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Message
re: Have the good ole days of duck hunting become a thing of the past.
Posted on 12/29/23 at 5:55 pm to NorthTiger
Posted on 12/29/23 at 5:55 pm to NorthTiger
quote:
A decade ago it was common to kill over 600 ducks in a season where I hunt. 200 seems to be the ceiling now.
quote:
I don’t think there’s a great conspiracy, i just now believe there are far fewer ducks than there used to be.
No shite.
0
Posted on 12/29/23 at 6:14 pm to NorthTiger
quote:
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.
Serious question
How often were you busting ice to get to your holes back then versus the last decade?
As far as this year goes it’s very warm and very dry. And we still have almost 30 days of it left
Posted on 12/29/23 at 9:02 pm to Ron Cheramie
quote:
quote:
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.
Serious question
How often were you busting ice to get to your holes back then versus the last decade?
As far as this year goes it’s very warm and very dry. And we still have almost 30 days of it left
SW LA in 70s through 91 - MAYBE 4 times. SE LA never.
LA refuses to acknowledge greatly degraded habitat, negative land use practices and mechanized human traffic -while norther states improved their habitat - AND we have fewer duck hunter than 25 year ago here.
so yes the good ole days are long gone.
This post was edited on 12/29/23 at 9:04 pm
Posted on 12/29/23 at 9:05 pm to NorthTiger
Posted on 12/29/23 at 9:08 pm to NorthTiger
Agree with everything you said, except the conspiracy part. I think that it would be common sense to make many regulatory changes including reductions in daily bag limit, season length, restricting areas to non-motorized access, etc. but the Big Duck industry is able to lobby for keeping limits high as a means to keep the consumer interest and profits coming in. I wouldn’t be surprised if the reported total numbers of birds are inflated as well, even though they have reported decline in the past couple years.
ETA - I don’t mean conspiracy as in the regulatory agencies are intentionally decimating the population to the point of no return, but only that the big industry players are able to influence policy such that it is made to maximize profits over duck numbers.
ETA - I don’t mean conspiracy as in the regulatory agencies are intentionally decimating the population to the point of no return, but only that the big industry players are able to influence policy such that it is made to maximize profits over duck numbers.
This post was edited on 12/29/23 at 9:13 pm
Posted on 12/29/23 at 9:21 pm to highcotton2
quote:
highcotton
Nailed it.
My farmer in Illinois didn’t even duck hunt 15 years ago. Now he’s building levees and putting in water control structures while leaving standing corn for ducks and killing em.
Posted on 12/29/23 at 9:38 pm to mach316
I listen to a lot of their podcasts, and the issues they bring up make sense to anybody who has done this a while. It’s multi faceted but it seems we have to go back to 30/3 or 45/4. I started hunting with my dad when it was 45/4 or 30/3 and we had much better hunting then. There is simply too much pressure now. Mud boats, mojo mallards (mainly hurt in dry fields up north), habitat loss on prairies, conversion to sugar cane or crawfish farms, no till farming, marsh loss, and weather cycles all have had negative impacts on hunting. Tiling of waterways up north cannot help breeding populations. Throw in social media for this generation who only wants to “make them pay rent” or show off the “smiles after piles” mentality and duck hunting in the us is a shell of what it used to be.
We will see who loves duck hunting when we go back to restrictive seasons in 25 (how we haven’t changed under “adaptive” management in 27 seasons is beyond me). Things aren’t good right now and people are starting to notice.
We will see who loves duck hunting when we go back to restrictive seasons in 25 (how we haven’t changed under “adaptive” management in 27 seasons is beyond me). Things aren’t good right now and people are starting to notice.
This post was edited on 12/29/23 at 9:41 pm
Posted on 12/29/23 at 9:44 pm to auwaterfowler
quote:
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?
Maybe he brought a friend?
60 days x 6 ducks/day/2 persons = 720 ducks/season
Posted on 12/29/23 at 9:49 pm to duckblind56
Laccasine was money during 3/30, nothing but mallards and pintail by the thousands. Only three groups hunting the pipeline and we never saw one another.
4/45 added a few more groups but 6/60 turned the mermentau into a boat parade.
Duck lobby ain’t going to let 3/30 ever come back.
4/45 added a few more groups but 6/60 turned the mermentau into a boat parade.
Duck lobby ain’t going to let 3/30 ever come back.
Posted on 12/29/23 at 9:53 pm to KemoSabe65
quote:
Duck lobby ain’t going to let 3/30 ever come back.
There won’t be a choice when next year is worse than this year. The 80’s were rough with the Canadian prairie drought - how much less habitat is up there now for this possible new drought we are entering. There is simply no option but to cut, and it should have happened years ago if all of us are honest. Those of us who really love it for the right reasons will go even if it’s 2 ducks per day just because of the other aspects that we love. The kids wanting 6 duck stacks for Instagram can learn to fish.
This post was edited on 12/29/23 at 9:54 pm
Posted on 12/29/23 at 9:56 pm to choupiquesushi
quote:
Serious question How often were you busting ice to get to your holes back then versus the last decade? As far as this year goes it’s very warm and very dry. And we still have almost 30 days of it left
Good question.
I’ve had my share of hunts where I’ve busted ice, but yes, that was more of a pre 2000 event.
What has happened more often is this. Most of my hunting has been in blinds.
During the 1990s there were many days we’d either light a small charcoal pit or even light a small fish cooker to warm up the blind.
Also, i have thinsulate liners in my waders that i take out and keep out most of the season.
