Extended drought hinders waterfowl hunt

By Glen Wampler, Fort Sill Natural ResourcesNovember 21, 2012

FORT SILL, Okla.-- Natural Resources wants to wish everyone a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving. As usual Thanksgiving not only brings thoughts of turkey and dressing, but also fall colors and time spent in the field hunting. Time spent with family trying to outwit some quail, deer, turkey, squirrel or even some of the various species of waterfowl

Yes, once again as the days get shorter, waterfowl fly south where the food supply will remain steady throughout the winter. With that in mind, Fort Sill is home to some great waterfowl opportunities as it is geographically located west of the Flyway of the Great Plains. It is also called the Central flyway as it encompasses the entire vast region lying between the valley of the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. This also just so happens to be the principal grain-growing region of the United States.

All that said, there is a little problem with waterfowl hunting on Fort Sill this year -- water! There are a lot of ponds that are dry which means less area for waterfowl. There is less area for the birds to feed and rest which means less places for waterfowl hunters to find them. If you can find ponds with water then you are likely to find birds and the hunting should still be good. Several duck hunters have been talking about some really good hunts.

This year due to low water levels, Natural Resources did not put out waterfowl blinds which are normally located throughout the range. In hopes of giving some favorable waterfowl opportunities to our hunters we do have some of our best ponds selected for hunters who want to set up their own blinds for the day. These are off-limits to duck hunters who want to just sneak up and jump shoot ducks. Waterfowl hunting is great outdoor recreation and a chance to take the kids out and enjoy some quality time in the field, as well as experience a few of nature's web-footed beauties in flight.

Deer hunting

We have met or nearly met several of our deer gun season quotas. Now we need to balance out our harvest by taking some of the does. That means many areas are antlerless-only and may be closed down as the weekend progresses.

Those areas that are either sex at the beginning of the weekend may become antlerless-only as the quotas are met.

Good weather, the rut, and short vegetation has made hunting a little easier this year and quotas were met quickly. I think most folks have enjoyed the improved quality of deer since going to the quota system. So the quotas for the third weekend (Dec. 1-2) are:

East Range areas

a. Shotgun, anterless (doe) only; all East Range areas.

West Range areas

b. Shotgun, antler less (doe) only: D, E, F1, G1, H3, K1, K3 and K4 areas.

c. Rifle, anterless (doe) only: H1, H2, H4, H5, I areas, J and K2.

Quanah Range areas

d. Shotgun, either sex all Quanah Range areas.

For those of you who need a Fort Sill Sportsmen Safety Class the final class this year is Dec. 3 at 6 p.m in Bldg. 1465, the Natural Resources classroom. This class is mandatory for all people using Fort Sill's rangeland for recreation.