Halowell has changed drastically over time, but WHAT has happended these last 5 years???? Its easy to see that, there are no more trees like there used to be when my dad hunted the place, and now there are levys are all through it for DU's wet soil management program. The question in my mind is- where have all the ducks that used to tornado into it every night dissppear to, they would flock from north south east and west to get in to Halowell? it is not just this year or last year ,Halowell has been pretty much vacant ever since DU has put in the levys and moist soil vegetation. I havent seen the tornado of mallards since that time. The last year halowell held a good number of ducks was 5 years ago, the year before AGFC/DU did the Halowell revamp levy/wet soil garbage, that year millet was planted, simple but effective. In all my years i do not ever remember halowell attracting White fronted Geese. that is all i see now! i do know they planted millet this year in a small patch maybe 80-120 acres, but it was planted in the sept 10 range and was flooded 1 month later so it never headed out, but it was a only a small small fraction of halowell. So my question is with all the millions of dollars spent on redoing the structure of Halowell, why do ducks not flock to it as they used to before DU ever got involved??? Do they not like the vegetation that is there??? Is it the fact that the Engineer for DU is not a DUCK HUNTER and kind of created a a mass water waste land that only attracts geese and small blacks now? is it the fact that ducks no longer think its an enticing rest area?? WHY? Other rest areas ive been to hold thousands upon thousands of birds, this year, so why is Halowell which used to be the BEST rest area now the Worst Rest area in the state for attracting Ducks?? What can be done to solve this?? hunting in meto aint gonna be good until halowell is loaded up again and the ducks can rest all day in the rest area and then go loaf in the woods. Is Meto's good duck hunting history becuase of AGFC/Du hand in halowell??? What is the reason it now stinks and how can it be taken back 10 years to like it used to be. Why are there geese now and not ducks????
The Mystery of Halowell
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This is a very interesting thread topic.....I've wondered those same things for a few years now
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I've seen 20,000 plus on there a time or two in the last 3 years... I thought that was ALOT of ducks.
The first thing that comes to mind is to look and see what "successful" rest areas are planting. It's all about food IMO. If all of halowell was flooded corn, kent and winchester would have to open up a new plant.
For example: AS OF 12/2/11 105,700 ducks (mostly mallards); 230,000 geese (98 percent snows and blues).
Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge
Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge is located in northwestern Missouri within the historic Missouri River floodplain. The 7,350-acre refuge was established in 1935 as a resting, feeding, and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife. Many of the original facilities were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration in the late 1930s.
The principal refuge habitats are seasonal and semipermanent wetlands, native warm and cool season grasslands, woodlands, and croplands. The refuge includes loess bluff hills, unusual geologic formations caused by wind-deposited soil, where remnants of the once-vast native prairie still exist.
Squaw Creek is best known for its large concentrations of snow geese, other waterfowl, and bald eagles. The refuge is a major stop-over for waterfowl, with more than one-half million birds in the fall and lesser, but still spectacular, numbers in the spring. The refuge is within the Mississippi Flyway.
Refuge staff at Squaw Creek manage habitat to benefit wildlife. Water levels in the refuge's wetlands are manipulated to provide optimal depths and vegetation for migrating waterfowl and shorebirds in the spring and fall and nesting marsh and water birds in the summer.
A small portion of the refuge is planted in corn, soybeans, and winter wheat by local farmers. Some of the crops are left in the field to provide food for waterfowl, deer, and upland birds.
The refuge's grasslands are managed using controlled burning, which deters woody vegetation and stimulates the growth of native species. Non-native vegetation, such as reed canarygrass and tall fescue, are removed through haying and chemical treatment and replaced with native grasses and wildflowers.
The Squaw Creek Wetland Management District is managed by the refuge and contains 1,570 acres of conservation easements and 910 acres of Service-owned lands in 21 counties of Northwest Missouri. The majority of these lands protect important streamside habitat. The Service protects the streamside habitat through fencing; plants trees; and seeds the former croplands to native grasses and wildflowers.
For example: AS OF 12/2/11 105,700 ducks (mostly mallards); 230,000 geese (98 percent snows and blues).
Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge
Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge is located in northwestern Missouri within the historic Missouri River floodplain. The 7,350-acre refuge was established in 1935 as a resting, feeding, and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife. Many of the original facilities were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration in the late 1930s.
