Plan your hunt

What’s included

Every hunt is fully guided. We handle the parts that take local knowledge and a truck full of gear:

• Guiding — one guide with your party for the whole hunt, calling every shot.
• Blinds and decoys — layout blinds and full-body spreads set by your guide.
• Calling — worked the way the birds require, and stopped when it ought to.
• Private field access — scouted the evening before and set up in the field the birds actually used.
• Birds cleaned — breasted, bagged and iced the same morning, ready for the cooler or the flight home.

What to bring

You bring your gun, your shells, your paperwork, and clothing for the plains:

• Shotgun — 12 or 20 gauge, a modified choke is a good default.
• Ammunition — non-toxic shot is required for crane and waterfowl. Plan on about three boxes a day; bring more for dove and pigeon.
• Licenses and stamps— your valid Texas hunting license and the endorsements for what you’re hunting (see below).
• Clothing— brown, tan or grass camo. Waterproof boots, gloves, a face covering, and one more warm layer than you think you’ll need. Late-season mornings on the High Plains are cold, often with wind.
• Eye and ear protection.
• Food and drinks for the blind, plus a cooler for the drive home.

Licenses and regulations

Every hunter must hold a valid Texas hunting license and the correct endorsements. Seasons, bag limits and license requirements are set by Texas Parks & Wildlife (TPWD) and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), and they change every year — you are responsible for holding current, valid licenses and confirming the rules before you travel.

For migratory birds (crane, duck, goose, dove, pigeon where regulated) you’ll generally need:

• A Texas hunting license.
• The migratory game bird endorsement.
• HIP certification (Harvest Information Program).
• The free sandhill crane permit for crane hunts.
• The federal duck stamp for waterfowl (duck and goose).

Hogs and prairie dogs on the private land we hunt need no migratory-bird paperwork. Most of the migratory endorsements are handled online in about ten minutes. TPWD sets the exact season dates each August, so confirm the current year before you book travel.

Getting there

Fly into Lubbock Preston Smith International (LBB)— it’s about forty minutes from most of our fields, with direct flights from Dallas, Houston, Austin and Denver. Send us your flight numbers and we’ll meet you and run you to the blind and back.

Driving in? Approximate times to Lubbock:

Lodging

We don’t run a lodge. Hunters arrange their own lodging in and around Lubbock, which is a short drive from the fields and has plenty of hotels and rentals to choose from. Ask us when you book and we’re glad to point you toward good places to stay and eat.

Combination hunts

Any two species can be combined in a single trip. Crane at daylight, ducks over a playa at midday, hogs after supper — most of our repeat parties come for two days and shoot two or three species. Tell us what you want to shoot and we’ll build the trip around it.

Weather and what to expect

Early starts are the rule. Plan on coffee at the truck well before shooting light, then blinds and decoys set in the dark. Cranes come in waves through mid-morning; ducks are usually done by nine. Weather that looks rough is often good news here — fog and a north wind move birds and work in your favor. If a day is genuinely unhuntable, we’ll tell you first thing and put it back on the books.

Group sizes

We keep parties small so everyone shoots. Wingshooting parties generally run from two guns up, depending on the hunt — dove fields hold the most, rifle hunts for hogs and prairie dogs run smaller. Bigger groups get more fields, not more crowded ones. Tell us your headcount and we’ll match it to the right setup.