Hunting Stuttgart Arkansas (possibly guided): Anyone done this before??

[WNC2500]

Ok, as is always the case, I have done a search for this and didn't find what I was looking for.

My dad will be 73 this year, and his passion is waterfowl/bird hunting. He lives and hunts in the upstate of South Carolina, but has always wanted to hunt ducks in Arkansas. I am inquiring if anyone on here has ever done this, and if so, what has been your experience. Since we (my older brother, myself, and my dad) have never hunted ducks like this, what has been your experience? Our experience has been lakes, back water, and potholes in the WMA's and upstate of SC.

-Have you hunted here before? If not, Stuttgart, where else have you hunted like this before?
-Have you ever duck hunted guided? If in Stuttgart, who have you used, and what did you think?
-We are not 100% set on Arkansas, we could go other places, but may be starting way late to the game.
-Advice on other parts (states or areas) of the flyways would be fine too.

Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks for all of your help.

 

[Zootownelk]

I have not been, but I have looked into nearly this exact thing for my dad. I would go guided. For me, Arkansas means flooded timber, BUT, after talking with some guides, they wouldn't guarantee a flooded timber hunt- if ducks are in the timber, then yes, but that depends on many factors.

Canada would get my vote if you're really looking to treat yourselves. If you want the iconic flooded timber, then Arkansas. I get the impression that Arkansas doesn't get the ducks like they used to. Migration patterns are changing. But I'd go guided, and with a guide that has access to private flooded rice fields and private flooded timber.

 

[Justin Price]

I’ve hunted Stuttgart on private land unguided. This was probably 15 years ago so not sure how relevant it is today.

We hunted a soybean field and would hunt from daylight to dark. We saw tons of birds. So many that you always had birds working but had a hard time getting them in. They have so much water there to land on and if they saw anything they didn’t like they would go elsewhere.

It was amazing to see that many birds. I’ve had several friends that have hunted Kansas and had great hunts. If I was planning a waterfowl hunt that’s where I would look at.

 

[Nick87]

Canada would get my vote if you're really looking to treat yourselves. If you want the iconic flooded timber, then Arkansas

Agreed

 

[hogcarpy]

Ok, as is always the case, I have done a search for this and didn't find what I was looking for.

My dad will be 73 this year, and his passion is waterfowl/bird hunting. He lives and hunts in the upstate of South Carolina, but has always wanted to hunt ducks in Arkansas. I am inquiring if anyone on here has ever done this, and if so, what has been your experience. Since we (my older brother, myself, and my dad) have never hunted ducks like this, what has been your experience? Our experience has been lakes, back water, and potholes in the WMA's and upstate of SC.

-Have you hunted here before? If not, Stuttgart, where else have you hunted like this before?
-Have you ever duck hunted guided? If in Stuttgart, who have you used, and what did you think?
-We are not 100% set on Arkansas, we could go other places, but may be starting way late to the game.
-Advice on other parts (states or areas) of the flyways would be fine too.

Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks for all of your help.

I grew up about 30 miles northwest of Stuttgart and hunted a lot of the eastern half of Arkansas.

I would strongly suggest to do a guided hunt on private ground. It will be comfortable hunt, easy boat or 4 wheeler ride to a blind, and typically the birds will work better. There are a number of good guides across the eastern half of AR, some around Stuttgart, some further north. I would suggest you call the RNT Calls office for advice on guide services. They will be able to point you in the right direction. Be sure to let them know the type of hunt you want. Timber vs field, lodge vs motel, blind vs standing all morning, etc.

 

[WNC2500]

Hogcarpy: those are good questions to ask. I will reach out to them. Dad, I know wants timber, lodge, don't think he cares whether blind or standing. Thanks sir!

 

[Nick87]

Hogcarpy: those are good questions to ask. I will reach out to them. Dad, I know wants timber, lodge, don't think he cares whether blind or standing. Thanks sir!

If money is no object the habitat flats would be the go to in Missouri.

 

[RobertD]

I hunted mostly private with a little public an hour or so north of Stuttgart every year from 2013 through 2016, unguided with friends that know how to call. I still spend a lot of time in the area but don't hunt it anymore.

In general I enjoyed it. Timber hunting is fun, but I loved hunting pit blinds in rice fields, too, so don't let the possibility of not being in timber scare you off. From people I know in NE AR, I would think most would agree with @Zootownelk that the area has faded somewhat as far as quality goes. I can still recommend the area though, just because of what it amounts to as a cultural experience. Being somewhere that's absolutely steeped in a uniqe waterfowling tradition is very cool.

That said, I believe the others are right to recommend you consider other options before pulling the trigger. Havent hunted Canada or the Dakotas but I would think further north like that would offer a more consistent opportunity at steady action with less pressured birds.

 

[beginnerhunter]

If I had the money I would use 5 oaks. The owner, George Dunklin, is trying to turn his properties into perfect duck habitat. They've hired their own biologists in the past and now conduct research in conjunction with the local University. The lodge is nice, my wife and I had our wedding reception there.

They aren't cheap. Probably $1000-$1500 per person per day. Yikes.

Might also check out The Grove Hunting Club. Or just come for a week and figure out the deal in bayou meto or the white river refuge. I have some very specific public and private spots I hunt. Nothing in flooded timber. Wish I knew more!

