Will someone admitt????

[jkm1272]

Will anyone ever admitt that maybe we have miss calculated the duck population. Maybe 30 and 3 is not a bad idea. Chad you are a biologist, is it possible you guys miss calculated. Some one told me, duck biologist count mallard populations, and then base all other populations on mallards.

Does anyone else agree with me, that we don't have as many ducks?

[redwine]

I am starting to strongly agree with you.....

[chopper30]

what ever we do can we please not bring this subject up again.
i strongly disagree!
If we would ever get a nasty winter like we used to,
then you would see ducks.
But as it is, there isn't a river in the state that has gotten out of it's banks and it was 70 degrees last weekend along with opening weekend.
If 30/3 gets passed next year and for the first year in three of four years
the weather cooperates for us southerners, then there will be some pissed off folks to finally see all those birds people have been supposedly
"miss calculating"!

[teul2]

AMEN CHOPPER30

There has not been a really cold winter in several years. I think the last "great" season I had was 3 or 4 years ago when we got a really good freeze and there were rivers out of their banks every where.

[webbmaster]

Its much easier to blame DU and DW.

BUT.....

The bottom line is that the weather up north has not pushed the ducks down. There is not much you can do about that.

If hunting season started Dec 15th and ran through the end of February, we would not be having these countless debates.

I for one am ready to write this season off as a bad year all around the south. I don't think duck numbers have anything to do with it. Just weather.

If anyone is killing ducks in the south, congratulations. You are one of few.

[wing shot 1]

DITTO

[NOHERE]

If I am not mistaken, the usgfw does the counting of the "ducks". Which ducks are not counted at all, the acres of water is counted, so many acres of water is supposed to have so many ducks on it, and that is how the count is taken. BUT they dont see what or what isnt down in the grass where the birds are suppeded to be. This is the way it's been counted for decades.

But at the same time, we have not had cold winter for several years, I talked with a guy from Blytheville Ar today, he said they have had the best season they have had in 4-5 years, so simply put the birds have no reason to come on down south to Mississippi, remember the "freeze line", this dictates where the birds move, and it aint no where close to Mississippi this year.

It wouldnt bother me to go 45 and 4, but you can bet a million dollers on it, if our season and limit gets cut down we will have the coldest winter we've seen for a while and ducks will be everywhere, then what will WE (me included) bitch about

[SoftCall]

Time Out...

This isn't supposed to come up until at least the end of the season.

BTW - 3/30 is to improving the duck season what killing the rooster is to making the night longer. At least at this stage in the game. Now if there had been severe drought conditions again this past spring and summer, then 3/30 might have some merit but the rebound was superb. Weather impacts the hunting more than any other variable in a high hatch year.

my .02.

[Chad Manlove]

Seems to be a lot of confusion on this topic. I'll try to help explain.

First of all, Ducks Unlimited does not count ducks or attempt to estimate numbers of waterfowl. The USFWS Division of Migratory Bird Management is in charge of the breeding waterfowl and habitat survey each spring.

Do they count ducks? YES, the USFWS counts BREEDING PAIRS of ALL Waterfowl species that occur on their survey routes. These surveys take place during the spring (April - May) each year. For the most part, surveys take place on the breeding grounds of Canada and the northern great plains (MT, SD, and ND). They estimate numbers of breeding pairs for each species, not just mallards. These estimates are then combined for "the total duck population estimate". Last year, the estimate was 36.2 million birds (16% above the previous year and 9% above the long-term average).

Are these numbers exact? No, these data sets were never intended to be perfect. They can't feasibly count every duck on the prairies. The survey transects never change, so you can develop a good set of "trend" data over the years. Each year, the estimates are compared with previous years to see how the current population estimates stack up.

Do they survey the habitat conditions? YES, the USFWS also surveys the current habitat conditions on the prairies. How? Basically, habitat conditions are reflected in the numbers of ponds counted in May. This is called the May Pond Surveys. Last year, habitat conditions for breeding waterfowl greatly improved over the previous spring in most of the prairie survey areas. The estimate of May ponds of 5.2 million was 91% higher than the previous year and 7% above the long-term average.

