Photo by Keith Sutton.

Arkansas duck hunters are always at the mercy of Mother Nature. We never know for sure what to expect from one season to the next. Ducks may be abundant or scarce, depending on a variety of factors ranging from the condition of Canadian breeding grounds to the amount of October rainfall.

One thing is certain, though. Some of the best duck hunting in the U.S. this year will be on public hunting lands in the Mississippi Delta region of eastern Arkansas. Even in the worst years, waterfowling here is better than almost anywhere else. As one of my duck-hunting friends often says, “Even when it’s bad, it’s the best.”

Let’s look at the three sections of the region -- the northern Delta, the Grand Prairie and the southern Delta -- and some public areas in each of these sections where your chances of bagging a limit of ducks should be good this season.

THE NORTHERN DELTA
The northern portion of the Delta in Arkansas includes lands just north of Interstate 40 to the Arkansas-Missouri border. The area is bounded on the east by the Mississippi River and on the west by the White and Black rivers basins. This includes areas around Jonesboro, Blytheville, Weiner, Wynne, Fair Oaks, Harrisburg and other cities.

This area requires early rainfall to catch a share of the earliest ducks and to hold substantial numbers of later flight ducks prior to freeze-up. Freezing conditions occur earlier here than in other parts of the area, and in years with early freezing conditions, area sportsmen may have poor hunting conditions much of the season. But when early rains occur, coupled with early or even normal winter weather to the north, this part of the state serves up superb waterfowling opportunities. Good acorn production in hardwood bottoms, and flooded rice or soybeans, help hold ducks in the northern Delta but are less important to a good season than rainfall and winter weather. The hallmark of waterfowling in the northern Delta is the excellent green-timber hunting available on public lands. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has developed key hunting grounds on several wildlife management areas here.

On the north side of this area, Dave Donaldson/Black River Wildlife Management Area attracts an enormous number of wintering waterfowl. More than half the area’s 25,000 acres are inundated each fall to attract an average winter population of 20,000 mallards and 5,000 wood ducks. If water conditions are good, area visitors can enjoy some of the best waterfowling our nation offers. Much of the timber is easily hunted in waders, with no need for a boat. Access is via Arkansas Highway 280 near Brookings and U.S. Highway 67 south of Corning.

Shirey Bay-Rainey Brake WMA, 20 miles southwest of Walnut Ridge, encompasses 10,528 acres along the Black River. A 3,000-acre green-tree reservoir attracts large numbers of ducks -- primarily mallards and wood ducks -- and provides some of the finest timber hunting in the state. Carry a few decoys, a call and a retriever. Access is from Highway 25 at the town of Lynn.

Earl Buss-Bayou de View WMA serves up top-flight duck hunting on one of the last large remaining tracts of bottomland hardwood timber in Poinsett County. The Thompson and Oliver tracts of the 4,254-acre WMA were developed specifically as wintering waterfowl areas, with additional ducks drawn to the area by the many flooded rice fields and pin-oak flats around Weiner. Blue-ribbon mallard hunting is a hallmark of the area. The area is reached by county roads west from Weiner on Highway 49 or off highways 14 and 214.

Strung along 30 miles of the St. Francis River Floodway in Greene, Craighead and Poinsett counties, the scattered tracts of St. Francis Sunken Lands WMA became nationally famous as a duck-hunting paradise more than a century ago. Tens of thousands of mallards and other ducks still flock to this area each winter, providing superb hunting opportunities for visiting sportsmen. There are few roads on the WMA, so internal access requires boating from one of several area launch ramps on the St. Francis River, including those at Siphons, Oak Donnick, Stephens Landing, Mangrum Landing and Iron Bridge. Access areas are off several state highways from south of Paragould to Marked Tree. Rex Hancock/Black Swamp WMA encompasses 5,640 acres of overflow bottoms along Cache River. Mallards are bountiful when the river floods area woods, but hunters can easily get lost in the semi-wilderness of cypresses, tupelos and red oaks. Scout hunting areas in daylight and take a compass. Access is from state Highway 33 at Gregory (Woodruff County).