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Bucksnag Hunting Club Visitor Information

2009-2010 Season

9/20/09

The Bucksnag Hunting Club is a private hunting club located in Garwood, Texas, which is about 90 miles west/southwest of Houston.  It is near Eagle Lake, Texas, which is known for its goose hunting.  We have a web site.  The Bucksnag phone number is (979) 758-3019. 

The Bucksnag Hunting Club was formed in 1968 by Jimmy Reel, Bill Lehrer, and Bob Raley who had a great love of the sport of hunting and conservation.  Jimmy Reel was the area’s foremost hunting guide.  Mr. Lehrer provided the prime rice-land areas for hunting.  They started The Bucksnag Tradition of a unique clubhouse comfortably furnished; hearty country style meals served daily for members and their guests, and some of the best duck and goose hunting in the country.  The Bucksnag Hunting Club is particularly proud of its reputation of providing an atmosphere where all members are proud to bring guests, friends, family, and children to have an excellent hunting experience and continue the tradition of duck and goose hunting. 

The hunting club is in a 1910 boarding hotel with many of the original hotel furnishings.  The first floor has a dining room, bar, and living room.  Bedrooms are on the second and third floor.  There is also a new trailer adjacent to the hotel with 4 rooms as well. The capacity of the club is 30 hunters.  

Cocktail hour begins at 6 p.m. with snacks of cheese and crackers, tortillas and melted cheese, mixed nuts, and other snacks.  Beer and soft drinks are provided.  Plan to bring your own wine and liquor if you want to indulge in those beverages.  Wine glasses and cork screws are available for your use.

Dinner is served at 7 p.m. and is delicious and filling.   After dinner, there is a satellite TV to watch and card tables.  A favorite is to just sit around the outside fire pit and solve all of the problems of the world and enjoy adult beverages.  Each hunter can turn in whenever they care to do so.  For those who stay up, we ask that they be courteous and respect that some hunters are sleeping in the floors above them.

Now the technical details.

You will need a Texas license but Bucksnag does not sell hunting licenses at the lodge.  Hunting licenses can be purchased in Eagle Lake or any Academy.  You can also purchase it on-line at Texas Parks and Wildlife using a credit card or call them at 800-895-4248.  The phone service is available 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.  It is best to purchase your license days before you hunt.  A 5-day out of state license is about $65.  You will also need a Federal Duck Stamp as well.  They cost $15.  If you have an out of state hunting license with a Federal duck stamp on it, remember to bring it so you do not have to buy another Federal stamp here. 

It is hard to predict whether ducks or geese will be the best hunting.  The guides look at the fields and ponds the night before the hunt and see where the most birds are.  We rotate hunting the fields so the birds are not driven away from all of our leased hunting land.  At night at dinner, the Head Guide will usually recommend hunting either ducks or geese based upon what is available.  If you definitely want to hunt ducks or geese, note it on your reservation form and tell the Head Guide the night before the hunt.  You can hunt whatever you want.  It is recommended that you bring the appropriate hunting gear and shells to be prepared to hunt either ducks or geese. 

Ducks are hunted in blinds or at times just sitting on a bank levy next to a rice field pond.  For geese we will be lying in fields or laying on a bank levy.  It is recommended to wear camouflage waders not only to keep dry but also to keep warm and a waterproof Gore-Tex camo-hunting coat that has a removable liner.  MAX-4 is recommended as the camo color.  You will be trying to blend in with brown and yellow harvested rice fields.  It can be hot or cold on the prairie so be prepared for both.  You will need a camo hat and a light pair of camo gloves.  For geese, you also need a facemask or face net so that the sun does not reflect off your face.  The sun reflects off all exposed skin so everything needs to be covered.  Camouflage clothing is needed to blend in with fields so the hunters are not readily visible to flying birds.  You will be reminded by the guides to cover up with the natural cover as much as possible and not to move until the guide calls when to shoot.  Any movement by anyone in the hunting group can scare the birds away and poor camouflage also scares them. 

 Bring an old pair of loafers or shoes other than what you wear in the hunting club that you can wear when you come in from the field.  We take off our dirty waders at the truck and put on a pair of shoes to keep the truck cleaner and to be more comfortable. 

