This weekend brings in the Arkansas duck season opener. This Saturday at 30 minutes to sunrise the duck hunters will be cuddling their favorite shotgun and hoping the recent cold weather will bring ducks.

The statewide total duck count of 418,293 is an 8 percent increase from last year’s count of 388,311 ducks. The count is the highest since 2004 but is still below the 1985-2008 November survey average of 564,564 ducks.

November’s mallard count of 141,599 is a 4-percent drop from last year’s count of 146,735 and below the long-term average of 268,766 mallards. Mallard n...

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