This is my opinion from an "older" duck addict. Do some of ya'll know that Arkansas has twice the acreage in rice that La. does. I've been to Ark. in late January for farm equipment auctions. The ducks have it made. Flooded fields and timber resembling our Atchafalaya basin. If I was a duck the only reason to leave is ice or pressure. Duck hunting is no longer a "blue collar" sport. If you don't have the "big bucks" or land in the family you're screwed. Some Ark. farmers told me the "big wheels" come from Tennessee and others places to hunt. At the time, which was around '99 or 2,000, blinds were going for as high as $10.000. It pays the farmers to ring their cropland with levees and pump water. Rice hasn't been to profitable lately. Hell, the other day I was watching em burn mallards in Missouri in a "flooded" corn field. As far as I know corn doesn't required that much water(LOL). Duck hunting is now a rich man's sport. That doesn't help "blue collar" people like me. People like me hunted when duck hunting "wasn't cool". We did it cause we loved the sport. That's my story and I'm sicking to it
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