A look at the coming year: Challenges and Opportunities at Duck Creek

On February 13th, 2011 at 10:04pm Anonymous said:

Ever since we opened pool 1 to hunting the surrounding blinds in pools 2 and 3 have not done as well. Why not leave it as it was intened to be a refuge for the Ducks. The ducks would rest and loaf in the Pool 1 area and then venture out into Pools 2 and 3 to feed. Just look what happens in the North end. The Ducks are going to need more area to rest this year or the pressure will drive them out. I I hunted Pools 2 and 3 when Pool 1 was closed and I know I did much better thunting those blinds pre pool 1 opening. Even the mangers I have talked with over the years say the same thing. It is sad to see the way this have been managed. Please show me the statistics that would justify leaving it open to hunting 4 days/ week.

On February 13th, 2011 at 10:33am said:

maybe the creek's waterfowl hunt program should be tweeked a little this year for obvious reasons. if there is ground that could be used for hunting then use it. unless the creek is going to be like ten mile where they hunt 13 spots on a 3700 acre area. the more opportunity for us means less heat on the mdc. i grew up hunting the creek and i am excited about the work, just tired of not having the creek as an option to hunt

On February 13th, 2011 at 10:20am muzik dinle said:

Thank you very much...

On February 12th, 2011 at 10:54am Anonymous said:

What are the plans as of now for the blinds in A unit?

On February 12th, 2011 at 3:17am Anonymous said:

I hope you are happy...my friends and I have all decided to quit hunting because of your ridiculous mismanagement of our tax dollars....we all hope you go broke.

On February 11th, 2011 at 6:19pm Anonymous said:

Please advertise the southeast region meetings on the 2011-2012 waterfowl seasons.

On February 11th, 2011 at 1:13pm MattB said:

It is far too early to determine a detailed outlook for the hunting positions available for the 2011 duck season at Duck Creek CA.  At this point, a couple of things are for sure.   If all continues to go as planned we will not be hunting any of Units A and B next year.  Provided that we get rain at some point this spring, and assuming that the construction up on the Cato Levee is completed, we will have the water to recharge Pool 1.  If this is the case, then we will likely push to have some water in Pool 2 or 3 at the start of the season, however positions will still be limited.  Barring a major rain event in October, we will not open the season with either pool bank full of water.   Long story short, we will put any available water on the trees next year, but we are not going to completely abandon the management strategies that we have established over the past several years and flood everything in October.  We continually explore new waterfowl hunting opportunities that we can offer at Duck Creek, especially in some of the outlying fields.  However, those fields are not in the waterfowl hunt program for various reasons the most obvious of them being that they are not very good habitat for waterfowl in their current condition.  We are hopeful that future phases of the Duck Creek Renovation will allow us to address some of these fields and improve their attractiveness to waterfowl.  For now, we will see what spring, summer, and fall throw our way and continue to update you on the blog.  The reduced opportunity that next year likely brings will be tough to take.  Although, I rest assured that the improvements that are being made to the area during this time will overshadow this in years to come!  Thanks for everyone’s comments and we appreciate your interest in Duck Creek.

On February 11th, 2011 at 12:22pm frank said:

