ALICIA, Ark. (KAIT) – Duck season officially begins on Saturday, November 23rd.

“It takes a tougher kind of guy to be a duck hunter,” said Stan Jones owner of Stan Jones Mallard Lodge.

Duck season is very popular in Arkansas, as people from all over the country, and sometimes the world, come here.

“Arkansas is known for its duck hunting all over the United States, actually from all over the world,” Jones said. “There are people who come here from other countries.”

What makes Arkansas so popular for duck season is the rivers that flow into it.

Ducks use the rivers as flyways to move south in search of warmer weather, and with so many rivers running through Arkansas, take the ducks directly to the state.

For Jones, it wasn’t the popularity that got him there, it was his father.

“I guess my dad took me, I was either 6 or 7 years old,” Jones said. “He had taught me how to shoot a 410 shotgun, and my dad took me on my first duck hunt, and I’ll tell you what I fell in love with after I shot that first greenhead.”

That’s how it is for many hunters.

But for the start of the season, Jones isn’t seeing as many ducks now as he did earlier this month.

“We don’t have as many ducks here today as we did two weeks ago,” Jones said. “We’ve got some ducks right now and I’m looking forward to Saturday, I think we’ll kill quite a few, but we don’t have as many ducks right now as we did two weeks ago.”

Jones added that he is not worried about the season, as there are always ducks coming in and out.

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