Author: Webmaster

Posted By:
Jay-Robison
Field Editor

Bayou Meto 09-02-2011 11:21
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Just a quick there seems to be quite a few doves in eastern Arkansas for the opening of dove season. The weather will be quite warm with highs in the mid and upper 90s. I plan on going in the mornings and maybe catching an afternoon hunt. In between mowing and catching up on general camp work. Will let everyone know how the dove hunt went when I get back next week. Take care and be safe!

Posted By:
Jay-Robison
Field Editor

Bayou Meto 09-02-2011 11:21
– – –
Just a quick there seems to be quite a few doves in eastern Arkansas for the opening of dove season. The weather will be quite warm with highs in the mid and upper 90s. I plan on going in the mornings and maybe catching an afternoon hunt. In between mowing and catching up on general camp work. Will let everyone know how the dove hunt went when I get back next week. Take care and be safe!

Posted By:
Jay-Robison
Field Editor

Bayou Meto 08-24-2011 14:27
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Going to Duck Camp over Labor Day weekend to start getting ready for the greast season ever.

Posted By:
DukGuy
Web Member

05-09-2011 16:28
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davehunter, Norfork lake has flooded to full pool right now… Lots of debris in the lake from massive rainfall and flooding. It is a different fishing story right now… but there is lots of structure (trees etc.) to fish. So are you talking softshell crawdads or crabs?

i could give you the names of some of the bait shops and marinas around that might have some softshell crawdads, but ss crabs… dunno!

Posted By:
TwinFieldsDuckClub
Web Member

NE/E Ark 05-07-2011 12:46
Cloudy, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
How many guys check this that wanna talk duck year round?

Posted By:
davehunter03
Web Member

05-05-2011 10:33
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DG-I’m coming own there fishing and a old guide taught me how to fish crawdads. I’m going to be at the south end of Norfork as N. end is bad.

Sr,

Posted By:
DukGuy
Web Member

05-04-2011 09:15
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Davehunter, I have no idea, sorry! I’m curious as to why you are looking in Northern AR and Southern MO, I would think the coastal areas would be the place to find softshell crabs. DG

Posted By:
davehunter03
Web Member

04-21-2011 20:40
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dukguy: Can you give me any hep with my quest for softshells? I know you hunt Lake Norfolk.

Sr.

[Edited By davehunter03 on 2011-04-21 20:41]

Posted By:
davehunter03
Web Member

04-15-2011 09:52
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Can anyone tell me where I can purchase some Medium size soft shell crabs in the N. Arkansas or Southern Mo.(From Rolla S)?

thanks,
Sr.

Posted By:
ICGEESE61
Guest

02-11-2011 15:20
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interesting that ARK put the youth hunt at the end of reg season, sound like the kids had a blast, congrats on the good times

Posted By:
woodste
Guest

Palestine 02-05-2011 15:52
– – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
Three adults took three youths hunting this morning. I dont know who had more fun, us or the youths :). They shot a ton of shells. Ended up with 6 ducks. Besides it being really cold, the ducks were everywhere. It was great to see how excited the kids were to see and shoot at a lot of ducks. My nephew’s first duck killed was a male pintail. Watching the kids excitement was worth every second.

[Edited By woodste on 2011-02-05 15:53]

Posted By:
Rudy-Martin
Field Editor

Altheimer/Sherrill Area 02-04-2011 09:50
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We really hit bottom the last week of the season. None of our field were holding more than a few ducks. In spite of that downturn, this has been our best season ever. We were 19% better than our previous best year.

This season it has been a pleasure for me to report on conditions in our area. I hope you got some benefit. Good luck in the off season, & I hope to see you next year.

Shoot ’em in the face!

Posted By:
DukGuy
Web Member

North Central AR 01-31-2011 16:29
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This has been a fantastic year! We have pounded the Gadwalls up here on Norfork and Bull Shoals Lakes. 4 of us ended the season with a limit of 24 ducks (mostl;y gaddies) and then Saturday morning we deployed my canada goose decoy spread on a farm pond near town and killed our 8 bird limit of geese. Now looking to Turkey Season!!! Daknight, Game wardens are authorized to make traffic stops, especially if they have probable cause to believe the occupants have been hunting and can check for game in your possession. With waterfowl, one must remember to leave at least a head or wing on the bird when transporting them from the field…or they can have a field day with you! Have a great “off season” everyone!

Posted By:
DaKnight
Web Member

Cross County 01-31-2011 16:00
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 60-65 Degrees
Sunday closed out a great duck season and a good time was had by all.

