IA DNR: Wildlife Management Activity October 2001

Activity in the Odessa Unit increases in October and November as waterfowl hunters flock to Lake Odessa in pursuit of ducks and geese. Lake Odessa is one of two areas managed by the Wildlife Bureau where hunters must draw for area access and hunting sites. Limited access helps to maintain the quality of the hunt by reducing overcrowding commonly found at other marshes that are popular with hunters. The other controlled waterfowl hunting area operated by the DNR is located at Riverton in the southwest corner of Iowa.

Lake Odessa is a 6,800-acre wetland complex located about four miles east of Wapello in Louisa County. It lies on the floodplain of the Mississippi River immediately above the mouth of the Iowa River. About 3,000 acres are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge, and the remaining 3,800 acres are managed by the Iowa DNR as the Odessa Wildlife Management Area.
Lake Odessa from the air

The federal refuge portion is closed to public access in the fall and provides a valuable resting and feeding area to migratory waterfowl. Concentrations have numbered as high as 120,000 ducks and 6,000 geese in recent years. The state-managed portion is open for public hunting and has special regulations for waterfowl hunting on much of the area.
Lake Odessa Check Station

The hunting area is divided into Area A, Area B and the Main Lake. Area A regulations are in effect from the opening of the waterfowl season (duck or goose, whichever opens first) through the close of the duck season. There are 51 hunting sites, each designated with a numbered sign. A drawing is held every morning for Area A in the Schafer Access check station at 90 minutes before shooting time. Either a $5 daily fee or a $50 season ticket is required of one member of the hunting party. A maximum of six hunters and two boats are allowed per party. Hunting party registration card

There are no constructed blinds at these sites, and a boat is required to access this area. Area A regulations were put in place to control overcrowding and eliminate boat traffic of hunters looking for open spots on this popular area.
This location is drawn by party 3

Area B regulations are in effect only on the opening weekends of the duck season. A free permit is required for each party until one hour after the start of shooting time on each of these days. The permits are issued first come, first served beginning 90 minutes before shooting time at the Sand Run Access check station or after the drawing at the Schafer Access check station. General regulations for state wildlife areas apply the rest of the season, the most applicable being no blinds or decoys from one hour after the close of shooting time until midnight each day. Area B regulations were formed to prevent the mad rush of all hunters taking off in their boats at the same time during the heavily used opening weekends.
The Main Lake is a large open body of water that follows the general regulations for state wildlife areas.
Yellow tags have not yet been draw by hunting parties.

Yellow tags have not yet been draw by hunting parties.

Odessa’s mixture of large shallow lakes, isolated ponds, marsh and forest provides a wide array of waterfowl hunting opportunities. Mallards are number one in the harvest and wood ducks are number two. After that, it’s a toss-up between green-winged teal, blue-winged teal, gadwalls, wigeon and pintails, but there’s also opportunities for Canada geese, shovelers, black ducks, scaup, ringnecks, canvasbacks, redheads, buffleheads, mergansers and goldeneyes. There’s even some oddballs like scoters taken on occasion.
Stake #35

Most hunting is done from blind-boats, although there are some walk-in duck hunting opportunities in Area B, mainly from the Toolesboro Access. Boat ramps are located at Schafer Access, Sand Run Access and the Toolesboro Access. One thing to keep in mind is that Odessa is big and the many islands are forested, so it’s quite easy to get lost until learning all the chutes, channels, ponds and sloughs.
Picking up decoys

For additional information regarding hunting at Lake Odessa individuals can contact Bill Ohde, the Odessa Unit biologist at (319) 523-8319, or they can the controlled hunt information page to obtain information about Lake Odessa and Riverton.

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Last Update October 2001