Conditions favor strong duck season
The beginning of the 20222023 Arkansas duck season kicked off Nov. 19 with the first split ending Nov. 27. The hunt will return with the second split going Dec. 10-23 and the final split running from Dec. 26-Jan. 31.
With the first nine of the 60day season in the bag, prospects for a promising harvest are encouraging.
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Luke Naylor has recently been promoted from waterfowl program coordinator to head of AGFC’s Wildlife Management Division.
“The overall breeding population of ducks is pretty good and has been now for several years in a row,” Naylor said. “Wet conditions on the breeding grounds this past spring helped increase hatch so we expect to see larger numbers of young birds coming south this season.”
Young birds are less savvy, so they traditionally respond to decoys and calling more readily than older ducks.
“We have numerous reports of ducks on the move,” he said. “The recent rains have put more surface water on the landscape and as usual, increased habitat translates to increased duck numbers in Arkansas.”
Referencing one of Southeast Arkansas’ most popular wildlife management areas, Bayou Meto, Naylor told how in an effort to improve flooded woodland habitat, AGFC will only raise Bayou Meto water levels to 178.6 for 2022-2023 and only 178 in 20232024. This will leave a significant area of acreage unflooded over the next two seasons.
“We have real time USGS gauges on all water control structures so hunters can log into river.gauges.com and watch exactly what’s going on,” Naylor said.
He reported that gates in Bayou Meto are closed at this time. As of Dec. 1, additional boards will be added to the control structures and again on Dec. 15 to gradually raise the water levels by capturing rain runoff.
“Everybody hopes that by mid-December some significant rainfall will put enough water on the landscape to fill the WMAs,” Naylor said. Visit agfc.com/ gtr for current operational plans in place to manage WMAs.
An opportunity offered to Arkansas hunters over the past three seasons is the Arkansas Waterfowl Rice Incentive Conservation Enhancement Program. According to the AGFC website, “WRICE was developed by AGFC biologists to help keep waste rice available for ducks, geese and other migrating birds when they pass through each winter. Flooded rice fields are estimated to provide 11 percent of all food energy for migrating waterfowl. In 2020-21 the program was expanded to allow weekend permitted public waterfowl hunting opportunities on participating rice fields.”
Naylor said, “This program has proved very popular with over 250 applicants signing up each week last year.” For a minimal $5 fee, licensed outdoors men and women can go online each week and apply for an opportunity to weekend hunt at least 70 flooded rice fields enlisted in the program. Successful registrants are selected by drawing and notified by email early Friday mornings.
“Because of concerns about depleting ground water, WRICE fields are flooded by surface water only in an effort to conserve resources. Several of the enrolled fields are still waiting on sufficient rainfall to flood,” Naylor said.
“Applicants can study online maps before ever signing up to better understand what they’re getting. If it has a green dotted line, it means you can use ATVs to allow more access and carry gear into the field,” he continued. “We conduct hunter email surveys, one day after the weekend to get feedback about the experience. Hunters are generally well satisfied. We find a lot of people going on their first duck hunt with the WRICE program.”
Regarding one of this year’s biggest concerns, he stated, “We have seen avian flu outbreaks for the past 15 to 20 years, so there is a lot of scientific research behind our findings. Experience indicates there is no widespread transmission to humans in previous outbreaks. With the current strain there have been only a couple of cases where humans contracted the virus and those were in unusual situations where people were in close, prolonged contact with infected birds through collection and research efforts.”
Naylor expounded on AGFC’s efforts in dealing with the outbreak. “This flu was not prevalent enough that we were testing and sampling last winter until late January and February. It seems to have dispersed among waterfowl after their return north in the spring with large concentrations of birds on the arctic breeding grounds. We are seeing it particularly in hatch year birds, almost exclusively among blue, snow and Ross geese species. There has been only a handful of reports about sick ducks and speckled belly geese.”
Naylor further stated, “Raptors are affected quite a bit by this outbreak including hawks, eagles and vultures.” Those birds prove highly susceptible when they scavenge on infected geese. The good news Naylor said is, “There are no positive cases detected among dogs at this point.”
“We don’t have the personnel or capability to collect samples from all the sick birds out there but we encourage hunters to report sightings of infected birds when and where they encounter them. The public can certainly cover a lot more ground than we can. All this information is kept track of and may be accessed at wildlife.health@agfc.ar.gov.”
To err on the side of caution, Naylor repeated the suggestions of public health officials.
“All agencies publish the same protocols. Do not interact with sick or dead waterfowl. It is recommended hunters wear gloves and don’t eat, drink or smoke while cleaning their harvest.
“Always cook ducks and geese to 165 degrees to ensure elimination of all live pathogens.”