STUTTGART -- Sept. 13 is kind of like the calm before the storm in the Grand Prairie.
The day is bright, windy, cool and sunny in the heart of Arkansas' duck hunting country, which also is the most famous waterfowl hunting region in the world.
The ducks are not here yet, of course. They are still in their breeding areas fattening up and getting into flying condition for their great migration south.
Stuttgart also is in its preseason pattern, but folks are getting ready. Trucks are towing aluminum duck hunting boats with their camouflage paint jobs all over town as hunters go to and from their hunting ground for final preparations. There are blinds to repair, and landing zones need to be freshened. There's brush to cut and boating lanes to clear.
Sporting goods stores have cases of non-toxic waterfowl loads on special, and there are deep discounts on waterfowling shotguns. Lively discussions abound on which is best. The Benelli Super Black Eagle II is probably the most popular, but Beretta has claimed a sizeable share of that market in recent years.
And then you've got the Winchester loyalists, like Alan Thomas and me. Mine is black. Al's wears Shadow Grass camo, with red and white Razorback decals on both sides of the receiver.
Jeff Lawrence, director of fundraising and volunteer relations for Arkansas Ducks Unlimited, likes the new SX4. It's noticeably lighter than the SX3, he said, which plays big over the course of a season.
Lighter weight also translates to heavier felt recoil, which also plays big over the course of the season, especially if you feed it a steady diet of 3-inch magnum waterfowl loads or, heaven forbid, 3 ½-inch anti-aircraft rounds.
I quit using those things years ago. I couldn't tolerate that much repetitive pounding. Nevertheless, my SX3 will handle them. I like that, you know, just in case I ever need it.
Despite their American heritage, Winchester's SX3 and SX4 are built in Belgium by Fabrique Nationale. If that matters to you, Remington's V3 is built domestically. I hold mine in high esteem. It patterns great, kicks light, and it's rock solid reliable.
If you want an appetizer, early teal season starts Friday. You'll mostly see blue-winged teal, which migrate earlier than other species. Your duck identification skills must be sharp, though, because there's often a fool wood duck or resident mallard that thinks it's a good idea to fly with birds that are in season.
Make sure it's a teal before you pull the trigger. They are small and fast, and both sexes sport a distinctive powder blue speculum on the leading edges of their wings that flash like beacons in the sunlight.
The daily limit is six, and legal shooting hours are sunrise to sunset.
Teal are notorious for lighting in a hole 15 minutes before legal shooting time and leaving about five minutes before legal shooting time. Don't be stupid. A couple of little ducks aren't worth the ticket you can get for shooting too early.
On opening day of last year's early teal season, wildlife officers wrote a slew of tickets to early shooters at Halowell Reservoir. How reckless must one be to shoot early on the most heavily patrolled WMA in the state, almost within sight of a Game and Fish Commission work facility?
Archery season opens Sept. 23, and the cool weather has got a lot of deer hunters anxious and excited. Acorns are already falling in my little corner of Hot Spring County, and the foliage is already starting to turn.
Autumn colors have run about 30 days late over the last 10 years, but this year's patterns remind me of 1986-89. I've seen quite a few bucks running around at dusk and dawn lately, too, so muzzleloader season (Oct. 21-29) might be a prime time to hunt.
Of course, late September and early October is also a prime time to hunt squirrels in the Natural State. I couldn't dial up better squirrel hunting conditions than we have right now, and I'm seeing more squirrels than I've seen in years.
Fall is when Arkansas shines the brightest. If you don't hunt or fish, you need to start so you can enjoy this wonderful place at its best.
Sports on 09/14/2017