Avery Outdoors Canada 2003

Avery^® Hunting Journal Entries Arkansas 2003

Please Send Us a Few Ducks!
Stuttgart, Arkansas, January 2, 2004
By Travis Mueller, Avery^® Territory Manager

DATE: Saturday, January 2, 2004
LOCATION: Stuttgart, Arkansas
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 7:15 A.M./ 5:00 P.M.
WEATHER: Partly Sunny and warm
TEMPERATURE: Highs in the mid 70's, with lows in the 50's
WIND: Southeast 15-20 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: Greenhead Gear Over-Size Mallards, Greenhead Gear Life-Size Mallards, Greenhead Gear Life-Size Pintails, and Greenhead Gear Life-Size Green-winged Teal
HUNTERS: Mark Schoenbeck, Kathy Zanders/Stellhorn, Ryan Nurnberger and Travis Mueller
JOURNAL NOTES: I left a winter storm warning in Iowa and was greeted by sunny 70 degree weather! We hunted this morning and for the first twenty minutes we battled mosquitoes. January 2nd, and I'm swatting mosquitoes? What have I gotten myself and the people from Zander's into. Just then a lone mallard drake came in and never left. The rumor was that ducks were leaving southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana and were headed north. Usually when I hunt in Iowa I look northward, but apparently I once again had to rethink things because we had birds working like they were new birds in 65 degree weather. We scratched out 12 ducks this morning and scratched was putting slow lightly. We hunted until 11:00 or so and never saw a good concentration of birds other than snows which have always been something to watch and pass the time when things were slow. Overall the birds that were there were very smart and had been through this before. Hopefully things will pick up down there because right now ducks are hard to come by!

Late Start Mallards
Stuttgart, Arkansas, December 6, 2003
By David Carrington, Avery^® Pro-Staffer

DATE: Saturday, December 6, 2003
LOCATION: Stuttgart, Arkansas
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 6:55 A.M.
WEATHER: Sunny and Chilly
TEMPERATURE: Highs in the mid to upper 40's, with lows in the upper 30's
WIND: Northwest 10-15 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: Greenhead Gear Life-Size Mallards, Greenhead Gear Life-Size Pintails, Greenhead Gear Life-Size Green-winged Teal, Avery Blinds Bags, Avery Guide's Bags, Avery Pit Bag, Avery Floating Duck Strap, Greenhead Gear Ankle Gaiters, Avery NeoBottle, Avery Pocket Field Case, Avery Floating Gun Case, and an Avery Windproof/Waterproof Fleece. Go-Devil Boat with Go-Devil 23 HP.
HUNTERS: David Carrington, Julie Coffey, John Donati and my new hunting partner, Hatchet

JOURNAL NOTES: Getting a bit of a late start, we arrived at the reservoir 15 minutes before shooting time. We loaded our gear in the Go-Devil outfit and arrived at the blind 20 minutes after shooting time. On the trip, we jumped hundreds of Mallards and couldn't wait to hunt. By 8:30, we had our limits of Mallards, which had worked into the Greenhead Gear decoys perfectly. We decided that waiting on "other" ducks would have diminished the hunt. But as we were taking pictures, Mallards settled into the decoys and, as you might have guessed, several Widgeons were included in the groups. One of the best parts of the hunt was the performance of Hatchet, as this blind has a remote guide post were the retriever sits and can plainly see all the birds as they hit the water - the perfect ticket for a young dog in shallow water. This was definitely one of the best hunts of the season thus far.

John Donati and Julie Coffey, Licensing Programs Coordinator for Ducks Unlimited

A Field Loaded with Big Ducks
Heth, Arkansas, December 6, 2003
By Jason Thompson, Avery^® Associate Pro-Staffer

DATE: Saturday, December 6, 2003
LOCATION: Heth, Arkansas
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 6:55 A.M.
WEATHER: Mostly Sunny and Cold
TEMPERATURE: Highs in the mid to upper 40's
WIND: Northwest 10-15 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: Greenhead Gear Life-Size Mallards, Greenhead Gear Life-Size Pintails, Greenhead Gear Life-Size Wigeons, Avery Blind Bags, Avery Guide's Bags, Avery Floating Duck Strap, Avery NeoBottle, Avery Pocket Field Case and an Avery Floating Gun Case.
HUNTERS: Chris Cotton, Tommy Henry and Jason Thompson
JOURNAL NOTES: After our previous hunt in the bean field yesterday we decided to try out a rice field that was holding several thousand mallards and pintails. When we arrived at the field just before shooting time we flushed ducks from every inch of the place. There were thousands of big ducks that had been roosting in the field all night long and it was awesome to witness these birds lift from the field. Our hopes were the ducks would return and pay our Greenhead Gear spread a visit throughout the morning. At first light we had ducks swarming us, but I wanted to wait until we could see a little better because of all the pintails in the area. By the time we could positively identify the birds we took a few mallards and a couple of wigeons.

