Just curious we are headed up Friday morning for the weekend and are gonna be hunting flood fields. Just wanting a report

You might be ice skating this weekend

Yup

Where at in AR?

Struttgart

You're going to Struttgart?

I think you'll hit it about right. Prob have some morning ice. Hunting after lunch will be good. You hunting with a guide?

Struttgart. Interesting.

yessir

what I am told we gonna hook up with a guide and he his gonna put us on his flooded fields in pit blinds

I might have miss spelled that

Ice is solid to the ground in the fields. There is no field water there now. Only ice skating rinks. With the first temps above freezing Fri PM....I wouldn't expect much in a field situation until Sunday.

I hunted in Loanoke just west of Stuttgart over the weekend. Had thin ice over most of a 40 acre reservoir but had lots of birds in the open water spots.

Better make sure your waders don�t leak and wear a good jacket.

Everything is locked up hard around Stuttgart. I ain�t seen a damn duck yet. Bunch of geese. Do not ever under no circumstances use Big Creek Guide Service. This place is a shucks hole. We just got here but the lying by the guide has left a sour taste in my mouth.

This

Shallow water in the fields lock up quicker than deeper water. I�d call and ask questions. Any reputable guide will tell what is going on.

I sure hope you find some birds up there because you cannot buy a duck down here in the rice fields or the marshes. I talked to a buddy yesterday who had a decent place in the marsh and they had 6 hunters for 3 days and killed 4 ducks. I'm not sure what's happening but this area of SW la is getting worse every year for ducks. Our farm is a little over 6k acres and water everywhere and other than a few resident spoonbills you cannot find a duck on it. In the past when we had this kind of weather the fields would be solid ducks. Hell in the afternoons I could kill a limit in the back yard. I've been watching every afternoon and I bet I haven't seen a duzen ducks with this big cold front. It's hard to believe that not that long ago we would kill so many ducks that we would give coolers full away to people who needed them and now you can't kill one. For the record I did not kill coolers full of ducks, that was from the hunting camp I would work at. Lots of people wouldn't or couldn't take thier birds so we would give them to the less fortunate. No birds ever went to waste.

No ducks in Arkansas around Ethel. Heard two shots all morning. Everything is froze over hard. We had the most unprofessional guides that I have ever seen. Never even introduced themselves. I will not ever be back here again.

I was supposed to have gone up Monday and hunt Jan 2-4. Our guide called and told us to reschedule because it would be a waste of time until the ice is gone.

He said they have a ton of birds, but not enough open water to hunt. He suggested that we reschedule for January 16-18th which I appreciated.

He was able to find a creek to hunt Sunday afternoon with running water and they killed 51 in 15 minutes

I took off today through Monday for a planned trip to Arkansas. We were leaving today and in fact, were supposed to be on road now. Was told to stay home. Had about 4 places to hunt in woods and fields and none are huntable now. River was flooded but water left and ducks did too. Places that never freeze have ice 2in thick. Prob start thawing by Sunday which will be too late for me to go. I'm already packed so if they call I'll leave tomorrow but based on what I've been told, NE Arkansas is locked up tight. I even tried to book into a lodge or lease a pit. Was told that they are rescheduling clients due to the freeze.

Maybe your spot is different but I'd call first before driving 8 hours to look at frozen fields and empty skies. Good luck.

Dr. B

Save your gas and time. We went the end of last week to our place in NE Ark and everything is locked up and very few ducks. Nature of the beast. Reschedule of at all possible even if its next year