Waterfowling The Ozark's

[Feathers and Fins]

We hunt in the Ozarks an area not well known for waterfowl(thanks God) Our lakes, rivers and creeks combined with golf courses and farmponds, do in fact hold large and diverse amounts and species of waterfowl.

That being said though we just like everyplace else areaffected by Mother Nature but also the demand for water and power, both ofwhich dictate how well our seasons will be. On a good year our lakes are down duringthe Winter and we have Mudflats that are feeding zones for waterfowl. This yearthe lakes were up so they didn’t hold near the numbers as normal. Combine thatwith way above normal weather temps and conditions across the country it’s easyto see why this year was an off year.

Hunting the Big Waters require IMO a lot more Hunteradaptability then it takes to hunt other area. Lets face it some of our mainlake points as an example can go from “0’’ ft to 30ft just 10 ft from shore andunless you know how to hunt deep water you will not be productive. High winds equal danger on the big lakes in ahurry and then there is the fun of not having a ton of managed food sources.

So sure we have a tougher spot to hunt, but those tougherareas sometimes are more productive them the best managed areas. But on the same token how many guys who hunttimber or the delta or WMA’s have a chance commonly we do of so manyspecies? Good and Bad points with OzarkLake hunting and definitely a different breed of hunter. I know guys who wouldgive their right arm for a chance at taking Goldeneye or Hooded Mergansers or a6 bird limit of different species. Yet we have it at our back door.

These are some pics from the last few years, Diversity of species we have for sure:

Canada Geese

Redheads, Scaulp, Gadwall, Ruddy and Bufflehead

Bufflehead, Goldeneye, Scaulp and Ringneck

and yes we have mallards

And pretty woodies

But here is something I have to laugh about. Most guys haveto drive 1 or 2 hours to hunt or they have assigned blinds or limited amount of area to hunt. Look at Beaver,Tablerock, Taney, Bull, Norfolk and Greers. That’s a lot more area to hunt thenmost guys have in other areas and for us we can be launched 3 minutes from ourfront door or make the drive to try a new area. And we also have a blessingthat if we limit (on a normal year ) early we have some of the finest fishingwaters in the country to stay out on for the rest of the day.

Ok so it was not the best year, but there is next year stilland ill look forward to it.

[JohnP]

Excellent post FandF

  On 1/15/2012 at 3:36 PM, Feathers and Fins said:

We hunt in the Ozarks an area not well known for waterfowl(thanks God) Our lakes, rivers and creeks combined with golf courses and farmponds, do in fact hold large and diverse amounts and species of waterfowl.

That being said though we just like everyplace else areaffected by Mother Nature but also the demand for water and power, both ofwhich dictate how well our seasons will be. On a good year our lakes are down duringthe Winter and we have Mudflats that are feeding zones for waterfowl. This yearthe lakes were up so they didn’t hold near the numbers as normal. Combine thatwith way above normal weather temps and conditions across the country it’s easyto see why this year was an off year.

Hunting the Big Waters require IMO a lot more Hunteradaptability then it takes to hunt other area. Lets face it some of our mainlake points as an example can go from “0’’ ft to 30ft just 10 ft from shore andunless you know how to hunt deep water you will not be productive. High winds equal danger on the big lakes in ahurry and then there is the fun of not having a ton of managed food sources.

So sure we have a tougher spot to hunt, but those tougherareas sometimes are more productive them the best managed areas. But on the same token how many guys who hunttimber or the delta or WMA’s have a chance commonly we do of so manyspecies? Good and Bad points with OzarkLake hunting and definitely a different breed of hunter. I know guys who wouldgive their right arm for a chance at taking Goldeneye or Hooded Mergansers or a6 bird limit of different species. Yet we have it at our back door.

These are some pics from the last few years, Diversity of species we have for sure:

Canada Geese

Redheads, Scaulp, Gadwall, Ruddy and Bufflehead

Bufflehead, Goldeneye, Scaulp and Ringneck

and yes we have mallards

And pretty woodies

But here is something I have to laugh about. Most guys haveto drive 1 or 2 hours to hunt or they have assigned blinds or limited amount of area to hunt. Look at Beaver,Tablerock, Taney, Bull, Norfolk and Greers. That’s a lot more area to hunt thenmost guys have in other areas and for us we can be launched 3 minutes from ourfront door or make the drive to try a new area. And we also have a blessingthat if we limit (on a normal year ) early we have some of the finest fishingwaters in the country to stay out on for the rest of the day.

Ok so it was not the best year, but there is next year stilland ill look forward to it.

[duckydoty]

Been enjoying every day of the season on TR BS and Taney. No, its not as good as last year, but I'll take it

[mhowerton]

I agree the Ozarks are a hiden gem for waterfowl I have a cabin on the Black River in northeast Arkansas. Although there are more ducks over there is also 10 times the amount of pressure 40 or 50 trucks at the ramp. Guides driving up the price to lease farm ground. The 2.5 hour drive to get over there. I have put my place over there up for sale and going to focus my efforts back around home. There are more than enough opportunities within 30 miles of Mountain Home to hunt

[duckydoty]

There sure are

[Feathers and Fins]

shhhhhhhhh

[JohnP]

Didn't prove to be too much of hidden gem this morning . Did see quite a few birds on ponds this afternoon, guess I need to start doing some door knocking to do alil pond swattin'.