Category: Arkansas

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
– – –
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
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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.

Posted By:
Mark-Mullins
Field Editor

12-21-2011 18:16
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Posted By:
Mark-Mullins
Field Editor

dave donaldson wma 12-21-2011 18:11
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 40-45 Degrees
Monday- 4 hunters 9 mallards, birds worked better. Tuesday- did not hunt. Wednesday – 2 hunters 3 mallards. Ashbaugh has alot of birds.

Posted By:
REARNEY
Web Member

12-19-2011 19:48
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Posted By:
REARNEY
Web Member

Minnesota/Wisconsin 12-19-2011 19:47
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 40-45 Degrees
Wish I could tell you that we are gonna get socked with a Snow/Cold Storm this week but there is nothing forcasted anytime soon. It was near 50 degrees this last weekend. We are forcasted to have above normal temps thru New Years. There is still alot of Mallards up here. I heard South Dakota and Nebraska lakes and rivers is where there is alot of Mallards.

Posted By:
Tom-Kopecky
Guest

12-19-2011 13:41
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Posted By:
Tom-Kopecky
Guest

Dave Donaldson wma 12-19-2011 13:35
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 35-40 Degrees
seem to have another new wave of woodies in the timber this morning, not to many greenheads but did get a couple. hope we get new ducks with this front thats coming tonight.

Posted By:
kenbowen22
Web Member

Wabbaseka 12-18-2011 20:10
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 40-45 Degrees
Hunted the lease Saturday morning with 4 hunters and 4 limits. Had fog roll in around 8 and hang for about an hour and a half so we didn’t finish up until about 10:30. Saw two mallards the entire day but had plenty of spoonies, gadwall and teal. Didn’t hear a lot of shooting from Bayou Meto nor any good reports. We scattered our decoys a bit more than normal and a little further from the blind and that seemed to help them work a bit better. Most of the ducks we have seen in fields have been scattered so we guess it looks a little more natural at the moment. Praying for some snow and cold to the North. Happy holidays to all!

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:
Mark-Mullins
Field Editor

dave donaldson 12-17-2011 17:45
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
Friday- 3 hunters 7 mallards, saturday- 2 hunters 0 ducks. What birds seeing are educated. Water dropping fast. Alot geese around.

Posted By:
wbduckman
Web Member

St Francis Co. 12-17-2011 17:17
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Ice
6th time out this year, 6th time did not fire a shot.

Conditions could not have changed any more worse from last night. Woke up to Bright moon, below freezing temps (ICE) and ZERO wind. Bad conditions for Rice field hunting.

The two Mallards that did pay a vist made two passes, saw all the broken ice and locked frozen decoys and left.

All this water is killing our hunting. You cannot drive more than a few miles in any direction without seeing a flooded Duck hole.

Seeing more ducks but they are very high.
Geese everywhere.

With the season somewhere close to 1/2 over, by far the worse seaon we have had in 5 years.

Posted By:
Tom-Kopecky
Guest

Dave Donaldson wma 12-16-2011 19:02
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
water level falling in the river, rained last night, didn’t get into the duck hole till 8:30. less ducks than earler in the week, shot better, still this was the best week of timber hunting for me in three seasons.

Posted By:
Tom-Kopecky
Guest

12-15-2011 18:01
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Posted By:
Tom-Kopecky
Guest

Dave Donaldson wma 12-15-2011 17:59
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 40-45 Degrees
had my best day in three years, didn’t kill out,ran out of shells, couldn’t shoot straight, early woodies, then big flocks of mallards flying over, several working the timber, tripped on a log,got soaked, but heck thats what timber hunting is all about.

Posted By:
Tom-Kopecky
Guest

dave donaldson/black river wma 12-12-2011 18:47
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
at last, wooducks this morning, mallards on the river, killed the first ducks of the season, river starting to fall from flood levels, still over banks. shooting all around me this morning untill around 11 am, hope this is the beginning.

Posted By:
Mark-Mullins
Field Editor

donaldson wma 12-12-2011 18:26
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
2 hunters 2 mallards. What few birds are hard to work.

Posted By:
REARNEY
Web Member

wisconsin/minnesota 12-12-2011 13:14
Cloudy, Occassional Rain Showers – 35-40 Degrees
Lots of Mallards still on Mississipi River up here. High was 39 yesterday. We will be unusually mild this week with a strong storm forcasted for Wednesday and Thursday. They are saying it will be mostly rain because of mild temps. The little snow we had is almost gone. next weekend it is suppose to get cold again but no snow forcasted. I was fishing on the river this weekend and saw alot of pockets of mallards. Hang in there the weather has to turn sometimes.

