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re: Duck Decline Solution
Posted on 8/7/23 at 7:52 pm to White Bear
Posted on 8/7/23 at 7:52 pm to White Bear
quote:
Think it was Flyway Federation?
Gawd damn...I feel like Ben Kenobi right now.
0
Posted on 8/7/23 at 8:50 pm to KemoSabe65
quote:3 and 30 was glorious hunting.. for big ducks....
Hunted laccasine nwr during the 3/30 years and Never failed to shoot 2 mallard drakes and the off duck. Could land 50-100 pintails and mallards easily most days. There were typically 3-4 groups hunting wed-sun so plenty of room.
Fast forward to 4 ducks (doubled hunters) & 6 ducks (lake Arthur & Jennings) were out there. Opening of the 6 duck season looked like a boat parade on the mermentau.
Price of cotton going over $1/# has and will affect Oklahoma ducks.
Posted on 8/7/23 at 10:49 pm to choupiquesushi
Totally agree. The 3/30 seasons were unreal. Buddy and I would shoot 6 and then watch big bunches of mallards and pintails work for an hour. While waiting for the a couple of speckle belly s to add to the cleaning table.
Not having the ducks is bad enough but what really shocked me the last few years is how few big concentrations of snow geese gather around SW La. We used to ride our 4 wheelers on the dirt roads from south of Roanoke to almost Pine Island and it was nothing to see 10 - 12 huge bodies of geese every day. They aint there like that anymore.
Not having the ducks is bad enough but what really shocked me the last few years is how few big concentrations of snow geese gather around SW La. We used to ride our 4 wheelers on the dirt roads from south of Roanoke to almost Pine Island and it was nothing to see 10 - 12 huge bodies of geese every day. They aint there like that anymore.
Posted on 8/8/23 at 9:20 am to Beessnax
quote:
I used to live solely for duck season 30 years ago. It has gotten so bad that I have completely quit. It's just not worth the money and hassle.
I did until 5 years ago. I spent 12 months a year either hunting ducks and geese or doing something related to hunting ducks and geese. My issue is not a lack of birds, as real as that does seem to be the case, but a lack of area to hunt that is suitable for hunting. Not all marshes and fields are created equally. Even in areas which hold enormous numbers of birds they managers do everything they can to keep the areas open to hunting closed and the practice of adding water to grain on private areas means that any and all areas open to the public are essentially unsuitable for hunting and over crowded to boot.
Posted on 8/8/23 at 9:43 am to Beessnax
quote:
I used to live solely for duck season 30 years ago. It has gotten so bad that I have completely quit. It's just not worth the money and hassle.
I do opening day and once or twice after that. That is about it.
Posted on 8/8/23 at 9:58 am to TheDeathValley
I should just do opening day, I seen more ducks that morning last season than any other day after.
Posted on 8/8/23 at 10:03 am to BorrisMart
quote:
Don't remember the name but I believe a wealthy farmer (maybe oil/multi business guy) in Shreveport raises mallards and other ducks and bands them and they fly out and people kill them during hunting season around there. Maybe more of that? They aren't tame by any means.
Interestingly enough I heard a podcast about the pen raised ducks. It could actually be hurting the natural wild duck.
The pen duck usually does not migrate as far, and tends to nest and winter in more populated areas.
It takes 2 or 3 generations of mating with wild birds to get that genetic characteristic out of them.
LINK
Posted on 8/8/23 at 10:08 am to Koolazzkat
quote:
I should just do opening day, I seen more ducks that morning last season than any other day after.
Yeah it has been a long time tradition with my best friend from college. We haven't missed one yet since we graduated.
We have to grind to shoot 3 or 4 man.
Posted on 8/8/23 at 1:42 pm to White Bear
quote:
Think it was Flyway Federation? Those baws were carrying on gods work
I am no biologist. Going say that first.
Those guys thought ducks were being short stopped by flooded corn.
Not like flooded corn has just become popular in the last decade.
Farming has changed a lot even since the 90's. I grew up in the ms delta. Before they were leveling out the ag land, and discing up grain fields right after being harvested, back then riding down the highways, water would stand in the edges of these fields and there would be 1000's of ducks 100 yards from the road.
Now the only standing water you see is done on purpose to hunt ducks, and they are drained as soon as the season is over.
Posted on 8/8/23 at 2:39 pm to Taxman2010
quote:
Duck surveys in the United States continue to show widespread decline in the fowl population. Each flyway varies but from personal experience, the number of ducks in Louisiana seems to decrease every year. I would be willing to participate in rolling duck seasons. Duck season in the US would be every other year and this would allow the fowl population to recover while also providing better numbers during the rotating season. Do you think this could catch traction so that our grandkids will be able to experience the type of duck hunting our grandfathers talked about?
Duck and goose hunting requires a big investment to do on your own successfully on a regular basis. I would bet that most people would be hesitant to do so for a season every other year even if it improved substantially. Also a lot of people's income is some parts of the US are dependent on duck and goose hunting. Some of those areas are also hunted by well connected and wealthy people...shutting them down every other year is not going to happen. The loss of revenue would be devastating to public areas....
Posted on 8/8/23 at 2:59 pm to Insurancerebel
quote:
Now the only standing water you see is done on purpose to hunt ducks, and they are drained as soon as the season is over.
