01/14/2026
Flooded 🌽. In the past, prior to the implementation of the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP), we would plant and flood corn, resulting in an influx of 5,000 to 50,000+ mallards. Interestingly, these birds would typically arrive 10 minutes after shooting time and depart 10 minutes before shooting time. This approach not only benefited us but also our neighbors, as it helped maintain a local mallard population west of fountain grove. Nowadays, the Golden Triangle appears to be a vast, moist-soil and flooded corn extravaganza, which I believe has created an 'electric duck fence.' I recently conversed with a conservation area manager from the Missouri Department of Conservation, who mentioned that private properties within the Golden Triangle, specifically the Grand River bottoms between FG and the Missouri River, have become the new Saint Charles bottoms. Our family's 'Bottoms' is located just outside the northwest region of the Golden Triangle. This year, and for quite some time, we have not observed the usual traffic of ducks over our bottoms; however, I am not complaining, as duck hunting has always been a sport of the haves and the have-nots. In 2025, the dry conditions led to limited success, which was largely confined to the beginning and end of the season. The draining of Crescent Lake, while beneficial for the lake bed, posed significant challenges in terms of pumping water onto our pools and refilling the lake. It seemed that the water was evaporating as quickly as we could pump it. Eventually, we managed to flood the pools, filling one of our best wild millet and smartweed crops ever. However, a subsequent 3-4 week freeze forced the ducks to seek alternative food sources. In 2026, we are reassessing our strategy to increase our pumping capacity, which will likely involve flooding corn within the parameters set by the WRP. We are also exploring options to finance this endeavor, such as forming a club or partnership. Additionally, we have a tract of timber that, with sufficient pumping capacity, could be transformed into an 80-acre Green Tree Reservoir (GTR). We will be examining all possible solutions.
Operation MTBGA. Make The Bottoms Great Again.