Saturday was a good shoot for most, Sunday really slowed way down when our neighbors blasted them off the roost at shooting time.

For years I’ve heard stories about Game Wardens pulling hunters over on the back roads. Well Sunday I saw it with my own eyes but it was on I-40. What’s up with that?

Posted By:
Mike McFerrin
Field Editor

Wynne- Fair Oaks 01-30-2011 05:00
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Our total kill the past 8 days has went to 227. The numbers are high because – first two days of the last season , we had a invitational fun hunt . We invited potential club members over to hunt fun two days . we had 3 pits and a timber hole going. WE had a blast.
This past Friday we had a great hunt in the timber. 13 mallards , 4 gadwall and a black jack.
It’s been a great yr. we are pushing a 1,000 birds . May take the youth hunt to put us over the top. Who would have ever thought it -with all our L’Anguille river timber holes doing nothing due to the low river.
WWW.CypressSlewRetrievers.com

Posted By:
wbduckman
Web Member

Arlington, TN 01-29-2011 11:42
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Snow Geese and Specks flying High & North all morning over the House.

Posted By:
wbduckman
Web Member

01-27-2011 18:59
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Dang Mike,

How many people are you hunting with???

129 Ducks (6 ducks per gun)in 3 days !!!

Posted By:
wbduckman
Web Member

01-27-2011 18:55
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Has anyone heard from Mark Mullins?

Posted By:
jameson
Guest

NEA 01-25-2011 17:30
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limits sun, mon, and today its on gentleman… best year for me in 22 years of hunting…. makes the mid/late 90’s look normal….

Posted By:
Mike McFerrin
Field Editor

Wynne — Fair Oaks 01-25-2011 17:04
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Saturday – Sunday – Monday – Kills totaled 129 birds . Tuesday -birds almost disapeared. we did managed to scrape 18 but only two mallards. Did not see the birds I have been seeing when traveling up and down HWY 64. Not many around Interstate 40 headed east . WE have basically had to get out of every pit and get on levees or road beds. Still hard to work birds.
Bad feeling about the last few days. Was saving a couple of roost shoots for the end of the week – hope we didn’t wait to long.
Tired eyes and tired dogs – still don’t get any better than this. Tons of memories this year. Hunt em hard the rest of the week – the duck gods may frown upon us next year.
WWW.CypressSlewRetrievers.com

Posted By:
Rudy-Martin
Field Editor

Altheimer/Sherrill Area 01-24-2011 15:26
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Our success in the fields has definitely slowed down, but we are still killing some. This season will go down as the highest total kill in the history of our club. Each of the six fields we pumped up produced, although some were better than others.

The consensus around us is that Bayou Meto not being flooded really hurt everyone’s hunting. I can remember only one year when it was this dry, and that was in the 1950’s. Hopefully it won’t happen again for a long time.

Shoot ’em in the face!

Posted By:
MIQUELON
Web Member

01-24-2011 13:57
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Weather was definately a factor, I appreciate the advice on planning on hunting the end of Nov to mid-Dec. My buddy and I planned to visit a friend in S. Illinois and thought we would try ducks in Arkansas while we were in the general area.

We did not see a lot of ducks on the wing while we were down. Several bunches of snow geese.

Waterfowling in Canada is very different, you hunt from the truck finding were the birds want to be and get permissions for the shoot. Illegal to lease land for hunting in Alberta and Sask. We have found that the best duck decoys for field shooting are goose decoys.
99.9% of our duck shooting is in pea or barley fields. We do not hunt water often. Gnerally no need to call ducks.
Miquelon

Posted By:
Tom-Kopecky
Guest

Dave Donaldson wma 01-24-2011 12:51
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
launched at Datto access, water level 2’at Corning, river very low, didn’t hit anything motoring up river, went into timber upper Reyno gtr at my usual hole, 1/4 mile off river one foot of water in hole,no ice, no ducks working, did have 2 wood ducks dive bomb me while I was dealing with my dog on the platform [gun hanging in tree], high flying ducks all moving north, possible reverse migration going on, woods full of robins. I think it will get better this week. going tomorrow to lower Reyno gtr.

Posted By:
DukGuy
Web Member

01-24-2011 10:58
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Well said Timberhtr, While I’ve never hunted Canada, I have hunted early season North Dakota and expected an “EASY” hunt… well, I can assure you that while, they were a bit less wary than Arkansas birds… It was still challenging and not a “cakewalk”. They still fly fast, land just outside of decoys, and even flair from calling and robos at times. Don’t believe everything you see or hear on the hunting videos…

Woodchopper, Sounds like one of those “hunts of a lifetime”. I had one of those this year as well with both my sons (one HS senior the other senior in college) It was wonderful… a great memory that will last my sons, long after I’m gone. One more weekend!!!!

