Anyone hunt public ground in Arkansas?

[Don Miller]

I don't want any GPS coordinances or the skinny on a certain WMA or NWR. Just curious if anyone other than myself has ventured west....especially before the MS season opens to hunt Arkansas to be that damned out of stater? Back around 97...my buddy Crackhead had done some homework and decided to give Big Lake NWR a try. I joined them on the second day and I then realized I'd been hunting in a freakin fish bowl...there was a chit load of places to hunt on public land in Arkansas that I'd probably never get to hunt even if I made plans to.
Since then I've hunted the White River NWR, Rex Hancock/Black Swamp and Dave Donaldson WMA. I got to thinking...when the MS season opens I tend to put blinders on and not leave a 40 mile radius of my stomping grounds. I really don't have to. Why drive 150 plus miles to shoot a limit of mallards when you can do it close to home. BUT...still....there are several areas I'd like to hunt across the Big Muddy that I've yet to and I plan to before I'm pushing up daisies.
HERE GOES:
1) Bayou Meto
2) Seven Devils Swamp
3) Cut Off
4) Shirey Bay
5) Hurricane
6) Bayou DeView
As I said before, I don't want any specifics....just curious if any of you have ventured onto the SIX locations on my "bucket list" and what it was like...good or bad.
Damn, I can't wait til November gets here!
I've been doing this chit for 35 plus years and it never gets old.

[slave601]

I'd love to eventually hunt all those places. Jus bein from south miss hardly anyone around here has the heart or dedication to head to arkansas to duck hunt. I stick out like a sore thumb down here.

[quackheadbp]

[ducman77]

If there is plenty of water this year I can mark two of those off your list. Cutoff and Seven Devils. The new place in Ar is only a couple of miles from Cutoff.

[bigwater]

Therz still folks ridin aroun bayer meta tryin to find Der way out.. b kaerful

[Sod Man]

When I was in college at uam we hunted cutoff and seven devils quite a bit and had some very good hunting just make sure at 7 devils you have a gps or you will be lost. The reason it's called that is seven channels branch off a main body and if you ever find that main body good bye

[champcaller]

bayou meto and the white (when the banks are out) are where i've spent most of my time the past couple years and have fallen in love with it.

gimme a shout, i'll help you out with what i know. you got an open invite to come up this year.

[pintail07]

I have hunted bayou meto and earl buss and hurricane...it's obviously all about the water...none of the places were flooded the start of last season...bayou meto had little water and the rest were bone dry...Bayou Meto is very competitive especially that opening week, but that goes for most public land in Ark, but bayou meto is always packed close to the gumbo cookout, which also should be on everyones bucket list; Our camp is on the Cache river (Private Woods) just west of Weiner making the bayou deview a short drive Shoot me a pm...I can maybe tell you some more specifics, maybe I can help ya out

[JDgator]

This is a serious question about scouting those types of places. Is there much utility in looking them over during the summer? Would running the canals/rivers/swamps in the summer help you do better in the season? Or do they look too different/have different dynamics when flooded?I guess you could look for flats of white oaks/red oaks/pin oaks with waterlines that indicate wadable water. Maybe even shotgun shells...

[litlhitch]

No doubt the only places worth hunting in AR are any of the 6 places you mentioned

Maybe this year we can shoot some birds together..I'm ready for high or low water this year!! No doubt alot of the places that were dry last November will have water in them come this November!!

This will be my 3rd duck season in AR and I plan to hunt a different area than I did the previous 2 years..the amount of public hunting over here is nice..and you dont have to depend on getting drawn to hunt..if'n I ever move back to MS, I will no doubt make sure I have me a camphouse to come back to during hunting season..

[Sod Man]

As far as scouting goes we would wait til they close the gates in early October and scout then that way you had a good idea where the water would be in certain holes just make sure you carry a ten foot cane pole to check depths when season comes in it can change a few feet in a month and what was 2 feet will be 6 now

[ScottyLee]

hunted/ seen a good prtion of b. deview. it was completely screwed up from the ice storm. with downed timber and tops out of trees. the area that i was at wasn't going to be any standing in timber and hunting. blinds was pretty much the only option that day. that was 2 years ago. none the less a pretty place and a sight to see.

[Bill Cooksey]

I've hunted four of the six. There was a time when Deview was my favorite place to hunt, but it hasn't been the same since we left the 3/30 days. It's a small place, and the pressure killed it. I hear there are still some good days most seasons, but it's not a place to travel to other than to check it off the list.

When things are right, Hurricane can be awesome. Bayou Meto is probably the most consistent due to size and more stable water. It's certainly possible to just show up and have a great hunt, but your odds (and your enjoyment) will both increase if you'll go with folks that hunt them on a regular basis. Bayou Meto is my favorite. I hunt it quite a bit most years. I try to hunt on my own a few days every year just to do it, but I spend most of my days hunting with buddies that have camps nearby.

Scouting is great to learn your way around, but knowing where the big holes are and actually getting one of them are two different things. Best advice I have for someone intent on doing it on their own is to show up at 3:55 am just to watch the boat race. After that just wait until an hour or so until shooting time and move away from the crowds.

[DeltaCotton12]

[Trip]

#'s 1, 5, & 6 will get crossed off the list this year. Last year's water situation was a real pisser.