2018-2019 Season Log

Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Wed Dec 19, 2018 12:48 pm

I hate seeing fowl pilled on top of each other that way in those cold conditions.

This was written under the picture.

Great River and Clarence Cannon National Wildlife RefugesLike Page
December 14 at 2:25 PM
This view of "Big Pond" (Clarence Cannon NWR) was taken through a spotting scope during the waterfowl survey on Monday, Dec. 10th. Sometimes visitors stop in and ask where the ducks are because, at times, they aren't as visible from the main road. However, as you can see in this photo, the ducks are almost always tightly packed in at the Big Pond area.
Although driving is only permitted on the refuge's main road, visitors are welcome to walk all over the property! This includes, not only the gravel roads, but also the levees surrounding the area. The only area off limits is the road/levee running from the visitor's center south behind our buildings.

Photo: Clarence Cannon NWR/Bruce Henry, USFWS
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby SpinnerMan » Wed Dec 19, 2018 2:07 pm

DComeaux wrote:I hate seeing fowl pilled on top of each other that way in those cold conditions.

It's a normal thing up here when things are freezing up. They pack tighter and tighter and then disappear. Never seen anywhere close to that many ducks in one spot, but not unusual to see smaller groups packed in like that as they try to keep the last little patch of water open.

I've been to Squaw Creek Reservoir in NW Missouri when there are over a million snows using the roost :o
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Thu Dec 20, 2018 9:38 pm

Jeff Foiles
2 hrs
Well as duck season winds down here in central Il we have overall had a good one but it is horrible right now has been for 3 weeks !!
If not for a 10 day freeze where all else was froze it would have been really bad as we were on the river
I will probably get beat up here over this , and I also had flooded corn for years but I’m gotta state what I believe we are gonna have to do
We have created a mess with these ducks !!!! We made them welfare ducks , laying in a free fed refuge all day and in flooded corn all night !!
Come out high get to refuge drop out hang out all day !!
I don’t blame them !!! But that’s the disaster we have created !!
I once told a fed “ as long as you let me legally bait ( flooded corn ) I’m gonna do it !!
I raised a lotta corn to purposely flood and bait the ducks legally !!!!!
Why wouldn’t 30 thousand roost in 200 bushel to the acre corn ??
And thousands of acres are done this way every year !!!! Legal ? Yes
Is it killing duck hunting ?? Yes it is!! In my opinion!!
How about chisel plows ?? Causing erosion ?? How about we stop the erosion and the flooded legal baiting of corn and let ducks feed in fields and go back to nature ?? We might all see duck hunting at its best again !!
For you young guys when i was young that’s what ducks did !! We all killed them and saw them daily!!
We have educated them and pushed them west to Kansas / central Flyway with chisel plowing , flooded baited fields and refuge systems !!

Within 75 miles of me is 7 state and fed refuges !!!! That’s ridiculous I’m my opinion!!
States are mostly planted feds don’t !!
So what do we do ??
Well in my opinion we make flooding purposely fields that are planted to exclusive to bait ducks illegal!
We do what we can to stop erosion with chisel plowing
And we stop planting the refuges or minimal at a percentage of acres
But to sit back and listen and complain isn’t working for any of us !
This last 2 weeks I’ve heard same story from hunters up and down the Mississippi Flyway !!
Even flooded corn guys can only kill them at quitting time or bad weather days as they have it figured out !!
Don’t beat me up to bad over this post but I think most will agree we got to do something!!!!
You all have a wonderful Christmas with family and friends !! Remember this is about the birth of our lord and saviors birth!! You all have a blessed holiday!!!!!!
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Duck Engr » Thu Dec 20, 2018 9:50 pm

Ha I was just about to post that here DC! This may get some traction if the guys up there think it’s negatively affecting them as well. Honestly didn’t see that point of view coming. Guess they’re tired of just watching them sit all day.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Thu Dec 20, 2018 10:35 pm

Duck Engr wrote:Ha I was just about to post that here DC! This may get some traction if the guys up there think it’s negatively affecting them as well. Honestly didn’t see that point of view coming. Guess they’re tired of just watching them sit all day.



I was happily surprised to see that post, and the many, many comments in agreement. I would imagine he lost his connections with what he's hunted before his issues and now probably hunt's like the averager joe, to an extent.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Duck Engr » Thu Dec 20, 2018 11:15 pm

One thing I found curious was that in his mind, flooded corn caused them to feed at night. Wonder why he thinks it’s just flooded corn that causes that? Is it that flooded corn provides both food and cover? I’ve seen ducks go to rice fields to feed at night.

