Duck, duck Whoosh!

Man, the opening weekend of duck season 2018-19 East Zone version was shaping up to be a doozy. We had SNOW in November the week BEFORE the season….we had a fair migration of early ducks and there was water, water everywhere.

Then came another front three days before the season and washed the ducks away to somewhere else. Some of the best blinds in south Arkansas and north Louisiana didn’t hardly fire a shot the past two days. There are hundreds of acres along the Ouachita River and its tributaries that have backwater now that usually only shows up in January. That’s usually a great sign. But the ducks are so scattered, finding them is like hitting the lottery.

Down on Hwy. 15 east of Monroe, there was some good shooting, as was the case in the area down near Alto — at least for some hunters. There are still some ducks in the area, but they are wadded up in only a few places. Or either they are feeding in the fields at night, then heading to “safe places” in refuges during the daylight hours.  That won’t be helped by the fact that we are four days away from another big full moon, either.

But it’s a long season. They’ll be back. And they’ll bring friends. The key word for duck season right now is patience. If you like keeping up with duck hunting, we’d recommend the daily Duck Report on the homepage of Simmons’ Sporting Goods website. It publishes every day during the 60 days of duck season in the East Zone.

And if you are a hunter, don’t give up. Tomorrow may well be better. One thing we can be sure of — you won’t know if you don’t go.