The Lady Guide of The Texas Gulf Coast

By Judy Jurek

Brittany Gale loves being outdoors. She’s turned that love into a career.

“The thrill of not knowing what you’re going to catch or shoot is my favorite thing about guiding,” Brittany said. This extraordinary native Texan is also a licensed captain, as well as a hunting guide.

“I love putting people on their personal best or very first fishing or hunting adventure,” Brittany added. She guides with Gale Force Outdoors along the mid-Texas Gulf Coast and has a home base in Port O’Connor. The oldest of three girls, Brittany played sports in high school, but she’d rather be on the water. Nothing else held her interest.

Her dad, James Gale, was a captain and hunter, so she decided to follow in his footsteps.

“He never bought, caught or used bait. It was always artificial lures while wade fishing,” she said. “I specialize in wading with artificial lures for red drum, trout, and flounder but also offer boat trips using bait.”

Brittany added the freeze of February 2021 really hurt trout. At the time of this writing, Brittany said Port O’Connor redfish are plentiful and flounder numbers as good. “I fish for fun. I never tire of it. I would like to guide a season out of Stuart, Florida, for tarpon, snook, and trout. It’s on my bucket list,” Brittany said with a laugh.

A Laguna medium light rod with a Lews 7:1 bait caster reel is her favorite. “The only things I dislike about fishing is when the fish don’t bite and you know they’re there, and when weather isn’t conductive to getting on the water,” she said.

Brittany says she used to deer hunt, but joked, “I haven’t been mad at deer the past few years.” She said waterfowl, dove and quail hunting hold much more excitement for her than hunting deer. “Birds and fish are easier to clean,” she quipped.

She grew up duck hunting with her dad and his friends on Matagorda Beach. Her boyfriend, Josh Taylor, grew up around Port O’Connor. She credits his knowledge and love for hunting waterfowl as an inspiration. Josh taught Brittany how to call ducks, and she prefers a whistle call. Her goose calling skills bring in the geese, too.

“When I first started guiding five years ago, I used Josh’s 16-foot aluminum skiff with a mud motor. It was a way to learn the ins and outs of duck hunting in the bay. We now have an airboat,” Brittany said. “There are magical days out in the field.”

For geese, she and Josh have 300 full body and 600 sock decoys. “All decoys get set out and picked up. It’s work, but I love it!” she said. “If you’re going to do it, do it right.” Her preferred shotgun is a 12-gauge Benelli M2.

With a lilt in her voice, Brittany said, “Geese come into a good spread like a tornado. There’s no other way to describe it. It’s so much fun to be right in the midst of it.”

“I’ve been sandhill crane hunting once. A man Josh knew said he had 1,000 sandhills and invited us out. After a two-hour drive one cold foggy morning, five cranes finally arrived. I gave up belly crawling toward them. Josh and his friend got three.” Laughing, she said, “We didn’t zero out that day, but I guess the thousand sandhills knew we were coming.”

Brittany also grew up attending dog trials all over the United States. Her dad trained English springer spaniels and later, Labrador retrievers. “I saved money to buy ‘Rio,’ a white Lab my dad trained,” she said. “Do you know how hard it is to hide a white Lab duck hunting?”

After watching a friend’s dog work, and some research, Brittany decided she wanted an English cocker spaniel. While waiting on a litter, she discovered some Brittany spaniel puppies for sale. “I fell in love when I looked at them,” she said. “Tex” came home with her, followed by “Rush.”

“Rush hunted his first teal season in September and did great,” she said. “Tex will be ready for quail this season and my most recent canine, ‘Sage,’ is in training to work on birds when she gets bigger.” Brittany said her hands, heart, and time are most certainly filled with dogs right now.

If there’s anything she dislikes about hunting, it’s the weather. “It may not be as predicted,” she said. Another thing she dislikes: “Ducks seem to be thinning out over the past years on our Texas coast area. I sometimes wish clients had a bit more shooting experience as well as knowing how much work goes into creating a good hunt for them.”

Guiding for fish and wildlife has most often been a man’s profession but is now being redefined as women join the ranks. Brittany’s advice to any females considering this line of work: “Being a female guide is rewarding but if you do it, do it 100%. No half-hearted attempts!”