- 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
re: The golden years for ducks are gone....
Posted on 1/4/18 at 9:21 am to SOLA
Posted on 1/4/18 at 9:21 am to SOLA
quote:
I agree our golden years are gone, but for some reason this year is just really bad. I know a few people that are doing pretty well, but for the most part people are saying this is the worst season they have ever had
agree with this. worst season I've seen for ducks in a long time. Geese are good, but nobody is consistently killing limits of ducks around SWLA.
1
Posted on 1/4/18 at 9:47 am to TopWaterTiger
What pisses me off is shortening the first split and lengthening the second. We do better in the first split than the second. Where I hunt there is no agr. they stop for water, rest and roll on. You have this LWF board that gets all the info from the federal wildlife people to set seasons. Well in the west zone there is no one on this board that lives in the west zone. So these board members in south Louisiana know whats best for me in west La. If it was left up to me I start the season on the first weekend in November and run it straight thru till 60 days were up. Hell I would take 45 days straight and then on to fishing.
Posted on 1/4/18 at 9:47 am to RingLeader
At 38 I don't remember a time when it looked like this but I saw an old black and white photo (at a Delta Waterfowl banquet) of the swamps in Stephensville where it was so packed with mallards, it looked like a current image of the flooded timber in Arkansas. At one time, it was like that in the swamps all across south Louisiana. Mallards so thick you could walk on em. These days, you might only kill a handful of mallards all season on the coast. Like I said in my opening post, the overall lack of numbers isn't gonna keep me home but it's definitely something worth talking about.
PS If you represent the new generation of hunters I'd urge you guys not to be dismissive but rather alarmed by what's happening. So when a fellow hunter suggest the emergence of surface drive engines can be infringing on overall duck numbers in the area, don't be so quick to say bullcrap...but rather ask question and offer input. The guys that mention this stuff have hunted during the pre-surface drive era and understand what it's like to push pole to the blind and "consistently" kill ducks without having the distractions of a gator tail running through your spread. And we're simply all concerned by what we're witnessing, times are changing. Personally; it's the future die hards hunters I'm looking out for, I want them to enjoy the same consistent/plentiful successes myself and others enjoyed back in the 80's-90's. Solid talking points though fellas, I'm just now catching up.
PS If you represent the new generation of hunters I'd urge you guys not to be dismissive but rather alarmed by what's happening. So when a fellow hunter suggest the emergence of surface drive engines can be infringing on overall duck numbers in the area, don't be so quick to say bullcrap...but rather ask question and offer input. The guys that mention this stuff have hunted during the pre-surface drive era and understand what it's like to push pole to the blind and "consistently" kill ducks without having the distractions of a gator tail running through your spread. And we're simply all concerned by what we're witnessing, times are changing. Personally; it's the future die hards hunters I'm looking out for, I want them to enjoy the same consistent/plentiful successes myself and others enjoyed back in the 80's-90's. Solid talking points though fellas, I'm just now catching up.
This post was edited on 1/4/18 at 9:48 am
Posted on 1/4/18 at 9:59 am to DownshiftAndFloorIt
I too believe the Mississippi Flyway has shifted west.
NW La has always been the desert compared to other ducking areas within driving distance. When I was growing up it was basically all of South La and Stuttgart. NE Louisiana began to get good in the 80s.
I have records of every hunt I made from 1990 to present. In the 90s we could count on regular mallards and then toward the end of that period gadwall started showing up. NE La rice fields were epic. My best hunt on record was the opening three days of the second split of 2000. In a three day period we killed 75 ducks with 50 of those being mallards.
Things began taking a turn around 2003. Throughout that 20 year period half of what we killed were mallards and 20% were gadwall. By 2010 it got to where I rarely saw mallards. It also got to where I would stand and look at blue sky.
NE Louisiana has turned into teal hunts all season. Oklahoma has become the place to go if you live in NW LaEven Stuttgart has got worse and worse since 2010. NW Louisiana lives and dies on divers.
NW La has always been the desert compared to other ducking areas within driving distance. When I was growing up it was basically all of South La and Stuttgart. NE Louisiana began to get good in the 80s.
I have records of every hunt I made from 1990 to present. In the 90s we could count on regular mallards and then toward the end of that period gadwall started showing up. NE La rice fields were epic. My best hunt on record was the opening three days of the second split of 2000. In a three day period we killed 75 ducks with 50 of those being mallards.
Things began taking a turn around 2003. Throughout that 20 year period half of what we killed were mallards and 20% were gadwall. By 2010 it got to where I rarely saw mallards. It also got to where I would stand and look at blue sky.
NE Louisiana has turned into teal hunts all season. Oklahoma has become the place to go if you live in NW LaEven Stuttgart has got worse and worse since 2010. NW Louisiana lives and dies on divers.
This post was edited on 1/4/18 at 4:18 pm
Posted on 1/4/18 at 10:04 am to NorthTiger
quote:
My best hunt on record was the opening three days of the second split of 2000
My best run was 1999/2000 and 2000/2001.... beaver ponds in st helena parish...
many 4 mallard 2 woodie limits and back in BR for 8:30.
same spot now.. does hold woodies but zero on mallards...
I talked yesterday with a guy that has 1300 acres in st landry parish and Ive known him for 30 years this is the only time I have heard him disgusted about duck season..
