Will Ducks fly back north?

[torch]

My hunting buddies from southeast Mo called today and said Sunday and today they all limited out in 30 minutes or less. He also said all the ducks were flying in from the south. 2 weeks ago the ducks had left the area and now they are back. Have any of you ever heard of this happening?

[Dutch Dog]

those ducks were probably roosting anywhere from 10 to 50 miles south of them and were going by them on their way to feed. That would be my guess...seems like their basic instinct to migrate wouldn't let them move back north no farther than their usual daily flights to where they are feeding. Heck I have heard of ducks traveling upwards of 100 miles from a safe roost area to a safe feed area...if that took them in a northerly direction then one might conclued that the ducks were moving north.

[torch]

4 days ago they were headed down to Ms to hunt because they had no ducks. These ducks seem to have come back from the south and I think they left here to go back there.

[tupe]

Yes, ducks do in fact travel back and forth during their winter migration. They tend to stay no further than 100 miles from the freeze line. So when a warm up happens you can expect to see flights heading back north, but in another cold snap they will hear south again.
Those little birds don't like to be any warmer than they have to.

M.B.

[judge jb]

nothing unusual.... them ducks ventured down to Ms. and seen that us farmers gather our crops and carry them to market...... they are headed back north to purge themselves on that Farm-bureau grain left in the fields....haha....

judge jb

[MAG]

Yes they do "reverse migrate"

I saw it first-hand two years ago. Remember when everything in the delta was locked up for like 2 weeks? Well, afterwards it warmed up to about 60 degrees or so. On that first warm day my Dad and I went to the blind at 12:30 in the afternoon and came out at 1:30 with 8 Mallards. We saw wave after wave of Mallards coming up from the South. It was amazing.

It doesn't suprise me that Mizzo is getting ducks from the south, but it does make me jealous .

MAG

[Jeff]

Yes they do migrate back north. LSU conducted a pintail study a few years back in wich they had radio banded pintails and they found that in one day they could regularly go from SW LA to Arkansas. So they do move and do move a lot, so anything is possible w/ ducks.

[THRASHER]

Fly back north? Seems like most of them never leave. Face it as long as they keep feeding them up north it will never be as good as it could be. Our season needs to at least run into Feb. for us to get maximum migration. Some years maybe not but they are getting fewer and farther between.

[litlhitch]

I had a wildlife proffesor (doctor) look at me like I was stupid when I said something about ducks migrating back North because of the warm weather.

[Bullet]

I don't think the ducks are moving back north because I've talked to groups of hunters, who said that every duck they saw were flying south. And i did talk to a guy who was in Ark. and was right on the river and said that he saw a $#!+ of ducks that were flying south

[Delta Duck]

There is no douth in my mine, that the big migration of ducks will stay 100 miles or less to the freeze line. They will move back North

[River Hunter]

My hunting buddies from southeast Mo called today and said Sunday and today they all limited out in 30 minutes or less. He also said all the ducks were flying in from the south. 2 weeks ago the ducks had left the area and now they are back. Have any of you ever heard of this happening?

Torch it sounds like we need to go to MO. Goodman told me yall had a great time and got in some good shooting oh yeh dont you wish you could do what that dog could do