Unfortunately for us pintail season was closed and the numbers of pintails were astonishing. We had literally dozens of chances to shoot pintails, but the season closed a few days earlier and it will not open again until January 5th in AR. Man, I can't wait to get back when the season reopens! I am confident there will not be this many around when they are in season, because that's how it usually happens. We ended the morning by shooting 8 birds, a mixed bag of mallards, wigeons, gadwall and a beautiful drake shoveler to be mounted on the wall.

Tommy Henry (left) of Jay, FL and Chris Cotton (right) of Birmingham, AL. Photo by Avery's Jason Thompson

Locating All Smiling Mallards
Heth, Arkansas, December 5, 2003
By Jason Thompson, Avery^® Associate Pro-Staffer

DATE: Friday, December 5, 2003
LOCATION: Heth, Arkansas
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 6:54 A.M.
WEATHER: Mostly Cloudy and Cold
TEMPERATURE: Highs in the mid 30's
WIND: West 20-25 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: Greenhead Gear Life-Size Mallards, Greenhead Gear Life-Size Pintails, Greenhead Gear Life-Size Wigeons, Avery Blind Bags, Avery Guide's Bags, Avery Floating Duck Strap, Avery NeoBottle, and Avery Fleece Neck Gaiters.
HUNTERS: Chris Cotton, Colin Cotton, Tommy Henry, Dan Thomas and Jason Thompson
JOURNAL NOTES: A cold front with heavy winds moved across the midwest and it created a perfect duck hunting day. With high winds and cloud cover moving across Arkansas we decided to hunt a bean field that had not yet been hunted this season. Yesterday the landowner had been seeing quite a few ducks pouring into this particular field. We arrived to the pit blind just before shooting time and prepared for our hunt. Just a few minutes after shooting time arrived the ducks started pouring into the field. We saw mostly shovelers (smiling mallards) the entire morning and saw a limited number of mallards.

The high winds made the temperatures feel more like 25 degrees rather than 35 degrees. The ducks made for some great shooting and by 8 a.m. we had already shot 20. For the next couple of hours we enjoyed singles and pairs that visited our spread and finished our limits by around 10am. All 30 ducks were Northern Shovelers! What a fun day to share in a duck blind with your closest friends. Looks like it could be a good weekend for duck hunting in AR. The crew from Alabama and Florida can't wait to get back after the ducks in the morning.

(L to R) Chris Cotton of Birmingham, AL, Tommy Henry of Jay, FL, Dan Thomas of Brewton, AL and Colin Cotton of Jacksonville, AL. Photo by Avery's Jason Thompson

Reservoir Mallards
Stuttgart, Arkansas, December 2, 2003
By Scott Moates, Avery^® Territory Manager

DATE: Tuesday, December 2, 2003
LOCATION: Stuttgart, AR
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 6:58 A.M./ 4:57 P.M.
WEATHER: Cloudy, patches of sun
TEMPERATURE: Highs around 60, with lows in the 30's
WIND: ESE 10-15 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: Greenhead Gear Hot-Buy Mallards, Greenhead Gear Life-Size Mallards, Greenhead Gear Life-Size Pintails, Greenhead Gear Life-Size Wigeon, Floating Blind Bags, Floating Gun Cases, Floating Duck Straps
HUNTERS: Scott Moates, Mackey Moates, Chis Bates, Lyle Bates
JOURNAL NOTES: We decided to try the blind that we originally started in yesterday morning and we made the right decision. The ducks did not work early, but by 8:30, the action really picked up. The ducks really responded to our calling and worked right into the hole, so we had very easy shots and made clean kills. We ended up with 11 greenheads and 2 hen mallards. We are really hoping for some weather in the next week to bring in some fresh ducks. This is my last hunt for this first season. Hopefully, we will have some good reports for the second season.

Chis and Lyle Bates along with Avery Territory Manager Scott Moates after their great mallard hunt in Stuttgart.

