Actually, the geese don't have enough habitat... they are killing their breeding areas, and therefore they are moving their breeding areas. If they are sucessful changing breeding areas as their wintering areas, they'll cause severe damage to dark geese and duck populations. If they arent succesfull, eventually they'l have a massive die off from disease, and cause severe damage to dark geese & duck numbers. Dem things got to go, period.
No way the amount of 'habitat' put into refugees is even close to the amount of 'habitat' that is drained and another "@#$%#" strip mall is made. Bet on that. There isn't an increase in habitat, certianly not the right kind either. We need the right kind on the breeding grounds that is productive, the right kind along the way as safe havens, and the right kind in the wintering areas.
I'd go out on a limb, and say if we didnt have the refugee system, ducks if they made it, would have to adapt to snow geese type tactics or become mainly noctural to make it... Nothing backs this up but my gut feelings watching ducks in dry years where every bit of water has a decoy on it, and someone waiting to shoot them. Doesnt take em long to figure a way out of the pressure, and that way is big bunches on places people haven't found, night feeding, dry feeding, and flying high. Imagine no refugees, where the ducks have been doing this crap for 2000 miles before they got here. New birds wouldnt mean a thing, cause the birds would be shell shocked long before they got here (like white geese are). travis
Question about DU
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goosebruce
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Nature didn't plant acres and acres of soybeans, corn, wheat and so on...........lot's of food now and therefore high numbers of geese IMO. They've got habitat they just don't have enough for the massive population explosion. I'd be willing to bet that the geese numbers today are drastically higher than at anytime in the history of the planet. They are not tearing up their habitat because there isn't enough they are tearing it up because there are too many of them!
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goosebruce
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nature didnt evolve geese to eat that stuff.... they ate eel grass from the gluf of mexico.. The water quaility of the 70's killed their food (destorying their habitat) and they moved inland from the gluf coast. Rice is higher protein than eelgrass, so an animal that had evolved one way, suddenly had a supercharger on its reproductive system. In 25 years, they expanded their wintering range from the gulf, to north mo. What do you think is going to happen when they evolve on the breeding grounds?
Crp is growing ducks, not holding them. The crp plots here people hunt would be hunted if they where soybean fields or marshland... belive that. The #1 advatange to crp is its grown up in the spring when ducks need it to nest, farmland isn't. Like I said, crp is growing ducks, not holding them. Besides, crp ground under a foot of snow, is pretty much like anything else under a foot of snow, DUCKLESS! hehe. travis
Crp is growing ducks, not holding them. The crp plots here people hunt would be hunted if they where soybean fields or marshland... belive that. The #1 advatange to crp is its grown up in the spring when ducks need it to nest, farmland isn't. Like I said, crp is growing ducks, not holding them. Besides, crp ground under a foot of snow, is pretty much like anything else under a foot of snow, DUCKLESS! hehe. travis
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BAY KINGFISHER
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Torch,
Are you talking about WRP or CRP in MS? If so, you don't have to worry about it holding all the ducks. It has done more harm than good in MS, IMO. That is not a popular thought or statement in the wildlife field that I work in. That was first put in my head in the Fall of '98. I had been in the South Delta long enough before this and since then to see how the duck have changed from using this area due to WRP. I have thought about it a lot since then. I'm talking specifically about Sharkey and Issaquena Counties. They were the first to max out their acreage.
The land that goes in to WRP is generally heavy ground that was used to grow rice or soybeans. It was always the first to flood from natural events. It might have been a wet fall and the farmer could only get part of his crops out. The ducks didn't mind. Now it is a grass field. What do the ducks like more, rice and soybeans or coffee weed, ballon vine or trumpet creeper? They have quit using these areas and started using the areas that they prefer.
Every hunter needs to stop and think about the feeding opportunities a duck has when he is flying south. It is one big buffet to a duck. Where you see him feeding is where he wants to be. It bet your gonna see more ducks in the soybean and rice fields day in and day out than WRP.
The WRP fans will tell you about the 30 percent of the area that is in moist soil management. Did Arkansas get its reputation from its WRP moist soil areas? Moist soil is good, don't get me wrong. But, where do the ducks want to be? How many WRP areas in MS have good moist soil units? Slim to none of them. That is no ones fault but the land owner. Some times I think the landowners are mislead about moist soil management, so maybe the problem isn't always 100% that of the land owners.
Duck prefernce for moist soil VS grain crops is a whole nother topic, so I won't take up your time here with that one.
Good day.
Are you talking about WRP or CRP in MS? If so, you don't have to worry about it holding all the ducks. It has done more harm than good in MS, IMO. That is not a popular thought or statement in the wildlife field that I work in. That was first put in my head in the Fall of '98. I had been in the South Delta long enough before this and since then to see how the duck have changed from using this area due to WRP. I have thought about it a lot since then. I'm talking specifically about Sharkey and Issaquena Counties. They were the first to max out their acreage.
The land that goes in to WRP is generally heavy ground that was used to grow rice or soybeans. It was always the first to flood from natural events. It might have been a wet fall and the farmer could only get part of his crops out. The ducks didn't mind. Now it is a grass field. What do the ducks like more, rice and soybeans or coffee weed, ballon vine or trumpet creeper? They have quit using these areas and started using the areas that they prefer.
Every hunter needs to stop and think about the feeding opportunities a duck has when he is flying south. It is one big buffet to a duck. Where you see him feeding is where he wants to be. It bet your gonna see more ducks in the soybean and rice fields day in and day out than WRP.
The WRP fans will tell you about the 30 percent of the area that is in moist soil management. Did Arkansas get its reputation from its WRP moist soil areas? Moist soil is good, don't get me wrong. But, where do the ducks want to be? How many WRP areas in MS have good moist soil units? Slim to none of them. That is no ones fault but the land owner. Some times I think the landowners are mislead about moist soil management, so maybe the problem isn't always 100% that of the land owners.
