I've hunted many flooded fields, but I've never been the one to flood them. What is the best timeline to flood fields? The sooner the better, or wait until late fall?

I suppose it depends on what you're flooding but I believe that most fields should be flooded as far into the fall as possible. I am not referring to rice, though. From what I have gathered the longer that crops like beans and corn sit in water, the faster they will go bad. Couple of more qualified folks should chime in. Never had the luxury of duck hunting ag fields myself.

Our fields near Tunica are generally flooded a week or two before the season opener, sometimes later. Many times it depends on the farmer's harvesting schedule.

The sooner you flood them, the sooner the ducks are gonna get in there and eat up all your beans/rice. Of course, the geese don’t care if it’s flooded or not. The ducks really don’t either for that matter if they feel safe.

As late as you can. The longer the seeds sit in the water, they start to go bad.

2 weeks before season is usually when we start to flood, ducks are typically still sparse then..... and then we drop another board in the riser box every two weeks as the season progresses.

Good stuff guys. Like I said I've never done it myself. I realize it's got to be pretty late because all the crops would have to be harvested before flooding happens. I was actually thinking earlier would be better, but I see now why that might not be true.



I like this idea too.

Gradually flooding a field is a great idea if you can be mobile and move to where the ducks are feeding. The food is always concentrated on the newly flooded areas. The first areas flooded are typically the lowest area which is where our pits/blinds are. So gradually flooding IMHO pushes the ducks to the edges and away from the pit. We flood the field 2 weeks prior to the season and hunt. Results used to be good but the past 2 years not so much.

I agree with 2 weeks before season.

A few seasons ago, we had a field that didn't get flooded until mid December because of a few issues.

We shot their eyes our for 3 days straight. They love that new water.and they find it quick.