Posted By:
timberhtr
Guest

01-21-2011 18:12
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Woodste,

I apologize for cutting in on you guys discussion, but just had a comment on the Canada statement,for several years I saved to take a trip to Canada. Two years ago I finally made it. I had the same notion you described, still egg on their bills, piece of cake,WELLLLL found out in a hurry all these videos you see are not quite the way it is. They don’t just swarm in to robos, and geese tend to slide decoys just out of gun range. Not what I thought and hoped it would be like. I can tell you it is very fair. Waterfowl are waterfowl wherever your hunting em.

Posted By:
woodste
Guest

01-21-2011 09:58
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Miquelon,

Sorry you had a bad experience in Arkansas, but all i can say is next time book around Thanksgiving or in the middle of December because weather can be a factor. Arkansas hunting is GREAT, but Canada hunting is probably the easiest. I mean come on, you get to shoot ducks that are very young and have no idea about robos or bad calling. It’s almost not fair. However i am sorry you had a bad experience. You never know how many birds if any you will kill in a given day. We can limit out one day and not shoot the next, but you know what that’s what keeps it exciting. Also keep in mind guides work VERY hard to make sure you have an enjoyable hunt. They work, you shoot, you pay regardless.

Posted By:
Anthony-Santoli
Field Editor

01-21-2011 09:23
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MIQUELON:

If you and your pals have been hunting form 20 years in Canada,,,,then you should know that “no one controls mother nature” As far as things go per your post though, it appears that you did shoot some birds, so you really dont have nuch to complain about overall. Watch the weather and the news before you leave… hell I am in Ohio and I could have tol you that there was ice and snow in Arkansas,,,hence the little weather maps on the right side of the screen below the Migration Mapping logo…

Posted By:
woodchopper
Guest

Arkansas 01-21-2011 09:11
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DukGuy

I was on the same hunt with DaKnight and it was an incredable hunt! One of the top hunts I’ve been in on in over 40 years of duck hunting. We did little calling. None while the ducks were coming toward us and only short comeback calls after they were going away some 60-70 yards. Main thing we just happened to be on the X that day. We passed many Susies that committed (and landed) without drakes to our spread. On this day we could hardly keep GW teal out of the decoys. On more than one occasion the teal would mess up working mallards by cutting down under them while they were trying to commit. It was a very special day. The only thing that could have made it better would have been if my son could have shared it with us, but alas he had to be back at college.

Posted By:
jameson
Guest

01-21-2011 08:26
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MIQUELON

Sorry you had a bad experience. I am tring to figure out who you are mad at, didnt you book the dates??? Also why should the guides give you any money back? they were out there tring to put you on the ducks. Im not sure who you went with. However, this has been a very strange year (bad for most).
If you have hunted for 20 years hopefully you know what your getting into when you go on a guided hunt. Like i said sorry it sucked but you cant kill them everytime.

Posted By:
MIQUELON
Web Member

Waldenburg,Moro,St. Charles 01-20-2011 14:45
Cloudy, Snow Flurries – Froze Out
Waldenburg, 2 days ice, guide busted hole, same pit 1 greenwing teal hunted Jan 10 &11

Moro Jan 15 half dozen wood ducks and a gadwall AM in woods, PM also woods hole on Big Creek 1 mallard drake,
Jan 16 AM half doz spoonbills and a gadwall
3 guns,
St Charles Jan 17 AM 5 gadwall and a pair of mallards in a woods hole.

We got a some bad weather but were told that
ducks in Arkansas ducks fly late and only feed in water. We put on a lot of miles and the most mallards we saw were feeding in “dry” stubble and I mean bunches of 500 to maybe 1000, the ground was black with them.

For someone that has been hunting the Canadian parklands/prairies for 20 years we were expecting a little better experience. We had to book well in advance and make a 50% down payment. If the outfitters wanted our repeat business they would have been better off saying “guys it isn’t worth going out today, we won’t charge you the other 50% try again next year”

We saw some different country, spent some $$ at Mack’s but shooting spoonbills is not our idea of a duck hunt,

Posted By:
DukGuy
Web Member

01-20-2011 11:18
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DaKnight, There always seems to be a susie that is in the wrong place at the wrong time… no worries! It happens!

