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Started By
Message
Have the good ole days of duck hunting become a thing of the past.
Posted on 12/29/23 at 1:50 pm
Posted on 12/29/23 at 1:50 pm
I’ve have hunted ducks for over 50 years. Most of my hunting has been in the rice fields of southern Arkansas and north Louisiana as well as the cypress lakes and sloughs of north Louisiana.
I know that the days of seeing wave after wave of flight ducks is a thing of the past for me.
What has drastically changed in the past 15 years is the total number of mallards I’ve seen, the larger groups of mallards circling my blind and the hunting day ending much earlier because there would be nothing flying in the sky.
For a while teal took over as the primary duck killed during the regular season but that is changing.
A decade ago it was common to kill over 600 ducks in a season where I hunt. 200 seems to be the ceiling now.
When i first started seeking an alternative i would drive to Kansas or Stuttgart for a guided hunt. In the past 6 years I had one trip to Kansas where 6 hunters killed fewer than 20 ducks total after three mornings of hunting. Ive had really good hunts in Stuttgart but after the last 3 were flops I’ve stooped going there. So, i’ve found that i can’t even pay for a good hunt.
All my life I have heard how we are spoiled in Louisiana because most duck hunters across the nation are used to killing fewer than 10-15 ducks per year.
For the past 20 years i’ve bought into the theory that ducks are short stopping and that the flyway has shifted.. However, I’m finding out that overall, ducks hunting north of us and west of us has slowed too, so that shoots holes in the short stopping theory.
I don’t think there’s a great conspiracy, i just now believe there are far fewer ducks than there used to be. That has become my primary explanation for why i’ve seen duck hunting slowly but progressively. decline over the course of my lifetime.
I know that the days of seeing wave after wave of flight ducks is a thing of the past for me.
What has drastically changed in the past 15 years is the total number of mallards I’ve seen, the larger groups of mallards circling my blind and the hunting day ending much earlier because there would be nothing flying in the sky.
For a while teal took over as the primary duck killed during the regular season but that is changing.
A decade ago it was common to kill over 600 ducks in a season where I hunt. 200 seems to be the ceiling now.
When i first started seeking an alternative i would drive to Kansas or Stuttgart for a guided hunt. In the past 6 years I had one trip to Kansas where 6 hunters killed fewer than 20 ducks total after three mornings of hunting. Ive had really good hunts in Stuttgart but after the last 3 were flops I’ve stooped going there. So, i’ve found that i can’t even pay for a good hunt.
All my life I have heard how we are spoiled in Louisiana because most duck hunters across the nation are used to killing fewer than 10-15 ducks per year.
For the past 20 years i’ve bought into the theory that ducks are short stopping and that the flyway has shifted.. However, I’m finding out that overall, ducks hunting north of us and west of us has slowed too, so that shoots holes in the short stopping theory.
I don’t think there’s a great conspiracy, i just now believe there are far fewer ducks than there used to be. That has become my primary explanation for why i’ve seen duck hunting slowly but progressively. decline over the course of my lifetime.
32
Posted on 12/29/23 at 2:21 pm to NorthTiger
There have been substantial increases in corn production in the Great Lakes region since the early 90’s that coupled with rice production in coastal Texas and Louisiana dropping by about 50% over the same period while places like Missouri have increased rice production during this time. No-till practices have also increased the amount of food that stays on the ground further north. I would think just those factors would change duck patterns pretty substantially.
I know farmers in Missouri and Illinois that tell me they have had incredible ducks seasons for awhile now. Guy in Illinois said his dad hardly ever remembered seeing many ducks when he was a teenager but is nothing for them to go shoot a limit anytime they want on their farms. But then again they are not hunting everyday nor do they want to.
I know farmers in Missouri and Illinois that tell me they have had incredible ducks seasons for awhile now. Guy in Illinois said his dad hardly ever remembered seeing many ducks when he was a teenager but is nothing for them to go shoot a limit anytime they want on their farms. But then again they are not hunting everyday nor do they want to.
This post was edited on 12/29/23 at 2:26 pm
Posted on 12/29/23 at 2:56 pm to NorthTiger
Buddy runs a club on the coast that has their kill records from the 1930’s to today.
The decline is happening and it’s not going to get better, he said there ain’t no future in Louisiana duck hunting.
Birds are smarter than they were 20 years ago and they have to be to keep up with man’s technology. $$ has made keeping birds up north an industry that never existed before.
The decline is happening and it’s not going to get better, he said there ain’t no future in Louisiana duck hunting.
Birds are smarter than they were 20 years ago and they have to be to keep up with man’s technology. $$ has made keeping birds up north an industry that never existed before.
