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Started By
Message
re: Have the good ole days of duck hunting become a thing of the past.
Posted on 12/30/23 at 5:34 am to NorthTiger
Posted on 12/30/23 at 5:34 am to NorthTiger
I believe that this is a multifaceted issue. I live in SE Arkansas and here are my observations.
#1 Farming Practices
When it’s bone dry in October and all the farmers disc the fallen grain fields and hip rows leaning it looking like the Sahara Dessert, ain’t good for ducks. Not to mention if thr land owner Dosent hunt or want to lease the land there’s no water for ducks to stop. I live 60 miles from Miss River and I haven’t seen a duck this year and it’s all Ag fields from my house to river. I also have not seen one snow goose or one speck on the ground.
I’ve lived here for 20 years and the last 3 have been horrendous. Public land has mainly been due to no water accumulation.
#2 hatching grounds
Farming practices up there have nearly ruined nesting grounds and they’re trying to make it right. No birds hatching=decline in numbers.
#3 Humans
We always find a way to frick up something good. Example. I know a gentlemen that has his money and is an avid duck guy. He lives on his property that he maintains for duck hunting. They plant fields and there are some farm fields on this property as well as oak flats. Through his observations, the areas of land that he sees the highest number of birds are the areas he leaves as Natural Vegetation.
This goes back to #1 on the list. If you drive in the SEARK and Miss delta during the summer the only thing green is the crops. All head rows, ditch banks, fallow fields are burned to the ground. No natural vegetation. No feed for the birds.
Just like a Whitetail deer, a ducks main goal every day is to survive. It needs food and water. If it don’t have that. It will find it. Period. There is no food on the ground with water in south east Arkansas right now. Maybe that’s why I haven’t seen a duck!
#1 Farming Practices
When it’s bone dry in October and all the farmers disc the fallen grain fields and hip rows leaning it looking like the Sahara Dessert, ain’t good for ducks. Not to mention if thr land owner Dosent hunt or want to lease the land there’s no water for ducks to stop. I live 60 miles from Miss River and I haven’t seen a duck this year and it’s all Ag fields from my house to river. I also have not seen one snow goose or one speck on the ground.
I’ve lived here for 20 years and the last 3 have been horrendous. Public land has mainly been due to no water accumulation.
#2 hatching grounds
Farming practices up there have nearly ruined nesting grounds and they’re trying to make it right. No birds hatching=decline in numbers.
#3 Humans
We always find a way to frick up something good. Example. I know a gentlemen that has his money and is an avid duck guy. He lives on his property that he maintains for duck hunting. They plant fields and there are some farm fields on this property as well as oak flats. Through his observations, the areas of land that he sees the highest number of birds are the areas he leaves as Natural Vegetation.
This goes back to #1 on the list. If you drive in the SEARK and Miss delta during the summer the only thing green is the crops. All head rows, ditch banks, fallow fields are burned to the ground. No natural vegetation. No feed for the birds.
Just like a Whitetail deer, a ducks main goal every day is to survive. It needs food and water. If it don’t have that. It will find it. Period. There is no food on the ground with water in south east Arkansas right now. Maybe that’s why I haven’t seen a duck!
This post was edited on 12/30/23 at 5:37 am
2
Posted on 12/30/23 at 7:46 am to FowlGuy
Not disagreeing with anything stated here, all I know is that as an 80s kid, in BR, all I had to do was look up when I wanted to see some ducks. (During winter) flight birds nearly always
Posted on 12/30/23 at 8:41 am to KemoSabe65
quote:so was st bernard, jeff davis and even st helena(timber holes)
Laccasine was money during 3/30, nothing but mallards and pintail by the thousands. Only three groups hunting the pipeline and we never saw one another.
4/45 added a few more groups but 6/60 turned the mermentau into a boat parade.
Duck lobby ain’t going to let 3/30 ever come back.
