re: No ducks in Arkansas this year?!

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Stuttgart is the most overrated duck hunting destination in America

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I spent 14 years living at/hunting Stuttgart and the Grand Prairie. It sure was good to me:

- Flooded bean fields off the White River near Des Arc
- Big cypress blinds on Cashe River
- Beaver slews around Holly Grove
- Rice fields outside Humphrey
- Flooded timber near Almyra
- Cypress & buck brush backwater around Gillett
- Open water around Elaine
- Standing next to an Oak tree in Bayou Meto

Were there off years in this area? Oh yeah, been skunked plenty of times. Were there unbelievable days? Damn straight.

Stuttgart knows what it is and knows when it can make money. You can point to some changes that may impact migration. Better combines and farming practices reduce grain loss at harvest. Early maturing seed varieties mean that the grain and beans that do fall out the back of the combine sprout before ducks arrive. Contrast that with the early years when farmers had to employ people to watch fields overnight and keep ducks off the shocks of rice yet to be thrashed.

Commodity prices over the past couple years have switched over tons of acres from rice and beans to corn and that's harvested before they start with rice in August.

Guide restrictions in Bayou Meto imposed by AGF in the 2000s certainly have had an affect on hunting tourism. It's illegal for a hired guide to take out-of-state hunters into Bayou Meto. Duck holes manicured by hunters have been roped off and closed.

Successful public clubs have been purchased up by individuals and organizations.

Stuttgart started this season with too little water and are probably ending it with too much water.

But the Mississippi Flyway will always remain the predominate migration route for waterfowl. I enjoyed my trip out to Kansas this year, but I'd love to go back to any of those places I noted above. I miss those days.