At Kentucky's Boatwright WMA, Boat-blind Hunters Averaged Almost Twice the Ducks of Pit Hunters

IBlind Type Results

Boat Blinds Beat Pits in Every Recorded Season

Pit blinds had the most hunters of the three types at 8,490 and averaged the fewest ducks per hunter. The daily figures come from KDFWR's season reports on Ballard and Boatwright hunting activity, including the 2022-23 hunting activity report. We have those tables in our files for 2016-17 to 2025-26 except 2023-24.

Boat blinds led the three types in 8 of the 9 seasons. The exception came in 2024-25, when walk-in blinds averaged 1.01 against 0.66 for boat blinds. Pits beat walk-ins in 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 and tied them at 0.36 in 2025-26.

Two checks support boat blinds finishing ahead of pits. In 2018-19 boat blinds reached their high at 1.49, and that season's blind-type rows list more hunters than the daily totals. With that season left out boat blinds averaged 1.00 and pits 0.54, leaving boats at 1.85 times the pit rate. Boat blinds also outshot walk-ins in 4 of the five latest seasons in our files. Boats led walk-ins just 0.85 to 0.81 over those five seasons, with most of the narrowing from 2024-25 when walk-ins averaged 1.01 against boats' 0.66. With that season left out boats averaged 0.92 and walk-ins 0.69, while pits averaged 0.51 over all five. These rates exclude a combined boat and walk-in group KDFWR listed for 2025-26 separately from that season's own boat and walk-in rows. The group had 1,192 hunters and averaged 0.65 ducks per hunter.

IIJanuary Shooting

January Beat December at Boatwright in 6 of 7 Seasons

At Boatwright, January hunt days averaged 0.94 ducks per hunter compared with 0.60 in December. January led in 6 of the 7 seasons that have daily totals. Ballard followed the same pattern with a narrower gap. Its average was 1.20 in January and 1.03 in December, with January ahead in 5 of 7 seasons.

With the seasons pooled every Boatwright blind type did better in January. Boat blinds rose from 0.84 in December to 1.26 in January and pits from 0.47 to 0.61. Pits shot better in January in 8 of 9 seasons. Boat blinds did better in only 4 of 9, so the pooled boat-blind gain comes from fewer than half the seasons.

IIICounts on Ground

Ballard Beat Boatwright but Its Duck Count Offered Little Guidance

Ballard beat Boatwright on days when each area listed hunters. In the same 7 seasons starting in 2018-19, Ballard averaged 1.15 ducks per hunter from 8,287 hunters and Boatwright 0.78 from 15,611. Both areas listed a turned-away count on 20 or more days in each of 2022-23, 2024-25 and 2025-26. In those three seasons Ballard turned away 129 parties and Boatwright turned away 166.

Ballard's daily rows also include a ground count of ducks on the area. For each of the 7 seasons in our files from 2018-19 to 2025-26 (2023-24 is missing) we divided Ballard's hunt days into thirds by that season's ground count and pooled those thirds. Days in the lowest third had an average count of 18,100 ducks and averaged 1.16 ducks per hunter. The highest third averaged ground counts of 50,300 and yielded 1.24 ducks per hunter, while the middle third trailed at 0.99. Over 211 Ballard hunt days the ground count and ducks per hunter had a weak correlation of 0.16. Those days use only 47 different counts because KDFWR carries each count forward until the next one.

Our Missouri managed-area paper found that the biggest duck estimates there did not line up with the best shooting. At Ballard the largest counts did line up with the best rate, though the margin was small and the middle third trailed both.

IVIndividual Blinds

Castor 2 and Olm 10 Lead Their Areas

KDFWR also publishes hunt data by blind, including the Ballard hunting data for 2024-25 and the Boatwright hunting data for 2024-25. Those tables combine ducks and geese, so the blind rankings compare birds per hunter. A Ballard blind had to have 5 or more seasons and 150 or more hunters in total to rank, while a Boatwright blind needed 4 or more seasons and 150 or more hunters.

Castor 2 topped 25 ranked Ballard blinds with 2.40 birds per hunter over 8 seasons. Butler was next at 1.92 with Castor 1 at 1.69. The average for all Ballard blinds was 1.16.

Olm 10 topped 17 ranked Boatwright blinds with 1.54 birds per hunter over 6 seasons, far ahead of Beaver Dam at 0.96. The average for all Boatwright blinds was 0.71.

VRecord Gaps

Every Rate Covers a Blind Type in Its Own Water

Boatwright's blind types sit in different water, so these rates show what each type produced rather than what any blind would produce after a move. Ducks per hunter gives a group average and tells little about one party's morning. Draw odds, weather and water levels vary from day to day. These data cannot explain why January shooting was better than December shooting. The ground count comes from a periodic survey, with neighboring days using the same count. Our files do not include the 2023-24 activity report. Two 2022-23 activity files held 622 Boatwright blind rows for the same days as the 2022-23 blind file, and we dropped those rows. The blind-type rows match the daily Boatwright totals within 2 percent in 4 of the 7 seasons with both. For 2018-19 the blind-type rows list 1,893 hunters versus 1,382 in the daily totals, and for 2021-22 they list 1,670 ducks versus 1,983.

VIPicking a Blind

Favor Boatwright Boat Blinds and January Hunts at Both Areas

Our read is that a boat blind is the pick at Boatwright and a pit is the one to expect the least from. The boat-over-pit advantage held in every recorded season here, and boats outshot walk-ins in 4 of the last 5 seasons. January days have averaged more ducks per hunter than December days at both areas, and Ballard's ground count gives little reason to change plans. Among named blinds, Castor 2 at Ballard and Olm 10 at Boatwright top their areas over six or more seasons.