By PAUL DAVIS
Outdoors Editor
Missouri’s Middle Zone duck season has officially closed, and honestly, most hunters are probably glad that headache is gone.
As Ron McKuin and others have said, this was easily the worst duck season they could recall.
The season never really got going locally because large numbers of migrant birds didn’t show up in Southeast Missouri. Even with one or two strong cold fronts in December, no significant pushes of fresh ducks appeared.
Week after week over the course of the 60-day season, duck numbers remained way below average and hunters had to work extra hard to fool birds that had been in the area for an extended period of time.
Overall, Missouri has been holding good numbers of ducks, but just not in our region. Places like Grand Pass, Ted Shanks and other managed wetlands to the north have been holding up to 225,000 birds for weeks on end, but they never moved because they didn’t have to. With no ice to push them out and food in the form of harvested grain fields available everywhere, they just sat right there on refuge pools as the season slipped away.
Daylight duck movement was minimal as the birds figured out quickly how to avoid hunters by flying out of their refuge holes and feeding almost exclusively at night, making things even tougher.
The numbers from our two local managed wetlands in the Middle Zone, the Otter Slough and Duck Creek conservation areas, really tell the tale.
This year, 5,079 hunters at Otter Slough killed a mere 6,781 ducks and 175 geese for a 1.4 bird-per-hunter average. For perspective, last year’s season was the second-best ever at Otter Slough, with more than 5,800 hunters taking 18,266 ducks. If you’re counting, this year was down about 62 percent.
At Duck Creek this year, 4,054 hunters, including the youth season, killed 3,373 ducks for a 0.83 bird-per-hunter average.
Otter Slough’s hunting positions were only filled on 18 of the season’s 60 days, while Duck Creek was full only 13 times. Those are nearly unheard-of statistics for a season with no ice locking up the water.
The state’s South Zone duck season remains open until Jan. 27, so there’s less than three weeks for some miracle winter weather to push ducks into the area and give hunters who haven’t given up yet a reason to put in the effort.
Winding Down
Missouri’s archery deer and turkey season also is quickly approaching its last day, which is Tuesday.
Bowhunters still are closing in on the deer harvest record set back in 2012-13, and last weekend was especially good for them. As of yesterday, the harvest total was only about 1,050 shy of the record.
The weather this weekend looks to be a bit rough for bowhunting, so the record just might survive. Winter precipitation over the area will likely keep most hunters at home. On the other hand, it should also be good for getting deer on their feet to feed for those who do take a crack at it.
Final Days
For those few who have been hunting bobwhite quail or pheasants, those seasons also will come to an end Tuesday in Missouri.
Other small game, including rabbits and squirrels, will remain open until Feb. 15.
Coon Club
The Butler County Coon Club will be hosting an HTX hunt tomorrow, based out of its clubhouse on County Road 607.
The night will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a club meeting, followed by the hunt at 6.
If you need more information, give Terry Uhl a call at 573-714-1624.
High Waters
Wappapello Lake rose a little more than 2 feet after the rain Friday night and Saturday, and after cresting late Sunday at about 363.6 feet, it’s slowly starting to fall again.
Even with the high water, anglers who have been getting off the main lake and back into the coves, where the water is clearer, have been catching good numbers of crappies.
Fishing deep around structure is the key to success lately, so spend your time there.
Clearwater Lake crested Monday just more than 4 feet above normal and it’s slowly on its way back down again.