Kentucky Lake Duck Hunting 2013

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2013-14 West Tennessee
Waterfowl Season

YOUTH WATERFOWL HUNTS ON HORIZON

By Steve McCadams

Although the statewide duck season ended last Sunday afternoon for the old folks, two special youth waterfowl hunts are on the horizon for kids 6-15 years of age.

Each year Tennessee joins other states within the Mississippi flyway in offering two days set aside for kids to hunt ducks and geese. The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service allows states two days within the framework of season setting to target the youngsters with the goal of helping introduce boys and girls to the great sport of waterfowling.

True you can do that during the regular season too but have hunts where only the kids can shoot makes it even more special for them and those taking them.

For years Tennessee’s wildlife commission did a regular two-day weekend combo and that seemed to work pretty good. However, last year and again this year the two days are separate Saturdays and one week apart. And, the hunts have the option of occurring before or after the regular season and it has been traditional here to hold the youth waterfowl hunts after the regular season ends.

How do things look for the youngsters in terms of duck activity? Pretty good is the answer as more cold weather earlier in the week has a lot of ducks in the area. Some areas have been iced up this week due to the frigid temperatures but should begin to open up by the mercury is predicted to climb into the lower 50’s on Saturday.

Aerial surveys from the Tennessee and Cross Creeks National Wildlife Refuges indicate duck numbers increased in late January, a likely beneficiary of the series of cold fronts that have dominated the weather scene since mid-January.

The most recent waterfowl estimate showed a whopping 231,394 ducks on TNWR along Kentucky Lake. That’s a significant increase over the mid-winter count taken in the third week of December when some 116,000 were estimated. And, neighboring CCNWR on Lake Barkley at Dover also showed good numbers of ducks. The aerial estimate there indicated 50,306, which was also a surge in usage since late December.

It appears duck numbers have swelled here in the region the last two weeks and that could pave the way for increased opportunities for the youngsters as ducks have had five days rest since the statewide season closed last Sunday. That is usually good for areas like Springville bottom, Big Sandy, Gin Creek or Camden bottoms where hunting pressure and boat activity can push ducks to other areas.

Youngsters will have two separate Saturday hunts to call their own with the first one arriving February 1. The second hunt is a week later and scheduled for February 8. Both hunts require an adult at least 21 years of age to accompany the youngsters.

Adults cannot hunt ducks but may participate in other open seasons such as those open for snow, blue and Ross’, and white-fronted geese. Bag limits on ducks for the kids will be the same as regular statewide daily bag limits, which allows six ducks but not more than four mallards of which only two may be hens.

For additional info consult TWRA’s Waterfowl Hunting Guide brochure or log onto www.tnwildlife.org.

Remember to take plenty of hot chocolate and biscuits for those future waterfowlers. Keep them warm and keep them fed. Hopefully the ducks will fly by for a few visits and add to the overall experience of a nice outdoor trip with buddies and mentors sharing a sunrise together.

FINAL FLIGHT FOR DUCK HUNTERS

By Steve McCadams

Duck hunters were tuning up their calls this week in preparation for their “swan song”. Season draws to a close at sunset Sunday across Tennessee and since it opened back on Thanksgiving Day there has been a wide range of weather.

Weary waterfowlers had another week of roller coaster temperatures that started out on Monday some 15 degrees above normal. By midweek it was time to button up the shirt, pull up the hood and back up a little closer to the propane heaters.

Frigid conditions returned on Thursday as nighttime temps dropped back to single digits and a stubborn wind chill added insult to injury. A warm up is expected by this weekend as the weatherman is promising a rebound into the low 40’s, which will be a welcomed change even for tough duck hunters known to yearn for cold fronts.

For a lot of duck hunters the home stretch got marred by the return of ice as most shallow bottoms, flooded fields, sloughs, and even some open water bays began to succumb to the cold conditions. Ducks were really on the move as the weather approached and while some major movement took place a few days the honeymoon was short once blinds iced up and decoys glazed over and caked up.

Some good hunts were reported this week from across the region as increased numbers of mallards, gadwall, pintails, shovelers, canvasbacks and assorted divers were pushing through and entering the west Tennessee sector.

While a lot of ducks were already in the area for the last couple of weeks it seems the gusty winds and cold fronts really put the birds on the move as they darted around looking for feeding areas in their restless mood.

Most of the river bottoms west of Kentucky Lake were experiencing good shooting at midweek. Flooded soybean and corn fields across the Obion, Forked Deer and Hatchie bottom areas reported excellent hunting as did the Reelfoot Lake area and throughout extreme western Tennessee.

Other neighboring states had a good week too as ducks have been building in big numbers across eastern Arkansas, the bootheel of Missouri and western Kentucky. Ample water has remained in the four state area for almost a month and that has attracted big numbers of waterfowl that seemed to stay around even during the cold snaps.

Although some good reports were coming in from areas to our west, hunters in most of the Kentucky Lake public hunting areas such as West Sandy, Big Sandy, Gin Creek and Camden bottoms wildlife management areas have not fared well lately. It has been tough sledding for these popular spots that have done well in times past.

Going into the season hunters knew no food was planted in the TWRA units this year due to a very wet spring that prohibited planting. However, just how that would play out was somewhat of a guess and despite the lack of food duck hunters were holding on to optimism.

Turns out the ducks had choices and they opted to fly to other sectors of the state and region where accessible food and shallow water awaited them. No doubt the lack of crops was a factor in this year’s season for most local hunters but there were a few decent days mixed in.

Most of the duck food was found on either the federal refuges or scattered about private hunt clubs that chalked up a pretty good season where flooded grain was an attractant. Abbreviated hunting in those areas helped hold ducks throughout most of the season but the recent rash of cold weather has seen ducks on the move searching for new food sources.

At a time when most waterfowlers would be hoping for cold weather just the opposite is on the wish list as the final weekend arrives. Will it warm up enough for hunters to break ice and return to blinds as the season winds down?

For some the ice may well bring an early closure. There may not be time to rebound from this week’s frigid visit. Others might make a last ditch effort to bust out and get in a little hunting on the last day of a 60-day season that has been good for some, tough for most, and downright demeaning as a few dreary duck hunters will begin pulling up decoys and licking their wounds.

The curtain is falling as hunters are already looking toward next year. Pretty soon duck fatigue will lose its grip and the thrill of what lies ahead will refuel the fire for fowlers everwhere.

Steve McCadams is a professional hunting and fishing guide here in the Paris Landing area. He has also contributed many outdoor oriented articles to various national publications.

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