Ducaholic wrote:Pretty clear what's happening. Check out Missouri's waterfowl counts every year and note which NWR's and WMA's load up. Then go to the website associated with that area and check out what type of food source they offer.
DComeaux wrote: "The reasons for so few mallards, especially male mallards, returning to Arkansas the following year deserves further research"
SpinnerMan wrote:DComeaux wrote: "The reasons for so few mallards, especially male mallards, returning to Arkansas the following year deserves further research"
I was thinking the same thing...Poor birds.SpinnerMan wrote:"mallards that winter in the Delta are exposed to high disturbance and high mortality rates from hunter harvest pressure there, and in subsequent winters, surviving mallards remain further north where harvest pressures are lower"
"We hypothesize that mallards surviving a winter in the Delta forgo high food availability in subsequent winters in favor of higher survival to the north of Arkansas."
SpinnerMan wrote:
With the long period of long seasons and high bag limits, this has to have some impact on the birds. Where I grew up, there were ducks around and in pretty big numbers after the season closed. Then the resident Canada geese began to appear an this attracted more hunters. Then the longer seasons came which meant ducks I was watching while hunting geese were now getting shot. Go back there now and I don't see a single duck most times I drive for miles along the river. There aren't that many geese any more either once people figured out how to hunt them.
[/quote][/quote]SpinnerMan wrote:
Once duck season closes up here in mid December, and a week later in the central zone, unless there is a pile of snow, there are big numbers of ducks. Lots of food and no hunting pressure. Whether the birds learn or just less of them get killed and make more the next year, my guess is that natural selection and learning are both playing a big part. You all are banging away on them for over a month after we can do nothing but enjoy the show.
DComeaux wrote:OVER Commercialization of waterfowl hunting is our biggest obstacle.
Darren wrote:DComeaux wrote:OVER Commercialization of waterfowl hunting is our biggest obstacle.
This this this! Stay on 'em!
johnc wrote:Sure hope the goose season stays the current length. 2 specks are fine with me. And the population is in good shape.
DComeaux wrote:I want to say, that none of this is pointed at you spinneman, just laying out my view and understanding of things.
DComeaux wrote:Now with the food abundance they're sticking around. We, man, have change a natural migration through manipulation for self gratification.
Rick wrote:Darren wrote:DComeaux wrote:OVER Commercialization of waterfowl hunting is our biggest obstacle.
This this this! Stay on 'em!
To what end? (Taxpayer supported socialized waterfowling ought to be hugely popular.)
SpinnerMan wrote:DComeaux wrote:I want to say, that none of this is pointed at you spinneman, just laying out my view and understanding of things.
I know it was not pointed at me. Just letting you know what I see on my end and the dramatic shift I saw back where I grew up.
As far as this.DComeaux wrote:Now with the food abundance they're sticking around. We, man, have change a natural migration through manipulation for self gratification.
I really don't think it is those specifically feeding ducks that are the primary culprit.
Large cooling lakes - the one that I hunt by in the winter began operations in 1988. A lot of these came on line in the 70's and 80's. There are also a lot of smaller warm water discharges that keep plenty of water open.
No till farming. It began to be adopted as a widespread practice in the same time period.
This meant plenty of refuges spread all over the place along with a practically unlimited supply of food.
This is never going to change. The birds that are short stopping because of this are not going to stop short stopping.
They are virtually unmolested, sleep in a bathtub, and have unlimited food in all directions. Those ducks are going to multiply.
I think the answer, if there is, is a more uniform seasons. If Illinois were to split the season into early and late. If they let me hunt ducks the entire month of October and January, I'd be very happy.
Three three week seasons (63 days total) the same from north to south might be better. Mid September to early October, mid November to early December and the first or last 3 weeks of January. That way those birds around here in late goose will get pressured. Short stopping doesn't mean they are unhunted like they are now.
