We would like to thank all of our guests that made this Spring so memorable!  It is nice to be able to share the experiences with such good people.  The highlight of the Spring and one of the most humbling experiences ever,was one of our guests flying over here straight from Afghanistan to meet his two sons for their Spring Break and some snow goose hunting.  With him, he brought an American flag and a Certificate of Authenticity from the Department of Defense, which reads:

“Department of Defense

Joint Provincial Reconstruction Team Paktika

FOB Sharana, Afghanistan

Certificate of Authenticity

This is to certify that the accompanying American Flag was flown in the face of the enemy over the headquarters of Joint Provincial Reconstruction Team Paktika, Forward Operating Base Sharana, Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom

In honor of

Habitat Flats

this 28th day of February 2012 ”

It now is proudly displayed in our lodge and special thanks go out to Mr. Keys and all the men and women who fight to protect our freedom everyday!!!!!!

We would also like to thank our guides, helpers,  and lodge staff!  Without these folks the Spring wouldn’t run nearly as smoothly as it does. 

We have a new snow goose dvd that is about finished up and will be sure to let you know when it will be available!   Currently we are working on the Spring 2013 schedule, if you are interested in hunting with us this Fall or next Spring, please contact me for available dates ( tony@habitatflats.com ).  The dates don’t generally stay open long, so the sooner you can get in contact with me, the better the chances of us having dates that best accommodate your schedule. 

With the end of the Spring snow goose season, the beginning of another of our favorite times of year is upon us….management time!  We will be doing our part to ensure all of the migrating waterfowl will have a buffet come Fall!  Good luck this Spring in the turkey woods!!!

Here is a link to a little recap video of the Spring… 

http://www.youtube.com/user/HabitatFlats

With the mild temperatures the latter part of the season our flooded corn and timber were still good…but the moist soil foods came on very strong!  Areas where we had Chiwapa millet, japanese millet, rice, and buckwheat along with the natural millet and smartweed were being overrun with ducks.   No two seasons are ever the same, that’s for sure! 

The most memorable hunt for me this Fall was when my Dad was down.  We don’t get a chance to hunt together as much as we used to.  I killed a blond phase drake mallard thatday to go on the wall next to the blond hen I killed a couple years ago.  Having my Dad sitting next to me made that an unforgettable experience!  It was a sad sight to see the last of the guests leaving the lodge in Fall 2011 as it was the closing on our best year ever!  We are looking forward to putting in the work to make 2012 even better yet!! 

If you are interested in a Fall ’12 Missouri duck hunt with us, I would reccommend we look at dates sooner as opposed to later as the schedule is starting to fill.  Please shoot me an email and I’d be happy to go over available dates with you.  tony@habitatflats.com   Thank you!!

I haven’t had a chance to make it through all of my photos for this year yet…..but below are some of the ones I have made through from November.   Habitat Flats was extremely fortunate to have a lot of good friends back in camp this Fall and to make a lot more new friends!  Some of the best memories of the Fall are sitting in the lodge in the afternoons with our guests and enjoying the view out back, while hearing about the different styles of hunting they do in their neck of the woods.  The memory bank was working overtime to file away all the sights and sounds of Fall 2011.  The food has never been better and the hunting was as good or better than it ever has been!

Thank you to our guides, lodge staff, and guests who made Fall 2011 such an incredible one!  The schedule is filling for Fall 2012, if you are interested in getting something set up, I would strongly recommend looking at dates sooner as opposed to later!  We have a few January Canada Goose/Upland combo dates available yet as well, if you are interested, please email me.  tony@habitatflats.com 

Looking forward to a 2012 that surpasses 2011, Happy New Year from all of us at Habitat Flats!!!

http://www.thesportsmanchannel.com/programming/descriptions/description.php?ID=172

RNT-V… It’s Old Buddies and new friends, late nights and early mornings, the bite of a cold, dark thirty boat ride in anticipation of a new day. Shimmering green heads against a blue December sky, it’s 200 Canada’s feet down over the spread. It’s a stiff prairie wind and a sunrise through a hardwood bottom. A shot well made and the smell of burnt powder, a young pup on his first hunt and a veteran duck dog making a tough retrieve. It’s a newly crowned World Champion and a fight well fought… It’s building the best custom duck and goose calls in the nation… RNT-V It’s What We Do.

On this week’s episode
Once again the RNT-V team is at Habitat Flats in northern Missouri. This time though they’re doing something they’ve never done on RNT-V, snow goose hunting. Watch as Jimmy and the guys from habitat flats hammer the snow birds during the spring conservation order.

Even though we were filming I couldn’t help but have my camera out to snap a few photos of the action, it was too pretty!

The Missouri North Zone duck season opens this Saturday, October 29th.  Things have been a blur around here trying to get blinds brushed, water pumped, decoys rigged, the Lodge ready….you name it!  There aren’t enough hours in the day this time of year.  Everything will be lined out and ready to roll come Saturday morning!

We are all anxioulsy awaiting the sounds of wind ripping through the wings of the squadrons of green winged teal that will be zipping around, the sight of big bunches of majestic pintails cupped up and making the last swing, a wet dog at your side shivering with anticipation, a hot cup of coffee while watching the world wake up…..it doesn’t get any better than that!!!!

Another Missouri duck season is almost upon us, we are looking forward to all the new memories that will be made this Fall and the stories told in the Lodge.  Friday night we will get the bonfire rolling in the fire pit on the back patio, watch the ducks flying over the refuge, and offer up a toast to the Duck Gods in thanks for the beginning of another season!

