Pintail Alley: Ouachita WMA

I used to hunt it some when I was in college. I always killed more in the flooded timber of Sage though.

Use to be good until someone burnt the pump. Don't think they got another pump yet

My old stompin grounds. The whole place was once a working rice farm until the state took ownership. In fact I think the first couple of years the state had it they let a farmer work the ground. Since then the state has done what it seems to always do. They have taken a great asset and let it dewindle to a coyote breeding ground. Here is where I can help you. This will work on the old Metz farm as well. Go out there and scout around. You need to be looking at how the canals were once used to flood the fields. The "fields" are what is now thickets with young hardwoods planted in them. Once you figure out what the high side is(the side with canals bordering them) go to the opposite side and figure out how it drains. The place naturally holds water except the ditches and culverts have been put in to maintain drainage. Get it scoped out real good and pay attention to what size pipe is used for drainage culverts. Take a tape measure if needed so you know for sure what size pipes you will be dealing with. Once you are comfortable with the layout and where the drainage pipes are cut some plywood to the appropriate sizes. 8" pipe=12" square piece of plywood. 10"pipe=15-16" square plywood. Under the cover of darkness just before a BIG forecasted rain take the plywood and put in front of the pipes. Have a shovel to pack some mud/dirt to hold boards in place until water pressure gets against them. Once the water backs against the boards the pressure makes them a bitch to remove. A state employee doesn't want to work that hard in the wet, cold, nasty mud. The water will back up and show what we called "slash" water. You can kill the hell out of the ducks in slash water due to new seeds/food becoming flooded with every rain. I realize this is the internet but I would not tell you this if I still hunted these areas.