Dry weather & impoundments

[JABIII]

The latest round rain will help some duck hunters this season, but not everyone is looking for a true end to the dry spell.

By the looks of much of the Stuttgart area, you might ask yourself, "what dry spell?" Monday, we saw plenty of ducks milling around in a lot of water. However, the manager of Mack's Prairie Wings in Stuttgart says looks are in this case, very deceiving.

“There are pros and cons to a lack of water. The sad thing is the common man doesn't have a place to go. On the flip side, the hunter that has the money to invest and pump in the water has had a season to remember,” Chuck Lock told us.

So if you have the money to pump in plenty of water, there's no problem attracting the ducks.

Some hunters we spoke with said they weren't concerned about the dry conditions, they knew that would go away. However, they are concerned about the warm weather.

Early cold snaps to the north pushed the ducks in early. Many hunters think that's one of the key things that made the front-end of the season so successful. But the warmer temperatures of late are causing the ducks to head back north.

Hunter Steve Reynolds is in from Memphis and he says, “I have friends in northern Missouri that are covered up with ducks right now.”

Hunters told us the best thing for those who can afford the water, will be another strong cold front before the duck season ends in a couple of weeks.

[Dook]

well on the other side of that coin, being in the atlantic flyway, we obviously don't have as many ducks, but we have tons of water......i mean there is so much water the ducks have alot if not to many options.

the swamps we hunt here will hold ducks till they get shot at and then they are off to another unhunted swamp.......we have chased one flock of mallets for 30 miles.......i know that sounds wierd, but we have been following birds to see wheere they are going and they will use one part of a swamp today and be in a new spot tommorrow.

Is it the open water or food or hunting pressure that keeps them "swamp hopping"?

Is too much water our problem? To many inaccessible swamps and retention ponds tend to spread these birds out. Does the theory hold water???