Arkansas Duck Hunt

Harry Collins · 12-31-2009, 02:05 PM

Drove down to Deleplaine, Arkansas to hunt duck Monday thru Wednesday morning. All the rivers were out of their banks and over the levy's and into the rice fields. They had a tremendous amount of rain over Christmas and most fields and blinds were flooded. The fields that did not have a river keeping the water moving were iced. We jerked a boat off the trailer and motored out to the woods bordering a rice field and slipped over the side into crotch deep water. I found anouther use for a sling. Hang the gun on a tree so you can call. I held a DH 12 gauge all day Monday and borrowed a Browning from the guide for the rest of the hunt just so I could hang it on a tree. Boys, I got cold. Deep down to the core cold with blue fingers even with a Jon-e-hand warmer. Those duck we shot were empty with nothing in their craw, but the week before we were told they had been full of rice.

MarketHunter · 01-04-2010, 02:49 PM

Collins,

Sorry I wasn't able to join you boys as we'd talked about. I like that hat!

DLH

Harry Collins · 01-04-2010, 04:35 PM

Markethunter,

You didn't miss a thing. Just bad timing with the weather, but I don't think I will ever go on another guided hunt again. I spent a lot of money, drove fourteen hours, froze my hiney off and took two ducks. A friend of mine jumped a pond one half hour from home about three times and took 14 ducks. Though I enjoy the hunt, I am in it to watch the ducks work and to get some shooting and eating.

I have your Mom in my thoughts and prayers.

Harry

hugh rather · 01-11-2010, 10:39 PM

It's been a tough duck season throughout the delta region.Those that hunted newly flooded regions where the ducks were did OK,sometimes very well;those that hunted areas that did well in the previous dry years had one of the worst seasons in memory.The real challenge was finding ducks and that could change on a daily basis with constant water,ice and food source variation.Sorry about the hunt ,don't give up-this just wasn't a year for set formula hunts ,it was a run and gun year.

Jack Johnson · 01-12-2010, 02:45 PM

We have had a very good season so far with the exeption of Christmas week and New Years . We got a tremendious amount of rain as you well know that scattered our ducks.Then we had a cold snap that froze froze the water .

If you had open water it was on. I am part of two leases in the DeWitt and Wabbaseka area and we continued to kill ducks .

The first pic is the first part of the season , we killed 25 birds of a mixed bag.

Second pic is timber hunting in Bayou Meto ,

Third pic is right before Christmas , I shot a Goose.

The fourth pic is hunting in a slough that was adjasent to our Wabbaseka lease .

As far as using a guide email me before next duck season and I will give you some good places to go

Harry Collins · 01-12-2010, 03:23 PM

Jack,

Those are some great pictures. We were in Greene County and the ducks were paddled up on the other side of the timber from us. It was about 100 yards or less and we tried to walk through the woods to get some shooting. There had been a lot of wind damage to the the trees so there were limbs under water to tangle us up. We gave up on that idea. It was hard trying to call the ducks to us when they knew where their buddies were.

Harry