This season sees quite a few changes to the regulations many hunters have come to know when heading to the woods and waters of The Natural State in the last few years. The most notable change is the reinstatement of spinning-wing and other mechanically operated decoys on AGFC wildlife management areas. These decoys have been allowed on private land for the last few years, and are now allowed on WMAs. Hunters should make note that these decoys are still illegal on national wildlife refuges in the state, however.

Another liberalization for a few duck hunting-focused WMAs is the expansion of the shot shell limit from 15 to 25. To add consistency to AGFC regulations, the Commission decided to have a standard 25-shell limit and a maximum shot size of No. 2 on all WMAs where boating and access timing restrictions called “Common Restriction A” are in place.

Hunters who purchase their federal duck stamp electronically also will be able to use their electronic license as proof of purchase for the entire season, thanks to new legislation passed at the federal level and championed by U.S. Sen.John Boozman and U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman of Arkansas.

Other notable changes include:

• Tree hooks no more than 3/8-inch in diameter are now allowed on Commission-owned WMAs but must be removed daily.

• Nonmotorized boat access to designated water trails is allowed from 1-6:30 p.m. during regular duck season, all day during duck season splits, and all day Nov. 18-22.

• One day (Feb. 9) is available for the Veteran and Active-Duty Military Waterfowl Hunt. The two Special Youth Hunt days take place over one weekend, Feb. 8-9, 2025.

• The daily bag limit for greater white-fronted geese (aka specklebellies) has been reduced from 3 to 2 for the 2024-25 season. The possession limit is 6. The greater white-fronted goose season has been reduced to 69 days and will open for nine days on Oct. 26, along with seasons for snow, blue and Ross’s geese.

• The annual Resident Guide License price has been increased to $250.

• The Nonresident 5-day Waterfowl Hunting Permit has been eliminated; the Nonresident WMA Waterfowl Hunting Permit 3-Day Trip (NW3) is $40, and 10 permits may be purchased by a nonresident. Nonresidents may purchase a 30-day permit ($200) to be used for 30 consecutive hunting days during regular season waterfowl hunting days. Nonresident no-hunting days have been eliminated.

• Egyptian geese may be taken at any time.

• Petit Jean River WMA east of Arkansas Highway 7 is open to waterfowl hunting only on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday Nov. 23-Jan. 30. All-day hunting is allowed Jan. 31.

• Camp Robinson Special Use Area, except Lake Conway Nursery Pond, is open to waterfowl hunting.

• Camp Robinson WMA is open to waterfowl hunting only on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday Nov. 23-Jan. 30. All-day hunting is allowed Jan. 31.

• Dove hunting is allowed on J. Perry Mikles Special Use Area while field trials are being conducted.

• Only boat motors with factory-installed exhaust systems may be used on the following NWRs: Cache River, Dale Bumpers White River, Felsenthal and Overflow.

• Common Restriction A applies within the greentree reservoir/special regulatory area of Nimrod Lloyd Millwood WMA.

• Scouting for waterfowl after 1 p.m. is prohibited on Cache River and Dale Bumpers White River NWRs.

Visit www.agfc.com to download a copy of the 2024-25 Waterfowl Hunting Guidebook.

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CUTLINES:

WOOD DUCKS
Hunters may harvest up to three wood ducks as part of their six-duck daily limit in Arkansas. Photo by Mike Wintroath.

SPINNING-WING DECOY
Spinning-wing and mechanical decoys are now allowed on AGFC-owned WMAs, but they are still banned on national wildlife refuges. Photo by Mike Wintroath.

GUIDEBOOK
The 2024-25 AGFC Waterfowl Hunting Guidebook will be in stores soon, and a downloadable version is available now at www.agfc.com. 

GOOSE HUNTER
Greater white-fronted goose season opens Oct. 26 with a daily bag limit of 2 geese. Photo by Luke Naylor. 

Which Way?
North American birds travel along four major superhighways in the sky during migration. These routes run along rivers, coastlines and mountains. Millions of birds traverse the Mississippi Flyway through Arkansas, which stretches 2,300 miles and spans 1.5 million square miles along North America’s greatest waterway.

In a world where we rely heavily on smartphones and other electronic gadgets to find our way, birds have us beat on navigation skills. These small, feathered creatures navigate so well that some may travel thousands of miles, through varied terrain and extreme weather, and are able to return to the same place where they were hatched.

People have puzzled over the coming and going of birds for centuries. Thanks to more widespread and updated field studies, such as bird banding and satellite tracking, we’re better informed on the complex methodology of migration.

Join the Flock
More than 400 bird species may be seen in Arkansas throughout the seasons. Learning when they are coming and going can be overwhelming for a novice birder.

Bird nerds – both amateur and professional – flock to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird website. Bird sightings, logged by citizen scientists from around the world, are distilled into data that is both useful for science and is enthralling for birders. Visit eBird.org/explore and check out the Bar Charts tab. Choose a region, such as Arkansas, and drill down even further to the county level to explore birds residing in your neck of the woods by month.

