re: Duck migration makes no sense at all...

I just mean… IF there’s a problem, tillage ain’t it.

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The Season should have 3 splits and run not February

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Late Nov - End of Feb with 3 spits. I'd love that. Just don't have a split during Christmas and the days before and after, I feel like those are classic family hunt days. Especially for the youngin's on break from school. Gotta pass the traditions down.

Yup. I'll be seeing baby wood ducks soon.

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That’s why it always end in January.

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It's actually part of a Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act that a set waterfowl season in the states can't go past January other than a Youth/Veteran Hunt Day.

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The reason it’s not this is because it’s not sustainable for the species. Most ducks are paired up and this would be detrimental to them. That’s why it always end in January.

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True. Maybe open it a little earlier in November. I honestly don't know if the season dates would do much for everywhere, but it might help the south but you are correct about reproduction.

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The Season should have 3 splits and run not February

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It was glorious when woodcock season went until feb 15

Does anyone know what % of La farmland was grain or beans in 1980 vs today?

I do think La got complacent, and waterfowl hunting has always been big here and in the deep south in general. With the longest stretch of 60/6 seasons, the states further North saw the $$$ it could bring in and here we are.

There's videos of Tony Vandemore in the early 2000's I believe talking about their strategy of getting birds to stop in Missouri, and if they stop they can/will hold them all season.

Another issue that is discussed a lot is all of the refuges that are are planted/flooded/not allowed to be hunted up and down the flyway, and you have birds that sit there and don't move b/c they don't have to. So you have could have thousands of birds in your area that you never see and the hunting sucks. Which also plays into birds going nocturnal when the hunting pressure starts.

Each year more and more birds imprint on these areas. Look at the clubs that bait for banding projects after the season, those are the clubs that shoot a lot of bands b/c a lot of those same birds come back the following years.

All of these things are discussed every year and I don't think anything will change until we have restricted seasons where it won't be feasible for all of these clubs to dump money into a place for 30 days. Assuming we haven't already reached the point of no return.

I know corn production is up, but ever since they stopped producing as massive quantities of peanuts… southwest Oklahoma hasn’t been the same. I think it has more to do with what they like to eat. They were planting a lot more cotton there. The waterfowl numbers dropped. Leases were less and less, and they didn’t really care because of the subsidies. Just my 2 cents.

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For all the guys that hunted in the 80s and the 3/30 days, how was the weather pattern then?

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I have had multiple leases over the past 35 years and here is my experience.

* SWLA Marsh – 3/30 years. Some good hunts. Some hunts where you swatted mosquitos in January and few ducks moving around.

* SWLA Marsh 03/04 – Decent and consistent

* SWLA Marsh – the next 3 seasons after Rita were unbelievable. Lease prices skyrocketed so I checked out of that specific lease.

* Lease in Manchac (private lease/Ruddock Area in late 80’s early 90’s – decent and fairly consistent.

* LA Delta late 90’s thru early 2000’s – Some incredible hunts and always consistent. Started to decline in mid-2000’s.

* Got back in the LA Delta lease in 2009 and it sucked. Stayed for a couple years.

* Got into a lease around 2010 close to Morganza Spillway. The previous year was great (the year before I got in). Turned out the previous year was the only area that had decent water. That year was a bust so I got out.

* Had a couple of leases in the Rayne area 2008-2011 and it always sucked. I think the farmer was letting his kids/friends use it when we were not there plus they got greedy and started stacking blinds on top of each other.

* Got back into SWLA marsh lease around 2015. Spotty at best initially. Things consistently went downhill. Got out in 2019.

I gave up duck hunting after 2019.

In 35+ years, I have had good hunts sweating my arse off. I have had bad hunts when everything north of Alexandria was frozen.

I have heard the no till argument ad nauseum.

I have heard “when Arkansas freezes up then we will be loaded with ducks” ad nauseum.

I have heard the imprint argument ad nauseum.

I have heard the refuge argument ad nauseum.

I have heard the “DU is paying mega rich guys to hoard ducks” argument ad nauseum.

I have heard the mud motor/access argument ad nauseum.

I have heard the mechanical decoy argument ad nauseum.

Bottom line – I think it is a combination of several factors but I quit because the ducks don’t come here like they used to.

There is good news however. I didn’t buy into a very nice camp in Pecan Island back in 2006. When I was considering it, an old man told me “ducks move” and “land owners change”.