Question about DU

[gadwall2]

Chad, hang in there man. You are doing a good job keeping your cool and discussing this in a rational manner with all the sarcasm, and bold statements being thrown at you. I even threw some daggers at yall for a bit. I was very ticked with DU for a while after the "Farm Bill" fiasco, but came to realize that I might not agree with DU on some fronts, but they are still good for ducks.

[goosebruce]

You guys KILL me... WTF makes you think du is your beetch? You didn't book a hunt with them, guarenteeing you birds, you donated money to a conservation orgazation. The last 2 years sucked, so its their fault? So was the 5 record settting seasons before their credit? I mean, if they screwed this up, they had to be responbile before, right? Ya stupid chuckleheads, THINK for a change.

I got my own problems with du. They don't have anything to do with short stopping ducks. Jeez guys, last year the biggest part of the ducks where at the boarder, WAY north of where du's maginot line supposedly is. At the very least, use the internet to read other people going Oh my gawd, look at the ducks here 2 MONTHS after our seasons are over. Ducks dont fly half a contient for funzies. Any of ya'll walk to work this morning when you had a perfectly good car to drive? Why not, people walked for eons before cars didnt they? No, you did the easiest thing that got you to work... and from the comments on this topic you've already proved a mallard duck is as smart as some of you.

Du is all about habitat. Which is good. Habitat that doesn't grow ducks, isnt much intrest to me. Refusual to look at their own failures with the way they handled the predator control debate was a prime example of how big, how pc, how their way took precedent over the truth and results they had become. The answers chad gave now are over 3 years in the grooming, because its the script hes been given. The examples he added, are from TOTAL failures of du and usfws projects that did nothing but become graveyards to nesting hens. MILLIONS spent, of your donations, your duck stamp dollars, your tax dollars, and they didnt put a duck in the sky. Hey, itd be easy to say, well, at least they saved the habitat. Well, Im not that big of a feller... if it didnt grow ducks, I think I got ripped off. And when someone said, hey, we can fix this, they got blasted by the 'big boys'. Did you know the feds actually contracted predator work on several projects before this, because they KNEW they werent getting any reutrns? It takes 15% nest recuritment to keep the pop level... and lots of projects don't get that in good (rainfall years). Make it dry, and concentrate the ducks, and it gets worst.

Your conservation dollars are great. They don't amount to shiit comapred to what government programs do. The reason du spends money in canada is because nobody else does, esp the candaians. There arent any government crp or wrp programs. They dont have swampbuster provisions. Heck, they dont even have sweet tea. What they do have is a population that pays about 45% taxes, and don't hunt for the most part, and they arent real big on spending their tax dollars on growing ducks. So du does. That is good. The best thing they do, and have ever done.

You can donate this, and donate that. It still doesnt compare to you voting. It still doesnt compare to what a farm bill does. Or what sneaky underhanded $#!+ george w and crew do to rape the lands of wetlands. Want to make a difference... get in the loop and be pissed off at the crime being committed against us all by redefining wetlands, and risking duck production as we know it.

Why be mad cause du puts pipes on private ground? 80% of the birds in the sky where hatched, fledged, and raised on private ground. Almost as high a percentage winter on private grounds, and get killed on private ground. If you havent noticed, most ground is owned by someone.

Chad you've done good here, represented yourself and your compnay well. I don't think too much of du puppets, but if I ever thought I could get a straight answer from one, Id sure be looking your number up. travis

[Gman]

Chad,
I appreciate your professionalism in dealing with this DU bashing. It seems that if some of these guys would read the DU Magazine articles and use a little common sense they would already know the answers to some of these questions. Sure DU has made our sport "cool", and is taking in money from everywhere. DUH--That is the purpose for DU - they are a fund-raising establishment. The more funds raised, the more money spent on the ducks.
The fact is, it has been dry for a few years in the Duck Factory, and there has been very little snow to the north of MS during duck season. This year was a good production year and numbers are up, but no snow during duck season means that most of those numbers are still north of us. Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri all had great duck seasons last year when the numbers were lower, because there was no snow to move the ducks down here. No snow = No Big Duck Numbers in MS---it is a simple concept. Sure there are more places for ducks to feed, more private lands under WRP, more water control structures, and this tends to spread the ducks out, but .....The fact is, there has been no snow in the past 3 years to cover up their food, and freeze the fields to push them down here.
I have relatives that are wildlife biologists and they have both told me that last year over 80% of the mallard population did not get further south than Missouri. --- Pray for snow----

[featherduster]

I ain't givin' a dime to any "non-profit" orginazation that uses illegal immigrants to plant trees, build levees, etc. when unemployment rates for the last two years reached a 27 year high. I am aware that DU contracts out this work on bids, but dang, give a little back to the "country" that feeds it.(DU)
Also, I'd like someone to hand me a hat, shirt, or any piece of clothing DU endorses that is "Made in USA"!!

