CACHE RIVER NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
Bayou DeView and Cache River are legendary mallard hotspots with a long history of fantastic hunting. However, the recent rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker on Bayou DeView has resulted in the closure of portions of this area to the public, so check current regulations before planning a trip here.

Hunting pressure at Cache River NWR varies from heavy to almost nonexistent, depending on water levels and the remoteness of the part of the refuge you're hunting.

Boating is the rule here, but walk-in hunting is possible, especially in the northern sections, which mostly consist of a narrow band of public land on either side of the stream. Access points (many primitive and traversable only by four-wheel drive vehicles) are too numerous to mention, but you can reach portions of the refuge from Clarendon, DeValls Bluff, Brinkley, Biscoe, Des Arc, Cotton Plant, Augusta, Patterson, McCrory and Beedeville. Most of the accesses appear on the official refuge map, available for a fee from refuge headquarters in Augusta, (870) 347-2614. A free hunting permit, also available from headquarters, is required for all hunting.

Only morning hunting is permitted, and hunters can't enter the refuge until 5 a.m.

BAYOU METO WMA
No discussion of the best public duck hunting in Arkansas would be complete without mentioning Bayou Meto, although the area's great reputation already causes definite overcrowding at times.

Located 15 miles southwest of Stuttgart between the Grand Prairie and the Arkansas River, and surrounded by a duck-friendly mixture of private duck clubs and flooded grain fields, Bayou Meto WMA is a natural for wintering mallards. At approximately 32,000 acres the largest state-owned WMA in Arkansas, it's also the oldest, with the first land acquisitions taking place in the late 1940s. Almost every acre is bottomland hardwood forest, more than half of it flooded seasonally by 33 miles of levees and many water-control structures.

Bayou Meto WMA attracts hunters from all over the state and all over the nation, and over-crowding is becoming more and more of a problem. On some weekend days, it's hard to find a place to park at the boat ramps.

To help relieve the crowding and the hunting pressure, the AGFC has banned guiding on Bayou Meto and has limited hunters to 15 shotgun shells each on the area. So far the agency has resisted imposing a quota permit system on Bayou Meto or any of its other public duck areas. However, it doesn't take a Rhodes scholar to figure out that such a move is coming some day. Be sure to check the latest regulations before planning a hunt here -- or to any other public area in the state, for that matter.

Walk-in and boat-in hunting are both popular on Bayou Meto WMA, but boating is probably a better choice, because it broadens a hunter's choices and extends his effective range. The use of boat motors isn't allowed on the management area between 1 p.m. and 4 a.m. the next day; there's a 25-horsepower limit at the area. Only morning hunting is permitted, except for the last three days of the season.

Chest waders are a must here, since there are dips and sloughs in this supposedly flat terrain that are too deep for hip boots. Bring decoys if you wish, but they're usually more trouble than they're worth.

Campgrounds and access points are numerous on all sides of Bayou Meto WMA, but there are no hookups or facilities. Maps of Bayou Meto and all other state-owned WMAs are available from the AGFC at (501) 223-6351.