Afternoon success
Stuttgart, Arkansas, December 1, 2003
By Scott Moates, Avery^® Territory Manager

DATE: Monday, December 1, 2003
LOCATION: Stuttgart, AR
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 6:58 A.M./ 4:57 P.M.
WEATHER: Clear
TEMPERATURE: Highs around 60, with lows in the 20's
WIND: NE 10-20 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: Greenhead Gear Hot-Buy Mallards, Greenhead Gear Life-Size Mallards, Greenhead Gear Life-Size Pintails, Greenhead Gear Life-Size Wigeon, Floating Blind Bags, Floating Gun Cases, Floating Duck Straps
HUNTERS: Scott Moates, Mackey Moates, Chis Bates, Lyle Bates
JOURNAL NOTES: This morning we hunted a reservoir just south of Stuttgart. When we set up the wind was coming out of the SW, which is perfect for this blind. But, just after shooting time, the wind switched out of the NE and the ducks would not work in. We changed locations and by this time, the wind had really kicked up and the ducks were having a hard time coming to our hole. We wound up with seven mallards, but had a very enjoyable hunt.

We decided to hunt the afternoon to try and fill out our limits. We had been watching a particular rice field the past couple of evenings, so we decided to try that pit. The ducks worked in good and we ended up filling our limit for the day. After shooting hours, the ducks really began to fill this field up and we enjoyed watching the show from our truck.

Chis and Lyle Bates after a good hunt in Stuttgart, Arkansas.

Early Season Birds Seem Skiddish
Stuttgart, Arkansas, November 25, 2003
By Jason Thompson, Avery^® Associate Pro-Staffer

DATE: Tuesday, November 25, 2003
LOCATION: Stuttgart, Arkansas
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 6:52 A.M./ 5:00 P.M.
WEATHER: Mostly Sunny and Cool
TEMPERATURE: Highs in the mid 40's, with lows in the upper 20's
WIND: Southwest 10-15 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: Greenhead Gear Life-Size Mallards, Greenhead Gear Life-Size Pintails, Greenhead Gear Life-Size Green-winged Teal, Avery Blinds Bags, Avery Guide's Bags, Avery Floating Game Strap, Remington Hevi-Shot and Avery Fleece Caller's Gloves.
HUNTERS: Tom Matthews, Allen Hughes, Tom Fulgham, Fred Zink, Jason Thompson and Jim Alexander
JOURNAL NOTES: A nice weather pattern moved in last night bringing colder temperatures and a good wind. Preparations were made to get a couple of our good friends and licensed partners from Ducks Unlimited over for a duck hunt in Stuttgart. Everyone met at the Avery office at 4:30am for a quick 2 hour drive to the reservoir where there had been several thousand mallards and other ducks roosting the night before.

We arrived in Stuttgart around 6:45 and began seeing a few birds early. Most of the morning we had singles and pairs visit the blind. However, on a few occasions we had a couple of decent groups that fell victim to our Greenhead Gear^® decoy spread and the expert calling by Fred Zink.

We ended the hunt with a total of 21 ducks, 20 drake mallards and 1 gadwall. Although it's only the 4th day into the Arkansas season the ducks were somewhat skiddish most of the morning. We saw less ducks than we had located the previous afternoon probably due to the colder weather pushing a few more out of the area and not bringing as many into the reservoir. We had a great hunt together and made memories that will last a lifetime.

(L to R) Editor-in-Chief of Ducks Unlimited Magazine, Tom Fulgham, Avery's Fred Zink, Ducks Unlimited's Manager of Licensing, Jim Alexander and Avery's Jason Thompson

Hunting the Willows
Stuttgart, Arkansas, November 25, 2003
By Travis Mueller, Avery^® Associate Pro-Staffer

DATE: Tuesday, November 25, 2003
LOCATION: Stuttgart, Arkansas
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 6:52 A.M./ 5:00 P.M.
WEATHER: Mostly Sunny and Cold
TEMPERATURE: Highs in the mid 40's, with lows in the upper 20's
WIND: Southwest 10-15 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: Greenhead Gear Life-Size Mallards, Greenhead Gear Life-Size Pintails, Greenhead Gear Life-Size Green-winged Teal, Avery Blinds Bags, Avery Guide's Bags, Avery Floating Game Strap, Remington Hevi-Shot and Avery Fleece Caller's Gloves.
HUNTERS: Travis Mueller and Allen Treadwell
JOURNAL NOTES: Hunted the reservoir again this morning back in the willows. We watched the weather this morning and saw that it was going to get cloudy later in the day but was going to be sunny early. The mallards had been feeding early and then they were coming back and still wanted to get into the willows to rest. We had anywhere from 2 to 200 working throughout the morning and ended with two limits of mallards with a teal and widgeon as well. It has become quite obvious as the days drag on that these mallards are beginning to pick decoy spreads apart with a fine toothcomb. I honestly believe with the mixture of decoys we have had out every morning, the mallards have felt more comfortable finishing. They have seen spreads all the way from Canada, and 90% of these spreads have been all mallards. We had five different species mixed throughout our spread and it looked very realistic. Little things kill ducks! Good luck