Posted By:
Rudy-Martin
Field Editor

Altheimer/Sherrill 12-12-2011 11:05
– – –
Just like everybody else, our success rate has dropped dramatically. Several of our members got skunked, and nobody had a “good” hunt. All of our fields are overflowing, with decoys scattered everywhere.

We need Bayou Meto to start holding some ducks!

Shoot ’em in the face!

Posted By:
Jay-Robison
Field Editor

Bayou Metro 12-12-2011 08:48
Sunny & Clear, Morning Fog – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Just as everyone else has posted few birds in the Bayou Meto area, now we have the snow geese.

Posted By:
Trevor-Gramling
Field Editor

All over AR 12-11-2011 21:12
– – –
Put close to 400 miles on the truck this weekend. Went from NE Arkansas to Stuttgart to points SW of there and then back. Seen very very few ducks. Probably saw 4-6 fields with ducks in it the whole time and only 1 was just covered up with them. Geese on the other hand was a different story. They are in full force. Not sure if I have ever seen as many geese here as I did this weekend. Every other field has geese tornadoing in it. Was just plum crazy. Dunno when the ducks will get here but i hope its soon. Most of the people I talked to in Mack’s are not killing or seeing much either.

Posted By:
Mark-Mullins
Field Editor

donaldson wma 12-11-2011 13:19
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Dec8- 3 hunters- 12 mallards, 1 teal. Dec 9- 6 mallards, 1 was blonde / white mallard. Dec 10- 5 mallards 3 teal. Dec 11- 2 mallards. 3 hunters each day. Water extremely high but river is finally dropping. Seen fewer ducks each day, alot of hunters.

Posted By:
Brian-Moore
Field Editor

Bayou meto 12-11-2011 11:12
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Hunted yesterday but hardly any birds flying in the area. Not but a few shots heard all morning. Snow geese are here in full force but the ducks are not in this area yet. Once it snows up north and they migrate south they should get in woods. They are pretty and plenty of water to hold them

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
– – –
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
– – –
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
– – –
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
– – –
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!

Posted By:
Mike McFerrin
Field Editor

Wynne, Fair Oaks, Hickory Ridge 11-28-2011 09:42
– – –
The first season was actually a good one for my club . Total harvest was 255 birds. Most birds taken in the fields. L’Anguille river has our green timber looking beautiful – just no ducks using it.
I have heard good reports from the Fair Oaks and Harrisburg areas all season.
Also hearing some good reports of Mallard kills on the Cache. White river should be hot when the season opens back up.
When the birds get here – we should really hold em with all the rivers up and out.
That all said – we were pleased with our first 9 days and got to do some first time dog work for some young dogs. Two dogs on their first hunt had 30 plus kills.
Good luck to all – and keep scouting.
WWW.CypressSlewRetrievers.com

Posted By:
wbduckman
Web Member

St Francis Co. 11-28-2011 06:50
– – –
Same story on the first split as Field Editor Gramling.
Very, Very disappointing. Three shots fired between 2 hunters. Ducks are simply not here. At least not the Mallards.

Talked to a Remington Representative at Bass Pro store, he reported hunters hammering the Ducks at Harrisburg this weekend.

Posted By:
Jay-Robison
Field Editor

Bayou Metro 11-27-2011 13:44
Cloudy, Light Rain & Drizzle – 60-65 Degrees
Sunday afternoon, my wife and I just got in from camp. I hunted Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Wood ducks early very few mallards in Bayou Metro. A lot of hunters Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, hardly any this morning, the Bayou is full so when the ducks arrive it should hold them. No ducks on the Cash River at Clarendon either. Now around the Altheimer area there are some snow geese. We had a great time at the Wings over the Prairie Festival in Stuttgart saw a lot of friends that I have not seen in a long time. Ate 3 Thanksgiving meals and just enjoyed my 4 days off. I hope that all of you had a happy and safe Holiday weekend. Will be back at work in the morning.

Posted By:
Mark-Mullins
Field Editor

donaldson wma 11-26-2011 15:11
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 60-65 Degrees
2 hunters took 7 birds, 6 mallards 1 teal. Birds hard to do anything with. U don’t get many chances. Heavy rain in afternoon.