The principal refuge habitats are seasonal and semipermanent wetlands, native warm and cool season grasslands, woodlands, and croplands. The refuge includes loess bluff hills, unusual geologic formations caused by wind-deposited soil, where remnants of the once-vast native prairie still exist.
Squaw Creek is best known for its large concentrations of snow geese, other waterfowl, and bald eagles. The refuge is a major stop-over for waterfowl, with more than one-half million birds in the fall and lesser, but still spectacular, numbers in the spring. The refuge is within the Mississippi Flyway.
Refuge staff at Squaw Creek manage habitat to benefit wildlife. Water levels in the refuge's wetlands are manipulated to provide optimal depths and vegetation for migrating waterfowl and shorebirds in the spring and fall and nesting marsh and water birds in the summer.
A small portion of the refuge is planted in corn, soybeans, and winter wheat by local farmers. Some of the crops are left in the field to provide food for waterfowl, deer, and upland birds.
The refuge's grasslands are managed using controlled burning, which deters woody vegetation and stimulates the growth of native species. Non-native vegetation, such as reed canarygrass and tall fescue, are removed through haying and chemical treatment and replaced with native grasses and wildflowers.
The Squaw Creek Wetland Management District is managed by the refuge and contains 1,570 acres of conservation easements and 910 acres of Service-owned lands in 21 counties of Northwest Missouri. The majority of these lands protect important streamside habitat. The Service protects the streamside habitat through fencing; plants trees; and seeds the former croplands to native grasses and wildflowers.
I hate DU. I think now there all about making look like they help the public but really
There helping the private rich investors!! I know several places that used to be lights out timber hunting then DU comes in takes over puts up all these levees and hoopla and now it sucks. Just my 2 cents.
There helping the private rich investors!! I know several places that used to be lights out timber hunting then DU comes in takes over puts up all these levees and hoopla and now it sucks. Just my 2 cents.
I hate DU. I think now there all about making look like they help the public but really
There helping the private rich investors!! I know several places that used to be lights out timber hunting then DU comes in takes over puts up all these levees and hoopla and now it sucks. Just my 2 cents.
There helping the private rich investors!! I know several places that used to be lights out timber hunting then DU comes in takes over puts up all these levees and hoopla and now it sucks. Just my 2 cents.
Steven Wilson Raft Creek......levi system with these soil units much like Ed Gordon.....when birds get here they hold em and hold em good....honestly i think alot of the problem is there are sooooooo many rest areas before Arkansas (Hallowell ) that ducks just dont make it down or fly over us....Theres enough rest area between Canada and Arkansas.....to probably equal the acreage size of some small US states....like i said i think they just arent gettin down here any more.....February 15 go to hallowelll....take camera....gaze in amazement
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I saw them during duck season but they were not there long... When I used to hunt BM we hunted about a quarter from halowell. FYI I have only hunted BM for the past 5 years so I am not accustomed to the glory days. We have a field next to BM and our hunting is exponetially better when BM is holding ducks... so I am all for holding more ducks.
I've been watching Halowell for almost ten years from a front row seat on Duck Ln. The amount of ducks that use it has fallen dramatically since the levees were reworked and moist soil units were put in. Even last year, when water was scarce, Halowell held lower numbers than in years past. How can that be?
Before the new levees were put in, there would be constant mallard ducks flying to and from the timber from Halowell. I remember stopping my boat on the ditch and just watching the thousands of ducks going in and out, 200 would be heading to the timber and another 200 would be returning...this was constant throughout the morning. At dusk it would be a spectacle to see three separate tornados of thousands of ducks. During the night you could go outside and hear the constant chatter, quacking, and a hundred thousand ducks making the largest rolling sound you could imagine. Now it is nothing but SILENCE. Very few ducks come in during the evenings. All we have now is the constant drone of snow geese making all kinds of racket. Is that the target species now?
Something interesting, Harley Gill's field to the south holds far more ducks right now than Halowell. Harley likes to keep the ducks off the field so they don't eat it out since his Alabama guys don't make it there often. I saw Harley walk out there yesterday and scare all the ducks out of his field. Those ducks flew over the ditch and into Halowell. About 30-45 minutes later, those same ducks left Halowell and flew back into Harley's field. If that doesn't say enough I don't know what will.
