re: The golden years for ducks are gone....

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.