I think it’s pretty obvious that pressure makes them feed at night or sit on refuges and not move. Only way to change that behavior is to lessen the pressure. Question is are folks willing to give up their hunting days/ limit numbers to achieve that?
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Rick » Fri Dec 21, 2018 4:53 am

Jeff must have been too young to have been among the many thousands of us who benefited from hunting Canadas outside those Southern Illinois refuges - until that circa '70s (for me) bonanza petered out and something held most of the geese further north.

Issac's been up there hunting someone's flooded corn this week, hope it works/ed for him.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Fri Dec 21, 2018 9:44 am

Duck Engr wrote:One thing I found curious was that in his mind, flooded corn caused them to feed at night. Wonder why he thinks it’s just flooded corn that causes that? Is it that flooded corn provides both food and cover? I’ve seen ducks go to rice fields to feed at night.

I think it’s pretty obvious that pressure makes them feed at night or sit on refuges and not move. Only way to change that behavior is to lessen the pressure. Question is are folks willing to give up their hunting days/ limit numbers to achieve that?


IMO, Back a few moons those State refuges up that way weren't as plentiful and were not plated as they are today, so I'd say this is new to them. If i'm not mistaken, Missouri passed a tax sometime back to raise money to enhance and purchase land for more refuges and most hunters thought it was a good idea. They were going to "hold" more ducks later in their season.

As far the ducks down here, yes, I've seen ducks coming out of the mash and pouring into rice fields in late afternoon after LST. In the mornings you'd flush those, which sounded like a tornado and see nothing much after that unless the weather was right. I've stood in the middle of a cuts and could have caught them with a dip net. I was actually concerned about getting hit at that one place, though this was a long time back. This has gone on for years and why rice field hunting was always known to be better on nasty weather days.

This situation is sort of like the 8 years of Obama. It takes a while for people to wake up and they only grumble when the pain really sets in.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby BGkirk » Fri Dec 21, 2018 9:19 pm

Yas water level should be prime huh DC?


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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Sat Dec 22, 2018 6:37 pm

BGkirk wrote:Yas water level should be prime huh DC?


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Very good, percect.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Sat Dec 22, 2018 6:45 pm

12/21/2018

Temp - upper 40's ? - Clear wind none to light SE Increasing throughout morning.

Me and Blake

Birds - (1) green wing

Water level is very low and the GW have moved in. They were noisy this morning. Big ducks were absent with the exception of a handful of grays and pintail. GW aren't thick and hope they take to our low marsh.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby BGkirk » Sat Dec 22, 2018 9:07 pm

Good news about the gwt. They avoided us and went with the coots this morning... can’t beat the coot live action


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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Sat Dec 22, 2018 10:27 pm

Thank God for crabs and redfish. We had a feast this evening and caught a few reds as well.

20181222_193148_resized.jpg
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby SpinnerMan » Sun Dec 23, 2018 7:13 am

Any advice on catching redfish this time of
year? I have escaped the cold for a couple weeks. Saw a flock of divers, redheads I think flying up the beach last night right after sunset.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Sun Dec 23, 2018 4:13 pm

SpinnerMan wrote:Any advice on catching redfish this time of
year? I have escaped the cold for a couple weeks. Saw a flock of divers, redheads I think flying up the beach last night right after sunset.


Where will you be fishing?
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Sun Dec 23, 2018 4:29 pm

(Correction- Date for last hunt was the 22nd)

12/23/2018

Temp - upper 50's low 60's?? - Broken clouds to low overcast later - wind light SE early to NW when the overcast came in.

Me and Blake

Birds - (2) green wing

Very quiet this morning and no birds. The green wing are gone and may have moved to the refuge. Saw just a hand full of of high flocks. We hunted until 10, it was a long morning. Reports from everyone we talked to are the same along the coast, very few to didn't shoot. Lots of long faces in my going home food stop in Pecan Island this morning. There was an unusual flow of ducks boats on trailers headed out of the area this morning. I wonder how many of those have thrown in the towel.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby SpinnerMan » Sun Dec 23, 2018 5:14 pm

DComeaux wrote:
SpinnerMan wrote:Any advice on catching redfish this time of
year? I have escaped the cold for a couple weeks. Saw a flock of divers, redheads I think flying up the beach last night right after sunset.


