Duck season ?..... Something ain't right !!!

[RIP EM]

I understand not seein many Mallards ! Have seen this many times in the past ! (Especially early in the season) !
Reasons and opinions vary as to WHY !

Usually we have started seeing more and more "big ducks" by this time of the season ! This year is no different,... cept for one little detail,.... WE ARE COVERED UP WITH TEAL,... BLUEWING TEAL ! I SAID BLUEWING TEAL !!!

Greenwings would'nt be botherin me,.... BUT BLUEWINGS ? Is anyone else seein this ?

Big duck numbers seem to be building (very gradually),...but at least they are building !

I have seen the "stray" blue this time of year,..... but I'm talkin bout drove after drove,... in bunches of 6 or 8 to bunches of 15 to 30 !

Just thought I'd give ya'll a whirl at this one ! WHAT GIVES ???

GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL !!!

Rip Em !

[Locked Up]

Don't know, just be happy you are covered up. Seeing more ducks but very contrast to what I am used to this year.......Shoot'em

[pntailhntr]

No one knows why blue wings hang around late sometimes. We have had unusually cold weather for a rather unusually long period of time for this time of year. BW's should be SOUTH of Argentina by now as cool as it's been here!!ha but some do hang around for awhile especially in the southern regions of the flyway. Where are you hunting? You hunting down around Laurel?? You won't find any BW up here in the Greenville area at least I haven't seen any up here in a long time. To be honest, I haven't even seen many GW's, just Mallards, woodies, and occasional Gads.

Basically your answer is nobody really knows, ask our Global Warming expert, I'm sure he'll have a GOOD reason why they are still here since the earth is in a "WARMING" stage and we are having one of the COLDEST winters in a long time!!!!!!

[RIP EM]

No man !

South Delta ! (Ms) !

Just 1 of the holes ! All other holes combined,..... NADA !

Hard to figure ! AND HEY,.... they could be gone by now,for all I know !

Rip Em !

[Faithful Retrievers]

They haven't been too good about predicting tomorrow, but the 15 day looks like it should run a blue wing out of town. If it holds atleast may can take the kids ice skating on our lease and get some money out of it.

[Sbroadus]

Had three blue wing fly into the spread yesterday in the south delta. They won't be going any farther South!

[wing shot]

What is the 15 day weather forcast ???

[Anatidae]

Planting, harvest, freeze-up and migration were all LATE.........by about a month, up North this year........all affected by weather. We usually see fields with 10-12K ducks in them anywhere from last week of October to first week of November in mid-latitude Saskatchewan. Those numbers did not show-up until 3rd week of November when our friends up there called and said they just finished harvest.

Bottom Line.......everything is LATE.......it takes a sequence of weather events to produce conditions that are conducive to migration....(i.e. ice and snow).......this is the 3rd or 4th Alberta system.....I think it will take a minimum of 6 of these to make'em show-up.......8-10 to show-up in significant numbers down here.

Combine late migration (for wahtever reason) with weather systems that are spaced apart, and you won't see significant numbers like we did in the late 90's. If we get ducks, it'll be because the Alberta weather events come in close succession.....compressing the time frame it takes to 'move' birds.

I'm no forecaster or biologist......but I would venture a guess that ducks will start showing-up around Jan 1 if current projections hold-up. Whether we get a mass migration will depend on what happens after this system moves through......til Jan 31st.

[maverick21]

I'm going to venture out and say they'll be down in significant numbers Feb. 1st.

[RIP EM]

Good guess Mav !

Feb. 1st !

Good one !

Rip Em !

[deltadukman]

Its Obama...all them democrats up north got they tax crediks and stimulus packages to keep them there...

[RIP EM]

Leave it to Anatidae to throw some good ol country-boy logic into the mix !

Purty much had my own ideas, as to the reasons why !.... But, the amount of bluewings really threw me !

Thanks for the comeback ! Sounds good !

Now,.... if we ain't covered up by Jan. 2nd,.... can we be mad at you ?

Rip Em !

[Anatidae]

Absolutely.......everybody needs to be able to blame somebody, right? But I've also been tellin' folks not to have an expectations overload if ducks didn't show-up by Christmas. So, I'm 'off' a week. 'Covered-up'...I'm not so sure anybody will be covered-up anytime this year.

'Hope you get on'em, soon, Busky.

[Caller1]

Lots of Blue wings still just across the river in Arkieland... HARDLY any ducks in the Cleveland area.

[LODI QUACKER]

AHhhhemmm,,



bull chitttt!!!