Posted By:
Trevor-Gramling
Field Editor

NEA 11-25-2011 20:21
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Very slow start to the season for me. From Saturday to Tuesday we fired one shot and downed a teal in the rice field in Peach Orchard. Wednesday- 7 hunters took 5 teal on a local lake, Thursday- 5 hunters took 5 teal on Dave Donaldson, Today, 2 hunters took 11 on Dave Donaldson. Heavy fog started out the day, but as soon as the fog broke it was on. 5 Mallards, 5 teal, and 1 smiley made up our bag. Headed back to the river in the morning. Hearing rain and high winds for tomorrow so we will see how it turns out.

Posted By:
Mark-Mullins
Field Editor

dave donaldson wma 11-25-2011 19:08
Sunny & Clear, Morning Fog – 60-65 Degrees
Heavy fog till 9. Not much flying., 3 hunters 4 mallards.my oldest Matt took 3 of the
4. Hunting very poor.

Posted By:
Tom-Kopecky
Guest

white river/Newport 11-24-2011 18:08
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 40-45 Degrees
yesterday lauched in Newport, river rising, feilds starting to fill, should be good,expect,no ducks. Ran river up to black river, river full of logs,branches and stumps,no ducks flying or on river. Today at home, lots of snows flying south

Posted By:
Mark-Mullins
Field Editor

dave donaldson wma 11-24-2011 17:54
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 45-50 Degrees
Just me and drew, my 13 yr old, today. Hunted till 930 then went to paragould for thanksgiving dinner with family. Not many birds flying , we did get teal 2 bunches of teal and a single. The boy out shot me, he took 4 and I took 2. Fun hunt .

Posted By:
Brian-Moore
Field Editor

Humphrey 11-24-2011 09:34
– – –
Lots of geese but only a few ducks as of now. Anyone know if bayou meto is flooded. Thanks for any help.

Posted By:
Mark-Mullins
Field Editor

dave donaldson wma 11-23-2011 18:44
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 50-60 Degrees
5 hunters 4 birds. What few birds we seen would not finish. Water is xtremly high and running over levees, most areas can’t get out of boat.

Posted By:
Mark-Mullins
Field Editor

dave donaldson wma 11-21-2011 21:31
Cloudy, Light Rain & Drizzle – 50-60 Degrees
Opener 8 hunters 19 birds, mostly teal. Day 2 – 4 hunters took 15 birds, mostly teal not alot of birds but alot of hunters. Enjoyed hunting with both of my sons, hard to get them hunting with their busy schedules. Alot of water around has birds scattered, rivers are full and heavy rain tonight and tomorrow. Did not hunt today or will not tomorrow.

Posted By:
wbduckman
Web Member

St Francis Co. 11-21-2011 18:07
Cloudy, Rain & Thunderstorms – 60-65 Degrees
2nd day out, 2nd day w/ NO shots being fired. Very few Ducks or Geese still.

I no all this rain is an answer prayer for some, but for us and anyone else who pumped water already, it’s a curse.

What few Ducks and Geese that are here will be scattered all over the place.
If rain does not stop, we are in big trouble!!!!

Posted By:
Jay-Robison
Field Editor

Bayou Meto 11-21-2011 12:42
Cloudy, Rain & Thunderstorms – 60-65 Degrees
The Bayou is rising!!!!

Posted By:
Rudy-Martin
Field Editor

Altheimer – Sherrill Area 11-21-2011 11:03
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Considering the conditions we had a pretty good opening weekend. Our club members killed a total of 113, mostly in fields close to Bayou Meto. Very few mallards were killed, with teal, gadwalls, and widgeon making up the bulk of the kill. We still need rain. As of 11:00 Monday morning they have gotten almost 2″ in Sherrill. Keep it coming!

Shoot ’em in the face!

Posted By:
DukGuy
Web Member

11-21-2011 09:18
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Rain is here and more on the way! Hopefully get some backwaters rising and an increase in habitat for hunting. Maybe the drought will end at this point and allow some good hunting opportunities when the mallards finally descend upon from the north.

Posted By:
Mike McFerrin
Field Editor

Hickory Ridge 11-20-2011 17:19
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 60-65 Degrees
34 today. One pit shot out by 7:50 with 24 birds. The other pit killed 10. still not many mallards. Only 4 today. The rest was mostly teal with 5gadwall and a handfull of spoonies. Sure made for some good dog work. saw aton of birds traveling high from north to south. May just be locking down somewhere for these thunderstorms that are headed our way. Saw more geese than ive seen all year. Big rains could cause lots of problems. Could loose a couple of pits and several.gravel roads may become inpassable. L’Anguille river is already giveing us problems in the timber. Back to the rice tomorrow. www.CypressSlewRetrievers.com

Posted By:
Brian-Moore
Field Editor

Stuttgart 11-20-2011 05:53
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 60-65 Degrees
Tough opener. High winds and no mallards. Should pick up with snow up north and rain here to flood bayou meto hopefully.

