The Golden Millet is in the ground

[Jack Johnson]

We planted Millet and dwarf corn this weekend anticipating the upcoming waterfowl season. The guy's in my hunting group and I planted the golden millet made popular by George Dunklin at five oaks hunting lodge in Dewitt Ar. The Millet should top out and look like a T-bone steak to Mr. Drake Mallard. I have read the spring pond counts were above average and the counts over last year and against the ten year average are up. I am making ready my G Grade Parker and the LC Smith Long Range for a duck and goose carnage .The Labs are tired of all the hunt tests of this summer and are ready for the real thing. I guess I am getting a little ahead of my self . The Arkansas duck season has not been posted but I am guessing based on past seasons that Nov 22nd will be our date. So , I have a ways to go , but I can't wait and the anticipation is mounting . If it flies it dies .

[Richard Flanders]

Nov 22?? Our duck flats are long frozen solid and dark for 19hrs/day by then! We get frozen out by sept 25 sometimes...

[Kurt Densmore]

Jack,
Are you flooding that planting?? Sounds like a great time, wish I had a place up here to do the same. Some barley in the upland areas would also be nice. We start with the early goose in Sept and Ducks the second week of Oct.

Good luck
Kurt

[Jack Johnson]

Kurt , yes we start to flood the fields a few weeks before the season. That is enough time for early ducks to find the food and not eat it all before the season .

[Craig Larter]

Here in NY you can hunt over flooded field but the grain that remains must be from normal agriculture harvesting operations. You are not allowed to grow grains, not harvest the crop, flood the field and hunt waterfowl, it is considered baiting.

[C Roger Giles]

Jack;
You had better keep the location of your millet strewn honey hole from Destry as at present he is drooling. Also he is very familar with the lower end of Ill. on down to Koonie Kountry and has realitives in Arkansas.

PTG Rog

[Destry L. Hoffard]

Sounds like you boys are really getting ready.

Jim and I have bought a new (to us) duck boat and are gearing up to do some work on it in preparation of the upcoming season.

Ducks starts Sept. 26th across the river in Ontario, I'll shoot the opener then head north to meet Mista Kaas in Quebec for a weeks gunning in the St. Lawrence River marshes.

Hopefully will have already had some early goose shooting in Michigan and Ontario by that time.


Destry

[Bill Murphy]

You are the man, Destry. Please prepare an article about the season for the sporting press. It is great entertainment for the wannabees like myself.

[King Brown]

Good writing, too.

[Brian Stucker]

We have experimented with different food plots in Northern California where anything will grow. Corn, Milo, and millet, and various combinations.. Hands down, millet wins. We had the best dove flight ever around the millet field and there were safflower fields on the same ranch. Deer and pheasant raided the millet fields as well. Seed production is off the chart.

Additionally, we have found some natural veg. that works well and only requires managed flooding. Watergrass is the easiest to grow and is crazy effective. Smartweed and curly dock are the next most effective, but requires more flooding voodoo. We've noticed that the ducks pour into the rice early on then switch to the 'weed fields' later in the season. The biologists have told us when the daytime temp stays in the 40's ducks switch over to the weed fields.

Final note. We grew some weeds by late flooding (Aug.) some dead grass ponds. Left water on for 30 days then drew it off. We had a field with a solid green garden of 18" high weeds-mostly curly dock. Re-flooded in December and by the 15th the ducks came and never left. We noticed mostly Widgeon, teal, spoons and coots. Was it the greenery? Was it invertebrates unique to those weeds? We left the birds on that pond alone...treated it as a refuge. We even walked by with their dead cousins draped around our necks and they wouldn't leave the pond...rarely ever see that.
Were they going for the greenery? Was it the invertebrates unique to those weeds?

Would love to hear other management strategies. Brian Stucker

[Brian Stucker]

Craig, our California F&G officers tell us we can grow grains as long as we don't manipulate them in any way prior to flooding. Can't mow or graze with animals.
Oddly, the rules allow mowing grain fields to bait doves. That renders those fields dead if we want to later flood for ducks. The game wardens warned us that excessive/aggressive quad or Argo driving may be manipulation.

We've found that by mowing trails before the grains head out we are able to avoid the question of manipulation. Mowing also opens up landing areas in an otherwise solid carpet of vegetation where water doesn't show up well. Brian

[Craig Larter]

I like to shoot ducks over a native cattail marsh. I think it is OK for folks to plant and flood but it's like putting out a pile of apples for deer to me. I guess in many places all that's left is land manipulated by man, it's a shame.

[Destry L. Hoffard]

It's nice to shoot ducks over native waters but in some areas the only way to kill birds is to hunt them on managed land.

I'll take it either way, I just like to duck hunt, so flood up some corn and I'm there or lets get out the sneak boat and go on the big lake. To each their own, as long as it's ducks I'm in.

Destry