Where will you be fishing?

Clearwater bay most likely. Maybe Tampa bay.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Sun Dec 23, 2018 5:50 pm

SpinnerMan wrote:
DComeaux wrote:
SpinnerMan wrote:Any advice on catching redfish this time of
year? I have escaped the cold for a couple weeks. Saw a flock of divers, redheads I think flying up the beach last night right after sunset.


Where will you be fishing?

Clearwater bay most likely. Maybe Tampa bay.


I'm not familiar with that area and methods used, but we're fishing marsh canals and using the outgoing tide to our advantage. We're using a 3/8 oz jig head rigged with a soft plastic bait. (Gulp 3" pogey, new penny in color) I honestly think when they're feeding you could throw a bottle cap with a hook and catch em. You're water clarity there probably differs greatly from what we have as well.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby SpinnerMan » Sun Dec 23, 2018 8:36 pm

DComeaux wrote:
SpinnerMan wrote:
DComeaux wrote:
SpinnerMan wrote:Any advice on catching redfish this time of
year? I have escaped the cold for a couple weeks. Saw a flock of divers, redheads I think flying up the beach last night right after sunset.


Where will you be fishing?

Clearwater bay most likely. Maybe Tampa bay.


I'm not familiar with that area and methods used, but we're fishing marsh canals and using the outgoing tide to our advantage. We're using a 3/8 oz jig head rigged with a soft plastic bait. (Gulp 3" pogey, new penny in color) I honestly think when they're feeding you could throw a bottle cap with a hook and catch em. You're water clarity there probably differs greatly from what we have as well.

That's all I was looking for. I have no clude where to start. I'll do some exploring back in the canals. That's consistent with what I've been reading.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Mon Dec 24, 2018 12:06 pm

12/24/2018

Blake and I buttoned up the camp yesterday and headed home after the hunt. I'm sitting here this morning watching cartoons with the grandbabies and contemplating the future of my duck hunting. Having a day off and missing an opportunity to duck hunt without that sick feeling I'd get in years past is alarming. Just going through the motions is getting old. Effort without reward will dampen the spirit.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Tue Dec 25, 2018 8:33 pm

Looks like the gadwall are addicted and have changed their feeding habits. Sorry Darren.

Habitat
Ponds and marshes are the preferred habitat of the Gadwall, which is often found in deeper water than many other dabblers. In western Washington, it is associated with developed and cleared areas and, on Puget Sound, shows a preference for urbanized habitats over less developed areas. Gadwalls are often found at sewage ponds.


Behavior
Gadwalls forage mainly while swimming, either taking items from the surface or dabbling in shallow water, or diving, which they are more likely to do than most other dabblers. They often follow American Coots, foraging on plants that have been brought up to the surface. Gadwalls seldom forage on land. They are more strongly monogamous than other ducks, with over 90% paired by November, 4 to 5 months prior to the breeding season. This monogamy is limited, however, and as with other ducks, the pair bonds dissolve upon the start of incubation, and males leave the breeding area to gather in bachelor flocks.


Diet
The preferred diet of the Gadwall is the invasive, exotic submergent, Eurasian Water Milfoil. Gadwalls, especially when they are young, also eat aquatic invertebrates and the occasional small fish.


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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Tue Dec 25, 2018 9:29 pm

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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Tue Dec 25, 2018 10:34 pm

Just listened to 2 podcasts from "End of the Line", with one from Bill Cooksey and the other from Bradley Ramsey. Fair amount of difference between these two, as they described their assessment of waterfowl migrations on the Mississippi Flyway. Cooksey emphasized changing landscape (VERY true!), ag changes (OH, SO TRUE!!), habitat loss (no brainer..), gun pressure (THANK YOU,BILL!!!) and......SHORTSTOPPING?!? Wow!!!!.....not many will say THAT directly or indirectly, but will get to THAT in a moment...
Bradley Ramsey, for his part, did speak of weather being so warm across the nation as being a critical factor for this season's waterfowl DRAMA. No argument there, Bradley, It is A FACT which cannot be dismissed.....HOWEVER, as he got a text from someone in the Pacific Flyway, the same scenario is being seen there. Pacific Flyway is a BIG area with the lowest amount of waterfowl hunters in all 4 flyways, so let's break down, to where the MAJORITY of the hunters are in this flyway-California, Oregon, and Washington.

