Green Head / Gadwall Smash

On this weekend we hit the road and went to Arkansas. This weekend was the opening weekend of the second split. With it being the second split opener it means a lot of things. For me; the most important thing was that the ducks have gotten a chance to rest for one full week. As all hunters know, hunting pressure is one of the main factors when it comes to being successful when trying to harvest wildlife. Ducks react to decoys and calling a certain way when they have seen too much of it. They are very smart birds with mallards being the smartest and most sought after. On this weekend we were able to hunt fresh birds that weren't call shy and that is one of the main reasons we planned a trip durin

g this time. With the week long rest being a plus we also ran into a minus. That minus was that the state of Arkansas had been in a bit of a drought and there was minimal water available. The cold temps were there but the water just wasn't. We all know ducks need and love water so this was a bit of a problem for many hunters in the area. Luckily, we found a spot that had some deep water and we were able to get on a few good hunts. With no water being around and minimal ducks in the area; the ducks that were they seemed to have found what they needed and they all flocked into this one slough. With a little scouting we were able to get lucky and have a successful weekend.