Written By: Hannah Riggs
Many duck hunters, as stated in a Ducksouth thread from 2001, have a held belief that there is a conspiracy from the North to keep ducks from coming down south. They feel that ducks are being basically hand fed in refuges and on private land so much that the ducks never need to leave and migrate south. Some believe PETA is to blame, others believe it is state and local governments, and still others believe individuals to be the cause.
Whatever the current conspiracy on ducks is, many hunters find themselves faced with the same question every year: “Where are all of the ducks?” To help lay out some more hard facts and theories on the matter, J Paul Jackson, waterfowl expert, was consulted.
“Most refuges in the United States do supply a little bit of feed for the birds. Because, by definition, a refuge is an area that gives sanctuary to the birds. They are very concerned with keeping hunting pressure off of it. Up and down the fly away, where you have migratory birds, there needs to be a sanctuary where they can relieve stress,” Jackson said.
While Jackson believes this to be true, this does not mean that these refuges alone are fueling the conspiracy that many hunters may have.
“The idea that these groups are actually feeding the birds up north in big time numbers… That’s just not true. However, that’s not saying that they aren’t being fed in big time numbers up north. But it is not by state agencies, refuges, and other groups putting out an abundant amount of food,” Jackson said.
Jackson believes that migration patterns have been influenced by food, but it is primarily due to changing farming practices
“For example, corn is a major crop in Illinois, Iowa, parts of Minnesota, and the upper Midwest. Years ago, when you farmed corn, you planted it, fertilized it, and let it mature. Then you came in with a combine and cut it. Then you came right behind the combine with a great big disk, to disk it into the ground and break up those corn stalks to help speed and aid decomposition. When you disked the ground and turned it over, you turned a lot of the waste grain under, and make it unavailable to wildlife,” Jackson said.
This change in farming practice from years ago to today’s times has really changed the way the ducks are having to find their food.
“With the advent of no-till farming and round up ready seed, now in lots of areas they no-till instead of disk. When you do that, you come in and plant your corn, fertilize it, spray it, let it mature, and you cut it. You come behind the combine with the tractor and a big bush hog behind it. You want to bush hog those stalks to aid decomposition. With no-till farming, you aren’t turning it over, but the bush hog acts like a broad cast spreader and any ears of corn that are left, are going to bust open and be spread everywhere. Basically, it’s setting up a buffet for wildlife,” Jackson said.
So in conclusion, there are really many factors that can cause ducks to be held up north. Whether it be weather or the bigger cause, farming practices, there is a change in migration pattern for ducks. However, none of these causes are the conspiracy theory of ducks being fed in large numbers by different organizations and groups.
