Posted By:
Mark-Mullins
Field Editor
dave donaldson wma 12-29-2011 14:11
– – 35-40 Degrees
Dec26-27 did not hunt.(sick) dec 28, went solo and got 4 greenheads, nice working ducks. Dec 29 – 3 hunters 4 mallards 1teal. Not much action.
Posted By:
Brian-Moore
Field Editor
Humphrey 12-29-2011 12:53
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Killed a limit yesterday morning. Birds worked really nice. Used mallard machine to ripple water and worked well. Not a lot of ducks for this time of year but steady with working ducks.
Posted By:
webmaster
root
AGF Report 12-29-2011 10:40
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Abundance of water, mild conditions plague hunters
LITTLE ROCK – Hunting conditions haven’t changed much since last week’s report, with the abundance of waterfowl habitat across the state apparently causing spotty distribution of ducks. And with mild weather in the forecast, a substantial migration event seems unlikely in the coming days.
Water levels remain high on many of the state’s wildlife management areas, and agricultural fields and natural wetlands remain flooded in most parts of the Delta. With so much habitat available, ducks have plenty of places to go to avoid hunting pressure.
Still, some hunters have reported good success in flooded bottomland habitat along the Black, Cache and White rivers, and during the December aerial waterfowl survey, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission biologists observed many ducks using agricultural fields that were inaccessible because of flooded roadways.
The weather forecast calls for above-average temperatures through New Year’s Day, with daytime highs reaching the low- to mid-60s through the weekend. The next blast of cold air isn’t forecast to reach the state until Jan. 2, returning temperatures closer to normal.
The next aerial survey will be conducted the first week of January as part of the annual Midwinter Waterfowl Survey, which has been conducted across much of the North American wintering grounds since the 1950s.
While this waterfowl report seeks to provide information that is as timely as possible, hunters should keep in mind there’s often a lag of two or three days between the time field reports are received and this report is published. Thus, actual water levels and percentage of flooded habitat may differ from what’s reported here. The AGFC encourages hunters to check stream gauges (links are provided at the end of this report) and physically scout potential hunting areas to determine actual field conditions.
To assist waterfowl hunters with the latest information, the AGFC provides links to sources on waterfowl location and abundance in Arkansas and other states. The links are available at http://www.agfc.com/hunting/Pages/HuntingWaterfowlReport.aspx#1.
Posted By:
REARNEY
Web Member
Wisconsin/ Lake Pepin, Mississipi River 12-27-2011 18:45
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 45-50 Degrees
Sorry to say we still have no cold weather yet. Last Sunday we hit a record high of 52 Degrees!! We are in boats fishing on rivers.They are predicting above normal temps through mid January. Hope they are wrong, sick of looking at brown up here.
Posted By:
kenbowen22
Web Member
Wabbaseka 12-27-2011 15:06
Cloudy, Light Rain & Drizzle – 40-45 Degrees
Monday with three hunters three limits but still no mallards. All spoonies except for a lightning fast group of blue bills which decoyed better than any bird all day. All birds are educated and decoy and call shy. Still lots of birds in the area and had several thousand birds on the fields to our Southeast. Lots of shooting of Bayou Meto as well. Will try again this weekend.
Duck Hunting Attitude: It takes 43 muscles to frown and 17 muscles to smile…. but it takes only 3 muscles for proper trigger squeeze!
Posted By:
John-Donelon
Field Editor
Arkansas 12-24-2011 18:21
– – –
BRIAN-MOORE
Expect more of the same as far as birds go.Our north zone closes on the 27th.Worst year I have had in a while as far as seeing and shooting birds. Not that many mallards here in our North zone which extends to Iowa border.See hearing reports of large number of mallards at the snow line which is around northern Ia and Southern S.Dakota.We have same problem,lots of sheet water everywhere,temps in the 40″s each day,mostly flyover birds.Mother nature shot our season due to all the mild weather north of us here in Missouri.Keep at it.Our goose season closes 31st of Jan.I will probaly give it a try if some snow hits northern states.
Posted By:
Brian-Moore
Field Editor
Bayou meto area 12-24-2011 12:09
– – –
Very slow for this time of year. We need snow up north or our hunting will continue to be poor. To much water and not enough ducks equal bad hunting.
Posted By:
Mark-Mullins
Field Editor
dave donaldson wma 12-23-2011 20:34
– – 35-40 Degrees
2 hunters never fired a shot. What birds we seen was high and headed north.
Posted By:
Tom-Kopecky
Guest
12-21-2011 19:13
–
Posted By:
Tom-Kopecky
Guest
Dave Donaldson 12-21-2011 19:13
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 40-45 Degrees
got late start,due to tech. troubles at the boat ramp, ducks still on river, no ducks working the mid-eastern part of the wma. no shots today, looks like to me the ducks we had are moving on. hoping for new ducks next week.