Posted By:
Mike McFerrin
Field Editor

Fair Oaks 11-19-2011 18:39
Cloudy, High Winds – 50-60 Degrees
Rice Field in Fair Oaks. 41 ducks and 1 speck this morning between two pits. one pit shot out early the other stopped about 10:00. Very mixed bag – only 4 Mallards , couple of Woody’s , few Gadwall and teal with several spoonies .
Timber hole off the L’Anguille – didn’t fair as well . knocked down 6 but dogs could only help us out with three. Deep water is making it close to impossible to handle dogs .
Very spooted reports coming in to me from dog clients around the north east. One group at Stuggart scrapped 11 in rice , a group at brinkley havested only 2 in rice. A group at Cotton Plant did about the same.
Did get a good report from Morton with a four man limit that mixed about like ours.
I heard about one timber hole around Jonesboro that killed 5 man limits of mallards by 7:15. Rain and warm temps could make it tough begining tomorrow. Last thing I need is more water.
WWW.CypressSlewRetrievers.com

Posted By:
wbduckman
Web Member

St Francis Co 11-19-2011 13:51
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 45-50 Degrees
Absolutely horible opener!!!!

No shots fired and very few Ducks or Geese even seen.
Been hearing of thousands of Specks in AR. You would not know it where we are at.

Posted By:
wbduckman
Web Member

11-17-2011 14:38
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Just got an almost hard to believe report that Harrisburg, AR has “Millions and Millions of Mallards down Greenfield road”.

Wherever that is.

Posted By:
Mike McFerrin
Field Editor

Wynne — L’Anguille River- Fair Oaks 11-16-2011 20:14
– – –
Wynne got 6 inches of rain . Everything is flooded. River will crest about Friday . Timber is already flooded with a lot more to come. Actually saw people working on a pit in a bean field out of boat.
Sure would have been nice to have got all this rain about 10 days ago before we spent a couple of thousand pumping .
We have several fields that four wheelers are a bad option right now.
Still not seeing many birds . We are holding a few around Hickory Ridge but sure would like to see more in the area. I’m still hearing that Monroe county is just covered up . WWW.CypressSlewRetrievers.com

Posted By:
Jay-Robison
Field Editor

11-16-2011 16:39
– – –
Today I drove to Newport for a meeting and went 167 there is now some standing water north of I-40. Were 167 crosses the White River in that area it is about ½ flooded needs more rain, but it now can hold ducks. My experience you need water to hold ducks, now I did not see any ducks or geese from the highway. My home is in Sherwood and we got somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 inches by my rain gauge. This should really help in putting water into Bayou Meto or a good start, made a tour around the Bayou Meto area Tuesday and only saw a very few ducks and a small amount of Snows and Blues.

Posted By:
Trevor-Gramling
Field Editor

Peach Orchard 11-15-2011 11:12
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Hey Mark, last Friday there were a ton of ducks on Ashbaugh. The whole center part was filled. The rain will be good for the woods but as much as we are getting i expect the birds will be really spread out.

Posted By:
Mark-Mullins
Field Editor

NE Ark 11-15-2011 05:31
Cloudy, Rain & Thunderstorms – 50-60 Degrees
Alot of rain, expecting around 6″ before its over. Before the change in weather what birds around was in what few fields that was flooded. Ashbaugh not holding many birds, 2 weeks ago didn’t see a bird on it, some me in last week. I didn’t jump any birds out of woods at dave Donaldson Saturday.

Posted By:
Jay-Robison
Field Editor

Bayou Meto 11-13-2011 10:05
Cloudy, High Winds – 50-60 Degrees
I went to Crawfordsville yesterday and bought a pup from Mike McFerrin. Do not know how the dog will turn out. I was impressed on how clean the kennels were and the dogs seemed to be happy. Enjoyed meeting Mike and his wife. My wife Renee got me the dog for my birthday. At just over 6 weeks, Renee has the pup bringing her back a toy when she throws in front of him and when she calls him he appears to come to her.

