re: Duck Decline Solution

Yea I got a good chuckle out of the assertion that increased Cotton acreage had something to do with duck population declines. As if cotton acreage has increased the last 30 years. Hilarious

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What we have experienced here in LA has followed in Ark and now even in MO and west in OK/KS.

The population just isn't there anymore and has been in decline for years.

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This is true. Gave up my lease in SWLA a few years ago. Just wasn't worth it. Starting making some trips to OK and their guides are saying the same thing.

I'm not sure what the fix is, and its a major problem, but rotating seasons isn't the fix. I remember the days of the 3 man limit, and even then you still saw lots of ducks.

IMO,

The Mississippi flyway has had drought conditions in breeding grounds for years, weather changes (not freezing earlier up north, forcing ducks to migrate), and other factors that can change quickly because of nature.

Central Flyway has had a lot more water (melting snow) So their population is up @10%

This stuff is cyclical. Mississippi flyway gets a lot of snow this year, they'll get more runoff in the spring, which will lead to more breeding grounds and eventually more ducks.

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What has this done?

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Ride around and see how ducks and geese are in a crawfish pond compared to a shallow flooded stubble field thats going to be beans or fallow the next year

And that's not just because they like that enviroment better and but includes farmers chasing them out of crawfish ponds and boats running all day in them

Also you could say dry seeding rice has altered the habitat because when everything was water seeded all those fields going into rice in the spring were left flooded all winter

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weather patterns here do not reflect this in winter...

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True.
Snowfall up north is the main factor. Less snow up north means less birds down here. So I stand by my statement: warming weather affects migration

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Ride around and see how ducks and geese are in a crawfish pond compared to a shallow flooded stubble field thats going to be beans or fallow the next year

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Seems I never even see these any more in CENLA.

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And that's not just because they like that enviroment better and but includes farmers chasing them out of crawfish ponds and boats running all day in them

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The pop guns during rice planting season this year were on fleak!! Sounded like a frickin war.

Correct. It boils down to one thing, and that is habitat conditions. For example, Louisiana can now winter 3 million less ducks and geese than it could in the 1970s. And why is that? Loss of coastal marsh and conversion from rice to sugar cane.
Also, look at when you don’t have water- for example, TN and AR for majority of this past season- it lead to South LA having one of the most productive duck seasons in the past few years.
You also have to take into consideration the conditions in the breeding grounds. Where our ducks are bred, has been in a drought for quite a few seasons.
Something to note- every single bird species across the globe is in decline right now. However, waterfowl populations are up due to conservation organizations. Every single conservationist should be purchasing a duck stamp. It helps habitat and rebuilding the population overall. All you have to do is look to the overall waterfowl population increasing while songbirds and such are decreasing. LINK

This

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waterfowl populations are up

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has more to do with this

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purchasing a duck stamp

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Than this

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conservation organizations.

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There's plenty of conservation organizations that cater to birds other than ducks, and some that put more of every dollar into conservation efforts than DU does. But the duck stamp ends up benefiting more ducks than any other species because of what that money goes to.

Quail don't have a stamp.

Songbirds don't have a stamp.

I believe DU had something like $275 million in revenue in 2022, and spent $135 million on conservation.

Quail/Pheasants Forever had $98 million, and spent $78 million on conservation.

So yeah, DU spent a bunch of money on habitat, but only like 50% of their revenue went to that.

Not hating, as I'm a member of both organizations, but that duck stamp means more than people give it credit for.

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This is really one of the main causes for the low population. They don't have bad days up there, they kill a limit every time they sit, everyday of the 60 day season.

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Yeah, and the fricking limit in Manitoba and Saskatchewan is 8 ducks per day.

frick Canada.