BGcorey wrote:this convo is way more civil than the other sites. I like. And I hope something will change or else according to that video and like u said I better get used to shooting teal and divers who can’t reach(but I, guessing they could easily adjust the water level so that prolly isn’t an issue)DComeaux wrote:Nope..I don't think teal can do this. Honestly, what is the difference..........
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Ericdc wrote:BGcorey wrote:this convo is way more civil than the other sites. I like. And I hope something will change or else according to that video and like u said I better get used to shooting teal and divers who can’t reach(but I, guessing they could easily adjust the water level so that prolly isn’t an issue)DComeaux wrote:Nope..I don't think teal can do this. Honestly, what is the difference..........
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I wouldn’t worry about teal and divers being short stopped by flooded corn, probably wouldn’t worry about gadwall much either. They’re after seeds and aquatics.
Flooded moist soil.... that’s a different story.
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Ericdc wrote:Weather
Refuges
Pressure
Landscape changes in ag land with leveling, early and efficient harvest.
The lower miss delta is mostly a food desert now (quoting from Bradley Ramsey who’s a waterfowl habitat guy) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Ericdc wrote:His work is in the lower miss delta, and it’s mostly moist soil. As far as what’s changed in the region I hunt, he’s pretty knowledgeable.
The hunting in northeast LA has declined with the hunting on the coast.
If you are only looking out for the hunting south of I-10.... I guess not haha.
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DComeaux wrote:I'm wanting the birds back in this State.
How close to bait can you hunt without breaking the law? There is no set distance. The law prohibits hunting if bait is present that could lure or attract birds to, on, or over areas where hunters are attempting to take them. Distance will vary depending on the circumstances and such factors as topography, weather, and waterfowl flight patterns. Therefore, this question can only be answered on a case-by-case basis.
SpinnerMan wrote:DComeaux wrote:I'm wanting the birds back in this State.
I'm wanted to keep them in my state and get even more
Think about what you are asking. Give up your birds so I can have more. I'm just not thinking that's going to go over. What's in it for those giving up the birds so you can have more?
DComeaux wrote:So you agree the north is short stopping or has changed the migration?
That's not even close to my thinking. I want people to stop baiting and let the natural migration return to what it was. We stay open until the end of January here in LA, and where I hunt we lose our birds the first week or so in January. It has been this way forever. It's part of migration. Should I plant corn to see if I can keep those all to myself until our season ends?
Which species? Obviously the BWT are not heading to points south of you because of lack of food or weather. There have always been a large fraction of mallards and black ducks that move no further south than necessary. When I hunted on the Susquehanna River in the mid 80's. The river would freeze up to my town. South was open water. North was froze solid. Duck season was closed and we'd see lots of ducks and geese. Nearly all the ducks were mallards or black ducks. That was their "natural" migration. Then the season went to 60 days and there is no refuges in the area. Now you won't see a single duck on the river or geese even any more.DComeaux wrote:We stay open until the end of January here in LA, and where I hunt we lose our birds the first week or so in January.
If you want to invest the time and money, why not?DComeaux wrote:Should I plant corn to see if I can keep those all to myself until our season ends?
DComeaux wrote:So you agree the north is short stopping or has changed the migration?
That's not even close to my thinking. I want people to stop baiting and let the natural migration return to what it was. We stay open until the end of January here in LA, and where I hunt we lose our birds the first week or so in January. It has been this way forever. It's part of migration. Should I plant corn to see if I can keep those all to myself until our season ends?
Which species? Obviously the BWT are not heading to points south of you because of lack of food or weather. There have always been a large fraction of mallards and black ducks that move no further south than necessary. When I hunted on the Susquehanna River in the mid 80's. The river would freeze up to my town. South was open water. North was froze solid. Duck season was closed and we'd see lots of ducks and geese. Nearly all the ducks were mallards or black ducks. That was their "natural" migration. Then the season went to 60 days and there is no refuges in the area. Now you won't see a single duck on the river or geese even any more.DComeaux wrote:We stay open until the end of January here in LA, and where I hunt we lose our birds the first week or so in January.
If you want to invest the time and money, why not?DComeaux wrote:Should I plant corn to see if I can keep those all to myself until our season ends?