While true for lots of clubs, NWR's and even most state areas up and down the flyway hold sustainable duck habitat water well into the Spring. There are several state WMA's and a number of NWR's in NE LA that hold tons of standing water in the No-Hunting Zones (Imagine That!) and to be honest, it is literally a mega shite ton of ducks that use these areas. What has happened is the ducks learn to use these areas and will literally bounce from one to the next and then they start feeding at night and laying up in Rest Areas during the day. Ducks aren't stupid. Just go out and ride around in February to see all the missing ducks.
Posted on 8/8/23 at 6:02 pm to Cowboyfan89
Your numbers and fact on the duck stamp are correct. 98% goes back to habitat conservation.
However, I have to disagree with the accuracy of your numbers about conservation organizations. Ducks Unlimited has a high efficiency rate. 83% of DU’s expenditures were converted directly to conservation work vital to ducks, geese, and other wetland-dependent wildlife. DU has put 86-88 cents of every dollar received into their conservation mission.
In Louisiana specifically, DU has restored 600,000 wetland acres and plans to spend 16 million dollars this year alone.
Support your conservation organizations, they make a difference.
However, I have to disagree with the accuracy of your numbers about conservation organizations. Ducks Unlimited has a high efficiency rate. 83% of DU’s expenditures were converted directly to conservation work vital to ducks, geese, and other wetland-dependent wildlife. DU has put 86-88 cents of every dollar received into their conservation mission.
In Louisiana specifically, DU has restored 600,000 wetland acres and plans to spend 16 million dollars this year alone.
Support your conservation organizations, they make a difference.
Posted on 8/8/23 at 6:41 pm to Insurancerebel
quote:
I grew up in the ms delta.
I don’t know how old you are, but there was a time where soybeans were treated like a Red-headed stepchild in the delta. They were put in bottoms where cotton couldn’t get harvested for most years. Seldom were they able to harvest the beans and they would always get flooded.
Posted on 8/8/23 at 7:53 pm to Insurancerebel
quote:
Interestingly enough I heard a podcast about the pen raised ducks. It could actually be hurting the natural wild duck.
The pen duck usually does not migrate as far, and tends to nest and winter in more populated areas.
It takes 2 or 3 generations of mating with wild birds to get that genetic characteristic out of them.
LINK
That is interesting. I always wondered if that would help or not. I know of some guys up there that shoot a good bit of them and they're mostly banded but it's a band from less than an hour away. I guess I take that back in that in a way they are tame in that they are not breeding up north naturally.
Posted on 8/8/23 at 9:03 pm to SportsmanParadise
quote:
However, I have to disagree with the accuracy of your numbers about conservation organizations. Ducks Unlimited has a high efficiency rate. 83% of DU’s expenditures were converted directly to conservation work vital to ducks, geese, and other wetland-dependent wildlife. DU has put 86-88 cents of every dollar received into their conservation mission.
84% of every dollar goes to conservation and education.
So my numbers were off alittle (not sure where I got those last ones from, honestly). DU brought in $276 million in 2022. DU spent about $188 million on conservation. They spent about $38 million on education.
70% directly on conservation is still really good. That's why I support them.
Posted on 8/8/23 at 9:20 pm to Outdoorreb
quote:many of those old bottoms are in CRP/WRP now which has not helped.
I don’t know how old you are, but there was a time where soybeans were treated like a Red-headed stepchild in the delta. They were put in bottoms where cotton couldn’t get harvested for most years. Seldom were they able to harvest the beans and they would always get flooded.
Posted on 8/9/23 at 8:13 am to Big Bill
quote:we were right past that 90 degree curve past PI on the welsh road and yep.. made that ride a couple of years ago and was shocked at how few i saw.
We used to ride our 4 wheelers on the dirt roads from south of Roanoke to almost Pine Island and it was nothing to see 10 - 12 huge bodies of geese every day. They aint there like that anymore.
Posted on 8/9/23 at 9:30 am to choupiquesushi
The geese have followed the rice production up into Arkansas and Missouri now. As far as ducks, multiple factors have coincided to hurt Southern numbers. Public refuges have become escape zones from the heavy pressure for what ducks do make it down. Habitat is degraded especially along the coast and the amount of fields that have been precision leveled. Combines are more efficient leaving less waste grain. No-till farming has allowed mallards especially to remain in more Northern latitudes, and where it used to take cold to move them now it takes 8-10" of snow to cover the food sources for them to move in mass numbers to the south. Private landowners have started to plant and flood crops to hold birds which concentrates the birds on a small amount of lands. Mojo mallards have wiped out a lot of juvenile birds especially when used in dry fields in northern latitudes - totally different results than over water in the south now.
In short, a lot of these factors are not going to change in the near term, and people may have to adapt or move with what birds there are.
In short, a lot of these factors are not going to change in the near term, and people may have to adapt or move with what birds there are.
Posted on 8/9/23 at 1:01 pm to Cowboyfan89
quote:
Quail don't have a stamp.
Songbirds don't have a stamp.
It's the migratory bird and conservation stamp. Quail and songbirds migrate by the billions.
Posted on 8/9/23 at 1:16 pm to xenon16
Quail migrate? Didn’t realize that.
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