Public hunting is also allowed at Reelfoot from many of the scattered lake accesses. There are two means of doing so. Blakely said anyone can hunt out of one of the registered blinds if the permit holder isn't in there by shooting time. Your other option is to hunt out of a boat blind, but remember the rules state you have to be more than 200 yards away from any of the registered blinds.

To say last season was a comeback at Reelfoot would be an understatement. They were killing birds when others were wishing for them. I'm glad I had the opportunity to witness some of the great gunning. Blakely said he took 1,222 ducks from the blind in his hole last year. They were mostly mallards what everyone is banking on with quite a few other species in the mix. On my last trip, we bagged greenheads, green-winged teal, gadwalls and some stray woodies.

KENTUCKY LAKE
As the darkness gave way to daylight, a pair of divers skidded onto the water well outside the farthest decoy and just out of killing range. Later, the prettiest bluebill I've ever seen would soon be headed back to a Georgia taxidermist with the hunter who bagged the bird.

Divers are only one of the duck options while hunting Kentucky Lake with guide Garry Mason. Mallards rule the day, but also in the mix are gadwalls, a selection of divers, and the occasional black duck. Like the remainder of the state the last two years, duck hunting opens up for the weekend after Thanksgiving at Kentucky Lake. And Mason said those last two November holiday weekend openers have been really good. The lake usually sees an early flight of ducks in that time frame. Many of the birds in the limits of successful hunters will be fast-flying ringnecks and bluebills.

Mason said the November opener could produce as many as 20 to 25 ducks on excellent hunts. On the best day last year, he took nine different species from his blind, including mallards, ringnecks, bluebills, widgeon, blue-winged teal, green-winged teal and gadwalls.

With the December opening weekend, attention turns to migrating mallards, but they're usually not alone either. Mason said any kind of northern push from Alberta to Minnesota will send ducks down the Mississippi Flyway. What you don't want are the big cold fronts with hard freezes that send the masses all at once. Small cold fronts are best, and having weather alerts on your computer or even cell phone is a plus.

One of the things Mason noted about hunting on Kentucky Lake is the double migration that they sometimes get. Cold weather sends ducks south, and warm December days may send them back up to the region from Louisiana. The ducks aren't migrating back north, they're just escaping too warm of a climate farther down the flyway. They'll hit the bountiful refuges along the Tennessee River and move around in search of feeding spots and in response to scattered fronts until they head back south. These warm spells followed by little cold fronts are some of the best times to take a Kentucky Lake limit.