Until we get Halowell back to what it was, by either plantings or water management, the timber hunting won't be near as good. We HAVE to hold ducks in the area to keep them on public, and Halowell is our #1 priority for that goal.
I was willing to give AGFC/DU the benefit of the doubt regarding this since I thought the possibility was there for the right native grasses and vegetation to take a couple of years to establish. I think the expiration date on that has expired. Something has changed and we deserve an explanation on what has, and what is going to be done to get it back to where we were.
Before the new levees were put in, there would be constant mallard ducks flying to and from the timber from Halowell. I remember stopping my boat on the ditch and just watching the thousands of ducks going in and out, 200 would be heading to the timber and another 200 would be returning...this was constant throughout the morning. At dusk it would be a spectacle to see three separate tornados of thousands of ducks. During the night you could go outside and hear the constant chatter, quacking, and a hundred thousand ducks making the largest rolling sound you could imagine. Now it is nothing but SILENCE. Very few ducks come in during the evenings. All we have now is the constant drone of snow geese making all kinds of racket. Is that the target species now?
Something interesting, Harley Gill's field to the south holds far more ducks right now than Halowell. Harley likes to keep the ducks off the field so they don't eat it out since his Alabama guys don't make it there often. I saw Harley walk out there yesterday and scare all the ducks out of his field. Those ducks flew over the ditch and into Halowell. About 30-45 minutes later, those same ducks left Halowell and flew back into Harley's field. If that doesn't say enough I don't know what will.
Until we get Halowell back to what it was, by either plantings or water management, the timber hunting won't be near as good. We HAVE to hold ducks in the area to keep them on public, and Halowell is our #1 priority for that goal.
I was willing to give AGFC/DU the benefit of the doubt regarding this since I thought the possibility was there for the right native grasses and vegetation to take a couple of years to establish. I think the expiration date on that has expired. Something has changed and we deserve an explanation on what has, and what is going to be done to get it back to where we were.
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Amen to that. They are all about the $$$$ and the investors. Take a look at grassy lake and bell slough. We hunted there for years before the field was made into a rest area. Granted it is not one fo the HOTSPOTS Arkansas is know for but it was close to home and yhou could go kill a limit of mallards. Now it is absolutly pitiful and I believe it is all thanks to DU and the others like them.
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The money question really is this "Who was the ramrod who pulled the strings & got it done the way it is?"
Give you some hints:
Was the lucky winner of the bid to rebuild it & the owner of the Dirt Moving Company that did all the work?
Is a VERY heavy hitter with DU who did all the design work & lay out of the project?
Has vast personal interest in the area, including his own personal waterfowl rest area, also done thru DU that is totally built differant?
And, now a hint for you slower folks, Now wears the Crown at the Kings table of 7 of those the Govenor appointed to rule over all us phesant hunters?
Some biologist had to come up with this plan, was the biologist just that wrong???
I give up WHO???? Who did this to Halowell and how are they gonna fix it is all i care about? Where is David Goad and Luke Naylor when you need them??? oh forgot down at goose lake, but they are even hurting from halowell not holding ducks any longer.
Is the solution to knock down the levys and plant millet, corn, beans, and harleys "Duck Food" on all 640 acres??
What is the solution we can give to the game and fish to solve/fix the problem, cause its only getting worse?????
Im all for writing/convincing the commisoners to try and get this solved, but i am not a biologst and have no clue how to solve it? all i know is the ducks that used to REST there, no longer use the area.
Maddork87, there have always been rest areas, this is a new development in the last 5 years when the DU project went into fruitition , all those rest areas you stated exhisted at that time. in february all the land in arkansas county is drained to return to agriculture, woods and fields. halowell is the only place they have to go then. crap places hold ducks in february casue there is no where else to go.
there hasnt been 20,000 ducks in there the last 5 years. most i heard was 8000 and it was only for a day
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5 oaks .... anybody????
Private lease and gear = $15,000
Computer, Internet, Camera = $500
Postin a pic of dead mallards on a public forum just to have an adult use a 3rd grade cutdown out of jealousy.......PRICELESS
but yes i know its a new thing.....i know why they go there....i have an environmental degree its kinda what i do for a living.....it all boils down to FOOD SOURCE
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