Hunting Caliber, Our general duck numbers are down in AR, basically due to low water conditions. The birds we do have, have been around for awhile and are very skidish and call shy. Right now, I don’t call much if at all… it almost always pushes the birds out. We’re really having to work hard for our birds here.

With the thick ice last weekend… most duck hunters I’ve talked to are killing ducks on moving water… but it has been slow.

[Edited By DukGuy on 2011-01-20 11:19]

Posted By:
DaKnight
Web Member

Cross County 01-19-2011 15:09
Sunny & Clear, Morning Fog – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Saturday – Jan 15th 5 Hunters took 30 Ducks. 19 Greenheads, 1 Susie (Boo), 2 Wood Ducks, 8 GW Teal. A good time was had by all.

Posted By:
wbduckman
Web Member

01-18-2011 16:56
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Noticed a hugh migration of Snow Geese for half the day flying North.

This was right in the middle of the City of Memphis?

Posted By:
huntingcaliber
Guest

01-18-2011 15:33
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Not many reports coming out of the Razorback State. I know you are closed this week but how was last weekend??

Posted By:
Modux
Guest

lonoke 01-17-2011 10:30
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two of us got our limit of ducks and a specklebelly sunday…had to work for em though….6 mallards, 4 spoonies, 1 widgeon, 1 teal, and 1 speck…

Posted By:
wbduckman
Web Member

St Francis Co. 01-16-2011 08:42
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 35-40 Degrees
Like everyone else I’m sure, had to break ice yesterday.

Managed a decent hunt considering a small hole and my thoughtful fellow hunters/neighbors setting up behind me 150 yds.

Mixed bag of Mallards, Shovelers (could have shot a truck load of shovelers) and Pintails.

Seeing a slight increase in Mallards but not a lot.
My contacts in Missouri are reporting they are still holding hundreds of thousands of Mallards that Ark most likely will not see.

Does that story sound familier?

Posted By:
Tom-Kopecky
Guest

white river/Newport AR 01-15-2011 14:37
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
lots of mallards and shovelers on the river. kicked up hundred’s of ducks at a time. river at 6′ so running the river is no trouble. ducks sitting along edge of river in front of sand bars, with no cover to hide in. its tough to hunt. nice day for a boat ride watching ducks.

Posted By:
DukGuy
Web Member

Bull Shoals Lake 01-11-2011 16:03
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Still thumpin’ the gadwalls on the big lakes but they are getting skittish. We’ve had the same birds around for the past couple of weeks. Two of us killed 8 birds Friday, but four of us only killed 2 on Saturday. We should have killed more, but high winds and poor shooting, well….. Hoping for the ponds to freeze up and some new birds to roll in.

Posted By:
Rudy-Martin
Field Editor

Altheimer/Sherrill Area 01-11-2011 15:22
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Our duck population has fallen off dramatically lately. We’re just not seeing many. Possibly the storm that came through there around the 1st of the year ran them off. And this bitter cold we are about to have won’t help things. I heard that Prairie Wings was also experiencing a slowdown.

Overall we have had a wonderful year. Not too many mallards, but lots of other species of ducks have been using our fields. Hopefully they will move back in before too long.

Shoot ’em in the face!

Posted By:
timberhtr
Guest

01-09-2011 09:01
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Mark,
Haven’t seen any posts from you lately was just wondering if hunting at Dave Donaldson had gotten any better?

Posted By:
Mike McFerrin
Field Editor

Hickory Ridge 12-09-2011 21:05
– – 30-34 Degrees – Ice
Thursday- 40 birds out of two pits. Friday 15 out of one pit. Seeing fewer birds every day. During the split we were holding a ton of birds at Hickory Ridge and Cherry Valley. Seems like our birds moved when we got the snow. Tons of geese in the area and have been lucky enough to take a few specs. Talked with game warden today – was told that the cash is loaded. he also told me that most of the birds are from Fair oaks and two the West. He reported Parkin and Earle areas had poor numbers with most birds being scraps. Ducks have still not moved into our timber on the L’Anguille. Thank god for dogs. Muddy rice fields and long retrieves have sure saved alot of steps. Forcast shows rain again next Tuesday thru friday. We sure dont need that. Good luck.and be careful.in the rivers. WWW.CypressSlewRetrievers.com

Posted By:
wbduckman
Web Member

St Francis Co 12-09-2011 06:59
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Ice
As expected, we still have hardly any Ducks in our area.
Things are about as bad as it can get. And with all this water, it’s not likely to improve.
Right now, now enough going on to warrent getting up early and going out!

If/when Ducks do come down, with all the rain fall, I look for the Cache and White River Bottoms to hold most of the Ducks. Look for the Mallards to be there.