Posted on 12/29/23 at 9:56 pm to mudshuvl05
quote:
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.
The sad thing is, there are biologists out there that will point out how silly "adaptive management" is when, just as you pointed out, nothing has changed in many years.
There may be some truth to a lack of birds, and the people in charge don't want to admit it or reduce seasons because they know what that means--alot of lost money.
Shame, but that's what it's all about today--the almighty dollar.
Posted on 12/29/23 at 9:59 pm to TigerDog83
The biologist they were talking to really opened my eyes about how much the hunter affects the numbers we see every year. Like he said, when the numbers were high, the numbers of duck killed by hunters had little effect on overall numbers returning to nest. These days, it seems to be having a huge impact. Also the fact of keeping the duck season open until the end of January has really added to the problem. According to him, after a hen’s mate has been killed, it may take up to 30 days for her to find another mate. This delays her ability to prepare for the migration back, which decreases her chances to actually surviving the trip back. This added to the millions of acres of lost habitat, and a counting system that was developed in the 50’s has not helped determine what the numbers actually are.
I started hunting as a kid when we had the point system. I went through the 30/3, and I remember there being way more ducks back then. Just in the last 10 years, I’ve seen numbers drop off dramatically here in North Arkansas. I would consistently shoot 3 cases of shells every year. I just opened my third box yesterday. I am willing to go back to more conservative numbers of days and limits if we could get back a fraction of the ducks we used to have..
I started hunting as a kid when we had the point system. I went through the 30/3, and I remember there being way more ducks back then. Just in the last 10 years, I’ve seen numbers drop off dramatically here in North Arkansas. I would consistently shoot 3 cases of shells every year. I just opened my third box yesterday. I am willing to go back to more conservative numbers of days and limits if we could get back a fraction of the ducks we used to have..
Posted on 12/29/23 at 10:11 pm to mach316
Yep I agree with a lot of it. The mojo up north really has hurt southern hunters. 20 years ago field hunting up there didn’t matter too much. The mojo came along and now the young birds get absolutely hammered up north. I believe that a large part of the calendar birds the south used to rely on aren't there anymore because they’ve been whittled down in Canada and the Dakotas over the last 20 years. We used to flood one fiekd before Halloween and it would be loaded with the calendar birds on the first full moon - now not much. We are left with the early remnants of that flight (gadwalls, pintails , teal etc) and even those have declined. The bulk of the mallard left hug the freeze line and barring huge freeze/thaw events they stay north.
I’ve seen this in arkansas, texas, and Oklahoma the last few years where the one weekend the freeze line pushed the birds were everywhere only to retreat back north on the next big south wind.
I’ve seen this in arkansas, texas, and Oklahoma the last few years where the one weekend the freeze line pushed the birds were everywhere only to retreat back north on the next big south wind.
This post was edited on 12/30/23 at 5:41 am
Posted on 12/29/23 at 10:11 pm to mach316
quote:
I would consistently shoot 3 cases of shells every year. I just opened my third box yesterday.
Same. I do not even try to tell people how many birds we legally killed in the 70's - mid 80's, they think you're bullshitting them. I'm still shooting shells from a case I bought in 2021. Hell, some of them are actually turning green on the brass.
Posted on 12/29/23 at 10:48 pm to duckblind56
quote:
Hell, some of them are actually turning green on the brass.
You guys need to learn how to scout. You can’t keep hunting the spot your grandpa showed you in 1970 something. I’ve had 4 guys go thru a case in 3 days. We are stacking up the ringnecks.
Posted on 12/29/23 at 10:53 pm to Farmtiger
quote:Some of the worst people you'll encounter in Louisiana are public land duck hunters.
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!
Posted on 12/29/23 at 10:59 pm to duckblind56
Now these numbers I do believe…
LINK
Again, how are these numbers gathered? Maybe they are not accurate either. Who knows..
LINK
Again, how are these numbers gathered? Maybe they are not accurate either. Who knows..
This post was edited on 12/29/23 at 11:03 pm
Posted on 12/29/23 at 11:39 pm to TigerDog83
quote:the kill numbers compiled by the Usfws I’ve looked at do not support this theory.
Yep I agree with a lot of it. The mojo up north really has hurt southern hunters. 20 years ago field hunting up there didn’t matter too much. The moon came along and now the young birds get absolutely hammered up north. I believe that a large part of the calendar birds the south used to rely on aren't there anymore because they’ve been whittled down in Canada and the Dakotas over the last 20 years. We used to flood one fiekd before Halloween and it would be loaded with the calendar birds on the first full moon - now not much. We are left with the early remnants of that flight (gadwalls, pintails , teal etc) and even those have declined. The bulk of the mallard left hug the freeze line and barring huge freeze/thaw events they stay north. I’ve seen this in arkansas, texas, and Oklahoma the last few years where the one weekend the freeze line pushed the birds were everywhere only to retreat back north on the next big south wind.
Posted on 12/30/23 at 5:25 am to White Bear
I’m in Kansas this week and it’s the worst I’ve ever seen here and I’ve been hunting here for 20 years. I’ve got buddies that say it’s the worst they’ve ever seen in Nebraska, too.
The ducks haven’t pushed and are sitting in Dakotas getting hammered. I just looked at the extended forecast here in SE Kansas and the mallards won’t even be here in January based on that. Weather is the killer.
The ducks haven’t pushed and are sitting in Dakotas getting hammered. I just looked at the extended forecast here in SE Kansas and the mallards won’t even be here in January based on that. Weather is the killer.
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