Late last Janaury this area was struck by a major ice storm. Tens of thousands of people were without power. Some had power in a few days. For others it took a month or longer, before power was restored. Convert the volume of ice it takes to tear down thousands and thousands of power poles and apply that ice to the tree limbs. Now you’re getting the picture.    

      If a power pole can’t withstand the ice load, imagine what happened to all the trees growing in the water soaked ground around the flooded timber areas, river banks, marshes and sloughs? Well I can tell you first hand. This past weekend I started clearing one of the ATV runs we use to access a private timber hole. I was shocked. I’ve lived and hunted here all of my life and can honestly say, “I’ve never seen so many limbs, trees and tree tops on the ground.” While trying to get my four-wheeler across a swinging bridge, to access that particular timber hole, I spent two and a half hours with a chainsaw, cutting my way through treetops and debris. I only needed to clear a hundred and fifty yards or so and it was all I could take. By the time I cut through and piled everything to the side, no one had to rock me to sleep that night!    

      To put things in perspective, the private timber we hunt is 50 to 60 miles south of the Dave Donaldson/Black River WMA (Wildlife Management Area) and we’re even further south of the Big Lake WMA/NWR. If we had this much damage, in a county where most had their power back on in a week or so, how bad was the damage north of us, or the boot hill of MO, where damage reports were much worse?   

        As I worked my way through the woods, I paid close attention to the hangers. A “hanger” is a limb, series of limbs, or tree top that is stuck/hanging in the top of a tree. The right gust of wind, or a bump from a boat and they could come crashing down. Hangers are extremely dangerous and some of these were large enough to seriously injure a person, or possibly capsize a small boat, if they fell at the wrong time. Dangerous enough, I decided to cut down three different trees, just so the huge hangers in them wouldn’t be a safety hazard for our staff and clients this season.   

       Out of all the damage I have seen the past few days, more of which I’ll certainly see in the coming weeks, I did find one bright spot. At least it’s a bright spot for our private ground. Since most of the food sources in our flooded timber are not from Pin Oaks, the ducks will continue to use our woods like they normally do. It’s the areas that rely on the acorn crop, for their bulk of their duck food, that may be in trouble. I’ve always thought we needed more Pin Oaks in our woods, but for once I’m glad we don’t rely on them. Think about it; if a Pin Oak tree lost, or received damage to, a significant number of its limbs it won’t produce a suitable acorn crop. Few, or no acorns = little, to no duck food. Duck hunters know, a poor food source is far from an idea situation for holding ducks!

       To confirm my suspicions about the public areas, I contacted JP Fairhead, area manager for Dave Donaldson WMA, with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.  He supplied me with the following information about this regions Wildlife Management Areas:

             The heaviest damage from the ice storm has occurred on Dave Donaldson/Black River and Big Lake WMA’s in Northeast Arkansas .  Moderate damages were sustained on St. Francis Sunken Lands, Shirey Bay/Rainey Brake and Bayou DeView WMA’s.  Most of the damage occurred to the tops of both red and white oak timber as well as other species.  Overall acorn production will most likely be poor to fair with some local areas of moderate to good acorn production.  On average, most of the timber damage occurred to the upper canopy and branches in close proximity, which will affect acorn production this fall.  The estimates for acorn production are based on field observations during routine daily activities within the WMA. 

            Hazardous conditions still exist within the WMA’s mentioned above as many limbs and damaged trees are still standing and hanging in the canopy.  Access via boat lanes and sloughs will be limited due to the volume of debris.  Hunters should exercise caution when boating within inundated areas as to not dislodge hanging limbs and reduce the potential for injury.  Hunters should be urged to “look up” and avoid bumping into trees while traversing the areas via boat.  Wading will be difficult due to the amount of debris on the forest floor which presents numerous tripping hazards as well as concealing deeper sloughs and other wading hazards.

            Anyway you look at it, the ice damage presents a series of problems. Now factor in the unusually wet spring we faced. Several farm operations didn’t get all their rice planted. Those operations either left the ground to lay out, or planted an alternate crop, less than idea for the duck food. Late crops also mean a later than normal harvest.