Duck prefernce for moist soil VS grain crops is a whole nother topic, so I won't take up your time here with that one.
Good day.
Scott Baker
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goosebruce
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No Du stickers here, Im not a fan... but I think they get a bad rap on a lot of this stuff that people just pulled out of their booty (like short stopping ducks). If I just went along with all the feel-good to gripe stuff would ya have asked? I like a good gripe as much as anyone, but when its repeted as fact it becomes total bs.
This thread started about du stopping ducks, then it was refuges, then its crp, then is all about greed, $, and politics. Its everywhere but thinking about the fact a duck migrates cause he has too, and if he don't have to, he don't.
Can we have too much habitat? Can titys be too big? travis
This thread started about du stopping ducks, then it was refuges, then its crp, then is all about greed, $, and politics. Its everywhere but thinking about the fact a duck migrates cause he has too, and if he don't have to, he don't.
Can we have too much habitat? Can titys be too big? travis
goosebruce wrote:.
Can titys be too big? travis
Yes! 40Ds turn into 40 longs at about 40 years old!
To much good in one place causes bad in another. Know any monster boobed girls? Their backs hurt all the time from the stress of the front. Same with habitat and food. The more you have the greater the numbers the greater the strain on other resorces. I want more ducks don't get me wrong but since we are on the end of the flyway if everything doesn't go just right we don't get them during our alotted season. Start our season mid Dec and let it end in mid Feb.............DU nor does most of our northern neighbors like that idea.
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goosebruce
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Didnt know ya wuz the sensative type brother.... Next time I see a face full on an ole gal, I'll offer her a doans pill for a peek!
Why do they come at the end, instead of in the middle? The same amount of habitat is still there. The same amount of refuges, crp & wrp is still there. The same amount of greed, $, and politics is still there. The only answer that makes any sense, and is grounded in fact, is the weather, specifically snow cover. It really is, just that simple. A conspricy sounds better when ya beetching in the blind, and Lord knows DU seems like something to gripe about, and any program by the government has to screw someone, so the conspricies are fun to belive. They simply have nothing to do with the truth.
Shooting ducks on valentines day seems like itd be a hoot, and we all know it would. But at some point or another, they have to get on with feeding to get their energy levels up to make the trip back, and to start pairing up for some duckie love. For every duck here in feb we'd like to bust a cap on, theres a duck in canada someone would love to shoot in august. International law says migertory seasons can't start before sept 1st. It'd certainly be less of a drain on the resource to start shooting in aug, but they had to draw a line somewhere. The end of the line is jan 31st. Personally, I don't buy into mallards pairing up for the trip, cause every hen I have ever saw had 5 greenies chasing her looking for some. But no doubt they need the time to get ready for the trip, and save up fat to move back north & breed. These ducks hit their summer homes ready to lay, and thats a big deal to fly that far, and land ready to get it on. Later hunting would mean later hatches, fewer chances for ducks to breed again on a busted deal, and younger ducks leaving in the fall. All of these things would mean less ducks over your decoys. I'd love it, you'd love, we'd all love it, but it aint right to shoot them in feb, and anyone that ever took the time to learn their life cycles knows that. travis
Why do they come at the end, instead of in the middle? The same amount of habitat is still there. The same amount of refuges, crp & wrp is still there. The same amount of greed, $, and politics is still there. The only answer that makes any sense, and is grounded in fact, is the weather, specifically snow cover. It really is, just that simple. A conspricy sounds better when ya beetching in the blind, and Lord knows DU seems like something to gripe about, and any program by the government has to screw someone, so the conspricies are fun to belive. They simply have nothing to do with the truth.
Shooting ducks on valentines day seems like itd be a hoot, and we all know it would. But at some point or another, they have to get on with feeding to get their energy levels up to make the trip back, and to start pairing up for some duckie love. For every duck here in feb we'd like to bust a cap on, theres a duck in canada someone would love to shoot in august. International law says migertory seasons can't start before sept 1st. It'd certainly be less of a drain on the resource to start shooting in aug, but they had to draw a line somewhere. The end of the line is jan 31st. Personally, I don't buy into mallards pairing up for the trip, cause every hen I have ever saw had 5 greenies chasing her looking for some. But no doubt they need the time to get ready for the trip, and save up fat to move back north & breed. These ducks hit their summer homes ready to lay, and thats a big deal to fly that far, and land ready to get it on. Later hunting would mean later hatches, fewer chances for ducks to breed again on a busted deal, and younger ducks leaving in the fall. All of these things would mean less ducks over your decoys. I'd love it, you'd love, we'd all love it, but it aint right to shoot them in feb, and anyone that ever took the time to learn their life cycles knows that. travis
Ringbill, the bennyism that you refered to is right on in my opinion. There is no way we will ever see consistantly good duck hunting again with the massive influx of hunters that we have had in the last 5 years. As he said, a duck has no safe place to land in the MS delta anymore and after continual hammering, they don't come back. I would love to see a super short season and a super low limit again. That is the only thing that will improve the hunting this far south. Trent Lott and the other politicians need to keep their opinions and influence out of duck hunting.
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torch
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last post on DU subject: Why would any hunter give your hard earned money to an organization that helps the wealthy get wealthier with there properties. Why would you support DU mexico when they have literally no limits on waterfowl. Why would you support DU canada when 40% of your state duck stamp money already goes there. Who do you think lobbies the USFWS on limits and seasons and helps them make decisions on the Fedreal Refuge system. DU is why we have so many Snot Nosed want to be duck hunters. Go back to the point system and a 30 day season and weed them out the ducks can take care of themselves!
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