" I've never heard of any lodges..."

There are some at the link I posted earlier.

Believe me, there are guide companies that provide the guide service AND lodging.

Ummmm, Susan, you can't get a license without passing a gun safety test if you are under a certain age--OR you shouldn't be able to. I would be sure Arkansas is one of those.
The OP says they are "experienced". I also wonder about that.
Stuttgart is the duck capital of Arkansas.
OP, EXPLORE it.

Gretchen, I didn't mean to imply otherwise. My son took the safety test before he got his license.

....hunting in timber. ..... Can you actually hunt ducks in the woods? All of my duck hunting has been in a blind next to open water. My father hated duck hunting because he thought it was just an ambush. But he would walk five miles in a field to get one shot at a pheasant.

"My father hated duck hunting because he thought it was just an ambush."

And its boring as can be. I would always pull out my book or take a nap - then I wouldn't be ready when the ducks flew over.

I am so not suited for hunting, much to my father's dismay. Reading books in the duck blind, excellent deer tracker who refuses to actually shoot one...

Anyway, I thought you couldn't get a hunting license until you were 12 in CA? Did they change the law?

Sorry - the talk about CA confused me and I thought we were supposed to be talking about CA. I am guessing the age limit for hunting in Arkansas is lower.

>>but my 18 year old neighbor killed 58 last Saturday>>

Why do people go duck hunting in the first place? Is it to have food on the table? Do people eat the ducks they catch?

We always ate the ducks and pheasants that we took. Put some in the freezer and pheasant was always on the table at TGiving. I was a fond of duck - lot of fat - good pheasant was something else. If you are not using what you shoot, then you are not a hunter. But the old days of open field hunting in Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado are long gone.

Opps -- need to edit - I was NOT fond of duck

I can't stand duck even when it's served at a restaurant and they've done all the work preparing it. Yuck! It's so oily and fatty. Double yuck.

Nana - I thought the same thing about duck hunting. DH and his friends LOVE it. I didn't get the appeal of being cold, muddy etc. in a blind, waiting then blasting away. An elderly uncle explained to me that it is a guy thing... Nothing like it....so fun... The challenge. We have always eaten the wild duck DH shoots. I prefer it to farmed duck. Duckier taste and not fat. Farmed duck seems taste -less to me.

"Why do people go duck hunting in the first place? Is it to have food on the table? Do people eat the ducks they catch?"

Yep - we always eat what has been hunted. Like I said above - I am not at all suited to hunting, but I have thoroughly enjoyed the duck, pheasant, deer, etc. that other people bring in.

I actually love the oiliness of duck - its just so much tastier than most other fowl - like the red meat of the bird world.

Thanks november and michelleY.

why are you teaching your children to kill???

"why are you teaching your children to kill???"

Maybe because it's the great real world they live in, red in tooth and claw.

Fra_Diavolo - where do you live that you actually think like this??? very odd.

New York City, of course, where the law of the jungle prevails.

But the old days of open field hunting in Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado are long gone.
Nope, DS still does a little.

As for eating what they kill, I don't know a hunter that doesn't--it would be totally against their sport and conservation ethic.
Duck hunters do a LOT to preserve the wetlands of this country that are important to ALL of us.

Wild duck is very lean--my sister makes a great appetizer of the breast marinated in Worcestershire and sour cream, then wrapped in bacon and grilled!

and the description of duck being the red meat of the poultry world is right on--like eating steak. Sort of like tuna being the same for the fish. Delicious.

Duck hunters do a LOT to preserve the wetlands of this country that are important to ALL of us.

This is true for most hunters. Conservation and maintenance of the environment is very important to hunters.

The fees for hunting and fishing licenses help pay for habitat for wildlife.