Waterfowl Season Reopens for Th ird Split

Waterfowl Season Reopens for Th ird Split

Fowl Reports show Low numbers statewide

From the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission

www.agfc LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas’s third and final split of the 60-day waterfowl season began Wednesday, Dec. 26, and the season will continue uninterrupted through its close at sunset Sunday, Jan. 27.

Waterfowl hunters hope that soon enough, frigid conditions arrive in the northern midwest to move a large concentration of birds down through the migratory pathways into The Natural State. From anecdotal reports over the past week, that has yet to happen.

The early December aerial survey by Arkansas Game and Fish Commission waterfowl biologists estimated that 1.2 million total mallards were in the Delta region, with more than half of those being mallards. But with the wettest fall in several years in the state, ducks habitat has been spread far and wide, and reports from various sources say that hunting has suffered in many areas. Hunters in areas east of the Dale Bumpers White River National Wildlife Refuge reported few ducks or geese seen flying over last weekend. Saturday, a decent number of snow geese were observed in the Prairie-Arkansas county region between Humnoke and Stuttgart, but well below what was observed a year ago. Guides reported that greater white-fronted geese (specklebellies) were not as prominent in their prairie fields as what they had seen earlier in the season, and milder weather than usual for the period around Christmas was one of the reasons they cited.

Duck totals in the Arkansas River Valley and the southwest part of the state were below the long-term December average in the most recent survey.

Arkansas was expecting colder conditions and a little more rainfall as the third split opened. Most eyes of waterfowlers, however, were on weather conditions in Iowa and Missouri. Northern Missouri had an estimated count earlier this year of 900,000 mallards in that region, and those birds did not appear to be interested in leaving for a trek south with milder temps and accessible habitat (re: food) available there. AGFC biologists reported that Big Lake NWR in northeast Arkansas is holding an average number of ducks for this time of year, and at times there have been good numbers of ducks seen on Lake Ashbaugh in the northeast.

But for the Arkansas River Valley, Ed Gordon Point Remove WMA was typical: complete coverage of the WMA with water, but duck use varied and mostly poor to moderate.

The AGFC will conduct its third state aerial survey of the year the week of Jan. 7.

Duck hunters keep their eyes on the skies hoping more birds head to Arkansas this season.

Photo courtesy of AGFC

Take your Tree Fishing Got a (real) Christmas tree you need to get rid of? Take it to your favorite fishing hole. Old Christmas trees are a great habitat for fish. Just make sure you have permission from the property owner before tossing your tree overboard.

Photo courtesy of AGFC