For me this would be perfect. Woodies and local mallard season. Then a season hunting the birds migrating through. Then a season hunting the late season birds. Most people only hunt 1 or 2 of these and want to maximize either early, middle or late, so they would hate it. Same with those that hunt many states, but I think it is the best balance and allows us the benefit of hunting those short stopping birds and makes it less advantageous for the birds to short stop. I think it actually works OK for you guys at the far end. An extended teal season, the first migrators, and then the last migrators.
It would also stop a lot of the nonsense politics around here. They drew absurd boundaries a few years ago to benefit some big money flooded corn operations like you are talking about. It helped them out and screwed all the river hunters out of their best hunting at the end of the season.
Duck Engr wrote:As for the no till farming thing, the way I understand it, is fields aren’t worked (tilled) after the harvest like they are down south (when Weather is dry enough to allow it), thus leaving any scattered grain accessible to migrating waterfowl on the ground surface and not tilled under like it has been in Arkansas, Mississippi, and parts of Louisiana for the last two seasons (SUPER dry Falls).
I like the energy with which you’re going after this, but in my opinion, I’m afraid the refuges, while playing a part, don’t play near the part that farming practices and gun pressure do. Farmers down here used to flood fields in the winter for weed control and other reasons. With the advancement in roundup ready this and that as well as other chemicals, they no longer have to flood fields. They just till them in the fall and spray in the spring. Add that to the fact that more soybeans are being planted in lieu of rice, and it ain’t good. Waste beans go bad after a few days of being flooded. Rice lasts much longer. Couple that with increased ag production in Missouri and other states to the west, and it’s not looking good for the south end of the Flyway.
DComeaux wrote:So exactly how does this equate to more seed on the ground after harvest?
DComeaux wrote:today's fields are spotless (no weed/seed grasses) exist in a grain crop. So what are they eating?
DComeaux wrote:I can see where that grain can fall when shaken by the cutter, and don't doubt it's happening, but was told some years ago in reference to not having birds that the machinery today didn't leave much behind. It just seems the narrative changes to suit the situation.....
DComeaux wrote:Ethanol is the devil.
DComeaux wrote:Ethanol is the devil.
Ethanol is horrible. Although it would have no practical impact on the waste grain. What it has done is pushed farmers to put all kinds of marginal land into production. The land most valuable for wildlife and least valuable to the farmer, which is why it was not turned into farmland originally, gets ripped up and put into crops because it is worth ripping out the brush and trees and putting in drain tiles. The fence rows and ditches are kept much cleaner so the edges don't get shaded, etc. One warm winter, every day we were goose hunting, the farmer was ripping out trees and brush.
Another thing about a grainfield in winter up here. It is a barren wasteland for every other species of wildlife except for ducks and geese using it to feed and the deer and other animals that feed at night. There is no shelter from the environment. Now they are ripping out what is left of that.
SpinnerMan wrote:DComeaux wrote:I can see where that grain can fall when shaken by the cutter, and don't doubt it's happening, but was told some years ago in reference to not having birds that the machinery today didn't leave much behind. It just seems the narrative changes to suit the situation.....I've walked through cornfields my entire life. There is always a lot left on the ground. A lot is relative. 1% loss rate when producing 200 bushels per acre is 2 bushels of corn and that is shelled kernels and not whole cobs. I don't know who said it leaves nothing behind. They couldn't have been talking about corn or they didn't know what they were talking about.
DComeaux wrote:DComeaux wrote:Ethanol is the devil.Ethanol is horrible. Although it would have no practical impact on the waste grain. What it has done is pushed farmers to put all kinds of marginal land into production. The land most valuable for wildlife and least valuable to the farmer, which is why it was not turned into farmland originally, gets ripped up and put into crops because it is worth ripping out the brush and trees and putting in drain tiles. The fence rows and ditches are kept much cleaner so the edges don't get shaded, etc. One warm winter, every day we were goose hunting, the farmer was ripping out trees and brush.
Another thing about a grainfield in winter up here. It is a barren wasteland for every other species of wildlife except for ducks and geese using it to feed and the deer and other animals that feed at night. There is no shelter from the environment. Now they are ripping out what is left of that.
This is worse then the migration issue.
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests