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Message
re: The golden years for ducks are gone....
Posted on 1/5/18 at 12:50 pm to Priapus
Posted on 1/5/18 at 12:50 pm to Priapus
quote:this is a huge part of the equation..
The golden years for ducks are gone....
A duck is not going to fly any further South than he has to.
People with unlimited money to spend,on the top third of all flyways, are creating habitat on massive scales with all the food they need to feed literally a hundred thousand mallards on a single farm, for an entire season.
Perhaps more importantly, they have figured out how to use warm well water to keep that habitat from freezing.
It really is that simple. Sucks for us in the South, but it is what it is.
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Posted on 1/5/18 at 3:29 pm to Specklebelly
quote:
Just like two years ago was terrible for us, but last year was one of our best years out of the last 10
thats my point. I'm not dismissing or marginalizing anyone's experiences or frustration. But it seems last year was good all over the state. This year shitty everywhere.
So is it cyclical? Was last year an anomaly? Or is the change irrevocably for the worse? Were they not warming ponds last year up north? Maybe after 50 years of getting shot at, ducks have evolved to go elsewhere.
Posted on 1/5/18 at 4:02 pm to tigerinthebueche
I have a lease in KS and we shot more grey ducks this year than we have in the past 7 (by a wide margin). We also shot less mallards because they were still on SD/NE border as of last week. We scratched our birds, but not the piles of mallards we have in the past. Point being, the ducks just didn’t make it down this year. Just my opinion from someone that hunts in Midwest but grew up hunting in La/MS duck blinds. Odd year everywhere. I know many folks in KS/NE/AR that say this is the worst year they’ve ever had.
Posted on 1/5/18 at 8:22 pm to cattleman
quote:
Agricultural practices have a lot to do with birds feeding and resting. Unfortunately ducks add no value to that . Crawfish ponds are not duck friendly. Carbide guns are used to keep the Geese away and that greatly affects ducks also. Geese can tear up a crawfish pond overnight. Rice farmers that don't use fields for crawfish started plowing the vegation over and use herbicides to kill all vegetation for the winter , no food for geese. I'm not blaming the farmers. Geese can be pretty destructive.
As far as the commercial hunters, they have pretty much driven the few ducks we had left out. This includes both rice fields and marshes . Too much pressure seems to be a common factor in most of the posts on h
So much wrong in this post
First of all most rice farmers 2nd crop what they don’t crawfish and some they do crawfish
The chances of getting 2nd crop stubble plowed most years are not very good because of the weather/shorter days. Even if they do plow or buffalo the geese and ducks love that ground. And nobody sprays their stubble
That first cold snap in mid December there were geese in about 80% of non crawfish stubble in a 5 mile radius in Acadia parish
Posted on 1/5/18 at 8:33 pm to Jonrubberman
I was standing on our deck tonight at dusk facing north on lake D'arbonne (NCLA), there's ice in the woods so I was curious to see what was going on. I can see a huge section of the lake up a creek.
Saw 5 ducks, one group.
We used to limit out easily in the woods
Saw 5 ducks, one group.
We used to limit out easily in the woods
Posted on 1/5/18 at 9:50 pm to Midtiger farm
I agree that no one sprays their rice stubble. But most farmers do spray a residual herbicide in the fields that are next years rice crop that they were able to get the ground ready for no tilling. That kills the small winter grasses that usually grow in the plowed fields which normally would hold geese later in the season once the stubble fields are fed out. As for crawfish, most of the big farmers 20 years ago had 100-200 acres of crawfish each and would do it for a little extra cash. Now I’d be willing bet that almost half of the rice crop in the area im from is followed by crawfish. Some farmers also fertilize the stubble after harvest so that the plant lives longer during crawfishing. Not ideal for ducks with thicker stubble, deeper water and less open water showing. Also farmers use to build levees and hold water all winter to save money on pumping to be able to water level before flying in seed. Now most farmers dry plant, equals less areas of open water for ducks to rest and the few areas that are flooded are being hunted.
Posted on 1/5/18 at 9:59 pm to Specklebelly
Sat on catahoula lake this evening, literally seen thousands of ducks.
Posted on 1/6/18 at 4:40 am to JakeMik
And you could literally see hundreds of thousands back in the day.
Posted on 1/6/18 at 8:27 am to Capt ST
Saw 5 merganser yesterday. I was orgasmic
Posted on 1/6/18 at 8:41 am to jimjackandjose
9 ducks this morning
6 teal
1 spoon
2 greys
6 teal
1 spoon
2 greys
Posted on 1/6/18 at 8:43 am to Rysizzle
quote:
Why do yall care so much what someone does with the ducks they kill? As long as they are legal, I could care less if they eat them or just take a pic and dump them responsibly. A dead duck is a dead duck.
This is the worst post in the thread. If you don’t eat them, clean and give to someone who does or the food bank. I have many friends whose eyes light up when I give them ducks, fish, deer, fresh vegetables etc...because they have no access to them.
Posted on 1/6/18 at 9:11 am to Midtiger farm
Not much wrong with what I said. I may not have been clear though. I didn't say anyone sprayed stubble. Read Specklebelly's post . He said what I was trying to say. But better at articulating. Thanks.
