Need advice on puplic duck hunting...
 

A buddy and I are looking to go somewhere up north to take our boys duck hunting over the thanksgiving Holidays. We would like to do some flooded timber hunting but open water would be fine also. Do any of you know of any decent public hunting areas say from the Alexander area on up through Arkansas? I'm hauling my 5th wheel and generator so lodging isn't a issue. Thanks....

Bouff WMA near monroe. Its baited and full of mallards

:grinpimp: Beouf is a great spot, thanksgiving will not have a bunch of birds down yet, but Christmas time you may get your flooded timber wish. If it was like last year though, you may wanna stay south. All the ducks passed up N La due to lack of water. Felsenthal is another good area if there is water, if not, don't waste your time. Too many people for too few spots. Beouf has a greentree reservoir. No internal combustion engines, but if you don't mind using a pirogue it can be great.

Not sure what the water is like up in arkansas, but a freind of mine has been to arkansas and hunted bayou meto and he said the ducks are thick like crazy up there.

Public hunting will be tough during the holidays and it will be tougher to find a place the locals have not already claimed. Know a guide on catahoula I can hook you up with if he still has dates, PM me and I'll share his number.

what I m hearing now is felsanthal is low as is most of the prime S. Arkansas timber. If you go to northeast Akry they have water but thats a haul and is gonna be full of everybody else in the state Same for N. LA water is low everywhere and thanksgiving is already a madhouse up there especially since the east zone is only open one week first split. I would wait till the middle of december like duck butter said

hackberry flats in oklahoma

I have hunted this area too. Lots of mallards. Bout 20 miles east of Stuttgart.

Catahoula is public, hit it up!

Kinda Sorta, it is not a place to go and setup in the dark to kill ducks.
I grew up hunting the lake and those up there do not take the "Public" aspect of Catahoula seriously. It is "PRIVATE" unless you have a blind.
There are very few public duck hunting areas in the U.S. that you can kill birds on without a local helping you unless you have a week to hunt and scout. It is not worth the aggravation IMO to try and make a hunt very far from home without using someone that knows the territory and local population. Never was fond of hearing "Banjos playing in the background".;)

Catahoula ..
 

I know first hand what your talking about, a couple years ago a buddy hooked up with a local, they built a blind for my buddy, a lot of work went into it, opening morning the blind was no more, locals had torn it down. We then tried hunting out of our boat, we were given such a hard time by the locals we gave it up without killing one bird, not a very good experience. I used to hunt sabine refuge alot too, other than not being able to put permanent blinds the atmosphere is pretty much the same there too, so it's not just up north.

yep
 

Thats exactly what we decided to do, gonna make a dec trip up there, going for a week, getting a couple of days of guided flooded timber hunting then trying the public thing for a couple of days.

I've heard more than one horror story of "outsiders" trying to make a duck hunt on Catahoula. Not worth the hassle IMO....and that's just the way the locals like it.

Remember, Ark WMA's have a 25HP restriction on motors and they mean it. Forgot to mention that Tensas NWR has some jam up duck hunting if the water gets right. The days of the week you can hunt are real screwey though. Some serious banjo players up there also.

All the river's up this way are very low,Felsanthal is about to lower their dam just to get some current moving in the oua****a. It will take alot of rain to get some back water up here. No Banjo's here.

Welcome and thanks for the info! You got watch out for the accordions in da marsh down here lol

I have a buddy that goes to lake Kincaid, near Alexandria, every Thanksgiving or so to hunt deer. He says the lake is full of Canvasbacks. That sounds like a nice place to get one.

What is the limit on Cans?

Looks like 1/person again this year.

http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/sites/d..._2011-2012.pdf