For those seeking more information on the spectacle of migration, Cornell and partners host BirdCast where scientists harness radar to analyze real-time bird migration traffic. Billions of birds migrate through the U.S. each spring and fall and amazingly, most fly during the night. Sign up for live and local bird migration alerts.

Here’s a sample of what’s coming and going in Arkansas:

Blue-winged Teal
Blue-winged teal, tiny dabbling ducks, leave the starting blocks well before other fall migrants. Watch for small, fast-flying flocks twisting and turning in unison as they wing their way through Arkansas July through November en route to South America for winter.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
The yellow-bellied sapsucker – the only completely migratory woodpecker in eastern North America – winters in Arkansas. Watch for neat rows of shallow holes in tree bark – the industrious woodpecker laps up oozing sap and trapped insects with its Velcro-like tongue.

Common Loon
Common loons are famous for their hauntingly beautiful calls. Loons enjoy Arkansas’s large, clear reservoirs during winter. Although less vocal during the nonbreeding season, a loon will occasionally emit its yodeling call. Watch for their sleek bodies with subdued winter plumage – plain gray above and white below – sitting low in the water.

Mississippi Kite
The crow-sized Mississippi kite thrives in Arkansas’s wooded river bottoms to suburban neighborhoods during the breeding season. They careen through summer skies on a quest to capture insect prey, especially dragonflies. After raising their chicks, these streamlined raptors fly to South America for winter.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird
The brilliant red and green flash of the ruby-throated hummingbird delights us at backyard feeders and flowers, spring to fall. Hummers fatten up on nectar and insects before flying nonstop over the Gulf of Mexico on their journey to wintering grounds in Central America.

Keep a List
Many bird watchers enjoy keeping a list of all the birds they have identified. It can be a thrill to see a species for the first time and add it to your life list.

A great way to start is with a yard list, adding every species of bird that visits your property. Check out AGFC’s miniature field guide, Arkansas Backyard Birds, to help identify some of the state’s common species. Migratory birds are exciting to spot, but don’t forget the homebodies that find Arkansas to their liking throughout the seasons: northern cardinals, blue jays, tufted titmice, Carolina chickadees, downy woodpeckers and white-breasted nuthatches brighten our landscape year round.

Keep track of your list through Wings Over Arkansas, AGFC’s award-based program recognizing bird watchers’ contributions to Arkansas’s outdoors. Start a checklist of birds you’ve seen and receive a decorative pin and certificate identifying your level of birding experience.

According to Randy Brents, Assistant Chief of the AGFC Private Lands Habitat Division, roughly 11,871 acres of land has been placed under contracts to enhance habitat for waterfowl this winter. Many of these acres may have been tilled early or left dry during the migration if not for the incentive.

“We have contracted with farmers to flood 10,961 acres of rice fields using surface water sources during a 90-day portion of the waterfowl wintering period, and none of those acres will be tilled, leaving as much waste grain as possible for ducks and geese,” Brents said. “Another 910 acres of native wetland plants will be flooded that can offer even more benefit to waterfowl and other migratory species.”

According to Brents, 127 landowners signed up to implement the flooded rice and wetland practices.

“Those are all acres that are above and beyond what normally would be contracted by other programs,” Brents said. “One of our requirements was that the land couldn’t be enrolled in another cost-share or incentive that paid for flooding.”

Brents said this boom in additional acreage is only a portion of the wetlands being provided by the AGFC and other agencies. The AGFC will fund nearly 16,000 acres of wetlands on private land this season.

“We have another 4,000-plus acres in the Waterfowl Rice Incentive Conservation Enhancement Program this winter that promotes flooded rice fields with an additional caveat that landowners allow some limited public hunting through a permit-based draw system,” Brents said. “And this year, thanks to the federal Migratory Bird Resurgence Initiative, an additional 29,946 acres are enrolled in federal programs to promote wetlands in the state for wildlife benefits. Our private lands biologists have been working hard with landowners to apply for these incentives as well.”

Garrick Dugger, Private Lands Habitat Division Chief, says the vision of this new initiative is simple: “You don’t manage wildlife in a bubble. Whether it’s private or public land, the success of wildlife habitat management depends on the land surrounding you, not just what you control. Even if we manage the public land absolutely perfect, we’re only affecting 10 percent of Arkansas’s land, the rest is up to private landowners, so we want to help with their efforts as well.”

Dugger said the connection between private and public land management is most obvious in migrating birds like waterfowl.

“We know that it takes wetland habitat on a landscape level to provide energy for migrating ducks and geese,” Dugger said. “Even if all of the public land in Arkansas is flooded and full of food, it’s only a fraction of the habitat needed to draw ducks to Arkansas and give them the nutrition they need during and after migration. Private land accounts for so much more of our state’s landmass, and it’s the actions of those landowners that play a pivotal role in wildlife management for us all. If rice fields aren’t wet, hunters everywhere notice it in empty skies and empty game straps.”