I understand your frustration about adding pumps to provide more habitat and hunting opportunity.  No doubt, it seems like the simplest and easiest solution. We should be able to put wells in where ever we are short of water.  However, the reality is that there are ecological and economical trade-offs to any decision we make.  In Unit A we are working with our existing pumps and reconfiguring the levees to be able to move water more interdependently, therefore more efficiently, among pools.  Additionally, we are planning on adding two pumps to the west side of Unit B to extend the amount of flooded ground west of Unit A. This has been talked about for years. We’re really excited about this and hope you will be too. The primary objective will be to manage moist soil to provide habitat to early season migrants and waterfowl hunting opportunity.  This will extend the core area that waterfowl use early during the waterfowl season.    As for the trees in L and I woods, you are correct, those trees have been “wet” for years.  Actually, the fact that those trees are still there is an indication of a perennially wet location.  Most of the existing blocks of timber in the Bootheel are located in low drainages or sinks that were too wet to be cleared and farmed.  L and I woods is such place, as it runs along an old slough fragment.  The species composition is made up of more flood tolerant species and does not include healthy pin oaks.  We have conceded that pin oaks and their recruitment within this 25 acre block shouldn’t dictate the management of the surrounding 80 acres of moist soil habitat.     In the past two years we’ve written a couple posts describing the flood tolerances of different species and what we are doing to try to manage these communities in Pools 2 and 3. Assessing tree health is a little more involved than just looking to see if there are standing trees.  Yellowing leaves, canopy thinning, and swelling at the base of the tree trunk are subtle indicators of stress in red oaks due to prolonged flooding during the growing season.  Recruitment of the oaks in the understory is a chronic problem in green tree reservoirs throughout the Mississippi Alluvial Valley.  Varying the timing of flooding annually is one way we can reduce the stress, and increase the vigor and recruitment of the red oaks in Pool 2 and 3.    As far as Pool 1 goes, over the years we’ve invested a lot of time and money on this pool, which as you know, has multiple public uses.  By and large this has worked for us during most years even though it is a continual balancing act.  By replacing the worn out structures and cleaning the ditch, we should be able to continue to use this system as we have done for the past 60 years.  It just so happens that we are have also experienced a record drought.  During most years we should have enough water for the fish as well as the waterfowl.  Unfortunately, this past year wasn’t your typical year.   With this post and others I’ve tried to explain the pluses and minuses and how we are trying to make the most out of the resources we have, both ecologically and economically.  I hope this has clarified some of your questions and concerns.  I know our forecast for next year isn’t good, but I believe that these renovations will benefit Duck Creek and its public use in the long run.  Thanks again for your interest and passion for the area. I think we can both agree that Duck Creek is a special place.

On February 9th, 2011 at 3:29pm lance schlick said:

what are the odds of opening the fields off of Co. Rd's 716 and 718? i have seen birds in the 718 field on several occasions. i don't know much about the field at the end of 716. just exploring possible hunting opportunities too offset the loss of units a and b for the 2011 season.

On February 5th, 2011 at 3:05pm Darin said:

Have you took into consideration that the L and I woods in the Unit A have been flooded for years upon years with mineral laden water from a pump? I don't understand why these, very alive trees, would be so different than the trees in Pool 2 and 3. Good luck convincing me with one of your answers. I don't think there is a reasonable one for this. What if Pool 1 was still used to flood the woods but have a couple pumps to help with this process, especially in dry years. The combination of this practice makes more sense to me and would be less expensive to manage. Don't you agree?

On February 5th, 2011 at 12:24pm ademkurt said:

travesti

On February 4th, 2011 at 9:31pm Anonymous said:

Over the past few years positions in Pools 2&3 were not opened for hunting until Thanksgiving weekend. If units A&B are going to be closed for renovation,then i guess this means that we're in for a 35 or 40 day duck season at Duck Creek. How about sinking some wells over on the Dark Cypress area and providing more hunting opportunity. MDC has the funds. So many hunters so little opportunity !!!!!

On February 2nd, 2011 at 11:11am frank said:

Ooops....if you posted a comment/question to this article on Feb. 1-2 and you do not see it below, please resubmit it.  I'll post it and get back to you if I can.  Thanks.

On February 2nd, 2011 at 10:56am frank said:

Barring any future developments, during the fall of 2011 we will continue to hunt Pool 1 (4 days/week, on weekends, Tuesdays and Wednesdays).  As far as how many birds we will hold, I can’t say. When and how many birds show up at Duck Creek varies so much from year to year because of weather and habitat conditions (regionally and locally).  I would suspect early in the season we may have less bird use because we’ll have less moist soil habitat.  We’ll just have to wait and see.

On February 1st, 2011 at 11:10pm Anonymous said:

Will there be positions on pool 1 and will duck creek probably hold less birds this upcomming year?