Posted on 12/30/23 at 9:22 am to NorthTiger
quote:
Have the good ole days of duck hunting become a thing of the past
The good ole days of everything are a thing of the past.
Posted on 12/30/23 at 9:27 am to choupiquesushi
All good points in here, including a lower population which I know some don't think is happening. I think the drought plus the Avian flu that is running through the population right now will finally push the change in limits and days that has been needed.
Posted on 12/30/23 at 9:44 am to NorthTiger
This didn’t just start. I started hunting in the late 80s and gave it up about 10-15 years ago because it wasn’t worth the effort. Toward the end we had lots of days that we didn’t even see any ducks much less get a shot. We would occasionally hunt some fields around Thornwell and I was always amazed at the number of birds we’d see. My dad told me that when he was a young man in the 50s and 60s that the ducks and geese coming out of the marsh in the mornings would block out the sun. He also said that old men back then complained about how they just didn’t come down like they used to.
Posted on 12/30/23 at 12:34 pm to NorthTiger
No till farming
Also duck hunting is huge money business now. Companies and outfitters have massive incentive to keep ducks up north as long as possible these days.
In the 1990’s how much was a duck hunt per gun in Kansas or Missouri?
Some of these outfitters are charging 3-4k per gun per weekend and booked out for years
Also duck hunting is huge money business now. Companies and outfitters have massive incentive to keep ducks up north as long as possible these days.
In the 1990’s how much was a duck hunt per gun in Kansas or Missouri?
Some of these outfitters are charging 3-4k per gun per weekend and booked out for years
This post was edited on 12/30/23 at 12:35 pm
Posted on 12/30/23 at 12:40 pm to Capt ST
quote:
You guys need to learn how to scout. You can’t keep hunting the spot your grandpa showed you in 1970 something. I’ve had 4 guys go thru a case in 3 days. We are stacking up the ringnecks.
You clearly don’t understand, man. Posted on 12/30/23 at 12:41 pm to texag7
I've been hunting for over 40yrs here in La. Mostly public and in nonagricultural areas. Yea we had lots of wooducks, but only killed different ducks when they are migrating. Seems since the 90's the ducks migrating are way down. And if you were outside anytime at night during the fall you would here geese moving. Not so much anymore of either.
Posted on 12/30/23 at 12:42 pm to LSU Neil
quote:This. Same thing where I grew up, watched thousands going to roost, etc. every evening from deer stand. simply does not happen any longer. But some baws will stack shite ducks and call folks lazy arse and say we don’t know what we’re doing. Those of us who know, know.
Not disagreeing with anything stated here, all I know is that as an 80s kid, in BR, all I had to do was look up when I wanted to see some ducks. (During winter) flight birds nearly always
This post was edited on 12/30/23 at 12:44 pm
Posted on 12/30/23 at 12:44 pm to texag7
A huge part of it this year is just lack of winter weather in the North combined with drought in the south.
I expect every year to be worse than what I saw in the mid 90s but a lot of this year has just been poor weather.
When Maddison WI has the same weather as Jonesboro AR in the middle of December there will be a lot of empty skies.
I expect every year to be worse than what I saw in the mid 90s but a lot of this year has just been poor weather.
When Maddison WI has the same weather as Jonesboro AR in the middle of December there will be a lot of empty skies.
Posted on 12/30/23 at 12:57 pm to NorthTiger
we’ve hunted the wax since before Andrew. I’ve got a nice camp down there I haven’t been to in a couple years, and I haven’t hunted hard in over 10 years
it’s just frustrating now and more hassle than it’s worth. It truly was a world class resource
it’s just frustrating now and more hassle than it’s worth. It truly was a world class resource
Posted on 12/30/23 at 1:17 pm to Big Bill
quote:
d love to know what happened to all the snow and blue geese. It was nothing to have 10,000 - 20,000 bird bodys of geese every mile or so around our place. They simply aren't around in near the numbers as they used to be.
Agreed. I can remember driving back and forth to LsU in the 90’s and there were white geese in most fields along the interstate.
