A Farmer from Missouri tells the facts.......

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BATDUCK
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A Farmer from Missouri tells the facts.......

Postby BATDUCK » Thu Oct 16, 2003 8:12 am

About a week ago, I got a call from a farmer in Missouri right north of St. Louis who wants us to find him a farm down here. After talking for 10-15 minutes, he closed with the comment, and I quote, "Man, it is a shame what they are doing to you boys down there in Mississippi!" I asked him what he was talking about. He told me that their duck season ends Jan. 1. Many of the millionaire landowners with thousands and thousands of acres of big farms are turning on the pumps when the weather starts to get colder. The farmhands are then instructed to throw out corn/other grain in order to keep many of the ducks held up. He said that thousands and thousands of ducks are just hanging out feeding and whatnot. He said the farmers were also laughing about it as they head to the Carribean for vacation after duck season. You can say what you want. I don't have anything against DU or anyone else. BUT WHEN I HEAR IT OUT OF THE MAN'S OWN MOUTH FROM ONE WHO LIVES WHERE THE STUFF IS GOING ON, I START TO WONDER...........
The greatest asset to conservation is a call in the hands of the unskilled.-Nash Buckingham
esteslanehunting
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Postby esteslanehunting » Thu Oct 16, 2003 8:17 am

Thats TERRIBLE!! Is there some sort of law that can stop them from interfering w/ migratory game or something??
I have heard stories like that many many times. Didn't know if I should believe it or not. What are us SOUTHERN boys suppose to do??
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gadwall2
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Postby gadwall2 » Thu Oct 16, 2003 8:53 am

Anybody got any bottle rockets? We will take a road trip bout the first or second week in Jan. :twisted:
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RIP EM
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Postby RIP EM » Thu Oct 16, 2003 9:57 am

RELAX GUYS !

Mark it down !!! If we get a good cold winter,... no,.... just a "normal winter".

THEY WILL COME !!! JUST GET READY !!! :wink:

Rip Em !
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torch
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Postby torch » Thu Oct 16, 2003 12:51 pm

You can feed them as long as you don't hunt them! I think feeding at all should be stopped. I am not talking about normal agricultural practices but just feeding the ducks. I had a neighbor that dumped 3 18 wheeler loads of bad corn in a duck hole just to pull them off of us. And he never hunted the hole :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:
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MSDuckmen
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Postby MSDuckmen » Thu Oct 16, 2003 12:58 pm

Have you got any idea how much grain or just how large a place you would have to have to stop 120,000 birds.

I just find it very hard to believe. Not saying that what your friend or you is not true. People with money did not get that money by throwing it away on grain and fuel to pump fields after the season is over. And I truely cannot believe that men would do this just for spite. It is not like they are saving the birds for next year. :lol:

Just a little far fetched for me.
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Postby mallardshooter » Thu Oct 16, 2003 4:36 pm

Look at it this way. If they wait until Jan to open the pumps & dumping grain, it will be to little to late. The bulk of the birds will either be here or at the least be below mid-Missouri. The best they could do it be a longer stop on the way back, which would have an effect on the spring breeding & nesting.

Duckman said it all. Even if 30-50 farmers get together in the "feeding conspiracy", they can't build a dam long or wide enough to stop all the flight.

If you believe the Farmer's Almanac, it says that the temp in December will be in the mid 30's, which means, birds, birds, birds...

Keep the faith boys, the birds are on the way..
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Wingman
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Postby Wingman » Thu Oct 16, 2003 5:15 pm

Pleeeeaaase! When our winters get back to being cold, it won't matter if they are dumping Cool Whip and strawberries, the ducks will come.

It takes weather.

Wingman
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DuckyDan
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Postby DuckyDan » Thu Oct 16, 2003 9:04 pm

Well said, Wingman.

Where can I find these cool whip and strawberry feeding holes? I always have loved a good 'ol strawberry pie! Hard to find a good one in the winter though!

I might actually pause MY migration for that! :lol: :lol: :lol:
Sometimes the best call is no call at all...
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Wingman
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Postby Wingman » Thu Oct 16, 2003 9:16 pm

Hehe, actually, I've had so much Cool Whip and strawberries since I got married in March, I'd fail migration ;) They'd send me back to migration basic training.

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RedEyed Duck
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Postby RedEyed Duck » Thu Oct 16, 2003 9:18 pm

I don't know about the bulk of the migration being past Missouri in early Jan. However, if we get the weather just as most have said, all the food in the world will not matter. That is the key, as long as the birds can eat and drink they have no real reason to migrate further in the absence of hunting pressure. That being said, I don't care how many farmers you have together they could not afford to keep a large area of water open by pumping if the temps are in the mid to high 20's and low 30's as they should be in Missouri that time of year. No matter what, we will all know how it worked out in about 2 1/2 months. Good luck!
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Postby Delta Duck » Fri Oct 17, 2003 5:54 am

Yea, Farmers like that will not be going to any big vacations long. I'm with you on this one Duckmen, Most people with money don't want to spend it and will not waste it. :lol:
I do not want to think about how much each duck cost me! :lol:
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Wildfowler
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Postby Wildfowler » Fri Oct 17, 2003 6:11 am

Wingman wrote:Pleeeeaaase! When our winters get back to being cold, it won't matter if they are dumping Cool Whip and strawberries, the ducks will come.

It takes weather.

Wingman


Strawberry fields forever, huh???

:lol: :lol:
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Postby Hambone » Fri Oct 17, 2003 7:14 am

Yep, that makes alot of sense for them to flood their fields after the season. I guess they leave them dry until then.
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Postby Bama Duck » Fri Oct 17, 2003 7:43 am

A biologist told me the migration is over by the first of January no matter what. Yes the ducks my move south a couple hundred miles over night after a cold front but they will move back north as the temps return to ave. Think if you were a duck, you are not going to fly further south than you have to in order to survive. If you remember correctly three years ago we had a very cold December, I remember one week that it never got above the mid 30's and we had ducks everywhere. The bottom line is we need a cold December with plenty of snow north of us to make the migration line push down into the delta instead of hanging in Mizzu and Iowa like the last couple of years If we don't get the weather until January we won't get near the numbers.

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