Posted on 1/4/18 at 10:10 am to Jonrubberman
I think you have an excellent point and appreciate your input. However, the “ban surface drives, because they’re scaring the ducks” argument only goes so far. As many others have mentioned, there’s several factors that have changed waterowl hunting over the last two decades. I’m sure the misuse of surface drives can be attributed to some weary birds but banning them is not an end all be all.
Which makes me really want input on how Biloxi marsh has changed. They’ve got 2-3 years without surface drives now. I’d like to see data and opinions from those who frequent it.
Which makes me really want input on how Biloxi marsh has changed. They’ve got 2-3 years without surface drives now. I’d like to see data and opinions from those who frequent it.
Posted on 1/4/18 at 10:15 am to Redfish2010
quote:
Which makes me really want input on how Biloxi marsh has changed. They’ve got 2-3 years without surface drives now. I’d like to see data and opinions from those who frequent it.
I would love to see this data as well, I have always been weary of the surface drive argument.
Posted on 1/4/18 at 10:16 am to Redfish2010
ABSOLUTELY!! I wonder where we can we get that info? @ Redfish2010
This post was edited on 1/4/18 at 10:18 am
Posted on 1/4/18 at 10:16 am to Redfish2010
(no message)
This post was edited on 1/4/18 at 10:18 am
Posted on 1/4/18 at 10:17 am to Redfish2010
Fwiw I can’t say I’ve noticed any change in number of birds in the general area, other than I haven’t noticed any drastic changes in the positive direction. I also can’t say that even in the remote areas of BM that I hunt I don’t think the birds are any less wary than my lease in Reggio where we have mud motors running all morning long.
Posted on 1/4/18 at 10:27 am to DirtyMikeandtheBoys
I agree with you on the guys quiting over not shooting limits. It’s fun, but not my expectation by any means. It’s sad though that people can’t have a conversation about a hobbie that they sink a ton of time, money and sacrifices into, without some idiot like you interjecting their ignorance. I appreciate people like you though, y’all remind me of the people I’d never want to be like. So thanks buddy
This post was edited on 1/4/18 at 10:28 am
Posted on 1/4/18 at 10:34 am to NCrouch0515
The surface drive thing is a micro habitat issue - IMO and actually I think simply creating NO GO or refuge zones in some areas can mediate that. but if you don't think the ride around scouters push ducks out....but so do guys fishing deep in the marsh which used to not happen too...
once birds get imprinted using other areas - they can and will quit using an area...
the sheer number of people running around the shallow marshes hunting and fishing is a factor... all day and all night....
you want to see a shitload of ducks go to bayou sauvage or any other refuge and check the no access area....
heck north farm at sherburne for that matter....
once birds get imprinted using other areas - they can and will quit using an area...
the sheer number of people running around the shallow marshes hunting and fishing is a factor... all day and all night....
you want to see a shitload of ducks go to bayou sauvage or any other refuge and check the no access area....
heck north farm at sherburne for that matter....
Posted on 1/4/18 at 10:38 am to choupiquesushi
quote:
heck north farm at sherburne for that matter....
Shhhhhh. Mallards have been pretty good this split. Not in north farm, but very close. It's just hard getting to them.
Posted on 1/4/18 at 10:57 am to choupiquesushi
I’m not saying ban surface drives. They have a purpose. I’m saying the marshes of the WMA’s need to be no motor zones. Run the main bayous all you want.
Posted on 1/4/18 at 11:04 am to Redfish2010
all I know is I see full straps hanging from gatortails, not yamahas, all the time....
Posted on 1/4/18 at 12:04 pm to JGood
quote:Ive hit that area a few times.. I am not nearly mad at them enough to do it with any regularity....
quote:
heck north farm at sherburne for that matter....
Shhhhhh. Mallards have been pretty good this split. Not in north farm, but very close. It's just hard getting to them.
Posted on 1/4/18 at 12:32 pm to NCrouch0515
quote:
I’m not saying ban surface drives. They have a purpose
As do airboats, can we start using them again? The birds are stacked up on mud flats in the deltas and I can't get to them with a surface drive.
Posted on 1/4/18 at 12:57 pm to Capt ST
Around Welsh it's definitely due to crawfish ponds and pressure.
Waaay too many guide services, leased blinds and every crawfish pond has a pop gun.
Waaay too many guide services, leased blinds and every crawfish pond has a pop gun.
This post was edited on 1/4/18 at 1:22 pm
Posted on 1/4/18 at 1:02 pm to loogaroo
quote:I grew up hunting welsh 600 plus acres between pine island/fenton....
Around Welsh it's definitely due to crawfish ponds and pressure.
Waaay to many guide services, leased blinds and every crawfish pond has a pop gun.
it has been a downward spiral there for years... blaming guides is wrong... TOO MANY blinds and pop guns..yes.. and too many crawfish ponds.... I know 4 people from BR that hunt their blinds way more than guides across the road do...
Posted on 1/4/18 at 1:14 pm to Cowboyfan89
Ducks unlimited and federal reserves with tons of off limits hunting is biggest problem IMO.
Acres and acres of protected land.
Ducks aren't stupid, they adjust and adapt.
Acres and acres of protected land.
Ducks aren't stupid, they adjust and adapt.
Page 5 of 10
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News