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Arkansas officials consider ending ban on automated duck decoys
Arkansas officials consider ending ban on automated duck decoys

By Bryan Brasher

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Three years ago, the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission voted to ban the use to spinning-wing decoys for waterfowl hunting, hoping other states across the Mississippi Flyway would follow suit.

It didn't happen -- and now Arkansas is rethinking its stance on spinners.

During the monthly meeting of the AGFC in Little Rock last week, commissioners discussed lifting the controversial ban on spinning-wing decoys in time for the upcoming 2008-'09 waterfowl hunting season.

The commissioners will vote on the issue at their next meeting, Aug. 20-21.

"We wanted to be a leader in the Mississippi Flyway by banning spinning-wing decoys, but we didn't get a lot of help from other states," said AGFC Chairman Freddie Black at last week's meeting. "We failed with banning spinning-wing decoys. We contacted other states, but got nowhere."

Unlike traditional waterfowl decoys that sit motionless on the surface of the water, spinning-wing decoys are automated. Their battery-powered wings spin round and round, simulating the motion of a duck landing on the water to feed.

Real ducks in flight can see that motion from long distances and sometimes feel more comfortable about landing in the area.

Though there have been no concrete studies to prove spinners are detrimental to waterfowl populations, many hunters believe they make "uneducated" juvenile ducks much more vulnerable to hunters.

"I think spinning wing decoys are the worst thing to happen to duck hunting in my lifetime," said Pat Pitt, an Olive Branch resident who regularly hunts every day of the 60-day waterfowl season in Arkansas. "They just change the whole complexion of a hunt -- and not in a good way."

Charles Snapp, who will celebrate his 30th year as a duck hunting guide in Arkansas this season, has a different view on spinners.

"Spinning wing decoys are just another form of improved technology," Snapp said. "Duck calls have certainly improved during the past 30 years. Traditional decoys certainly look a lot more realistic than they used to, and the blinds we use have improved by 100 percent.

"Why is all of that stuff OK, but not the spinning-wing decoys?"

Snapp said spinning-wing decoys help some hunters by simply giving them more confidence during the hunt.

"Sometimes people just feel like they have a little extra edge with spinners," Snapp said. "That's a good thing -- even if the spinners don't help them kill more ducks."

Most hunters' chief complaint about Arkansas' ban on spinning-wing decoys is that other states are still free to use them.

As ducks migrate through the Mississippi Flyway, they travel south through Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Ohio before finally reaching the rice fields and timber swamps of Arkansas.

By the time they reach The Natural State, many of the youngest, most gullible ducks have been plucked out of the population in states where spinners are legal. That leaves Arkansas hunters to target the oldest and wisest ducks without the use of modern spinning-wing technology.

Black addressed that issue at last week's AGFC meeting.

"We're standing alone in our flyway," Black said. "Obviously, some of our hunters don't believe that's fair."

According to Black, public opinion will play a major role in the commissioners' decision next month.

"We look forward to an interesting 30 days of public comment before we make a decision," he said. "We want to do what's best for everyone involved."

SPEAK YOUR MIND!

If you'd like to voice an opinion on spinning-wing decoys before the next meeting of the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, just send an e-mail to information@agfc.com.

The public is also invited to attend the Commission meeting, scheduled for Aug. 20-21 at the AGFC's Little Rock office. For more information, call (800) 364-4263.
-Hunter