! Any specific recommendations?

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The area between Paducah and Cape Girardeau in Illinois is the area I am most familiar with, horseshoe lake especially and Olive Branch in particular. There is also some really good huntinn from Paducah to St Louis but I am more familiar with the area south of roughly a line between Paducah and Cape Giradeau. There used to be hundreds of commercial goose hunting outfits in the area but migration changes and farming changes have cut Canada numbers drastically supposedly. I have been told that many of those commercial goose operations no longer exist and some have focused on duck hunting more and more.

The area in Indianna I know about is in the area where the Wabash and Ohio Rivers come together...There is (or was) a public boat ramp in Shawneetown, IL that was about 10 miles from the mouth of the Wabash river and there are a BUNCH of sandbars in it and the Ohio which used to be excellent at times. There was another ramp closer on the Indiana side of the Wabash that is about 5 miles from the Ohio and the Wabash is a smaller river so its a little less daunting. It was never clear, though, if this was a public ramp or not. We used it but It always felt like we might be trespassing. That was in the 80s and 90s so folks were still prone to ignoring you if you didnt cause any problems. That area will also flood at times and will be accessible from the Ohio River....and as far as I know if you could get in a flooded field or flooded timber from the river you could hunt it. This can be a BIG body of water for most duck boats however. When flooded it looks like a bay with a tree line in the middle of it. Can get very hairy and do so in a hurry.

There are public hunting areas in both areas of Illinois and Indiana that can be really good or really bad. There are also some commercial outfits in that part of Indiana.

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I had an attorney acquaintance that lived in southern Illinois that I would touch base each year after duck season to see how each other did.


I don't call him anymore. Got too depressing to hear about how great their season was.

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It used to be really strange as far as ducks go...excellent public duck hunting but the commercial goose operations were such a draw that almost no one hunted ducks. In the 80's Olive Branch Illinois was as good as anyplace in the US to hunt waterfowl...the entire area was basically a big commercial goose operation and it was like $75 a day a gun...hotels like $10 a night. Not palatial places but warm and you could get a shower and take dump. There were also a bunch of "private clubs" where one could enjoy some adult beverages and some live music...and if one was bent that way some fairly unattractive yet exceedingly friendly and open to suggestion local woman. It used to be one of my favorite trips a year at least a couple of times each season. We started goose hunting at the clubs and did it every time but mostly we duck hunted on our own and by ourselves nearly. Loads and loads of ducks and the variety was second to none. There are also some of the biggest damned deer I ever saw anywhere in that part of the world...and some of the best crappie fishing anywhere. And HUGE bream.