Arkansas Duck Hunting Blog

One of the biggest decisions that a hunter has to make every year is whether to do it DIY style or go on a professionally guided hunt. Some people think going with an outfitter is too expensive, while others choose to hunt without a guide and later regret it. Here are 6 signs a guided hunting trip is for you.

Governor Asa Hutchinson announced the passage of House Concurrent Resolution 1014 in support of efforts to boost waterfowl and waterfowl habitat in the state of Arkansas.

For the second straight year, safety concerns over Covid-19 have forced the cancellation of the annual Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey. The spring survey, which has been conducted every year from 1955 to 2019, is used to monitor the status of duck and goose populations in North America, as well as to set waterfowl hunting season frameworks and bag limits.

The polar vortex that descended on Arkansas and many other states to the north prompted hundreds of duck and goose hunters throughout The Natural State to ask if the birds finally arrived. With warmer-than-normal conditions across northern states during most of the season, ducks didn’t have to travel far to find the food and cover they need to build up for breeding and nesting season. Meanwhile, lack of unpressured flooded habitat may have prevented ducks and geese from flocking to traditional haunts in some parts of Arkansas. Hunters still can enjoy plentiful shooting and help conservation efforts by hunting snow geese during a special waterfowl season that runs well into spring.

Luke Naylor, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) waterfowl program coordinator, explains that although he and his staff did not complete the annual November aerial survey, they have been keeping tabs on reports of ducks and geese throughout the state. Conditions are dry, but Naylor says there are some highlights.

Overall the last summer conditions are favorable for a good migration this year. Wetland conditions varied throughout the survey area but the majority of the conditions were good to excellent with the Mississippi flyway looking strong!

An overview of wetland conditions across key waterfowl breeding areas. Overall wetland conditions are very good and should produce a healthy hatch for this upcoming year.

Sometimes, when the weather is right, birds are fresh and the sun blazes at your back , you can enjoy great shoots with only sparse cover. But on most days, you must become invisible to paranoid waterfowl. Duck and goose hunters obsess about concealment because the old cliché is true:...

While waiting at a crowded boat launch or paddling into a marsh filled with headlamps, you might grumble about the number of duck hunters in your state. Maybe you’re right. However, statistics from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service paint a clearer picture of heavily pressured hotspots throughout the country...

Dark-thirty, Sept. 1: Daylight won’t arrive for almost an hour, but the distant clucks of honkers and buzzing of teal already fill the air. Soon, the grand game will be on, and another waterfowl season will have begun. These first moments bring more than jitters. The smell of freshly cut...