Only positive note, I’m seeing a lot more Snow Geese.

Posted By:
mallarddux
Web Member

NE arkansas 12-08-2011 14:18
– – –
hey there – quick question. anyone have any information regarding bayou deview outfitters? thanks!

Posted By:
Mark-Mullins
Field Editor

Donaldson WMA 12-06-2011 14:16
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Saturday didnt see any ducks around the area we hunt. Seen a few on Ashbaugh late saturday.
I am not expecting much thursday with all the heavy rain the birds will be scattered. Heck may not be able to get out of the boat.

Posted By:
Jay-Robison
Field Editor

Bayo Meto 12-05-2011 08:06
Cloudy, Rain & Thunderstorms – 45-50 Degrees
Went to duck camp yesterday to check on camp and water levels, talking to other hunters in the area no one has seen any ducks. The concern is that with all the water will the ducks be spread and hard to hunt when they make it down.

Posted By:
Jay-Robison
Field Editor

12-01-2011 10:44
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Duck numbers down for November
LITTLE ROCK – There were fewer ducks for hunters to pursue during the opening weekend of duck season this year, with aerial waterfowl surveys revealing a 26 percent decline in the three-year average for November surveys.
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission biologists took to the air Nov. 14-18, the week prior to the state’s Nov. 19 season opener, and counted an estimated 627,481 ducks in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley, commonly known as the Delta. The count revealed an estimated population of roughly 132,000 mallards.
The first segment of the state’s duck season ended Nov. 27. The season reopens Dec. 8 for the season’s second segment and runs through Dec. 23. The final portion of duck season opens Dec. 26 and ends Jan. 29, 2012.
This year’s November count represented a significant decline from last year’s November count of more than 1.1 million ducks. “It’s kind of what we expected,” said Luke Naylor, AGFC waterfowl program coordinator. “This survey was conducted during a period of rapidly changing conditions. It started out very dry, but there was a huge increase in available habitat during the survey period because of heavy rainfall.
“Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot of immediate response to the flooding events. But we did see most ducks where we might expect to see them this time of year, including areas of the Cache, lower White and the Bayou Meto-lower Arkansas River watersheds. In all likelihood those areas had some managed water available, and a reasonable conclusion to draw is that many of the ducks that migrated early had settled into those habitats before the rainfall made more areas available.”
More rainfall has hit the state since the week leading up to the season opener. And just this week, much colder temperatures have gripped the state.
“We fully expect to see significant changes when we conduct the next aerial survey the week of Dec. 12,” Naylor said. “We surely have had more migration events since this habitat has become available.”

Posted By:
Jay-Robison
Field Editor

11-30-2011 09:59
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Rearney,thank you for your report it just shows how we can do a lot but not control the weather.

Posted By:
REARNEY
Web Member

Pool 4 Mississipi/ Lake Pepin 11-29-2011 20:41
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 25-30 Degrees – Ice
Jay Robison you are correct with reports up here in Minnesota and Wisconsin. I hunt on Mississipi River on Wisconsin side which closes December 4th. We had great Mallard shooting the last 2 weeks as small bodies of water has froze up and the rivers and lakes are still open. We have no snow and there is no storms forcasted in the near future. Birds can be seen rafted by the thousands in the middle of the mighty Mississipi. They just go out and feed on the corn fields and fly back to the safety of river. We have been dry and had above normal temps for the last 3 months. Hopefully old man winter will hit us soon (I love Snow) and send these birds south. We took our annual trip to Manitoba and could not believe the amount of mallards that we saw field hunting. Good Hunting!!

Posted By:
Jay-Robison
Field Editor

11-29-2011 12:59
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MISSISSIPPI FLYWAY:
Duck hunting has ended in Minnesota where a number of ducks remain along with excellent numbers of Canada Geese throughout the northern Great Lakes Region. Mallard numbers are good to excellent localized areas of Iowa and Wisconsin, and scattered along the Missouri, Mississippi, Illinois, and Ohio River corridors. Gadwall, Teal, Pintail, Widgeon and teal filled the bag during the first split of the Arkansas season as mallards remain to the north.

Posted By:
Rudy-Martin
Field Editor

Altheimer – Sherrill Area 11-28-2011 12:50
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Our story is about like those from everyone else – after the 1st two days things really slowed down. One encouraging note is that we are seeing more mallards in our fields close to Bayou Meto.

I’m guessing that things will be “hot” when the season reopens, with plenty of water and a cold spell later this week.

Shoot ’em in the face!