Anyone seeing ducks?

[sondance]

I am not looking for GPS coordinates of your honey hole. I don't want to know which WMA you are on. What I would like to know is a general area ie N Delta, Tunica, Crowder area if you are seeing any birds. I hunt SE AR and am seeing very, very few. I saw one field yesterday they were using well before the front came through but, I have essentially nothing on any of my leases. I am curious has a push come through and I just missed it? Essentially half the season has passed and it's all sucked. I have seen a bunch of snow geese (which I don't hunt) between Belzonia and Arcola which is normal. I have also seen more speck's than usual (on areas I can't hunt) but have seen WAY less Pintails, Spoonies and Teal than usual and more mallards than usually and the greys have been about normal. Again, I don't want any personally revealing info just a general duck report. If you hunt public land and are worried about internet scouting don't post up.

[booger]

I've hunted two different areas of the state, slim pickens.
Plenty of water now, but haven't even had wood duck shoot.
Need some cold weather up North.

[missed mallards]

Haven’t loaded my gun this yr. something personal I guess. Just haven’t wanted too.

Seeing them and landowner is killing them. I haven’t gone the last 3 mornings and they’ve limited (multiple shooters) per morning. Are they here? No. But they have found select spots to seek refuge in. And they are being pounded at those few spots.

They aren’t everywhere but select spots are killing them.

[sondance]

Thanks guys. I am just trying to figure out when to go back or if to go back. I've been riding and scouting and am seeing less than I have in years. You may have a decent shoot if you can let a place rest for a week or so but that's about it. There's just seem to be very few new ducks in the area. I went on the DU site trying to see if they were killing them north but it doesn't look like it. Most are asking the same questions I am. Maybe ducks have become the next sasquatch or unicorn.

[RedEyed Duck]

I spoke to Mike and Lamar Boyd this past weekend and they were quick to say it has been the worst season on record for them. We aren’t holding any birds in any spots that I hunt in NW TN either.

[JaMak84]

Saw a pair of mallards off the hushpuckena bridge yesterday

[NyssaAquatica]

We're holding ducks, maybe because everyone around us has been shooting at them while we've been deer hunting.

[sondance]

Post up some pics when you finally go into shoot them. I'd like to see a few dead ones this year even if I wasn't in on the festivities. All this rain is going to have them spread out big time

[Deltamud77]

There are at least two factors that will make this one of the worst seasons on record.

1. It never got cold in the Midwest for an extended period of time; and
2. Even if the aforementioned was not a factor, there is so much water now that they’ll be scattered everywhere.

Between the potential prevalence of CWD and the continuation of poor duck seasons, the downward pressure on future generations of hunters in the state continues to mount.

[Wildfowler]

I’m riding up 49 now at 130 pm. Lots of water in fields as expected.

Unfortunately I’ve seen more deer than ducks in the fields. Seriously.

[sondance]

I am not even going duck hunting this weekend. It pains me but what's the point? How's the saying go? The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over hoping for a different result.

I was talking to a friend in MN this afternoon. She said they haven't had any significant snow. She said they would get it and it would warm up and melt. When I was on the phone there was maybe a 7 degree difference in temp between here and there.

[Matt S]

I am not looking for GPS coordinates of your honey hole. I don't want to know which WMA you are on. What I would like to know is a general area ie N Delta, Tunica, Crowder area if you are seeing any birds. I hunt SE AR and am seeing very, very few. I saw one field yesterday they were using well before the front came through but, I have essentially nothing on any of my leases. I am curious has a push come through and I just missed it? Essentially half the season has passed and it's all sucked. I have seen a bunch of snow geese (which I don't hunt) between Belzonia and Arcola which is normal. I have also seen more speck's than usual (on areas I can't hunt) but have seen WAY less Pintails, Spoonies and Teal than usual and more mallards than usually and the greys have been about normal. Again, I don't want any personally revealing info just a general duck report. If you hunt public land and are worried about internet scouting don't post up.

I hunt in SE Arkansas also. We had a great year on our lease until the first of the year. Been slow the last week but still some birds but are spread out with all the water. Been a slow year for a lot of people in my area but one of them did well today. Said they had a lot of birds just come in. So maybe things will pick back up. We have killed way less specks this year than usually. Everyone around me has said the same.

[missed mallards]

Been getting in a few shoots here and there. Picking up a few species on most every hunt (started this last week) with a good mix of mallards, pintail, & teal.

Mojos. Leave them at home. Man the jerk string.

Calls: either you make one quack and they flare or you have to blow it continuously for what seems like ever. There hasn’t been a In between.

Scouting and networking: they r swarming holes today and gone tomorrow. The rice field in my story was holding a few thousand ducks and so many snows I couldn’t even take a stab at guessing. Since that hunt, 2 mallards have been seen.

Our success has been solely based on opportunity. From finding them to killing them, the margin of opportunity has been slim. I like to shoot them in their backstroke feet over the decoys. Finishing them has been something we’ve struggled at in less than 10% have read the script and done the dance. The other 90% have been picking them off on that last pass. All 40 to 50 yard shots but not quite the same.

Anyway. Drove around yesterday and talked to 6 different groups that didn’t cut a feather. One guy said their group has killed 10% of their 3 year avg. It’s bad for sure. Need some weather up north. Like hard freeze.

[novacaine]

Amen to all that MM...........

[Wildfowler]

I’ve had a little success calling in “call shy” ducks with my speck call.

But don’t anyone else start doing this. I don’t want to the few ducks around to get wise to my tactic.