Upper Wabash Reservoirs
When Indiana's waterfowl zones were originally set up, SR 18, which bisects the state with roughly one-third to the north and two-thirds to the south, was chosen as the dividing line between the North and South zones. That places the upper Wabash reservoirs, Salamonie, Mississinewa and Huntington (now Rousch Lake) in the north zone.

Back when the DNR's waterfowl meetings were an almost annual event, you could count on a strong contingent of hunters to show up to lobby for plenty of late-season dates. Most of the other waterfowl areas in the North Zone consisted of shallow marshes and sluggish streams subject to early freeze-up. North Zone seasons were often set to coincide with average freeze-up dates, but the hunting on the large reservoirs would peak only after the shallow marshes north of them had frozen solid.

The problem was solved a few years ago when the USFWS allowed the state to adjust the zone boundaries. At Peru, now, the North Zone boundary bumps north to U.S. Route 24, putting all three reservoirs into the South Zone (with later season dates) and giving the hunters on these reservoirs a firm chance each season at their beloved late-season mallards.

Hunting on these reservoirs is strictly freelance, meaning you don't have to show up in the wee hours and count on chance to put you in a good spot or pre-prepared blind. There are no prepared blinds or specific assigned spots to hunt. Just show up and go.

Most hunters outfit large, flat-bottomed boats with camouflaged superstructures. Inside is room for several dozen decoys, guns, people and dogs. The best late-season opportunities come from setting up on points of land jutting out into the lake. It gives the decoys the best visibility to passing ducks and plenty of room to work them over open water.

Contact Salamonie at (260) 468-2125, Mississinewa at (765) 473-6528 or Rousch Lake at (260) 468-2165 for maps and other information.

Hovey Lake FWA
Hovey Lake is in what some Hoosiers jokingly refer to as Indiana's "Banana Belt." Located at the far southwest tip of the state, spitting distance from the confluence of the Ohio and Wabash rivers, it does have a climate much different from the rest of the state. I once left Hovey after an almost shirtsleeve weather late-season hunt with temperatures in the 50s only to step out of my pickup truck at home in northern Indiana with zero degrees showing on the thermometer.

Most hunters outfit large,flat-bottomed boats with camouflaged superstructures. Inside is room for several dozen decoys, guns, people and dogs.

Couple the warm climate with the major rivers serving as migration corridors and it's no secret Hovey Lake is a late-season mallard mecca. It also used to be a Canada goose mecca. Back some years ago, when thousands of Canada geese showed up on the property, waterfowlers from all over the state showed up.

If that's your remembrance of Hovey Lake -- long lines of disgruntled hunters vying for a scant few primo spots -- that's now changed. First, the geese no longer come to the property in mass numbers. Migration patterns have shifted and other changes have cooled the property as a goose-hunting spot. Once the geese left, so did a large number of the hunters.

For the past few years, management of the waterfowlers on the lake has changed as well. Though Hovey still manages a portion of the property as a moist soil area interspersed with flooded, cultivated crops (corn and milo) where permanent blinds are located, the remaining portion of the lake has been divided into sections with no permanent blinds. A few groups of hunters are assigned to each section and are allowed to freelance within each unit.

There are some opportunities for guys with boats to rig up temporary hides along shorelines, but most of the hunters come with boats rigged with boat-blinds. They launch, make their way to favored locations and either tie up to a convenient flooded tree or anchor up adjacent to their decoy spread.

Contact Hovey Lake for additional details at (812) 838-2927.