A group of mallards circled the decoy spread and started its descent from high in the stratosphere. The ducks had obviously traveled a long way on their trek south; their descent was controlled, and the circular motion resembled a hurricane as they wound their way around in ever tighter spirals until they dropped their landing gear only feet from the water.
Toler Robinson’s shotgun roared three times as ducks crashed into the water. Several were not touched and immediately began their ascent to flee, and another volley of shotgun blasts followed from Robinson’s friends, with more mallards crashing into the decoy spread for one last time.
Robinson grew up duck hunting, and he can stay with the best of them when it comes to locating, calling and shooting ducks. He spends a lot of time in the Mississippi Delta every year and usually finds plenty of ducks to hunt, both on public and private land. This year looks to be another good year, but as always, the quality of the hunting depends upon getting plenty of cold weather to drive the ducks south to Mississippi.
Build It and They Will Come
Along with cold weather, hunters need food and water to attract ducks, and in that respect, Mississippi has plenty of public and private hunting areas with food and water, as many fields have been planted with duck food on Wildlife Management Areas, as well as on private land. The woods and waters and feed are in place for another banner season if Mother Nature cooperates.
The Mississippi Delta ranks as one of the premier duck-hunting locations in the country, and this year, it is poised to lead the state in duck production again.
South Delta Region
“Over the past 3 or 4 years, managing for duck hunting and having cover crops and food on Mahannah and Howard Miller (WMAs) has been extremely difficult due to floods,” said biologist Roger Tankesly with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. “This year has been totally different, and both of these WMAs are looking very good.”
It’s been several years since MDWFP has been able to do anything with Mahannah as far as normal duck planting. This year’s localized flooding was earlier in summer, and MDWFP has been able to get in and get some things planted.
“We’ve planted over 100 acres of crops out in the impoundments, and we have a lot of managed, moist-soil vegetation, and (we’ve) had an airplane out there spraying the coffee weed this year,” Tankesly said. “We have a lot of coffee weed, but we are leaving a lot of coffee weed for cover; it helps break up the units and give ducks some security. Mahannah is looking better than it has ever been as far as the food and hunter cover.
“All we need is a little more time for growing, and we’ll be pumping water into the impoundments. The only thing else we need is some good cold weather to push them down here.
“Although we have had some problems at Howard Miller with the 17-inch rain received earlier this year — the farmer lost 800 acres of soybeans — we took on an additional 800 acres of moist-soil management,” Tankesly said. “We planted Sudan strips and wild-game food sorghum, got some millet planted and also some native grasses such as barnyard and sprinkle top, tea weed and tooth cup as well as the natural stuff.”
“There are soybeans growing, as well as a good corn crop and cover crops,” he said. “We have everything the ducks want there and probably have more food than has ever been and more cover than ever.”
“As for Howard Miller WMA, if we have the weather and ducks pushed down here, then I’m looking for one of the finest harvests in years,” Tankesly said. “Just looking at the food and cover aspect of it because the food and cover will be there.”
Phil Bryant WMA is a newer unit located in the heart of some of the best hunting in the Delta; it has a variety of units for deer, duck, squirrel and trophy hunting. One of the units is a limited, group-hunt draw area that is unique.
“In the group-hunt area, four guests can hunt together at a time; they can hunt ducks in the morning and deer in the afternoon,” Tankesly said. “There’s plenty of places to spread out (and) hunt, whatever is in season. We want that hunt to be very enjoyable, so we only hunt it a few weeks to keep the hunting pressure down.
North Delta Region
“O’Keefe (WMA) is open to duck hunters without a draw,” said Weston Thompson, regional biologist for MDWFP. “We do have some really good places that have draw hunts too.
“Charlie Capps WMA is probably the best in the North Delta Region as far as draw hunts.
“O’Keefe was carrying a lot of ducks last year on our moist-soil habitat and on our AG fields, so that’s a good place to go if you want to go the draw route,” Thompson said. “We’ve done a whole lot of work at the Muscadine WMA. It’s probably in the best shape it’s been in the last few years. It’s a draw hunt, but we also have a standby aspect at Muscadine, so you can come on a standby hunt if you’re not drawn out anywhere.”
Thompson said MDWFP is trying to attract mallards mostly, but North Delta WMAs have wood ducks, teal, gadwall, spoonbills and other species of ducks.
“Most people want to hunt and shoot mallards,” Thompson said, “so that has been our goal to attract mallards. You will pretty much find any duck that you can kill in Mississippi that will be In the Delta WMAs.
Northeast Region
“Tuscumbia, near Corinth, is one of the best waterfowl hunting opportunities in this region,” said biologist Nathan Blount of MDWFP. “If we get enough rainfall to put water in the WMA, we’ll have ducks.
“Although Unit One is open to waterfowl hunting, with usually a mixture of wood ducks and mallards, you will need a boat to access most of it, and there is a boat ramp there,” Blount said.
If you put in the time and locate an area the ducks are using, you should be able to have some action if the ducks have moved in.
“Unit Two is draw hunt-only, with nine impoundments and nine hunters drawn for each impoundment, and they can bring up to three guests per hunter drawn. About half the ducks harvested will be mallards, with some teal, gadwall and pintails mixed in, too.”
“Canal Section is in Prentiss, Itawamba and Monroe counties near Fulton and has open-water mallards,” Blount said. “On a good year, you may have over a thousand ducks harvested along the waterways.”
Northwest Region
“Malmaison is our flagship waterfowl area in this region,” said biologist Brad Holder of MDWFP. “The McIntyre Scatters and the Malmaison greentree reservoirs are popular areas that hold a lot of ducks. The Scatters consistently provides excellent duck hunting year after year.”
Several generations of hunters have hunted the Scatters and enjoyed the bountiful duck hunting while passing on their hunting heritage.
East Central Region
Trim Cane WMA near Starkville is primarily managed for waterfowl and rabbit hunting, and it has the best opportunity to harvest ducks in this region
“Trim Cane is your best bet for waterfowl if it gets enough water early,” according to biologist Chad Masley of MDWFP. “Generally, if we have the water here early, we’ll usually have a lot of ducks, too.”
Nanih Waiya also provides duck-hunting opportunities in an area of the state that doesn’t have much water for ducks. It has wood ducks, and it offers some good hunting when the weather is right.
Okatibbee WMA near Collinsville offers excellent waterfowl opportunities along creeks, beaver sloughs and in the upper end of Okatibbee Lake. Many hunters had excellent teal hunts during the early season, but hunters must put in the time to scout and plan their hunts accordingly. During the early season, avid hunters will be set up in the prime areas well before daybreak.
Southeast Region
Although this is not a great area for waterfowl, hunters can harvest wood ducks along the creeks, sloughs, and rivers.
Ward Bayou, Pascagoula River and Old River offer excellent wood duck opportunities, and occasionally you’ll have some dabbling ducks come in also.
Southwest Region
“Pearl River WMA is about the only area we have in the region that has good waterfowl opportunities,” said Josh Moree, MDWFP’s regional biologist, “and this is a youth-only waterfowl hunt by permit only. We have several managed waterfowl impoundments that offer excellent harvest opportunities. We also have about a thousand acres of flooded hardwood, sloughs and moist soil impoundments for youth only.”
“The rest of our WMAs have limited wood duck opportunities along creeks, sloughs and places like that.”
Be the first to comment