WHAT AN OPENER!!!!!!
Stuttgart, Arkansas, November 22, 2003
By Travis Mueller, Avery^® Territory Manager

DATE: Saturday, November 22, 2003
LOCATION: Stuttgart, Arkansas
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 6:50 A.M./ 5:01 P.M.
WEATHER: Partly Sunny and WARM
TEMPERATURE: Highs in the mid 70's, with lows in the 50's
WIND: South 10-15 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: Greenhead Gear Over-Size Mallards, Greenhead Gear Life-Size Mallards, Greenhead Gear Life-Size Pintails, and Greenhead Gear Life-Size Green-winged Teal
HUNTERS: Fred Zink, Warren Coco, Travis Mueller, and Bill Cooksey
JOURNAL NOTES: The opener for Arkansas started off with a BANG this morning for the Avery Crew as we saw the most ducks we have seen in some time. We had Warren Coco from Go-Devil Boats with us and he must of brought some luck as well. The timely weather up north had already loaded up our area with ducks, and we were ready for them with four hunters and one of the best film crews in the country. The night before we watched what seemed like a never ending supply of ducks pouring back into our reservoir and knew we were in for quite a hunt in the morning.

The morning was filled with flight after flight of teal, mallards, pintails, wigeons, gadwalls, and even the occasional spoonbill. We waited and waited, for what seemed like hours so the light would be really good for the guys shooting the video. Man, when we started, it was on!!! These ducks wanted to get into our hole like I have never seen in my life. Huge groups of mallards were constantly working, making it tough to call at a particular group of ducks. We would be calling at one flock and two others would fall out of the sky right into our laps. We took turns killing four limits of mallards and taking stabs at each other when it took more than one shot or even three shots to kill a duck, but still had a great time doing it. For the "other ducks" we shot mainly teal with a few gadwalls "grey ducks" mixed in. The man with the dead eye this morning was Warren as I personally watched him make quick work of three teal in three shots. "With a 15 mph wind, 3 teal in 3 shots is nearly impossible!"

We had a great hunt and got out of the spot around 9:15. While we were leaving ducks would get up and go right back into where they had just sacrificed 24 of their fellow partners. Sounds like the weather is getting nasty up north and can't wait to hear of some new birds greeting Iowa as well. Good luck to everyone and be safe!

White River Bottoms
Stuttgart, Arkansas, November 24, 2003
By Scott Moates, Avery^® Territory Manager

DATE: Monday, November 24, 2003
LOCATION: White River Bottoms
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 6:50 A.M./ 5:00 P.M.
WEATHER: Mostly Sunny
TEMPERATURE: Highs in the mid 40's, with lows in the 30's
WIND: NW 10-15 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: Greenhead Gear Hot-Buy Mallards, Greenhead Gear Life-Size Mallards, Greenhead Gear Life-Size Pintails, Greenhead Gear Life-Size Wigeon
HUNTERS: Scott Moates, Bob Newkirk, Doug Newkirk, Jim Childers, Mike Murphree
JOURNAL NOTES: Wow! What a difference this morning. The mallards worked great, it seemed that you could make them do whatever you wanted them to do. We didn't see the number of ducks this morning, but every duck we killed was in our face. We hunted a floating blind off of the White River on Bob Newkirk's place. He has one of the prettiest holes that I have ever hunted and this morning the ducks thought it was, also. We ended the day with 20 mallards and 10 gadwalls. Thanks, Bob for a great hunt!

Season Opener in Stuttgart, AR
Stuttgart, Arkansas, November 22, 2003
By Scott Moates, Avery^® Territory Manager

DATE: Saturday, November 22, 2003
LOCATION: Stuttgart, Arkansas
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 6:50 A.M./ 5:01 P.M.
WEATHER: Partly Sunny and WARM
TEMPERATURE: Highs in the mid 70's, with lows in the 50's
WIND: South 10-15 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: Greenhead Gear Over-Size Mallards, Greenhead Gear Life-Size Mallards, Greenhead Gear Life-Size Pintails, Greenhead Gear Life-Size Green-winged Teal
HUNTERS: Scott Moates, Mackey Moates, Jim Childers, John Autry
JOURNAL NOTES: We hunted a rice field just north of Stuttgart for opening day of 2003-2004 season. The Grand Prairie has been holding plenty of ducks the past two weeks and we were anticipating a very good opener. The weather was extremely warm and the mallards just did not work as well as we hoped. We ended up with a good mixed bag of ducks; mallards, gadwalls, ringnecks, a redhead, and a couple of shovelers to give a young dog some work. At this time, there are plenty of ducks, but everything always changes after the first shot goes off. Hopefully, we will be getting some good weather in the next couple of days to help the ducks work a little better.