- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
Drought & ducks
Posted on 8/21/12 at 5:18 pm
Posted on 8/21/12 at 5:18 pm
Is it forecasted to send the ducks south faster?
Posted on 8/21/12 at 5:20 pm to i10Duck
No water and less food is not going to be an incentive for ducks to stay north. A cold winter could make this the best ever...
Posted on 8/21/12 at 5:23 pm to wickowick
we need water here SOOOOOO bad
Posted on 8/21/12 at 5:27 pm to Bleeding purple
Texas no water=more ducks south la
Posted on 8/21/12 at 5:27 pm to i10Duck
I'm hoping for a really cold winter, problem solved
Posted on 8/21/12 at 5:29 pm to i10Duck
quote:
Is it forecasted to send the ducks south faster?
Yes, and more of them, according the the Delta Waterfowl article I read this afternoon!
Posted on 8/21/12 at 5:31 pm to Tchefuncte Tiger
A wet winter could slow em down
Posted on 8/21/12 at 5:43 pm to choupiquesushi
My buddy in Kansas sent me a video yesterday of about a hundred geese landing in his back pasture. He has ducks as well, If they don't make it here I will just kindly go meet the bastards a little further north,but damn I hope they make it to central la Kansas is far.
Posted on 8/21/12 at 5:46 pm to wickowick
quote:
A cold winter could make this the best ever...
Posted on 8/21/12 at 5:58 pm to Bleeding purple
has the rain not been making it out your way recently?
we've gotten some here the past few days, but even farther north has gotten even more.
we've gotten some here the past few days, but even farther north has gotten even more.
Posted on 8/21/12 at 6:15 pm to SCUBABlake
I wish we could send some of our rain your way..
we floatin here..
we floatin here..
Posted on 8/21/12 at 6:18 pm to greasemonkey
Yes, drought up north will send more ducks south - faster. Google the Delta Waterfowl article printed earlier this month......its on flight and feeding patterns and mentions Louisiana. Those that have water on the flight path will get ducks. The less water enroute - the quicker they reach the marsh. Should be a good year for all of us in Louisiana.
Posted on 8/21/12 at 6:20 pm to greasemonkey
Yeah.
We had a good rain on Saturday night, first one in a long time. Gotten some sprinkles here and there, but nothing too crazy.
I need to go check my grandmother's pond to see how much it filled up from the rain the other night. Needed water in that thing in the worst way.
We had a good rain on Saturday night, first one in a long time. Gotten some sprinkles here and there, but nothing too crazy.
I need to go check my grandmother's pond to see how much it filled up from the rain the other night. Needed water in that thing in the worst way.
Posted on 8/21/12 at 6:29 pm to i10Duck
Everybody is in a drought but not me
Posted on 8/21/12 at 8:22 pm to Bandit30
Couple reports on DU have a BWT arriving at a decent rate already, saying a bunch of greys, and other big ducks are showing up too.
3 Weeks til shoot time
3 Weeks til shoot time
Posted on 8/21/12 at 8:46 pm to MadtownTiger
Duck hunting season looks good this year, the future is a different matter Bob Marshall, The Times-Picayune 08/18/2012 7:46 PM
Here's the good news for the local duck season: There's record drought gripping states to the north of us. Here's the bad news: There's record drought gripping the states north of us.
Here's the worst news: Many of your congressmen are working against regulations that have protected wetlands against drought.
OK, let's take the news in order.
The good
If you hunt on the wintering end of the flyway, it's always helpful when habitat conditions north of you encourage ducks to move southward. And the best conditions up north for forcing birds to Louisiana earlier and in larger numbers than usual is a dry summer followed by a cold, dry winter.
That isn't a guess; it's a matter of research done by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
"The study published in 1984 tracked the distribution of mallard band recoveries on the flyway," recalled biologist Larry Reynolds, waterfowl study leader for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. "It showed clearly dry, cold winters (north of us) were best for our hunting, while the worst combination for us was warm, wet winters.
"In those dry, cold winters recovery of the bands shifted strongly to the southern end of the flyway, and in warm, wet winters, they shifted strongly to the north. In average winters, the distribution was spread pretty evenly."
While that study (like most) was done on a species that isn't a major part of the local bag -- mallards -- Reynolds believes it will apply equally well, if not more strongly, to species most important to local hunters because they are all early migrants: blue-winged teal, gadwall (grey ducks), pintail and shovelers (spoonies).
"When I was in graduate school, I hunted the Atchafalaya Basin and religiously scouted the area before the season," he said. "And I remember one year when there was a severe drought north of us, and the delta was absolutely covered up with the early migrants.
"If this drought holds, I think we'll see the same thing this year. If those early migrants can't find suitable habitat for stopovers on their way south, they will probably come south quicker."
Of course, the conditions to the north wouldn't mean much if local conditions were not good, but they are. Our marshes are wet and thick with plants that serve as prime duck food.
Now all we need is to ride through the peak of tropical storm season without a hit.
The bad
Aside from the significant human and economic costs of the drought, local waterfowlers should also be concerned about the future impact it is certain to have on waterfowl production. The area going dry extends into some of the nation's most important waterfowl nesting grounds, including the prairie potholes in the Dakotas.
And things are only expected to get worse. Research published this month not only links the current record drought to global warming, but indicates it will continue for decades to come.
Those of us who were hunting in the 1980s remember the droughts that dropped waterfowl production so low seasons were reduced to 30 days with three-duck daily limits. That dry period was not as severe or as long-lasting as the current drought is predicted to be, yet it dealt a severe blow to waterfowling participation. That set off a crisis in funding for management and conservation because those critical functions were paid for largely by sportsmen licenses and excise taxes.
