Hello everybody. Doing a story on the other duck towns in Arkansas. You know, besides Stuttgart. Stuttgart is still "The Rice & Duck Capital of the World," but we all know that there are other locations in The Natural State that offer up some good hunting for greenheads, pintails and other species. So, I have contacted some area folks likes chambers of commerce, hunting lodges and wildlife professionals to give their input on other duck towns. Now, I want to know what everybody at ArkansasHunting.net thinks. Towns I have eyed for the list include: Weiner, Blytheville, Walnut Ridge, Fort Smith, Russellville, Arkadelphia, Camden, Texarkana, Brinkley, Gillett, St. Charles and Dumas. If you want to give your slant on what any of these places has to offer in the way of duck hunting (public, private, timber, buckbrush sloughs, fields, etc.), feel free to do so. If you wouldn't mind it possibly being included in a story, make sure to add your name, age, occupation, how long you've duck hunted, etc. You can PM me those stats if you don't want it all out on the chats. Also, do you think there are some towns not on the list so far? What are they and what do they offer?
Arkansas' other duck towns
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Bono, Cash, Egypt areas, with Cash at the top of my list. Lot of good duck hunting along the Cache river there. Flooded fields and pits, or standing in the timber along the sloughs. They guys I know will leave the pits as soon as the river gets out and load up the boat.
I would vote for the Russellville/Clarksville area myself as a couple of lesser known duck towns. Here we have a great variety of areas to hunt. I live in Russellville and it is pretty cool to consider all the different areas we have at our dissposal.
Number one would be the fact that the largest river in the state flows right through our back door, the Arkansas river. The river can provide great shooting one day and poor the next all according to the push of the ducks. The habitat here is unlike anything else in the state. We have large cattail marshes, sloughs, and backwaters. The more "open" water here provides for some real different scenery and shooting than in other parts of the state. We also have some nice areas that flood up into buck brush, and timber areas that provide some real nice shooting as well. One thing about our area you can hunt just about anytype of habitat you want from flooded timber, buck brush/willow sloughs, cattail marshes, backwaters, and even flooded agri fields in the bottoms. We also have the Petit Jean river in our area that provides for an additional draw to the ducks.
The species that we have a chance for are just as wide as the habitat we hunt. Everything from your "staple ducks" Mallards, Gadwall, Teal both bue and green wing, widgeon, pintail, shoveler, wood ducks, to all the types of divers in the flyway. Canvasbacks,and Blue Bill (Scaup greater and lesser) are very common, Red Heads, Goldeneye, Buffleheads, Ruddy ducks, Ring necks, are also seen on the river throughout the season.
And last but certainly not least the one thing our our town and ecspecially our area the Arkansas River Valley has that is the best for is... Canada Geese. In the Russellville, Clarksville area we are in the heart of the resident population and we have some great opportunities for these big boys. We also do get a sprinkling of Specks and Snows in during the winter but nothing in comparrision to East Ar.
Dirt Cloud PM me I would really like to get in on your write up if you dont mind ecspecially in our area. I have some other info I can share with you but not on the MB..
Number one would be the fact that the largest river in the state flows right through our back door, the Arkansas river. The river can provide great shooting one day and poor the next all according to the push of the ducks. The habitat here is unlike anything else in the state. We have large cattail marshes, sloughs, and backwaters. The more "open" water here provides for some real different scenery and shooting than in other parts of the state. We also have some nice areas that flood up into buck brush, and timber areas that provide some real nice shooting as well. One thing about our area you can hunt just about anytype of habitat you want from flooded timber, buck brush/willow sloughs, cattail marshes, backwaters, and even flooded agri fields in the bottoms. We also have the Petit Jean river in our area that provides for an additional draw to the ducks.
The species that we have a chance for are just as wide as the habitat we hunt. Everything from your "staple ducks" Mallards, Gadwall, Teal both bue and green wing, widgeon, pintail, shoveler, wood ducks, to all the types of divers in the flyway. Canvasbacks,and Blue Bill (Scaup greater and lesser) are very common, Red Heads, Goldeneye, Buffleheads, Ruddy ducks, Ring necks, are also seen on the river throughout the season.