If you want to talk facts on MALLARD migration as Bradley was discussing, here are some for the No.2 duck killing state in the country (yep, California): 1) 70% of the mallards harvested in California are raised in California and Southern Oregon (kinda HARD to blame weather, Bradley, but the nice days they are seeing currently without the "Pineapple Express" storms means duck don't fly much), California's specklebelly population at one refuge (I will pick Sacramento NWR for a comparison)winter more specks than the whole state of Arkansas, the No.2 state in speck harvest (California is No.1), 3) California had a 6 Canada Goose limit DURING THE REGULAR SEASON before any state did in all 4 flyways, and now it is up to 10. So, point taken? The most populous state in the nation has enough habitat to support a resident mallard population AND a resident Canada population (NOT the Giants, but step down....Western Canadas) with a liberal harvest of 7 mallards and 10 Canadas daily during the regular season (or 10 specks....dark geese in combination thereof). So, basically.....any state West of the Rocky Mtns. which has cool summers and calcium in the soil (any state that has a pheasant population) and enough water with lots of cattails (did I just describe the Dakotas?), will have a mallard population (not the same as the Mississippi Flyway from Southern Missouri south, huh?)

Bradley and Rocky also spoke of Kansas and Oklahoma as places now to kill mallards.....and what is up with THAT?!? Jeez, guess I need to EDUCATE THE EDUCATED....ok, boys, if you get a chance (if READING is something you both do) check out "The Arkansas Duck Hunter's Almanac", by Steve Bowman and Steve Wright. One chapter they describe the ESTABLISHED migration route ducks follow thru Kansas and Oklahoma, head E on the Arkansas River, and onto the Grand Prairie. Kansas and Oklahoma waterfowl biologists lobbied for and received dollars from state/federal resources in the 90's and give their respective states hunting opportunity......which bring me to one of my FAVORITE pages from my FAVORITE book "Waterfowl Tomorrow" (page 516, Chapter: State Areas) "States must share with a migratory resource that is produced in Canada and USA, and winters in USA and Mexico.
What one state does in acquiring and developing areas for waterfowl hunting may profoundly affect hunting in a neighboring state. Because only so many birds come down the flyways, the duration of their stay in any state depends largely on the quality and quantity of habitat available to them. Managed land and water projects can change ancestral patterns of waterfowl distribution. Several million acres of state lands are now managed specifically for hunting waterfowl, and there are more to come. The result is a growing interstate problem on how best to share the waterfowl resources." THAT was printed in 1964, and the book is a Department of Interior publication. FYI, 1963 duck season was 19 1/2 days with a 1 mallard limit, so the Feds were doing their part with the soil bank program (prelude to CRP and WRP), and EDUCATING waterfowl hunters who ACTUALLY read......tell me those words don't apply today more than ever ( I DOUBLE DARE YOU!!!)

Now, as we were speaking of Bill Cooksey....He described Louisiana no longer wintering Canadas as areas were created for Canada Goose Hunting in the upper portions of the Mississippi Flyway (THANKS, BILL!! YOU ARE SO RIGHT!!!) Again, from my "BIBLE" (page 199, Chapter: Mississippi Flyway) "1962-1963 midwinter survey count of Canada Geese was more than 400,000, highest on record. Distribution and harvest of the birds, however, leave much to be desired. Most are shot in a few places in Michigan, Indiana, 3 spots in Illinois, Missouri, and Louisiana. Improving distribution and harvest of these birds is currently one of management's biggest challenges". To be pointed out, Minnesota and Michigan harvest combined comes close to 400K (mostly resident birds, but you get the idea). By 1971, Louisiana had only 1,700 wintering large Canadas (Interior Canadas, to be specific), which resulted in no season for Canadas for 20 years ( lessers from Texas finally drifted over in migration change allowing Louisiana a season in '91). Other than the resident Giants from Mississippi and Arkansas, Louisiana still has not seen a migration of large Canada Geese, and the only state E of the Rocky Mtns. which does not have any type of September Canada Goose season.......sad. Some call that progress....

Cooksey is most correct on the time when it was 30 days and 3 ducks, Canada Goose hunting became more popular (70 days plus and 2 compared to 30 and 3...not a hard choice to make), though snow geese for Louisiana picked up? Yeah.....but the specklebelly goose was the more proximity to the Canada, not the snows. Louisiana harvested 60,000 specks in '91, a number Arkansas now kills in their current seasons, and theirs is 3 compared to Louisiana then was 2. Arkansas shot 4500 specks in 1991.
Cooksey also stated in '98 his one blind shot 3000 birds. WOW.......and they hunted every day. That comes to 50 birds a day for a 60 day season. Do I believe him? Sure do! Do I believe those birds were SHORTSTOPPED?.......'YA THINK? His area mentioned in hunting was also part of the Canada Geese being stopped, so why not believe ducks as well???