Like someone already said. They stay North (more food) and don’t come this far down anymore.
Posted on 12/30/23 at 1:46 pm to brmach
quote:
My dad told me that when he was a young man in the 50s and 60s that the ducks and geese coming out of the marsh in the mornings would block out the sun. He also said that old men back then complained about how they just didn’t come down like they used to.
Kinda reminds you of the Bison and Passenger Pigeon too doesn't it. Someone bragging about 600 duck seasons at the camp just means that they were abusing the resource and now the world is seeing the results of such greed.
No, short stopping of the flocks "up north" is not the problem. Decreased total numbers surviving is and adjustments are going to have to be made before it is necessary to close the seasons completely.
Posted on 12/30/23 at 2:15 pm to ImaObserver
quote:
Someone bragging about 600 duck seasons at the camp just means that they were abusing the resource and now the world is seeing the results of such greed.
I’m the one who made that statement so i think i need to respond.
I made it clear that this was a 6 man lease. 6 adult men paid $3,000 each year for that lease.
3 of us had young sons
What i take offense at is that you indicate that you know my motive was to brag. You see us as greedy. You are wrong
Decades ago this was a good lease but at that time there were many leases across Louisiana that were much better. There were better leases within earshot .
I never went on a hunt where the limit was exceeded and even during the prime years I’ve sat in a blind with three other hunters until 11:00 when we had one limit of ducks. My point is that over the course of the season great hunts occurred, most hunts were decent but I made the hour drive to that lease and had little success on many occasions.
I feel fortunate to have been part of a group of guys who enjoyed each others company, introduced our kids to duck hunting and took some of our friends on hunts. Sometimes they were very good and sometimes not.
As I said, the peak average was around 600 ducks per year but that total slowly dropped after 2000. Nobody forced us to pay for a lease that eventually produced fewer than 100 ducks per year. But we left that lease 5 years. Three of the old timers only deer hunt now.
This post was edited on 12/30/23 at 2:37 pm
Posted on 12/30/23 at 2:20 pm to ImaObserver
As a kid in the 80s in BR you’d always see/hear geese up high. I never ever see them now. Also, there were mallards by the 10s of thousands in manchac/maurepas. They’re would be giant rafts of them in the tickfaw and blind river. We had a slough behind the house where hundreds of woodies would roost. Sometimes thousands. We would count them coming in at dusk.
Absolutely none of that happens anymore. There’s less ducks and there’s less reason for them to be here. Sugar cane instead of beans and corn. Crawfish instead of rice. Neighborhoods instead of ag land.
Absolutely none of that happens anymore. There’s less ducks and there’s less reason for them to be here. Sugar cane instead of beans and corn. Crawfish instead of rice. Neighborhoods instead of ag land.
This post was edited on 12/30/23 at 2:21 pm
Posted on 12/30/23 at 2:50 pm to NorthEnd
quote:yeah that was a rapidly declining thing too.
Also, there were mallards by the 10s of thousands in manchac/maurepas
Posted on 12/30/23 at 2:51 pm to NorthEnd
quote:
As a kid in the 80s in BR you’d always see/hear geese up high. I never ever see them now
In the 80’s in North Alabama we would see geese flying very high going south. Would not see many in fields. Now they are like this in my driveway.
Posted on 12/30/23 at 3:15 pm to NorthTiger
The sad thing is, with duck hunting at the low it is I still hear people shite talk on duck conservation groups. Those conservation groups can’t solve the issues we’re seeing with migration, but their goal is habitat conservation. Nobody else cares about ducks except hunters, and it pisses me off when people want to bash DU or DW. If you don’t want to spend a little money to help conserve the resource, that’s fine, but don’t try and prevent others from helping.
Posted on 12/30/23 at 3:26 pm to NorthEnd
quote:
Also, there were mallards by the 10s of thousands in manchac/maurepas
And now the whole place is choked out with salvania and water hyacinth.
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