For Tennessee Valley Authority’s Natural Resources team, the cold weather signals a great opportunity for waterfowl sportsmen along the Tennessee River and on the utility’s 293,000 acres of public lands.

Each fall, waterfowl navigate south toward warmer climates. The Tennessee River is positioned inside the eastern half of the 2,300-mile Mississippi Flyway to the Gulf of Mexico and provides waterfowl 11,000 miles of shoreline and 650,000 acres of water upon which to rest and feed during their seasonal migration.

According to the TVA, there’s still plenty of time for hunters to get in on the action before the season closes at the end of January. Early in the season the birds are scattered because of low-water conditions. Once the water rises into food plots that flank the river, the added food sources will cause more birds to congregate in those areas.

For those who want to duck hunt the Tennessee River, TVA doesn’t require any special license. However, federal, state and local laws and regulations must be followed. Hunters can download the TVA Undeveloped Recreation Lands app to identify the TVA’s undeveloped land that is open for recreational use.