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absolutely no mention of 250,000+ acres hardwood plantations

Good read.

Hollandale, i can remember in the early 90's riding around shooting them with a pellet gun. Seriously my granddad flooded all of his land for the waterfowl to have a refuge. I can also remember having water everywhere. It was awesome, i only wish i can see it again.

doc & nash

you right on brother glad you see it, good post

I have hunted with Potter around the area he is describing although it would have been more like 1993 for me

I have fond memories of that camp, the people and one day in the field when I saw more ducks in one place than I think I ever have or may ever see again

there was a day when they truly darkened the sky

BTW he was/(is I guess) a big supporter of Delta Waterfowl and convinced us to enroll in the at the time "new" Voluntary Restraint Program

the doc

Best post this year so far..

Great read!

Good Read. Sad but true. Oh to live the days that are no only talked about

Double R 2 wrote:absolutely no mention of 250,000+ acres hardwood plantations

Or the mention of Electonic devices that forever changed the flight patterns of Mature and younger ducks that never made it to the south in order to develope imprinting.

that sounds like what my dad tells me it used to be like...one of the saddest things i have read in a while

Reminds me of a line I read a while back...can't remember who...

"Our ancestors lived in the wilderness and yearned for civilization. We live in their cilvilization and yearn for their wilderness!" I'm sure you will get differing opinions, but I sure am with you. It's the extra days that add the pressure, along with sheer numbers of hunters. Extra hunter days are gonna be the death of duck hunting as we have known it. It hardly resembles the way I know it, already.

crow

MSDuckmen wrote:

Double R 2 wrote:absolutely no mention of 250,000+ acres hardwood plantations

Or the mention of Electonic devices that forever changed the flight patterns of Mature and younger ducks that never made it to the south in order to develope imprinting.

1000's of acres of new refuges all along the flyway have impacted migration patterns WAY more than spinners. My .02 (also an observation not necessarily a complaint)

I think the bigger issue is current farming practices and maximization of revenue form the land...these current high farm subsidies don't help either....
Hunter numbers dramatically increased about the time DU figured out how to run a banquet and it became a status event....

Great post, I've seen the change myself. My father has owened land in N Leflore Co. since 1981, I killed my first duck at age 6 in 1984, still hunting the same land. We still have pretty good and average years but nothing like what I saw as a young kid with a single shot .410.

Without a doubt, habitat changes are a huge factor. As a kid in the 60's and 70's, I well remember riding the Delta highways and scanning every wet spot for ducks. Many of those places caught water year after year. Land leveling has done away with lots of areas that used to stay wet in the fall and fall tillage does away with much of the food that was left on the ground. Most farmers are doing what they do to make a living, rather than to accomodate ducks. I can't blame them for trying to make the best living they can, but those practices have a definite impact on waterfowl.

I didn't grow up hunting the South Delta, but my own observation is that WRP acres often don't provide habitat that's attractive to ducks. In twenty years, we may see WRP hardwood forests that provide classical green timber shooting, but that's not what's out there now.

Another thing that I have noticed is that many hunters seem to want to blame other hunters when their luck is poor. I don't hunt public areas, and I accept the statements that the WMA's are becoming increasingly overcrowded. But based on the reports I keep reading, hunter numbers are in decline. If that's the case, do hunters really have a serious effect on duck populations? I don't claim to have all the answers, but I have real doubts that hunting is the major cause of poor hunting success.

On the other hand, I am familiar with some large wetland areas that are just as they always have been - no man-made alterations or "improvements." Contrary to reported conditions on the grand scale, the hunting on these areas is actually improving over the years. I know a number of other folks who have had the same experience. Great habitat seems to bring the ducks back year after year.

Wow, Amazing read.

best i have seen it put yet. it is kind of like a car wreck you see it happening, you dont really want to see it, you cant look away and you cant do a damn thing to stop it....