Ducks and Sacrifice (Hunter Field Editor’s Note)

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The holiday season officially begins in Arkansas on Saturday with the opening of duck season. Or did it begin earlier this month with the opening of modern gun deer season?

I won’t dare wade into that debate here, but I and many of you are looking forward to wading into the marshes or flooded timber this weekend — that is, if you can find water. And if the weatherman is right, shorts and a pair of knee boots may be all you need.

The conditions may not be perfect, but at least the wait is over.

I kicked off duck season in this column last year with an admonishment to the unfortunately large group of hunters still selfishly opposing efforts to restore many of Arkansas’ bottomland hardwood forests, which help create our state’s green-tree reservoirs and make waterfowl hunting here the envy of every other state.

I wish I could say we’ve seen improvement on that front over the last year, but unfortunately, one wouldn’t have to look beyond the morning news a couple of weeks ago to confirm otherwise. On KATV, several White County outdoorsmen were granted on-camera interviews to complain about the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission’s conservation efforts around Henry Gray Hurricane Lake Wildlife Management Area.

The agency’s efforts to keep water off the oak trees in the nearby forests is — and I emphasize — temporarily impacting the quality of hunting and fishing in that area.

KATV reported that locals are concerned that they won’t be able to catch fish to feed their families, and AGFC spokesman Trey Reid, in a pleasant moment of candor, told the reporter that he simply didn’t buy that. After all, there are plenty of other, better places to fish nearby.

I wish it weren’t the case, but we are going to have to sacrifice something in the short term to preserve Arkansas’ duck habitat over the long term.

That’s what those who came before us have done on multiple occasions when the daily bird limit has been reduced or when the federal duck stamp was introduced to raise money for threatened wetland habitats.

Can you imagine if they tried to create a duck stamp today? Every congressman who voted for it would have a primary opponent before they left the chamber.

Happy hunting, be safe and remember that this precious resource is more important than any one hunt.

Email Hunter Field, editor of Arkansas Business, at hfield@abpg.com