Feathers and Fins

It has been a long duck season and my last day to hunt went out with a bang and a splash. Last Saturday I had to make a choice. Do I hunt the last day of muzzleloader and try to harvest a doe or do I go out for ducks one last time? One look into my dog’s eager eyes as I was preparing hunting clothes told me to go waterfowl hunting. Mother nature dealt us many forms of weather this year and plenty of inconsistencies. We can remember when November came it got very cold and stayed cold. The ground was covered in a blanket of snow. Limited to usually one day a week to hunt it seemed like it would either freeze the small water impoundments prior to Saturdays, or it would rain and flood the river banks. Thus, creating so many small flooded pockets in various fields that would change the habits of the ducks making them difficult to locate. Throughout the season a few of our late season hunting locations changed landowner hands and the new owners posted the property not making any exceptions and preventing the ability to hunt. Although I dislike when this happens I try to understand the reasons. Even though it can be upsetting and disappointing, I try to look at it positively. Perhaps it will make for better hunting in the future. By protecting the species in that area, perhaps the numbers will increase and we will be able to find them in an area we can hunt. Drake and I visited one location and found some ducks and a handful of geese. But as we tried to ambush from a distance we couldn’t get to where we needed to be without being seen. Low and behold we got busted. All we could do is watch as they lifted and flew right over where we SHOULD have been. So, nothing you can do but on to the next location.

Geese leaving...the wrong way!

This next location we have permission from the farmer to harvest geese only. He and his wife do not want the mallards shot. So we are very thankful for the opportunity to harvest the geese and honor his request. Upon seeing the geese and ducks here, Don, Jimmy, Drake and I decided to try our luck. There were mallards mixed all through the handful of geese in the field surrounding the pond so Don and I knew we would have to pick our shots when they lifted. Not to mention refrain from the very large, beautiful mature mallard drakes swimming and sitting amongst all the Canada geese. Did I mention how big the drakes were? Yeah, ok. Well we knew we would only have one opportunity and very few shots but it was better than nothing. We stalked, more like crawled, through ditches and fields and then like jack in the boxes jumped up and in seconds the geese and ducks lifted. Don on one side me on the other side about 60 yards from him. Don dropped the first goose and they headed my way...along with all the mallards flying in between, beside, in front of and every which way, I dropped another goose. I realized it takes a good sportsman or woman to refrain from such a tempting sight as large mallard drakes flying in front of you and circling your head in the frenzy, even AFTER the geese flew off! It was like they were teasing us knowing the Farmer didn’t want them shot! But I know I would rather honor this farmer’s wishes and preserve a place for our kids to hunt in the future. Plus perhaps it allows the ducks to multiply and come back to the nearby areas for future hunts.

Don Drake and I with our geese.

We haven’t seen the numbers of ducks or geese in the area this year as we have in the past. Very few flyaway birds to date. On the web page http://vestig.cast.uark.edu/website/waterfowl/ I am notified on mallard satellite tracking. This year the mallards that have the satellite trackers attached, have arrived in Arkansas already this year. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is currently conducting a research project that involves placing transmitters on mallards. These transmitters weigh only 25 grams (less than 10% of a duck's body weight), and are designed to fit as a backpack. They communicate with satellites in orbit around the earth to determine their locations. This allows AGFC to collect location data without recapturing the animal. The transmitter only becomes active for a short period of time every two to four days. During the active period it collects as many locations as possible within the pre-programmed time frame. The locations are then sent to the AGFC, where the duck's progress is mapped using Geographical Information System (GIS). You can check out the progress on their web site I have listed above, or sign up for email notification.. This mallard came from Canada and arrived in Arkansas last year in early January this year it arrived in late November. So maybe this is the case on the migration. The “fowl” weather has moved the birds earlier and preventing harvest here. God has always found ways to help the creatures in times of need. Although we were unable to harvest any ducks the last day we were fortunate to close the deal on 2 geese. After the hunting excitement and to capitalize further on the nice weather, we decided to take Jimmy out for a little fishing. Jimmy caught 4 different species of fish. Large mouth bass, crappies, trout and blue gills. His story is...he caught “About 100 fish”, well...it was more like 50 fish, but who’s counting? Spoken like a true fisherman, always more fish and bigger in size. Jimmy’s taste buds got the better of him while fishing and he decided to keep just a few fish to eat. He kept 4 crappie, 1 blue gill and a rainbow trout. One of the crappies was about 14 inches long. A nice slab! He felt bad for the trout. Half of it’s tail was missing and it had teeth marks on it’s sides. It appeared that Jimmy isn’t the only thing that felt the nice size trout would make a good meal!

Jimmy and his big crappie.

The day’s success.

Well another duck season under our belt. All in all we had a decent year. Although our harvest numbers were down, we reflect back on the good times each trip out. The first ever banded duck in our group of guys, wood ducks, mallards, green wing teals, a few other flyaway birds and yes even the birds that we missed. I smile thinking of the scenery we were able to take in, learning from the quarry we were pursuing, Drake growing as a hunter and watching him retrieve so effortlessly. Not to mention all the laughs we shared with family and friends. I will anxiously await next season with the past season in mind.

Above, Drake listening and watching on a hunt

Drake after a retrieve on duck hunt.

I hope all of you enjoyed your trips afield and remember, if we work together in an effort to maintain our sport we will preserve our sport. Honor the Landowner’s wishes and leave it better than you found it! Until next time! Teresa