Will tomorrow be the worst opening day of duck season in recorded history?

Mosquitos will be bigger than the ducks!

It’s been spotty for damn sure and I’ve hunted every weekend since 10/11. Smoke them one day, go back the next with better conditions and not pick up my gun. Another oddity, geese moved in late last week and were everywhere until Thur, just vanished.

You also can't kill them if there are none. I duck hunted in the 80s up into early 2000s. You younger guys have no idea how many ducks their used to be and they are gone. Their population has been decimated by something and it's not people shooting them. I quit hunting because of this.

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I quit hunting because of this

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Good… less competition.

When my dad started taking me duck hunting in the 90s, I can honestly say I never remember them shooting a whole lot of ducks. What I do remember though, was loving everything about what we did out there and wanting to go back out there at every opportunity.

We got into a great lease in the marsh in 2000 and we had good hunts and bad hunts, but it was particularly great from around 2008-2015. We’ve been on the decline ever since and what’s worse is the amount of marsh that we’re losing every year is alarming.

Despite that, I’ve still been able to get out there and have some decent hunts. We usually at least get to put some meat on the table, although I’ve had to be a lot less picky on what birds get shot

It still sucks not having the birds we used to, but the population for ducks has always been cyclical, and I’m optimistic that there will still be good hunts in the future. What worries me more is the loss of hunting habitat and the increase in hunting pressure. So good riddance to anyone who wants to give it up cause they don’t smash limits anymore. I’ve scratched plenty of times over the years, but I wouldn’t give up those hunts with my dad, uncles, or friends for anything.

I might be more selective about getting out there when the hunting is as poor as it’s been, but it’s never going to stop me from going.

The ducks never make it this far down south any more. They have everything they need to winter in states north of us.

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Theduckhunter

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Right on.

But especially this:

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but it’s never going to stop me from going.

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Scratch hunt this morning rice fields SE of LC.
I will be back tomorrow and then later in the week with the supposed weather change.

From the Sportsman… things are looking better.

“ The 2025 November survey estimate of ducks in Louisiana’s coastal region and Little River basin is 143% higher than last November --”

“ This year’s estimate is 40% higher than the most recent 5-year average (885,000), and 2% higher than the most recent 10-year average (1.2 million) (Table 2), but remains well below the long-term average of 2.14 million. It is the highest estimate since 2021.”

Ray Charles was counting them

Was in Chauvin this am. Had a 3 man limit by 7:00am