Waterfowl hunters are likely seeing a decrease in number of ducks in the state’s Delta region in recent weeks, according to an aerial survey.
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission biologists conducted aerial waterfowl surveys in the Delta region, the Arkansas River Valley and southwestern Arkansas. The duck population index in the Delta was more than 830,000 ducks. This is about half of the 2009-2013 average for the December survey. The mallard population estimate was about 475,000.
In the Arkansas River Valley, the estimated total duck count was 29,000 ducks, including more than 15,000 mallards, and the southwestern Arkansas count was about 29,000 ducks, including more than 10,000 mallards.
Luke Naylor, the AGFC waterfowl program coordinator, Naylor said the below-average population in the Delta shows that cold weather and habitat conditions play a major role in Arkansas duck numbers.
Sports, Pages 22 on 12/26/2013