[mudsucker]

Featherduster,
Ever hear of NAFTA? If you ran a non-profit, you try to get the most out of your money to do the most good. There is a DU Canada and a DU Mexcio too!
Chad,
Thanks for the professionalism shown in your replies. These strings can get messy.

As far as Ark. not seeing the ducks that they used too, I see on the net at waterfowler.com that in years past, Oklahoma's hunters seeing more ducks than in the past. I think the "FLYWAY" shifted west due to hunting pressure in Arkansas. That Benny guy makes some good points. That 'aint Benny Thompson is it!
I am on my local committe for DU and have been a member since 1984.
Our "outrageous" dinner ticket price was $15 dollars over the cost of membership. I know alot of you can hardly go out to supper where you spend less than that.
I am going to join Deltawaterfowl too. I guess I will have to change my sig. then
Lighten up guys. "It is the weather, stupid", as the man once said.

[duforester]

Well, like some others have said, it is the WEATHER! If the pothole region stays dry, like it has the past few years, it means less places for ducks to breed, which also means less ducks to fly south. Couple the drought conditions up north during the breeding season with warmer temps during the hunting seaason, aka less snow and frozen waters north of here, and you have the reason why the ducks do not make it here! Now, if any of you can control these factors, please let us all know and we will support you. As for any organization being able to control or alter these factors, I don't see that happening either!

So, support all these organizations, Delta Waterfowl and DU because they are doing things to help the ducks when the weather conditions do get right!

[wellisIII]

Give all your donations to delta waterfowl! They help southern duck hunters more than DU!

[Caller1]

Good Job Chad, Goosebruce, and even(gulp) doctor.

[esteslanehunting]

I didn't mean to cause any heat between anyone w/ this question about DU. It has been very informational topic. But I'm still not convinced. :?

[Don Miller]

Is DU still short stopping ducks in Missouri?

[torch]

i never believed all that crap about DU shortstopping ducks but the refuge system does. I have seen it with my own eyes.

[goosebruce]

No heat cat... sometimes people just don't listen lessing ya lay it out for them... hehe, dats all.

I aint no fan of them myself. But they getting a rap that makes no sense... real easy to sit at epmty skies and want to blame someone, and boy they sure make an easy target.

Torch, you know enough about ducks to know the refuge system is a ness evil. You GOT to have places ducks can't get hammered, to keep ducks around. Don't care how hot your lick is, you gun it all day every day, you aint gonna kill ducks on it... your ducks will be next door on the place they only gun once a week... if they gun their stuff every day, the ducks will move over a county... or a state.

Why are the grounds surrounding refuges in top supply? Because thats where the ducks are. Why are all the ducks on refuges, so they can get way from the booty pounding. When ya see ALL the ducks in an area, tight on a refuge and nowhere else, its because you aint got nuff ducks in the area to make it right, and the temps are high enough to not make the ducks stir. A duck needs 3 times the food intake at 30 degrees he needs at 60... so he dont move on bluebird 60 degree days. Its real simple. We like to gripe about all the food on refuges, but how many of us here leave UNCUT rice and beans on our licks for the ducks... how much denser can you have food than UNCUT crops? Ya can't. Ducks would eat every last bit of them, if we didnt show up every morning and cap their booty.

Ma Nature is the beetch behind the last 2 years... And shes the Godess that gave us the 3 before that. It happens. Good years there are MORE ducks on the refuges... we just dont see em as much cause we're busier trying to smack dat booty than riding around drinking coffee and cussing someone.

And for the record, Id still like to see that fat blonde from the dixie chiks still her butt in the air and bark like a dog for me! travis

[BAY KINGFISHER]

DU gets the heat because they preach their success and 100 million duck migrations. Thats why they get the griping, maybe if they said we have 100 million+ ducks surveyed this year, but that doesnt mean you Southern boys are going to see them due to weather conditions, more people would get the point, However Im not sure that would be a good marketing scheme. Would Ford or Chevy ever say hey we have great new trucks being built this year but you southern boys cant get your hands on them, probably everybody would go to Dodge. I support DU and Delta, I think it is great that DU will not continue to hold their monopoly on non-profit duck conservation. Good old competetion between the two will only help all of us and the future hunters of America. Hell Id take up photography for a couple of seasons if it would insure my 4 yr old will have the same opportunites at waterfowl as I had.

[torch]

Goose, all I am saying is at some point we are going to have enough habitat for the ducks if we haven't already done it. All these programs have put Millions of acres into habitat in the last 15 years. 20 years down the road are we going to say" man we F@#&##up putting all this in habitat. No one that I am aware of has done any research on this. There has to be a limit somwhere.

[jroc]

Goose, all I am saying is at some point we are going to have enough habitat for the ducks if we haven't already done it. All these programs have put Millions of acres into habitat in the last 15 years. 20 years down the road are we going to say" man we F@#&##up putting all this in habitat. No one that I am aware of has done any research on this. There has to be a limit somwhere.

Nature will let you know. Look at the geese.............they seem to have enough habitat somewhere.

Oh and nobody is hunting them...........it's not as "cool"