Despite a general lack of water across the region, there still are quite a few ducks hanging around Southeast Missouri, though it appears peak numbers have come and gone.
The thing is, while some flooded private lands and deep-water lakes are holding birds, the majority are being found primarily on managed areas with artificial flooding capability.
Just look at the contrast between the Mingo National Wildlife Refuge, which is mostly reliant on rainwater to fill its pools, and the adjacent Duck Creek Conservation Area, which floods its units with well water and lake water from Pool 1.
At Mingo earlier this week, the mostly-dry refuge was holding 8,324 ducks, a low number for this time of year.
At the same time, right next door at Duck Creek, biologists counted 55,175 ducks on Monday.
At the Otter Slough Conservation Area, which is artificially flooded, duck numbers last week were at, or near, all-time highs when biologist Kevin Brunke counted almost 74,000 birds. This week, however, the duck population has dropped to around 50,000, which is still nothing to sneeze at. In fact, the bird-per-hunter average still has been up around 4.0 this week.
In the South Zone, the Coon Island Conservation Area has been getting hit hard by hunters, including a lot of nonresidents, even though there's not a whole lot of places to hide there. Fortunately, the number of birds at Coon Island doubled over the last week to almost 10,000 now.
The lower timber unit at Coon Island, Pool 9, is being pumped with water now, but as of yet, the mallards haven't found it and it's pretty devoid of birds.
Forging Ahead
Archery deer hunters continue to have some success, but it's been slow going, with just a few taken each day in our six-county area. The colder days lately, however, seem to have helped the situation.
As of yesterday afternoon, bowhunters had taken 643 deer in Ripley County, 566 in Carter County, 495 in Butler County, 498 in Stoddard County, 960 in Wayne County and 90 in Dunklin County.
Statewide, the archery harvest is at 47,841, which already is above last year's entire season total of 47,550 deer.
Interestingly, I have seen more than one report from reliable sources over the last week who noted they've seen bucks already shedding their antlers.
It is quite a bit earlier than normal for that to happen, but, biologists say, if bucks aren't around any does consistently, they'll drop their antlers early. I'm not sure if that's true or not, but the notion does seem to have merit.
Also, by the way, in case anyone cares, Missouri bowhunters have taken 2,124 turkeys so far this fall, which is a little shy of last year's season total of 2,304.
Blustery Bassin'
It takes a dedicated angler to brave cold, blustery conditions in December for the chance to take home some cash prize winnings. With that said, there weren't a lot of entries in Sunday's USA Bassin' tournament at Wappapello Lake, but those who were there certainly caught fish.
The top anglers of the day were Doug Warren and Joe Dougherty, who had a total weight of 12.64 pounds. They were aided in their win by the day's big bass, which weighed 5.10 pounds.
Second place went to Kenny Williams and Larry Williams with 6.94 pounds, and third place was earned by Brandon Clark and Nathan Griffin with 5.61 pounds.
The organization's next bass tournament will be held Feb. 17, with fishing from the Chaonia Landing ramp.
Crappie Tournament
The Wappapello Crappie Club will be hosting a tournament on Saturday.
The take-off time has been set for 7 a.m., and you can use any ramp on the lake.
Weigh-in will start at 2 p.m. at the VFW off Highway T.
If you need to get registered or need more information, give Dave Maddux a call at 573-718-2756. You also can register ahead of the event at the Sundowner Marina.
Better Crappies
Now that the water temperature has fallen, devoted crappie anglers are starting to catch better numbers of bigger fish at Wappapello Lake.
Charlie Brotherton at Sundowner Marina said he talked with a couple of anglers at his shop Sunday who both took home their limits of crappies by mid-morning.
While some still are catching crappies in shallow water, especially in the afternoons, deeper water (10 feet or more) is where the bigger fish seem to be hanging out.
Jigs, in particular, fished in and around deep brush piles have been the go-to tactic.
The only gotcha, Brotherton said, is the wind. When it kicks up, and it has a lot lately, the fishing (and boat control) can become pretty difficult.
Drawdown Reminder
Don't forget, if you utilize Wappapello Lake this time of year, tomorrow is the day U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials will begin drawing the lake level down to winter conservation pool.
According to Operations Manager Cynthia Jackson, the process should take about 10 days, and once the level has fallen, boaters and duck blind owners will have to pay close attention to the water's depth so they don't get left stranded high and dry.
Coon Hunt
On Dec. 14, the Butler County Coon Club will be hosting a PKC hunt at its headquarters building off County Road 607, south of Poplar Bluff.
The entry deadline for the event is 7 p.m.
For more information, give Terry Uhl a call at 573-714-1624.
Christmas
Bird Count
Finally, Poplar Bluff's annual Christmas Bird Count will be held Wednesday, and organizers always are looking for more help to make it as accurate as possible.
The count, according to compiler Bruce Beck, is done inside a 15-mile diameter circle, which encompasses about 177 square miles. Up to 72 species have been counted in the past.
Anyone wishing to help is asked to meet at Hardee's on South Westwood Boulevard by 7:30 a.m. Wednesday to receive a map of their assigned area and more information.
If you need more information or might want to help or tag along with someone, give Beck a call at 573-785-3871 or email him at beckbugs42@gmail.com.