Posted on 12/29/23 at 3:19 pm to NorthTiger
Those bastards to the north of us heat their ponds and the ducks don’t leave 
Posted on 12/29/23 at 3:55 pm to TigerOnTheMountain
Hunted em hard from the late 70s to about 2010, mostly in rice fields between welsh, Roanoke, and pine island where a good friend was a rice and soybean farmer. Even in the late 80s when the limit was 3, we saw and decoyed plenty of birds. By the late 90s, we could see things were changing quickly. Puddle ducks don't like crawfish ponds and the farmers next to us started leasing blinds. If the field wasn't a crawfish pond, then the landowner added 5 or 6 blinds to the farm and a whole lot more pressure.
Id love to know what happened to all the snow and blue geese. It was nothing to have 10,000 - 20,000 bird bodys of geese every mile or so around our place. They simply aren't around in near the numbers as they used to be.
Id love to know what happened to all the snow and blue geese. It was nothing to have 10,000 - 20,000 bird bodys of geese every mile or so around our place. They simply aren't around in near the numbers as they used to be.
Posted on 12/29/23 at 4:07 pm to KemoSabe65
quote:
Buddy runs a club on the coast that has their kill records from the 1930’s to today.
The decline is happening and it’s not going to get better, he said there ain’t no future in Louisiana duck hunting.
So what are they gonna do with all those pricy leases in Gueydan?
Posted on 12/29/23 at 4:10 pm to NorthTiger
quote:
A decade ago it was common to kill over 600 ducks in a season where I hunt.
60 days x 6 ducks/day/person = 360 ducks/season
Am I missing something?
Posted on 12/29/23 at 4:11 pm to highcotton2
quote:
No-till practices have also increased the amount of food that stays on the ground further north. I would think just those factors would change duck patterns pretty substantially.
I believe it's more about this and changes in winter weather that have impacted migration more than changes in crops.
Birds don't know there is less rice here if they don't get here, and the increased corn acreage doesn't matter if it's plowed under with snow sitting on top of it.
The simple fact is, a mallard is a fat, lazy animal with one goal during migration--survival. As a mallard, you don't survive and thrive by flying thousands of miles meaninglessly. If that bird has no reason to fly to Louisiana, it's not going to.
We could have 200% of the rice we did 10 or 20 years ago, and it wouldn't amount to more ducks as long as they have food and water available up north.
This post was edited on 12/29/23 at 4:12 pm
Posted on 12/29/23 at 4:16 pm to NorthTiger
It’s still easy fall weather all the way north to Canada.
Winter has shifted to January and later into spring.
Means two things. One, our seasons down here are over before they’re pushed down. Two, they’re getting hunted harder in the northern states where they are staying, so what ducks we do get are more educated.
Winter has shifted to January and later into spring.
Means two things. One, our seasons down here are over before they’re pushed down. Two, they’re getting hunted harder in the northern states where they are staying, so what ducks we do get are more educated.
Posted on 12/29/23 at 4:18 pm to NPComb
This is a buy in club not a lease. Guess they will continue to pimp blinds until everyone figures out they aren’t going to justify the capital outlay.
Posted on 12/29/23 at 4:21 pm to NorthTiger
Nothing like it used to be
Sucks
Sucks
Posted on 12/29/23 at 4:48 pm to TigerOnTheMountain
quote:they don't have to heat the ponds - the reservoirs that don't freeze do the trick.
Those bastards to the north of us heat their ponds and the ducks don’t leave
Posted on 12/29/23 at 4:55 pm to NorthTiger
I stopped duck hunting years ago. Behind Elk hunting in the mountains it’s my favorite type of hunting. But, fewer and fewer ducks caused me to spend more time in the deer woods.
I’ll tell you this though, if duck hunting today is anything like I see on ticktok or hear about kids hurting people hauling arse to “their” hole, they ought to ban it!
It’s certainly not like it was back when I hunted.
I’ll tell you this though, if duck hunting today is anything like I see on ticktok or hear about kids hurting people hauling arse to “their” hole, they ought to ban it!
It’s certainly not like it was back when I hunted.
Posted on 12/29/23 at 5:01 pm to NorthTiger
You know it's been on my mind
Could I stand right here
Look myself in the eye
And say that it's over now?
Could I stand right here
Look myself in the eye
And say that it's over now?
Posted on 12/29/23 at 5:06 pm to auwaterfowler
A decade ago it was common to kill over 600 ducks in a season where I hunt.
60 days x 6 ducks/day/person = 360 ducks/season
Am I missing something?
Legitimate question.
This is a 170 acre rice field with 3 blinds. There were 6 members hunt and sometimes bring guest.
Think about it. On opening day alone each blind used to have 5 hunters and would limit out by 9:00. That’s 10 to 15 hunters. So that one day alone might account for 75 to 100 ducks.
Or, even if you had 5 people scattered in those 3 blinds but everybody limited out there’s 30 ducks. Do that on just three different hunts and you’re close to another 100.
The question used to be how fast we would limit out. We haven’t killed a 5 man limit in a blind in 5 years but we don’t fight it. On opening day of the second split this year 5 men had 26 ducks by 9:00 and then the skies went duckless. So, we went in. Had we stayed another hour we could have maybe gotten those final 4 but maybe not.