For hunting ducks, it is recommended to use 12 gauge 3 or 3.5 inch, number 2, 3, or 4 steel shot.  For geese, 10 or 12 gauge 3.5 inch BBB or T’s steel shot are recommended. 

Hunt Day:

The routine is that we will be awakened around 5 a.m. to get dressed to go.  A light breakfast of cereal, fruit and breakfast bars is served with coffee of course. 

In a duck hunt there are usually 4 to 6 hunters and in a goose hunt 6 to 10 hunters.  The hunts usually go until 10 to 10:30 am unless the hunters limit out earlier. 

Geese:  The limit on geese in 2009-10 is 20 snow, blue and Ross geese, 3 Canadian geese, and 2 white fronted geese per hunter.  There are literally thousands of snow geese but they are very wary.  The most successful hunts on snow geese would be for the group to average 10 per hunter.   

Sandhill cranes:   There is a sandhill crane season.  In 2009 it is from December 19 to January 24.  The most successful hunts are the first week of the season.  The daily bag limit is 2 per day.

After the hunt, birds cleaned by a nearby cleaner and put in a freezer at the club.

Hunting/Field Safety Procedures

Safety is the number one priority in the field while hunting.  There has never been a hunting accident at Bucksnag and we want to keep that record forever.  The guide has control of the hunt to assure a safe hunt.  No alcoholic drinking is allowed during the hunt.  If any member of the hunting party is seen drinking, the hunt is immediately ended and all hunters in the party must leave the field. 

The guide will position the hunters to provide the best opportunity for the group to be successful.  Each hunter should conceal themselves to blend in with the field.  Geese and ducks are very wary of unusual objects or reflections in the field.   For geese, each hunter should use a facemask or face net so that the sun does not reflect off your face.  The sun reflects off all exposed skin so everything needs to be covered.  Camouflage clothing is needed to blend in with fields so the hunters are not readily visible to flying birds.  You will be reminded by the guides to cover up with the natural cover as much as possible and not to move until the guide calls when to shoot.  Any movement by anyone in the hunting group can scare the birds away and poor camouflage also scares them.  The guide will tell the hunters when to shoot.  This is to assure that the birds are in range and to provide all hunters in the group an opportunity to shoot.  Each hunter should wait until the guide “calls the shot” to be fair to all hunters in their group.  If a member of the group is not well camouflaged or is moving a lot, the guide will tell the hunter to try to cover up more or be still.  If a hunter shoots prior to the “shot being called” the guide will ask the hunter to wait until the shot is called. 

If the birds are not flying over the hunters, the guide may move the hunters to another portion of the field to provide better hunting.  The guide will direct the hunters to the new location.

The Bucksnag Hunting Club has maintained a 40 year, excellent relationship the landowners because we have been good stewards of their land. After every hunt, we police the area and pick up all spent shells and any other items that may have been dropped.  We make sure we close all gates that we open to get to the field and minimize any disruption to the cattle or other farming activities.

A good idea to prepare for the hunt is to shoot some sporting clays the afternoon before the hunt.  Garwood Sporting Clays, Inc. (979-758-9475) is near the Bucksnag and is convenient.  A reservation is usually required.  This is a good method to get newer hunters comfortable with handling and shooting their shotgun.    

After the Hunt

After the hunt, the hunters come back, shower and have a full breakfast/lunch.  The meal usually includes scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes, and another lunch type dish such as chicken and noodles.  It is all good.   Lunch usually concludes around noon and the hunters are free the rest of the day if they are hunting the next day or return to their home if they are finished with their hunt.  Garwood is a very small town but there is a movie theater and a Bass Pro Shop at Katy Mills Shopping Center within easy driving distance or naps are frequently taken. 

The charges at the club are billed to the member to include the nightly fee for room and food, the guide charge per hunt, and the bird cleaning charges.  Tips are at the discretion of each hunter.  For your reference a typical guide tip is $20 to $30 per hunter and $10 per hunter to the house staff.

If you have questions, call The Bucksnag Hunting Club ((979) 758-3019. 

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