Arkansas has its fair share of well-known and historic duck flyways. Rivers like the White, the Black, the Cache, the St. Francis and even the Arkansas create literal highways funneling ducks to the incredible habitat of the Delta. The state boasts a handful of smaller tributaries like Bayou Meto, Mill Bayou, Lagrue Bayou and Bayou Deview that have attracted ducks for centuries. Mallards love the flooded bottomland hardwoods of east Arkansas, and despite significant losses due to agriculture, enough remains to winter tens of thousands of ducks each year.
With all of the naturally occurring waterways in Arkansas prone to wintertime flooding, one couldn’t imagine anyone taking on the monumental task of trying to create their own. But that is precisely what Stuttgart’s Otis McCollum did roughly 7 miles west of Stuttgart with what is known as the Big Ditch Bottoms. While only 20 miles long and connected to Bayou Meto on both ends, Big Ditch owns perhaps the country’s densest collection of highly successful duck clubs.
“It’s worth the 1,000-mile trip just to see the mallards blacken the sky,” R.M. “Duke” Dubel told his local South Dakota Argus Leader after a 1951 adventure in the Big Ditch Bottoms.
Some names that may ring a bell include Slick’s Stuttgart Hunting Club, Russell McCollum’s Wildlife Acres, which is now Witt Stephens, Jr.’s Screaming Wings, Hildebrand’s Reservoir aka Bam Bam, Bull Sprig, Wild Wings, Bayou Meto Club, QuakerJack, Magnum 12 and Quack Shack, to name a few.
McCollum’s last name should also sound familiar, as numerous connections to the Stuttgart area hunting and waterfowling culture trace back to the family. Otis is a member of the Arkansas Waterfowler Hall of Fame for developing several thousand acres of duck property and being one of the first to balance quality hunting habitat with areas dedicated to resting and holding ducks…