 

[3855WIN]

Seems like the daily limit for non residents on public is less than that of residents. Do you have your own boat?

 

[7mm08mo]

I’ve hunted with these guys before, great guys. Local farmers and moonlight guiding ducks on their farms and leases. They have it all rice, timber, and do field hunts for geese. They have a great lodge. https://m.facebook.com/KwackSmackers/

I have also hunted at Lost Island,a true timber gentleman hunt, but the waiting list is about 3 years long. They don’t have a lot of turnover. I got lucky and an my kids principal goes every year and one of his party backed out and they have a non refundable deposit and I got the hunt for half price. If you pm me I can expound on my experience.

 

[beginnerhunter]

Seems like the daily limit for non residents on public is less than that of residents. Do you have your own boat?

Are you referring to number of days nonresidents are allowed to hunt certain public properties? That is true. But I don't think that applies to federal properties but not sure. I don't think there is a separate duck limit for nonresidents.

 

[WestKyHunt]

A buddy and I went last year to NE Arkansas, near Paragould, on a guided hunt.
Guide and service was awesome but the hunting was sub-par at best. We squeaked out 1 or 2 per day for the two days we were there. While last year was rough for most duck hunters, I've heard Arkansas has been on a steep downhill trend for years.

My next trip I am either going North (Canada or Dakotas) or West (KS, OK, NE).
My personal belief is the Mississippi flyway has shifted West the last 20 years

 

[3855WIN]

Are you referring to number of days nonresidents are allowed to hunt certain public properties? That is true. But I don't think that applies to federal properties but not sure. I don't think there is a separate duck limit for nonresidents.

Thought it was something I came across a few years ago. Must have been mistaken.

 

[Beignet]

My colleague’s family runs an outfit in Stuttgart. I’ve (stupidly) never made the time to go over there and hunt with them, but he sends me some photos of skies darkened by ducks in quantities that look like starling murmurations.

They seem to be pretty well regarded with a lot of repeat customers and such. As others have mentioned about Arkansas, it’s a flooded field/timber kind of situation. I honestly don’t know enough about waterfowling to tell you more than that though. I do believe it’s a pretty low key affair in that you’d be staying in a local hotel as opposed to some opulent Orvis endorsed lodge kind of place.

I’ll get their info this morning and shoot you a PM here in a few so you can research further.

 

[TexanSam]

It was amazing to see that many birds. I’ve had several friends that have hunted Kansas and had great hunts. If I was planning a waterfowl hunt that’s where I would look at.

Sorry your friend must be speaking lies, there are no birds in Kansas.

In all seriousness though, I have friends and family in Arkansas that have been complaining about the lack of birds these past few years. But they usually shut up sometime in the late season when everyone to the north is froze up, so if you do go, January would be the time I would want to be there.

Missouri isn't a bad option either. And I hate to say it, and please don't tell anyone this but the sunflower state is far from the worst.

If you plan on hunting public, I would really get familiar with how Missouri manages their conservation areas to decide if that's something you want to deal with. Arkansas though, I've heard that the locals can get pretty ruthless; picking fistfights and slashing the tires of out of staters' at the boat ramp.

 

[beginnerhunter]

Sorry your friend must be speaking lies, there are no birds in Kansas.

In all seriousness though, I have friends and family in Arkansas that have been complaining about the lack of birds these past few years. But they usually shut up sometime in the late season when everyone to the north is froze up, so if you do go, January would be the time I would want to be there.

Missouri isn't a bad option either. And I hate to say it, and please don't tell anyone this but the sunflower state is far from the worst.

If you plan on hunting public, I would really get familiar with how Missouri manages their conservation areas to decide if that's something you want to deal with. Arkansas though, I've heard that the locals can get pretty ruthless; picking fistfights and slashing the tires of out of staters' at the boat ramp.

Agreed, January usually is the best time of year to find ducks in Arkansas. More water, more northern cold, more ducks. That said, the hunting can be great in November and December, but more spotty.

 

[Cootmeurer]

Use to go yearly. We hunted public and private. Couple suggestions I would add to the already good ones

1 - time the hunt to the first couple of a split. Birds get stale/wise extremely fast in a state where everyone hunts them every day. We always seemed to do best at the start of the 3rd split (usually da after Christmas)

2 - Stuttgart area has several different types of hunting. A lot of it is shooting from pits/blinds over rice fields. Also some public sloughs to hunt. The classic flooded timber hunt is awesome but for the most part locked up as private land and very expensive

3 - Truth be known, we usually preferred north or north and east in the general area of DesArcs. More land and less pressure

 

[CPAjeff]

I've never been to Stuttgart, but I'd sure love to get down there sometime!

To echo what some others have said, I'd take a hard look at Habitat Flats. I've hunted snow geese with Tony and his crew at Habitat Flats and the experience is simply incredible! I'm not much of a die-hard duck hunter, but if I was looking at a duck only trip, Habitat Flats would be my first choice.

Having hunted Alberta and Saskatchewan for waterfowl, there is simply no place like Canada. The sheer numbers of ducks, geese, and cranes will boggle your mind.

 

[Harrier]

I haven’t been there, but if they don’t pronounce it Schtootgart like the city in Germany, I’m going to be very disappointed.