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

“It takes a tougher type of guy to be a duck hunter,” said Stan Jones, owner of the 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 throughout the United States, in fact throughout the world,” Jones said. “There are people who come here from other countries.”

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

Ducks use rivers as flight paths to move south in search of warmer weather, and with so many rivers flowing through Arkansas, bring ducks all the way into the state.

For Jones, it wasn’t popularity that pushed him into it, it was his father.

“I guess my dad took me, I was 6 or 7,” 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, ever since I shot that first greenhead, I’ve I fell in love with it.”

This is the case for many hunters.

However, for the start of the season, Jones isn’t seeing as many ducks as he did earlier in the month.

“We don’t have as many ducks here today as we did two weeks ago,” Jones said. “We have a few 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 doesn’t worry about the season because there are always ducks coming in and out.

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