When you have to fight with Mother Nature on your highly-anticipated managed deer hunt, you usually lose, and that's pretty much the story from the Mingo National Wildlife Refuge last weekend.
Seventy-six people hunted on the refuge during its annual muzzleloader deer hunt, taking a mere 10 deer and six feral hogs over the course of the two-day event.
"The weather was not great at all, and it played a really big part in the hunt," said refuge manager Ben Mense. "It was 65 degrees and windy both days.
"It's always disappointing when the weather conditions don't cooperate, but it's obviously out of our control."
The full "supermoon" over the weekend also made things tough for hunters, Mense speculated, causing more nighttime deer movement.
It was so bright, "you could almost read at night," he said.
A lot of hunters who stopped by the check station, he said, reported seeing deer, but many couldn't get shots and some were just being selective.
The low muzzleloader kill, Mense said, could make it hard for the refuge to meet its harvest goals, but, fortunately, "the archery hunters have killed more deer already than all of last year," so it could balance out.
The archery season at Mingo remains open, concurrent with the statewide season, and usually by now, the deer have been pushed out of low-lying areas by floodwaters. This year, however, the refuge is dry and, Mense said, "the deer can be anywhere."
Antlerless Harvest
Hunters in the northern two-thirds Missouri, along with those in a few southwestern counties, managed to kill 7,728 deer during the three-day antlerless season, which ended Sunday evening.
That's a bit better than last year's harvest of 6,503 deer during the antlerless season, likely because of good weather.
Before 2016, the antlerless season was 12 days long, so season totals before then aren't comparable.
The statewide archery season remain open through Jan. 15, and the alternative methods season will run Dec. 23-Jan. 2.
Managed Hunt
If you had plans to head to the Peck Ranch Conservation Area to see the elk this weekend, you'll need to come up with an alternative plan.
Peck Ranch will be hosting its annual managed muzzleloader deer hunt on Saturday and Sunday, so the majority of the area will be closed to visitors.
According to area manager Preston Mabry, the roads inside the refuge perimeter will be closed to all public entry from dusk Friday until Monday morning.
If you still want to go see some elk, the next best option (and it could actually be better) is the Current River Conservation Area west of Ellington, Mo.
Bad News,
Good News
If you're a duck hunter in Southeast Missouri, you probably know the South Zone season re-opened on Monday. In fact, the duck season is open across all three zones in the state.
Apparently, a few guys didn't even know it was closed over the weekend and ventured onto the Coon Island Conservation Area for a hunt. I guess they didn't think anything of the lack of other hunters, but they'll likely remember their weekend hunt as an expensive one.
The bad news is, despite a half-inch of rain Monday night, overall dry conditions persist over the area, making MDC's managed waterfowl areas or private fields, which can be artificially flooded, the only real options for hunting.
The good news is a ton of new birds moved into the area before Monday's weather front.
Otter Slough was holding more than 56,000 ducks last week, but that number ballooned to almost 74,000 Monday.
"I've counted in the high 60s at Otter Slough before," said biologist Kevin Brunke, "but I don't think I've ever counted over 70,000."
If you can get drawn there, now would be a great time to hunt.
Arkansas Opener
If you hunt ducks in Arkansas, the Natural State's second duck season split opened today and will continue through Dec. 23.
Unfortunately, unless you have access to an area with water, the hunting is going to be awfully tough.
Just like in Missouri, most areas are dry, with little to no water. Even the world-renowned George H. Dunklin Jr. Bayou Meto Wildlife Management Area outside of Stuttgart, in Arkansas' Grand Prairie region, has essentially no water as the second season split ushers in.
Fortunately, the Dave Donaldson Black River Wildlife Management Area in Clay County does have water because AGFC diverts some from the river into the surrounding lowlands.
If you can find a cut field with leftover rainwater after a storm, like we had Monday night, especially if it's close to a major river, you might have a pretty good hunt.
Catfish and Crappies
It's not too often you hear about good catfishing in early December, but it's been fairly warm lately and the fish apparently are biting in the Wappapello spillway. In fact, two different people have told me they've caught some nice stringers lately.
Up on the lake side of the dam, some nice crappies also are being caught, though they're scattered and you have to work to find them. The catching should get better whenever the water temperature finally drops significantly.
Bass Tourney
The new USA Bassin' tournament series will be hosting a bass tournament Sunday, with fishing from Chaonia Landing.
Launch time is scheduled for 7 a.m., with the weigh-in set for 3 p.m.
The group has three other tournaments are scheduled over the next few months, including Feb. 17, March 10 and April 14.
For more information, give Tournament Director Doug Warren a call at 573-924-2215 or 573-366-5007.
Wappapello
Drawdown
For those who venture onto Wappapello Lake, and especially those with duck blinds out there now, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will begin drawing the lake down to its winter pool on Dec. 15.
For duck-blind owners, that means you should pay close attention to water levels and move your blind before it gets stranded high and dry.
"We're going to start on the 15th," said Operations Manager Cynthia Jackson. "We'll ramp up to 1,500 cfs , and it should take about 10 days, without any additional rainfall, to drop the 5 feet (to winter pool)."
Jackson said anyone with questions about the drawdown should call the lake's management office at 573-222-8562.
Wappapello Lake, she said, also will be updating its master plan and shoreline management plans early next year and will be hosting public meetings Jan. 17 at Greenville and Jan. 18 at the lake's visitor center so everyone can see what's planned and chime in with their opinions.