Authorities are continuing the search for two duck hunters missing on the Mississippi River since Dec. 3, but have been hampered the past few days by high winds and choppy water.

Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said agents from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks were in the water for most of Sunday, and he and Deputy Johnny Beauchamp manned the county’s boat, which returned to LeTourneau Landing at dark.

“It has been rough out there,” Sheriff Martin Pace said. “The wind has the water so choppy that we have to go very slow. The visibility is good but the choppy water makes it hard to identify things in the water so we’re moving slow.”

The search for Zeb Hughes, 21, from Wesson, and 16-year-old Gunner Palmer of Brookhaven is in its fourth week.

Search teams from the Warren County Sheriff’s Office and MDWFP, as well as volunteers, have been searching the river and at one point on land since late Dec. 3 after the two did not return from a planned hunting trip and were reported missing by their families. To date the search has failed to find the pair.

Pace said the search would resume Monday morning.