In milder winters, hunters have many more choices. If water remains largely unfrozen, lots of smaller bodies of water will attract ducks regularly. Farm ponds can be very productive. You can either put out decoys and call, or "jump" ducks by sneaking up on ponds to target ducks already there.

And in the past couple of decades, Oklahoma duck hunters have had their good friend the beaver dam up countless small creeks and intermittent streams that in turn flood fields or bottomland hardwood areas with just enough water to make the area very attractive for ducks.

If you can find such a spot having pecan or oak trees are standing in shallow water, you may be in for a treat. Mallards love such flooded-timber areas, and a little beaver pond with an acre or less of water can sometimes attract large numbers of ducks.

Of course, some winters see such mild weather on the Great Plains that some ducks never make it as far south as Oklahoma. One of the main reasons that ducks migrate is the freezing-over of their habitat up north, so they fly south to find food and open water. But when the rivers and lakes and marshes remain unfrozen up in Nebraska and northern Kansas throughout the winter, we may see far fewer ducks actually make it to Oklahoma.

Some ducks will always pass through Oklahoma, even when winters are mild up north. But at times, hundreds of thousands of ducks spend their winters up on the Platte and other big prairie rivers without ever crossing the Kansas/Oklahoma border. That can make for slim pickings down here in Oklahoma.

But don't let your guard down during mild winters: A single cold snap in Nebraska or Kansas can quickly push big numbers of birds southward. It can pay to watch the weather forecast every day.

To be a consistently successful duck hunter in Oklahoma, you have to be versatile. The ability to change tactics and locations and to work with the weather and water conditions is usually what separates the men from the boys, because Oklahoma's varying weather can rewrite the script for duck-hunting success.

Make no mistake about it: The weatherman can be your ally in planning your hunt.