And last but certainly not least the one thing our our town and ecspecially our area the Arkansas River Valley has that is the best for is... Canada Geese. In the Russellville, Clarksville area we are in the heart of the resident population and we have some great opportunities for these big boys. We also do get a sprinkling of Specks and Snows in during the winter but nothing in comparrision to East Ar.
Dirt Cloud PM me I would really like to get in on your write up if you dont mind ecspecially in our area. I have some other info I can share with you but not on the MB..
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duck towns
eudora ,lake village ,tichnor halley, dumas? but send the out of staters to stuttgartt they already know where it is? we need a little for ourselves, with all moving to the natural state its only gonna get worse
eudora ,lake village ,tichnor halley, dumas? but send the out of staters to stuttgartt they already know where it is? we need a little for ourselves, with all moving to the natural state its only gonna get worse
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It's not as pronounced here in the NW, but there's a fair bit of duck hunitng along the upper white river areas. I live close to Beaver Lake (white river dammed up) and during duck season I often awake to the sound of expensive shot going into space. I don't think those boys are really killing anything, but they shore do have an ammo budget!
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plus1 on russellville area...lot of different habitat/hunting styles that really set it apart from all the east arkansas toans you listed
shifty
shifty
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Holly Grove, Snow Lake, and Jonesboro areas.
How about another vote for the River Valley. Some years it is hit or miss, but when it is on, it is ON!!!
We don't have any of those things around here...:wink: We can't let everyone in on our secrets of the River Valley!!!
And the sportswriter asks the coach, "How's the team going to be this year?" The coach responds, "We're struggling, we're struggling." The team goes on to win their conference, make it to the finals of the state playoffs and handily defeat their opponent for a perfect season. In other words, bhays, I believe you and the coach are sandbagging. Besides, if I hear much more about the Arkansas River Valley hunting, I won't just want information, I'll be asking for a guided trip or two!
I wish it worked out like that day every day, but we both know they are few and far between no matter where you hunt. That was first day of last September's early goose season and the birds hadn't had any pressure on them yet. A few days later and they were VERY hard to kill... Seriously though, you've got an invite to hunt with us whenever you want. Our area can have good hunts if you scout hard and do your homework, but there can be a lot of pressure on birds here in the River Valley too. Maybe not to the extent of Bayou Meto or anything, but some of our public areas are way too crowded. There are enough areas and variety of habitat that you can eek out a great hunt, a few good hunts, and some average before somebody else catches on to where you're smacking em' down. Then it is on to plan B I guess. If the coach is good enough, his team is more prepared than the others and have better practices which lead to quality wins!!!:wink: I used to be a player, but now, I guess I'm our new team's coach and we are nowhere near the state playoffs yet...:biggrin: We just got lucky last year and won a game or two by hanging around in the fourth quarter...
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Humnoke, Wabasekka, Reydel, Seaton Dump. All great duck towns.
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I'd change Blytheville to Dell and Manila. The ties to duck hunting are a lot deeper in these towns due to there location next to Big Lake. My grandmother use to tell stories of the rich yankees getting off the train in Dell to go hunting in the good ol days.
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Kind of what I was thinkingyour missing several better areas than you have listed, but keep it that way
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I'll add another vote for the AR River Valley. All the way from Ft. Smith down to LR you can find diverse and decent hunting. There is something about watching the sun rise over the mountains or having gun blasts echo off of mountains that you can't get, when shooting ducks, in East Arkansas.
However, I was going to throw in a vote for DeVall's Bluff. There's the launch to the White River right there and when you hunt anywhere near there, stop in and eat some BBQ!
Even if the huntin is crap on any particular day the food is still great!
FroMan, I have eaten at the BBQ place you mentioned. Good food. In fact, there seems to be a good BBQ joint in just about every stop along U.S. 70 from Lonoke to Carlisle to Hazen to DeValls Bluff right on over to Memphis. Like you said, the ducks may not fly, but the BBQ most definitely hits the spot. Thanks to everyone for their input. I plan on using all I can in conjunction with the notes and other information I have. Take care everyone!
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x2 any where along cash river or cash river relief........:up:
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