60 days x 6 ducks/day/person = 360 ducks/season
Am I missing something?
Legitimate question.
This is a 170 acre rice field with 3 blinds. There were 6 members hunt and sometimes bring guest.
Think about it. On opening day alone each blind used to have 5 hunters and would limit out by 9:00. That’s 10 to 15 hunters. So that one day alone might account for 75 to 100 ducks.
Or, even if you had 5 people scattered in those 3 blinds but everybody limited out there’s 30 ducks. Do that on just three different hunts and you’re close to another 100.
The question used to be how fast we would limit out. We haven’t killed a 5 man limit in a blind in 5 years but we don’t fight it. On opening day of the second split this year 5 men had 26 ducks by 9:00 and then the skies went duckless. So, we went in. Had we stayed another hour we could have maybe gotten those final 4 but maybe not.
Posted on 12/29/23 at 5:11 pm to NorthTiger
I thought you meant you alone used to kill 600/season.
Posted on 12/29/23 at 5:49 pm to NorthTiger
Yes. In the late 60’s and early 70’s my Dad and I had a great spot in Terrebonne Parish.
We hunted by pirouge. Natural blinds for the most part. Very low cut to the marsh.
We took care not to tramp up the marsh and cleaned all of our spent shells from the area after each hunt.
Ducks would swarm us. Some days just picking out the big ducks I could kill 50 a morning. Cinch shoot.
The marsh has changed due to storms and people with big mud boats. They tore out all of our trenasse dams with their dumb arse mud boats. We don’t have as many ducks or poule’ d’eau.
I only shoot my limit now.
And am really proud that out of the thousands of ducks that I have killed I never “BREASTED” one of them. We took the time to clean them with love and respect of the game we killed. We ate every leg and gnawed on the wings.
Best hunt IIRRC was 14 pairs of pintails, 12 pairs of Widgeon’s, and about 10 teal. After we had gutted and hung them we went to a pothole in the marsh where the mallards went for lunch. We shot may be a dozen pairs then quit.
Duck hunting has changed.
We hunted by pirouge. Natural blinds for the most part. Very low cut to the marsh.
We took care not to tramp up the marsh and cleaned all of our spent shells from the area after each hunt.
Ducks would swarm us. Some days just picking out the big ducks I could kill 50 a morning. Cinch shoot.
The marsh has changed due to storms and people with big mud boats. They tore out all of our trenasse dams with their dumb arse mud boats. We don’t have as many ducks or poule’ d’eau.
I only shoot my limit now.
And am really proud that out of the thousands of ducks that I have killed I never “BREASTED” one of them. We took the time to clean them with love and respect of the game we killed. We ate every leg and gnawed on the wings.
Best hunt IIRRC was 14 pairs of pintails, 12 pairs of Widgeon’s, and about 10 teal. After we had gutted and hung them we went to a pothole in the marsh where the mallards went for lunch. We shot may be a dozen pairs then quit.
Duck hunting has changed.
This post was edited on 12/29/23 at 5:52 pm
Posted on 12/29/23 at 5:54 pm to Cowboyfan89
quote:while I don't disagree with a word you said, I ultimately think the problem is there just aren't as many birds as they say there are.
I believe it's more about this and changes in winter weather that have impacted migration more than changes in crops.
Birds don't know there is less rice here if they don't get here, and the increased corn acreage doesn't matter if it's plowed under with snow sitting on top of it.
The simple fact is, a mallard is a fat, lazy animal with one goal during migration--survival. As a mallard, you don't survive and thrive by flying thousands of miles meaninglessly. If that bird has no reason to fly to Louisiana, it's not going to.
We could have 200% of the rice we did 10 or 20 years ago, and it wouldn't amount to more ducks as long as they have food and water available up north.
I mean think about it: there are at least 2 generations of new duck hunters who've no idea that a 60/6 season isn't the norm. these kids think that's a just a given.
what are the odds that all these years the duck numbers haven't elicited a change in the season? it's unprecedented, and it isn't like the ppr and other habitat is getting any better and growing in acreage, so what gives?
I think there's so much money, fame and ego tied up with duck hunting nowadays that, even if the biologists on the ground know the truth, the people in charge don't care.
we act like bureacrats are above the influence of the almighty dollar? we have entire stores the size of Walmart dedicated to nothing but duck hunting. entire economies that rely on a generous 60/6 day season. that would all come crashing down if they up and said next year that we need a 30, or heaven forbid, a 15 day season due to numbers.
nobody, relatively speaking, is killing birds like they used to, but according to the numbers, all is well for another 60/6 day season.
not saying I want it, but he asked if the good ol days are gone. I say, definitively, yes, but the reason why is because I just don't think we have the birds we used to. all the other reasons are valid top, but they just add insult to injury.
Posted on 12/29/23 at 5:55 pm to NorthTiger
quote:
decline over the course of my lifetime.
Definitely true. I quit hunting because it just isn't worth it anymore.
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