Posted on 1/6/18 at 9:13 am to Specklebelly
You are right about a lot but between Acadia, Vermillion Jeff Davis, and Evangeline and st Landry there are around 265,00 acres of rice
There are probably 180,000 acres of crawfish in the whole state
So you have over 100,000 acres of stubble at least in those 5 parishes
It rains most of the winter so they usually stay pretty flooded even if guys don’t stop them up to buffalo
And the new conservation programs encourage stopping up fields in the winter
That’s a lot of good habitat and that doesn’t include the marshes, set a side fields or Cameron parish
There are probably 180,000 acres of crawfish in the whole state
So you have over 100,000 acres of stubble at least in those 5 parishes
It rains most of the winter so they usually stay pretty flooded even if guys don’t stop them up to buffalo
And the new conservation programs encourage stopping up fields in the winter
That’s a lot of good habitat and that doesn’t include the marshes, set a side fields or Cameron parish
Posted on 1/6/18 at 9:15 am to Jonrubberman
We smoked them all season in Cameron Parish.
Posted on 1/6/18 at 9:25 am to SulphursFinest
SUGARCANE!!! Ducks don’t chew on it! Back in the 80’s we would see black skies from pintail and large groups of mallards. I have been hunting the same area south of Welsh for 40 years. It’s a struggle sometimes to get a limit with good birds. We don’t farm sugarcane, but almost everyone around us does. So as most have said, their habit is decreasing. They still have to eat, they are just moving further west in my opinion.
Posted on 1/6/18 at 9:41 am to 801Bengal
In welsh? There’s about 2000acres left around there from that failed experiment
And 80000 acres of rice in the parish
The only place sugarcane is affecting ducks is in central vermillion parish and maybe along the river in avoyelles where it’s creeping north
And 80000 acres of rice in the parish
The only place sugarcane is affecting ducks is in central vermillion parish and maybe along the river in avoyelles where it’s creeping north
Posted on 1/6/18 at 11:18 am to 801Bengal
.
Sugarcane acreage has been decreasing in your area for the past 15 years buddy.
The only area where it’s expanding in Louisiana is in the Northern parishes of the sugar belt and it’s replacing corn and beans.
Rice farming took a hit because of incredibly low prices and no price support from the last farm bill. I personally know three established rice farmers that exited the business within the past four years because they were losing money.
I can promise that your duck problems are not a result of sugarcane acreage ... simply because there were more acres of sugarcane in the golden age of duck hunting than there are now.
Sugarcane acreage has been decreasing in your area for the past 15 years buddy.
The only area where it’s expanding in Louisiana is in the Northern parishes of the sugar belt and it’s replacing corn and beans.
Rice farming took a hit because of incredibly low prices and no price support from the last farm bill. I personally know three established rice farmers that exited the business within the past four years because they were losing money.
I can promise that your duck problems are not a result of sugarcane acreage ... simply because there were more acres of sugarcane in the golden age of duck hunting than there are now.
This post was edited on 1/6/18 at 11:22 am
Posted on 1/6/18 at 11:50 am to Midtiger farm
LINK
2016 almost half the rice acreage was followed by crawfish in Acadia parish. I can take you to the surronding area that I hunt and 90% of the flooded fields are either crawfish or duck blinds. Most farmers don’t stop up and hold water anymore because first chance they get they are in the fields working ground. They like it dry as possible, at least the farmers I associate with.
As for the conservation programs like DU is putting out are only for certain watersheds and the farmers are signing up the crawfish acres that are in the applied area because they are flooded anyways so there’s no extra cost to the farmer/landowner. Some fields are buffaloed, but only when they are badly rutted during harvest and most of the time ditches are immediately made and the water is cut loose. I think that attributes for the decline of ducks in my general area. There’s just no big tracts of open flooded fields to rest in. When a new push of birds come in, we kill them pretty good but you better get them that day cause they don’t stay around like they use to.
2016 almost half the rice acreage was followed by crawfish in Acadia parish. I can take you to the surronding area that I hunt and 90% of the flooded fields are either crawfish or duck blinds. Most farmers don’t stop up and hold water anymore because first chance they get they are in the fields working ground. They like it dry as possible, at least the farmers I associate with.
As for the conservation programs like DU is putting out are only for certain watersheds and the farmers are signing up the crawfish acres that are in the applied area because they are flooded anyways so there’s no extra cost to the farmer/landowner. Some fields are buffaloed, but only when they are badly rutted during harvest and most of the time ditches are immediately made and the water is cut loose. I think that attributes for the decline of ducks in my general area. There’s just no big tracts of open flooded fields to rest in. When a new push of birds come in, we kill them pretty good but you better get them that day cause they don’t stay around like they use to.
Posted on 1/6/18 at 12:36 pm to KillTheGophers
You hunt in Krotz springs?
This post was edited on 1/6/18 at 12:40 pm
Posted on 1/6/18 at 12:41 pm to stewie
Rice got plenty of support in the last farm bill
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