Jason West is on a duck hunting safari. He’s crazy enough about ducks that he’s taken off work to hunt all of Arkansas’ duck season and most of Missouri’s, too.
On Wednesday, West was in west-central Missouri hunting over the fi nal days of mid-Missouri’s duck season.
After that, he’ll hunt the rest of Arkansas’ season.
There’s a brief closure from Dec. 23-26, then duck season is open through Jan. 27.
West has hunted enough to grow feathers behind his ears. He keeps a keen eye on waterfowl reports, websites and blog posts.
So, Jason, how’s the duck hunting so far this season?
His report is short and sweet: Find water and you’ll fi nd ducks.
In Northwest Arkansas, a lack of water has made for a lackluster season, he said.
West owns some duckhunting property near Van Buren. It’s usually fl ooded and draws waterfowl. This season it’s dry for the fi rst time West can remember.
Beaver Lake is low, low, low. Shorelines are barren and off er nothing for waterfowl. Hunting has been slow.
Action is a little better on the Arkansas River and its tributaries, West reported.
It’s been hit and miss.
Some of his friends hunted the river last weekend.
“On Saturday they did pretty well. Sunday they only saw three ducks,” West said.
In eastern Arkansas, hunting has been good in the flooded timber. West keeps tabs on that region since he’ll be headed east several times in January.
On Wednesday morning, West and his hunting pal, Aaron Jolliff of Rogers, were on the public Schell-Osage Conservation Area, near Nevada, Mo., getting ready to hunt.
“Last week it was as good as it gets here,” West said via cellphone.
Most hunters on the tract bagged limits that included mallards and other species.
One limit West killed last week included mallards, gadwall, pintail and teal.
“This week it’s all mallards,” he said. Not that greenheads are anything to sneeze at.
Waterfowlers are a traveling bunch. Somethink nothing of driving 300 miles for a duck hunt, said Larry Aggus at Southtown Sporting Goods in Fayetteville.
Hunters headed to central and south Arkansas report good duck shooting, Aggus said, where there is water.
In Oklahoma, Aggus has heard good reports from east-central Oklahoma around Lake Eufaula.
Duck hunting is slow locally.
“The problem here is it’s just so dry and we’ve had warm temperatures,” Aggus said. “The big thing we need is water.”
Aggus and West both agree that the best hunting is around a cold front. Try to hunt the day a cold front is expected to push through and for the next day or two afterwards.
“Each cold front pushes in a few more ducks,” West said.
Ben Lipscomb of Rogers also preached the cold-front advice. He hunts at Grand Lake in Oklahoma and has enjoyed some phenomenal hunts during and right after a front.
During one hunt he and his pals had their limits in an hour. The next hunt, soon after the front, they shot three ducks.
Grand Lake duck hunting has been “very spotty,” Lipscomb said.
Today and into the weekend could be good.
A cold front is forecast to move through today.
It’s the last chance to hunt before Arkansas’ duck season closes briefl y Dec.
23-25.
FLIP PUTTHOFF IS OUTDOORS EDITOR FOR NWA MEDIA.
FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER AT NWA/FLIP.
Outdoor, Pages 6 on 12/20/2012