Did the USFWS mis-calculate the numbers? I don't think so. I was on the breeding grounds in late-August this past summer. It was an awesome sight. Ducks everywhere. Same thing was said about duck production in southern Saskatechewan. Keep in mind, we didn't have the breeding numbers that we experienced during the mid-90s but there was a definate increase over the past 2 years.

Chad

[RIP EM]

Is there anyone on here besides me,... that have better duck hunting on dry years vs. wet years ?

I'm not wishing any of you bad luck,.... but I love dry years ! Not terribly dry you understand,... Just not flooded !

Hunting is simply better, when the number of acres of open water is cut in half, by a dry year ! Do I stand alone here ?

No,.......... I don't pump water !

I just count on the Good Lord to handle things ! He's done a fine job, for 6 or 7 thousand years now !

Rip Em !

[ScottS]

Hard freeze with limited water will equal LOTS of ducks! If it's dry and you have water, and you get a hard winter up north, the ducks will have limited places to go and that is what will lead to great hunting.

Remember a couple of years ago when water was all over the delta? The ducks were scattered so far and wide it was unbelievable.

I prefer cold weather with limited water.

[chopper30]

I would personally rather the rivers get out. Not to flood any of my personal hunting spots, but when the Coldwater and Tallahatchie get out that triples or quadruples the numbers of ducks that use the area, in turn tripling or quadrupling the number that use my property. We still do good on a dry year like this year because we can pump, but the amounts of ducks seen last year was greatly larger than this year and the time it took to kill limits was noticably shorter.
CHOPPER

[privb9121]

I've hunted here for 20 years, I've been throught the points system, the three duck limits and I'm currently in the 60 day 6 duck limits. I can say this year is better than last, but not by much. I've killed limits a total of 5 times this year. I hunt with 4 to 5 fellows. We have been skunked out 3 times all year, but our bags have been very slim. We usually don't shoot woodies unless there are no mallards and we only shoot them if they come in to the hole(no sky busting). It's very tough to go out and hunt ducks while I'm swatting at the Arkansas state birds..... 70 degrees in January is tought on any type hunting. It's not much better up North from what my friends are saying in Illinois. I have heard that it's gonna be hard to get many Crawfish for the super bowl due to the fact that all of the coon asses are too busy shooting ducks to gather the traps.

The face of duck hunting has changed over the past five years, we have to contend with 3/12 in magnums with the skybusters, Hail callers, and 20 robo ducks per spread. The days of just hunting are over if we don't try and control it. If you see some young fellows sky busting invite them to hunt with ya and let them know that hunting isn't tree top shooting but working ducks in to the spread and killing ducks in the holes. People wonder why the ducks that we have don't want to work holes. Hell if they get 100 yards from it, people are shooting at them.

Ducks that live through that will not forget it. This is just my opinion and I feel that we could kill alot more duck even with the limited number that we have down, if people would use good judgement and shoot later instead of trying to pull off a 70 yard shot.

The reason I say invite some to go with you... I've done that this year and it has paid off for three young guys. They have been gung hoe the past two years, but no one has ever tought them any thing about duck hunting ethics. They have learned to get the boat ready away from the boat ramp then put the boat in and get out of everyone's way. The know know NOT TO SHOOT SOMEONES SWING DUCKS>>> This one I thought I was going to have to teach with force. It was my passers that they were shooting at...... And they have actually learned to let ducks into the canopy and/or hit the water before they shoot. I hope that they will remember this and will spread the word to the others who don't live by the common curtesy rules....

Sorry for the rambling but hey someone has to say it.

[sportsman450]

Its much easier to blame DU and DW.

Actually the opposite is true for a lot of people.

It's a whole lot easier to blame Mother Nature because it takes the blame away from themselves.Blaming the lack of ducks on human causes means they have to admit they have been very wrong,and to accept some of the responsibility!

[RIP EM]

Good point 450 !!!

You get todays very first,..... ATTABOY !!!!

Sometimes the truth has a tendancy to "STANG A LITTLE" !

Best duckhole in the State of Miss., ain't had a shot fired in it this year !
You can bet it is wall to wall with big ol fat Greenheads, at this very moment !

Rip Em !