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The Hackberry Flat Wildlife Management Area near Frederick offers 7,120 acres of recreational opportunities, primarily waterfowl hunting, dove hunting and bird watching. The spring bird migrations will begin soon.

A WETLAND OASIS: In arid southwest Oklahoma, Hackberry Flat is a bird mecca

by Ed Godfrey
March 3, 2018
The Oklahoman

FREDERICK — At Hackberry Flat, you never know what you might see.

Last spring, a masked duck, a tropical bird rarely seen in this part of the world, showed up at the wetland. Bird watchers from as far away as Michigan were flocking to southwest Oklahoma for a glimpse of it.



“They were lining up to see it,” said Kelvin Schoonover, wildlife biologist at the Hackberry Flat Wildlife Management Area near Frederick. “You just never say never at Hackberry. We have had some neat birds over the 23 years I have been here.”


Bird watchers search the Hackberry Flat Wildlife Management Area in southwestern Oklahoma. To date, 264 bird species have been documented on the wetland.

It's been 25 years since the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation first started buying land in Hackberry Flat, named for the forest surrounding the marsh.

It's always been a natural wetland, but the farmers who once owned it wanted it dry so they could grow crops. They would drain the land when it flooded.

State wildlife officials and conservation groups like Ducks Unlimited had a different vision for the land. They wanted to make it wetter.

"They knew it would be just a huge magnet for waterfowl, cranes, wading birds and all that,” Schoonover said of Hackberry Flat's visionaries. “It's proved itself many, many times. It's done exactly what we thought it would do.”

The Wildlife Department bought more than 7,000 acres from more than two dozen willing landowners to create the Hackberry Flat Wildlife Management Area and gave rebirth to the wetland.

Ducks Unlimited engineered a series of water control structures so water can be captured and distributed over Hackberry Flat where and when the biologists want it.

There are nearly 40 miles of levees and ditches that form a honeycomb of wetland units that can be flooded to meet the needs of migrating birds.

Within Hackberry Flat, there are 35 individual wetland units ranging in size from four acres to 715 acres, each with its own water control system, Schoonover said.

"A diversity of habitat is key to this place,” he said.

From shallow mud flats to flooded vegetation to dry areas, biologists can manipulate the water supply to create a variety of habitats on Hackberry Flat all at the same time. The deepest any area gets is 4 feet, Schoonover said.


A Greater Yellow Legs bird makes lunch of a crustacean at Hackberry Flat.

Over the years, more and more migratory birds were enticed to Hackberry Flat. To date, 264 bird species have been documented on wildlife management area.

In the fall, it's a popular duck hunting destination. Waterfowl hunters from across the southeastern United States frequently travel to Hackberry Flat, Schoonover said.

The opening day of dove season is the single busiest day of the year at Hackberry Flat. A dove hunt at Hackberry Flat is an opening day tradition for many Oklahoma wingshooters.

In the spring, Hackberry Flat becomes a premier spot for bird watchers. From mid-March into May, it is a major stopover for migrating birds.

“It's pretty significant how they show up here,” Schoonover said.

It begins in March with the migration of shorebirds.


A pair of Northern Shovelers take off from Hackberry Flat. Bird watchers flock to the wetland during the height of the bird watching season from March to May.

“We are already starting to see a few species, but bigger numbers will start picking up and usually peak about the third week of April until the first week of May,” Schoonover said.

As many as 27 different species of shorebirds have been seen on the same day at Hackberry Flat, he said.

“Shorebirds are a big draw,” Schoonover said. “This is one of the few places that actually allows you to view shorebirds from your vehicle. May is a good time for the warbler birds and the song bird group that comes through.”

Hackberry Flat also is one of the state's best outdoor classrooms. The Hackberry Flat Center was dedicated in 2008, and a nature trail was added.

Schoolchildren from all over southwest Oklahoma​ have explored the wetland. High school students even help state wildlife officials take surveys.

The Hackberry Flat Foundation, through the Friends of Hackberry Flat, can provide scholarships to schools to help cover the cost of field trips.

Twenty-one public tours are offered each year, including a Prairie and Wetland Tour on Saturday. Bird migration tours are scheduled in April and May.


The Hackberry Flat Wildlife Management Area has become a popular outdoor classroom for students in southwest Oklahoma.

In October, Hackberry Flat offers a popular monarch butterfly watch.

“The management for doves on the area provides nectaring plants, particularly annual sunflower, during the period of the monarch's fall migration through Oklahoma,” said Melynda Hickman, wildlife diversity biologist at the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

There are tours to watch the butterflies in the evenings and opportunities to help tag the monarchs in the mornings.

Being a wetland, Hackberry Flat also has its share of critters like turtles, snakes and crawfish. The diversity of life at Hackberry Flat never ceases to surprise Schoonover.

“It's always something new every day. You never know what you are going to find here,” he said. “It's a lot of challenges, a lot of sweat, but I'm glad to be a part of it.”

cool.

Very cool. I'm a huge fan of Ducks Unlimited they've partnered with owners and/or bought up oodles of high value wildlife producing wet lands like this all over the place. We're blessed with lots of DU projects all over this area, they sure know how to find and preserve the jewels. If I'm ever in Oklahoma I'll be sure to check out Hackberry Flat.

My uncle was the first manager of Hackberry when the dept bought it, Kelvin was his tech that he handed it over to when he moved on. Kelvin has done an outstanding job and Hackberry is an amazing place. Great dove, quail, and waterfowl hunting and it’s free for the public to use. I met a couple in Eagle river AK once who told me a story about this magical place they used to duck hunt called Hackberry and this great guy who managed it at tbe time, brought a big smile to my face.

Sounds like a cool place.

One of the sought-after birding spots around here is Mitchell Lake, for about eighty years the place where San Antonio's raw sewage ended up. The "mudflats" are about ten feet deep, so soft that even feral hogs have been mired in a sort of La Brea Tarpits effect. The water is way too saline for most fish so what is in place is a weird food chain based on blue-green algae, midges and saltmarsh mosquitoes that feed on the algae and the bacteria digesting the crap, turtles that feed on the midge and mosquito larvae, and alligators that eat the turtles. And shorebirds, hundreds of thousands of shorebirds that are after the insect larvae.

Shovellers and white pelicans are filter feeders so a bunch of them spend the winter.

I am about 25 miles from it and have hunted it since it was opened. Before us white folk moved in here it was a VERY large natural marsh on the prairie about 5 or so miles north of the Red River on the western side of what came to be known as the "Big Pasture".
Some of the older folks I know said some of the first settlers would go to the flats with the family and in wagons where they would kill the waterfowl and the womenfolk would can the meat for later use. It was later drained by a ditch cut out to the east (mostly by mule power) and that ditch is still used today to drain un-needed water and manage the flooded wildlife plantings.

Lots of birds of all types....had more than a few above average dove hunts there....

Mike this place would be up your alley .....

There was a house out there that my uncle told me about. It had been built for a widow lady by other farmers chipping in to help her after her husband had died and she was without a home, I don’t know if it was a fire or what the story on that is. At any rate it was like a doll house as the lady was under 5’ tall so all the ceilings were about 6 1/2 or 7’ and all the doorways were 5 1/2 or so. He said it was pretty neat even though it was dilapidated. He had went and checked it out after he’d been told by an old timer about it.

How is the quail hunting in that country, okie?

I had never heard of it.

Generally the best quail hunting in the state is the NW quadrant. Everywhere else is hit or miss.