Duck Engr wrote:I may have missed it in the previous discussion as I’ve been in and out, but what do you think the law should be DComeaux? Can’t hunt flooded, standing corn? Can’t leave standing corn and artificially flood it at all, whether you’re hunting it or not? Private and public or just want the refuges to stop doing it?
SpinnerMan wrote:Which species? Obviously the BWT are not heading to points south of you because of lack of food or weather. There have always been a large fraction of mallards and black ducks that move no further south than necessary. When I hunted on the Susquehanna River in the mid 80's. The river would freeze up to my town. South was open water. North was froze solid. Duck season was closed and we'd see lots of ducks and geese. Nearly all the ducks were mallards or black ducks. That was their "natural" migration. Then the season went to 60 days and there is no refuges in the area. Now you won't see a single duck on the river or geese even any more.DComeaux wrote:We stay open until the end of January here in LA, and where I hunt we lose our birds the first week or so in January.
DComeaux wrote:SpinnerMan wrote:Which species? Obviously the BWT are not heading to points south of you because of lack of food or weather. There have always been a large fraction of mallards and black ducks that move no further south than necessary. When I hunted on the Susquehanna River in the mid 80's. The river would freeze up to my town. South was open water. North was froze solid. Duck season was closed and we'd see lots of ducks and geese. Nearly all the ducks were mallards or black ducks. That was their "natural" migration. Then the season went to 60 days and there is no refuges in the area. Now you won't see a single duck on the river or geese even any more.DComeaux wrote:We stay open until the end of January here in LA, and where I hunt we lose our birds the first week or so in January.
all species....Exactly, (see red highlight) they're not affected by the flooded corn, and continue a natural migration. They've always blown through here in September, and are still returning north, even now, today.
SpinnerMan wrote:DComeaux wrote:SpinnerMan wrote:Which species? Obviously the BWT are not heading to points south of you because of lack of food or weather. There have always been a large fraction of mallards and black ducks that move no further south than necessary. When I hunted on the Susquehanna River in the mid 80's. The river would freeze up to my town. South was open water. North was froze solid. Duck season was closed and we'd see lots of ducks and geese. Nearly all the ducks were mallards or black ducks. That was their "natural" migration. Then the season went to 60 days and there is no refuges in the area. Now you won't see a single duck on the river or geese even any more.DComeaux wrote:We stay open until the end of January here in LA, and where I hunt we lose our birds the first week or so in January.
all species....Exactly, (see red highlight) they're not affected by the flooded corn, and continue a natural migration. They've always blown through here in September, and are still returning north, even now, today.
We will never know because it is never going to happen. What could be done is estimates of number birds feeding in the flooded corn. My guess is that they would just feed in dry fields. It's the dry field feeding ducks and geese that have always short stopped that are still short stopping. The ones that don't feed in dry fields and don't stay just ahead of the ice haven't changed.
I really think the extra month of you guys banging on the mallards has done more to change the fraction of the mallard population that short stops combined with much better habitat and therefore health and therefore reproductive success and therefore more adults. The mallards that fly to southern Louisiana are shot at from September 1st to January 31st. That's 153 days of hunter mortality. If they short stop at the cooling lake where I hunt, they are only hunted 117 days. That 24% less days per year that hunters might kill them. And there are a whole hell of a lot more hunters the further south you go. It would be really interesting to see hunter mortality rates on the sub-populations that short stop. I'll bet its even higher than that.
You compound even a 10% lower mortality rate over decades and it leads to huge shifts in the sub-populations of birds.
Remember, there have always been large numbers of mallards short stopping staying just ahead of the ice line. They seem almost certain to have much lower hunter mortalities which for big ducks is a more significant factor than little ducks. And now they are well fed all winter long. They are also probably the first ducks back to the breeding grounds and get the premium nesting sites.
We will never know because what you want will never happen. In Illinois, at least, they redrew the zone lines just for a couple flooded field operations screwing all the public river hunters, and southern Illinois is even worse.
Just be glad you still have better duck hunting than most of the country can ever dream of. I've shot 2 legal six duck limits in my entire life and both were back to back days on sea duck hunt 2 miles out in Lake Huron. Outside of traveling to duck hunt, most years, success is measure in days per duck and not ducks per day. I usually see way more ducks after the season is over than I do during the season
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