DROUGHT HURTS WATERFOWL PROSPECTS AT DUCK CREEK

PUXICO -- Only a "toad-chokin' rain" could salvage waterfowl hunting opportunities at Duck Creek Conservation Area (CA) this year, according to area manager Dave Wissehr.

At 6,234 acres, Duck Creek is southeast Missouri's oldest and largest public waterfowl hunting area. Its flooded timber, lake and marsh areas make it the destination of choice for hundreds of duck and goose hunters each year. But hunting opportunities at Duck Creek CA have withered during a four-month dry spell.

"Since June 20 we have had less than three inches of rain," says Wissehr. "Rainfall from June through September was the lowest since the dust bowl years of the 1930s."

Water for wetland management at Duck Creek CA comes from area streams whose excess flow is diverted into the 1,800-acre lake known as Pool 1 at Duck Creek CA. In most years, Pool 1 has enough water to allow area managers to divert some into Pools 2 and 3, flooding bottomland hardwood forest to create "green-tree reservoir" habitat that draws waterfowl like a magnet.

In good years, there is enough water to flood Pool 8 at nearby Mingo National Wildlife Refuge, creating even more waterfowl habitat and hunting opportunities.

But this year there has been virtually no water to draw from streams. In late September, Pool 1 was within one foot of minimum pool. Releasing water to flood Pools 2 and 3 would mean running the risk of a major fish kill in Pool 1, where anglers enjoy fishing for much of the year.

"Normally we would start putting water into Pool 2 around the 12th to the 25th of October," says Wissehr. "Given the present conditions, there is little hope that Pool 2 will be flooded for waterfowl seasons. Unless we get a toad-chokin' rain, say six inches, Pool 2 will stay dry through the entire waterfowl season, and so will Pool 8 at Mingo."

Duck Creek will still have hunting at two boat-in positions on Pool 1, eight blinds in Unit A and two wade-in positions in Field 48S and Pool H. While Wissehr isn't happy about the loss of hunting opportunities due to the drought, he admits there is a small silver lining. The dry conditions will help with ongoing efforts to rejuvenate Duck Creek CA's green-tree habitat.