“Experience the Ultimate Sportsman’s Destination”

The show airs on Friday, October 21 at 12:30PM CST and on Saturday, October 22 at 10:00AM CST. 

http://www.thesportsmanchannel.com/programming/descriptions/description.php?ID=172

RNT-V… It’s Old Buddies and new friends, late nights and early mornings, the bite of a cold, dark thirty boat ride in anticipation of a new day. Shimmering green heads against a blue December sky, it’s 200 Canada’s feet down over the spread. It’s a stiff prairie wind and a sunrise through a hardwood bottom. A shot well made and the smell of burnt powder, a young pup on his first hunt and a veteran duck dog making a tough retrieve. It’s a newly crowned World Champion and a fight well fought… It’s building the best custom duck and goose calls in the nation… RNT-V It’s What We Do.

On this week’s episode
Jimmy heads to one of his favorite places to hunt Mallards, Habitat Flats in North Central Missouri. The weather is cold, the water is frozen, so the guys are dependent on their Ice Eater and a generator to keep it open white they hammer the ducks.

It won’t be long and those greenheads will be again filling the sky!!!!   We are looking forward to another great Fall!

Oct 29-Nov 1    6 guys, opening four days of the season, there will be thousands of pintails, gadwalls, teal, wigeons, shovelers, woodducks, some mallards, etc   For those that really enjoy shooting a lot of different species….these are EXCELLENT dates for a great mixed bag hunt

Dec 1-4   6 guys, four day hunt in the peak of the mallard migration, incredible numbers of mallards here and typically some of the best mallard shooting of the season

If you are interested in these dates, please shoot me an email ( tony@habitatflats.com ) !

For a quick update on the habitat….we are looking as good or better than we ever have!  It’s been extremely dry, but all of our wells are up and running.  The dry spell we have had has allowed us to get the crops out with plenty of time before opening day to get everything flooded up.  Some early ducks have started showing up and we are looking forward to a great Fall!

Whether you are looking for a great mixed bag hunt, or a sea of greenheads, we have the water and different food sources they utilize at different times of the year!   We hope to see you at the Lodge this Fall!

“Experience the Ultimate Sportsman’s Destination”

The summer has been extremely dry, but we caught rains at the right times and are extremely fortunate in that our habitat looks as good as it ever has.  We planted a bunch of rice and Chiwapa millet early, managed some areas with moist soil draw downs to promote natural food growth like nutsedge, millet, and smartweed, and also planted some areas to japanese millet and buckwheat.  Some areas have ‘layers’ of food with nutsedge at ground level, rice above it, then jap millet and natural millet above it, Chiwapa millet above it and smartweed above all of it…there is food from ground level to 6-7′ up!  With the corn and beans having a good year, the waterfowl buffet table is without a doubt set, and set in a big way! 

Several new pits and above water wooden blinds have been added to the arsenal with the development of three new farms.  We now have 36 pits and above water wooden blinds from which to hunt out of, not including all the areas we can hunt with layout boats and ground blinds.  At full capacity of 24 hunters, we can take six groups of four out and still be resting over 80% of our spots on any given day.   Pressure management is every bit as important as habitat management in having and holding ducks throughout the course of the season.  Five new wells were drilled to ensure we have plenty of water on the excellent habitat we have. 

With the high duck numbers this year, we are excited for what could be the best Fall yet at Habitat Flats!!  If you are looking for any trips yet for this Fall/Winter, please email me ( tony@habitatflats.com ) and I would be happy to give you a list of available dates.   Come enjoy the fruits of our labor and some of the best duck hunting in the country!

“Experience the Ultimate Sportsman’s Destination”

Based on the reports from the tundra, the snows had another great hatch!  We offer two different spring snow goose hunting packages.  The first being a hunting only package for three days hunting, lodging and meals are on your own.   The second package is the all inclusive package, which includes three days hunting, three nights lodging in the beautiful lodge, and five star meals!  They are the same hunt regardless of which package you go with.  To inquire about available dates for Spring 2012, please email me!  ( tony@habitatflats.com )  We still have a few dates in Missouri and South Dakota. 

Shooting decoying snow geese with their feet out is something every waterfowl needs to experience at least once.  They are an incredible bird to watch work the spread.  We will put you in the eye of a snow goose storm…it will be an experience you will never forget!

As the weather starts to cool off the ducks nutritional needs start changing and they switch over to ‘hot’ foods like corn.  We are fortunate to have a lot of corn that is flooded and a lot of excellent dry field duck hunting available as well.  The agricultural fields are stripped with blocks of corn and beans.  The beans are then harvested and the pumps are turned on to bring the water in the standing corn up to just below the ears on the corn.  We have comforatble pit blinds in our cornfields as well and they will hold staggering numbers of mallards!!!  The flooded timber continues to remain excellent during this time as we are keeping water open with the use of Ice Eaters. 

With the predicted Fall Flight forecast to be near record numbers, it should be another incredible Fall!  Regardless of if you are looking for an excellent mixed bag hunt or like to shoot mainly greenheads….we have it all and will be happy to show you a great time.  Come join us in Missouri this Fall at the lodge and “Experience the Ultimate Sportsman’s Destination”!

To inquire about available dates, please shoot me an email ( tony@habitatflats.com ) or call me (660.734.3195) and I would be happy to go over them with you!

The waterfowl buffet has been laid out and will be FULL of ducks come Fall!