The Conservation Incentive Program is an undertaking by the AGFC’s Private Lands Habitat Division and is made possible by Greenway Equipment, an AGFC cultivating partner. Visit www.agfc.com/habitat for more information.

The federal agency has collected data on waterfowl populations through annual surveys for nearly 80 years. The annual Waterfowl Population Status Report summarizes the most current data and estimates on the breeding population and habitat conditions of most North American duck species, several populations of geese, tundra swans and the American coot. Aerial crews operating transect surveys — similar to what the AGFC uses three times a year in its in-season waterfowl surveys of the state — and ground crews backing up those aerial counts, survey about 2 million square miles of the U.S. and Canada.

The historic Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey is also referred to as the B-Pop, or Breeding Population Survey, or May Survey (though surveying continues into June). The USFWS, which coordinates the survey in collaboration with the Canadian Wildlife Service, says it has evolved into the largest and longest-running survey in the world.

How that count of ducks and geese will matter for Arkansas hunters beginning with the nine-day late October/early November white-fronted and lesser goose hunting season and the 60-day duck season opening Nov. 23 depends on many regional factors.

“Obviously this last year, it started off very dry here and for most of the duck season, so it’s really going to depend on habitat we’re seeing down here for the number of birds we end up seeing,” Leach said. “And the (B-Pop) itself, it’s only looking at the breeding population.”

The upper U.S. received significant late spring rainfall to give migrating ducks some actual wetlands in which to settle and breed. Leach says that this led to good renesting numbers that helped boost the overall count and it aids in brood survival. Migrating birds that saw dry conditions and overshot the traditional breeding grounds and flew further into the Boreal Forest region, he added, may have nested or didn’t attempt to nest this year, however. About 50-80 percent of ducks are produced in the prairie pothole region, especially mallards, pintails, blue-winged teal and gadwalls.

“We’ve just seen a cycle up there of being on the drier side the last couple of years,” Leach said. “We can expect that, though; we had been in a wet cycle. So, it’s expected. It’s not always a bad thing when they do go dry because that ends up making those wetlands even more productive once we start getting water back on the landscape.”

The drier conditions across the landscape definitely have been felt in Arkansas the past three duck seasons, too. Ducks need good habitat — water coverage across the landscape — as a reason to stop here on their migration. Leach is keeping his fingers crossed for perhaps a wetter late fall.

“If I had to guess, it’s going to really depend on what habitat conditions are looking like down here and what we get for rain. Obviously it’s been pretty dry for a little while now this year. If we get water across our landscape down here, I would expect to see more birds overall. Populations did increase from last year, so if we can get some of that habitat a little bit earlier, I think we’ll see a decent number of birds.”

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CUTLINES:

MALLARD IN FLIGHT
Mallards saw an 8 percent increase over last year in the breeding population survey, but are still 16 percent below their long-term average. Photo by Mike Wintroath.

WIDGEON ON WATER
American widgeon saw a 55 percent increase from last year in the 2024 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey. Photo by Mike Wintroath.

CHART
Mallards top the list of ducks showing an increase from 2023 totals to the 2024 B-Pop count, jumping from an estimated 6.1 million to 6.6 million, an 8 percent rise. Chart courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“Public input, understanding and support of our management goals and actions are critical to the success of saving our greentree reservoirs,” AGFC Director Austin Booth said. “These in-person meetings will let us talk one-on-one with those who attend to help break down any concerns and answer questions.”

After a brief introduction and overview of renovations planned at Dave Donaldson WMA’s Greentree Reservoirs, the AGFC will host a question-and-answer session to help cover any concerns or confusion about the overall project goals and methods. Once the question-and-answer session has concluded, participants will be able to visit in small groups or one-on-one with AGFC staff at multiple stations to address questions that are more specific to individual portions of the WMA or other greentree reservoirs.

“Conserving Arkansas’s famous green timber duck hunting is something that the AGFC is passionate about, and it requires much more than the status quo,” Booth said. “If we hope to pass down this treasure to our children and their children, we have to act now to do what we know is necessary for the health of the forests that provide these fantastic opportunities. I hope everyone has an opportunity to attend and help be a part of ensuring duck hunting’s future.”

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CUTLINES:

CROWD MEETING
The AGFC will host two meetings this Saturday to update the public about planned renovations to Northeast Arkansas duck-hunting areas.

SPEAKER PRESENTING
Meetings will begin with a brief presentation, followed by a question-and-answer session and breakout meetings on specific aspects of planned updates to public flooded timber waterfowl habitat in Arkansas.

DEAD TREE
Tree damage and death from flooding seen at hunting locations stresses the need for change in management on many public flooded timber areas.

The waterfowl report can be viewed online or emailed directly to you, so you can open it at your leisure. Visit https://signup.e2ma.net/signup/71744/40081 to sign up for the report or view past versions at www.agfc.com.