MS Delta Ducks Grand Slam Update

Last updated : December 31, 2012

Avid duck hunters scour the waterways, wetlands, marshes and bayous of North America in search of the waterfowl species that compose the North American Grand Slam. The groups hunting the brakes, sloughs, harvested fields and low-lying wetlands comprising the land in the MS Delta Ducks shared duck leases season hunt program also seek to fill their game haulers with harvested ducks constituting the MS Delta Ducks Grand Slam. Included are gadwall, teal, mallards, northern shovelers, pintail, redhead, scaup, specklebelly geese, wigeon, and wood ducks, species that winter in the Mississippi Delta. The pintail, redheads, and wigeon are the rarer members of the group.

Redheads are most commonly found in the habitat complex areas and represent the diving ducks that winter in our area. Hooded mergansers are also common divers with canvasback harvested only occasionally, but the staff agreed that redheads are the best diver specimen to include in the Grand Slam.

Pintail and wigeon are dabbling ducks which are found feeding in harvested grain fields bordering brakes and wetlands of the Delta. Both varieties are elusive and more difficult to decoy and work with a call than gadwall, teal, mallards and northern shovelers. Handsome ducks, they make excellent mounts to add to your collection.

Speckle bellies represent the geese in the Grand Slam. They decoy and work much like mallards and frequently break off from the larger gaggles of snows and blues to land in the decoy spreads of our hunters. With very tasty breast meat, they make a worthy edition to the Grand Slam.

As of the Christmas break, the top contenders are the Waterfowl Widow Makers from Alabama needing a pintail to complete their group MS Delta Ducks Grand Slam, the Duck Dusters of Mississippi who are looking for a scaup and a wigeon, and the 12 Gauge Mafia also from Mississippi who need a redhead and wood duck to complete the Grand Slam. Good luck guys!