Opening weekend offers mixed bag for duck hunters

Arkansas waters offering varying numbers of ducks in early going

Arkansas Wildlife Editor LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas duck hunters found a mixed bag of waterfowl available during the first weekend of the 60-day duck season, opening last Saturday. Anecdotally and through reports on social media, as well as reports from AGFC staff, hunters found some places such as in Henry Gray Hurricane Lake Wildlife Management Area with lots of mallards to harvest limits, while in Steve N. Wilson Raft Creek Bottoms, green-wing teal were plentiful and pintails also abounded, along with a few mallards. Gadwalls were prevalenty in various spots through the Delta.

Typically in late November, Arkansas sees only about 25 percent of the total migration of mallards through the state during the winter. So, the best is yet to come in terms of mallard harvest, but hunters in Arkansas no doubt would also like to see more water to go with the migration. Parts of Arkansas have received some rainfall this week, but whether it's enough to increase the available habitat for ducks still remains to be seen. Temperatures have cooled from opening day's 70-plus degrees throughout the state.

Hunters have one more weekend left in the 'first season,' before the midseason “split” where hunting will be closed, with the exception of the Dec. 4 youth hunt and veterans and active military hunt.

(a second Youth and Veterans/Active Military special hunt is scheduled for Feb. 5, 2022). Both active duty military and veterans may hunt on those days, which are not part of the 60-day scheduled season. Youths under 16 may hunt on those days as well, as long as they are accompanied by a mentor -youths who have not completed the Hunter Education course must be accompanied by a mentor 21 or older; those who have completed the course can be accompanied by a mentor 18 or older. The mentor cannot hunt but can call the ducks, set decoys, help retrieve game and such.

On those same days, members of active duty military and military veterans may harvest ducks, geese, coots and mergansers. Active duty military includes members of the National Guard and Reserves on active duty (other than for training). Veterans must have served in active military, naval, air service or Reserves and National Guard on Title 32 orders in a combat zone and must have been discharged or released under honorable conditions. Hunters will need to have one of the following or copy during the hunt: DD214, Veteran Benefit Card, Retired Active Military I.D., Veteran Hunting License (VLF, VLH, VLC or VLL) or Active Duty I.D. card.

Shooting hours and bag limits are the same as regular duck and goose seasons. Hunters may hunt on wildlife management areas from 30 minutes before sunrise until sunset these two days. WMA General Use permits are required for active military and veterans; they are NOT required for youth hunters.

Most areas in Dave Donaldson Black River WMA are at full water coverage this week. However, at George H. Dunklin Jr.

Bayou Meto WMA, some spots are to low to even pump for water, such as Temple Island and Buckingham Flats units.

Red Cut Slough, the nowpermit- only hunting units in Cypress Bayou WMA in central Arkansas, is too dry to hunt and therefore Red Cut Slough was kept off the permit application site on www.agfc.com the past two weeks as well as for the Youth hunt next Saturday. Unit 6 in Red Cut Slough is a lake, though, and it can be hunted on Tuesdays and Thursdays by picking up a permit at the parking lot kiosk off Loyd Henderson Road.

Otherwise, there is no hunting. However, the rest of Cypress Bayou is available without a permit. Garrick Dugger, AGFC assistant chief for Wildlife Management, said, 'If we see significant rainfall, AGFC staff is hoping to pump and have some water available in Red Cut Slough for the second season.'

At Henry Gray Hurricane

Continued on Page 11 DUCK SEASON (cont.)

Lake WMA, the North GTR is at full pool and all structures on the North GTR are closed. The access gate at Mitchell Corner is now closed. Ed Gordon Point Remove WMA saw some jumps in water coverage on its units over last week's report, but nothing is 100 percent covered as of yet. Three units at Frog Bottom WMA have 100 percent coverage and pumping will begin on Dec. 2 in some other units that currently have 50% coverage.

Remember that while state and federal stamps, license, HIP and WMA General Use permit purchases are shown online, hunters will still need to have their federal duck stamp on their possession and signed across the front, if the stamp was purchases more than 45 days ago. There is a 45-day grace period for having the federal stamp in the hunter's possession.

As for oither waterfowl, large numbers of greater white-fronted geese, as well as snows, blues and Ross's geese, were seen throughout parts of the Delta. Snow geese appeared to pick up as the waterfowl season opened.