Posted By:
Brian-Moore
Field Editor

Central Arkansas 11-08-2011 20:37
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There are some ducks concentrated on reservoir’s in the area and should be a pretty good opener if you have water! A couple big rains could really help. Mostly small ducks for now but can’t be picky this time of year

Posted By:
Trevor-Gramling
Field Editor

Egypt 10-31-2011 11:18
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 50-60 Degrees
Seen two fields yesterday in the Egypt area that were absolutely slapped full of ducks and specks. Bet there were 75-100,000 ducks in the fields, with a mix of big and little ducks. Got my blood pumping big time. Ready to kick off this season.

Posted By:
Tom-Kopecky
Guest

homestead 10-26-2011 21:32
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – Over 70 Degrees
saw first flock of specks over the ranch this aftrnoon, they must have been lost they were northbound in the hills, suposed to get some rain tonight hope we get alot. looks like another dry duck season again.

Posted By:
Jay-Robison
Field Editor

Bayou Metro 10-26-2011 16:54
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Going to camp this weekend to clean decoys and get ready; for the greatest season in years. The following weekend going to South Dakota for some pheasant hunting then back home. For our duck season and Thanksgiving, which we do at camp then go to Stuttgart and have fun.

Posted By:
Jay-Robison
Field Editor

10-26-2011 16:49
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Mike please give me a call about your pups 501 837 8230

Posted By:
Mike McFerrin
Field Editor

L\’Anguille river 10-26-2011 15:32
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I know everyone is getting all fired up . It’s going to be on us before we know it.
Just a quick note . Got back from North Dakota a couple of weeks ago and if all those birds make it down here -this is going to be a special yr. More birds up there than I have seen in a long time. Easy limits every day of Mallards with a pintail as each limits kicker. It was truly remarkable.
As far as the home front. Only have one rice field cut with about 6 and a bean field to go. We are planing on turning on some pumps on our millett fields this weekend.
Been seeing a few birds along with some specs. Good reports from clients in Illinois. Big kills this past weekend.
Side note – Outstanding litter of pups due Nov. 11th and ready to go home by X-mas . Have posted under classifieds.

WWW.CypressSlewRetrievers.com

Posted By:
goosegittr
Web Member

10-25-2011 23:33
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Thx, aware of the drought. I own a place on the north end of Bayo meto. lookin for a place with guaranteed water because it doesn’t sound promising for the season.

Posted By:
DukGuy
Web Member

Drought Conditions 10-20-2011 14:15
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Parts of Arkansas and several other States (especially West and south of AR) are in bad shape. Check out the drought map at http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

Posted By:
goosegittr
Web Member

stuttgart 10-19-2011 12:00
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Any of you local guys know of a pit or slough or reservoir near stuttgart/ bayo meto for lease?

Posted By:
wbduckman
Web Member

West Memphis 10-15-2011 07:45
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Saw the First flights of Snow Geese late yesterday afternoon.

Posted By:
Brian-Moore
Field Editor

Stuttgart 10-09-2011 19:36
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Went and did some work at duck lease. Very dry but farm looks great. Will look better with water. We will need good rains to get water on WMA ares

Posted By:
Jay-Robison
Field Editor

Bayou Meto 10-06-2011 10:45
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Just a quick note next week the weather forecasters are calling for a better chance of rain next week, which is much needed across the stare. I primarily hunt Bayou Meto (Bayou Metro), and have been at camp getting ready for the hunting season. It has been a long time since I have seen this kind of dry weather. I also would guess that most of the WMA’s also could use a good rain. Anyway let’s hope that is does start raining soon. Take care hunt safe and I hope everyone has a good season.

Posted By:
John-Donelon
Field Editor

NW Missouri 09-16-2011 13:58
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WBDUCKMAN
Am not much on teal hunting.But reports say good number of teal in the North part of the state.Weather has been a factor,colder in the North states,this started a push for teal into Iowa and Mo.See Mo. web page on one of our members and his hunt in N. Mo. on opening day.Hope all of you people in Arkansas have a great season,stay safe.

Posted By:
wbduckman
Web Member

09-13-2011 16:52
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Any Teal Reports ????????

Posted By:
Jay-Robison
Field Editor

09-06-2011 16:02
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Had a very nice opening weekend went out in the woods at Long Pond, and a few doves were leaving the trees and my old dog Wyatt picked up about 8 doves opening morning then back to camp to mow and clean up. We the dog and I went back to same location Sunday morning and did just about the same. Wyatt did a good job on finding the birds it was cool and a lot of fun.