Indeed, it was those lean times that were the impetus behind the push that led to the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, the package of regulations and conservation initiatives designed to maintain a solid habitat base for the future.
And that brings us to the next headline.
The worst
This warming, drying climate is arriving at the same time some in Congress are pushing to reduce funding for conservation programs like NAWCA and to roll back regulatory protection on wetlands and other wildlife habitat. The bitter irony is that the regulations under attack were designed to provide a hedge against just such changes in environmental conditions.
Louisiana waterfowlers should know that their GOP House delegation, most of whom claim to be pro-sportsmen, have been voting with this herd against regulations needed to protect waterfowl habitat.
Two examples: Their opposed reinstatement of protections for temporary, isolated wetlands removed by Supreme Court decisions; they voted to prevent federal agencies from enforcing new wetlands guidance from the White House that could limit the damage of those court decisions.
Without those regulations when many of the prairie potholes -- which are "temporary isolated wetlands" -- dry up during this drought, they can now be permanently turned into cropland. When that happens, waterfowl production will plummet.
So, if we're covered with teal and gray ducks this fall due to the drought up north, enjoy the hunting. But also consider the costs if nothing changes in Washington.
Here's the good news for the local duck season: There's record drought gripping states to the north of us. Here's the bad news: There's record drought gripping the states north of us.
Here's the worst news: Many of your congressmen are working against regulations that have protected wetlands against drought.
OK, let's take the news in order.
The good
If you hunt on the wintering end of the flyway, it's always helpful when habitat conditions north of you encourage ducks to move southward. And the best conditions up north for forcing birds to Louisiana earlier and in larger numbers than usual is a dry summer followed by a cold, dry winter.
That isn't a guess; it's a matter of research done by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
"The study published in 1984 tracked the distribution of mallard band recoveries on the flyway," recalled biologist Larry Reynolds, waterfowl study leader for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. "It showed clearly dry, cold winters (north of us) were best for our hunting, while the worst combination for us was warm, wet winters.
"In those dry, cold winters recovery of the bands shifted strongly to the southern end of the flyway, and in warm, wet winters, they shifted strongly to the north. In average winters, the distribution was spread pretty evenly."
While that study (like most) was done on a species that isn't a major part of the local bag -- mallards -- Reynolds believes it will apply equally well, if not more strongly, to species most important to local hunters because they are all early migrants: blue-winged teal, gadwall (grey ducks), pintail and shovelers (spoonies).
"When I was in graduate school, I hunted the Atchafalaya Basin and religiously scouted the area before the season," he said. "And I remember one year when there was a severe drought north of us, and the delta was absolutely covered up with the early migrants.
"If this drought holds, I think we'll see the same thing this year. If those early migrants can't find suitable habitat for stopovers on their way south, they will probably come south quicker."
Of course, the conditions to the north wouldn't mean much if local conditions were not good, but they are. Our marshes are wet and thick with plants that serve as prime duck food.
Now all we need is to ride through the peak of tropical storm season without a hit.
The bad
Aside from the significant human and economic costs of the drought, local waterfowlers should also be concerned about the future impact it is certain to have on waterfowl production. The area going dry extends into some of the nation's most important waterfowl nesting grounds, including the prairie potholes in the Dakotas.
And things are only expected to get worse. Research published this month not only links the current record drought to global warming, but indicates it will continue for decades to come.
Those of us who were hunting in the 1980s remember the droughts that dropped waterfowl production so low seasons were reduced to 30 days with three-duck daily limits. That dry period was not as severe or as long-lasting as the current drought is predicted to be, yet it dealt a severe blow to waterfowling participation. That set off a crisis in funding for management and conservation because those critical functions were paid for largely by sportsmen licenses and excise taxes.
Indeed, it was those lean times that were the impetus behind the push that led to the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, the package of regulations and conservation initiatives designed to maintain a solid habitat base for the future.
And that brings us to the next headline.
The worst
This warming, drying climate is arriving at the same time some in Congress are pushing to reduce funding for conservation programs like NAWCA and to roll back regulatory protection on wetlands and other wildlife habitat. The bitter irony is that the regulations under attack were designed to provide a hedge against just such changes in environmental conditions.
Louisiana waterfowlers should know that their GOP House delegation, most of whom claim to be pro-sportsmen, have been voting with this herd against regulations needed to protect waterfowl habitat.
Two examples: Their opposed reinstatement of protections for temporary, isolated wetlands removed by Supreme Court decisions; they voted to prevent federal agencies from enforcing new wetlands guidance from the White House that could limit the damage of those court decisions.
Without those regulations when many of the prairie potholes -- which are "temporary isolated wetlands" -- dry up during this drought, they can now be permanently turned into cropland. When that happens, waterfowl production will plummet.
So, if we're covered with teal and gray ducks this fall due to the drought up north, enjoy the hunting. But also consider the costs if nothing changes in Washington.
Posted on 8/21/12 at 8:53 pm to Howard Juneau
The only problem with the low river where I hunt in Venice is that the salt water is starting to kill a lot of the feed. There should be a ton of ducks. Just not sure if they will stay long without a lot of feed.
Posted on 8/21/12 at 9:48 pm to i10Duck
i have lots of water. aint ever skerred
Posted on 8/21/12 at 11:46 pm to DeepSouthSportsman
quote:
Texas no water=more ducks south la
East Texas and Upper Texas Coast has plenty of water.
MORE than enough...
it's going to rain ducks this year.
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News