Waterfowl Opener at Duck Creek, November 3rd

With the opener fast approaching, Duck Creek staff are busy getting all their ducks in a row so to speak. It never ceases to amaze me at how many little things have to be done just to get ready for the season. On top of that, this year has the added challenge of placing hunters into the completely redesigned Units A and B! There are always a few glitches in the best laid plans.  We encountered and fixed a few of these this weekend during the youth season. As the season starts, we welcome any suggestions you have on how we can get folks out to their designated spot as easily as possible. One thing I can promise you…It is going to be different than it has been in the past!

Available Positions

Now on to the available positions for opening day, we have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that Units A and B are being flooded as planned. We will not have all the units open, but considering the late start, we’ve made some considerable progress. As of Tuesday October 30th, we will have the following hunting positions available this weekend:

Unit A:      8    10    11    13    14    15    16    18

Unit B:    52    54     55

Other Units:    Fish Ponds    Kinder Pool    Dark Cypress (4 days/week)

At the bottom of the page is a link to our hunting units map, if you are interested in how these spots lay out.

We will continue to flood units 19, 20, 21, and 22 but it is unlikely that we will have enough water in these units for opening day. Positions 23 and 53 will be dependent upon rainfall.

The bad news is that continued dry conditions, and the forecasted persistent drought will keep us from putting any water into Pools 2, 3, and 8 at this time. After discussions with our fisheries staff, we will be taking a conservative approach to using water from Pool 1. As rains come in the future we will split any inflow between Pools 1, 2, and 3. We continue to have all stop log structures in Pools 2 and 3 and the gate up in Ditch 111 to capture as much rainfall as possible. However, it will take a number of significant rainfalls to fill our Pools because an inch here and a quarter inch there hasn’t done much in the past month.

Other Details

As a reminder, in Units A and B there are no blinds available. The new design is better suited for small boats capable of floating in shallow water. All positions in Units A and B will close at 1 pm. Also, all of Pool 1 will be refuge. The morning draw for Saturday will start at 4:45am and then it will be at 3:45am on Sunday because of the time change.

Overall, having 13 positions available for opening day is better than we had predicted two weeks ago. In other positive news, the birds have moved onto the area and are using the newly flooded habitat. Good luck and be safe.