Any rate, hope everyone reading this had a great Christmas, and if you want to get more' EDUCATED on waterfowling, my advice to any of you LISTENING to these podcasts, please do your own research, and have reading material available to say whether or not such is true (and the internet as well). "Waterfowl Tomorrow" maybe over 50 years old, but the words written are as true today as they were then. You can get one online for less than 2 boxes of 3" steel 4's. Develop a relationship with your state waterfowl biologist (leave out the yelling and the blame, though.) Take the words spoken by individuals like Bradley Ramsey and Bill Cooksey with interest, but also to be able to "account and verify". "It's not what they say, it's what they DON"T say", the late David “ROCK” Boudreaux told me SEVERAL times when talking about what waterfowl EXPERTS speak of their FAVORITE subject. David was a 40 year USFWS contract biologist assigned to SW Louisiana. Mentored by Johnny Lynch (an author in several chapters in my "BIBLE"), he received a DOI award for outstanding achievement (not something the Department of Interior hands out like candy on Halloween). His project for the award? Creating 'REST AREAS" across his beloved Louisiana where gun pressure is the highest. NOT FOOD......only water. W.R.A.P. was the abbreviation (think you can figure out what it means.)

If Bradley and Bill and Rocky are reading this blog, look to page 283 on "Waterfowl Tomorrow" (if you have a copy). Johnny Lynch has an EXCELLENT chapter on weather. Articulate writer, had a degree in journalism alongside waterfowl biology (he is also looked at as the FATHER of AHM model as we know it...... He came up with it back in the 60's.)
Merry Christmas, everyone......hope you add bands to your lanyard soon enough!!! At least Flyway Federation is actually doing something to try and fix it...……. WITH FACTS!
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby SpinnerMan » Wed Dec 26, 2018 8:32 am

Two problems I have with this commentary.

The biggest is

Managed land and water projects can change ancestral patterns of waterfowl distribution.


Given the massive loss of wetlands nationwide. What is the "ancestral" patterns and distributions? Even with all this projects to restore wetlands, the amount of wetlands will still be far less than existed when the ancestral patterns existed. Arguably this IS returning to the pre settlement aka ancestral conditions. At least a a small steo in the right direction.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.fws.gov/wetlands/Documents%255CWetlands-Loss-Since-the-Revolution.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwihwI3Bx73fAhUNtlkKHaGqAxsQFjAAegQIBRAB&usg=AOvVaw0dwwHgRf9n3KxFKsGCR95c

The second is talking of Canada geese. The giant Canadas were thought extinct. What was their distribution? I don't believe in a lot of places they have been introduced. Also talking a pheasants that are not native. The are an exotic species. The article is biased about good and bad manipulation. How much did LA benefit from elimination of 2/3rds of the wetlands in many areas, the quality of backwaters being seriously degraded because of flood control, etc. Restoration of these wetlands is returning to ancestral conditions. Introducing giant Canadas is not. And the massive agricultural change is not. Some things we can't and shouldn't undo and they impact patterns. Some things we can and should and they impact patterns. Nearly all will lead to more waterfowl staying further north. Also warming winter trends will also do this.

I just don't see any realistic plans to force birds further south.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Wed Dec 26, 2018 2:06 pm

Photoperiod (is invariant)
If birds focus on photoperiod early enough, they will be predicted to prevail in the population. Thus they are being shaped by selection.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Rick » Wed Dec 26, 2018 2:48 pm

I admit not giving the quote a thorough reading, as that cat's lost. Oklahoma had the reputation of being the country's greatest mallard "secret" long before the '90s, because it was loaded with mallards but escaped publicity enough to become a waterfowling destination state. Plenty of mallards in its lakes and marshes, but the peanut fields were it was really at.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Wed Dec 26, 2018 3:19 pm

I guess I/we were content with what we had and didn't really pay much attention to other states, other than those grumbling when the birds left on their natural migration, on time, and they still had a week or two left in their season. IMO, today's situation has been a long time in the making.
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Duck Engr » Wed Dec 26, 2018 3:31 pm

I keep hearing folks on that podcast say that “managed for ducks” habitat or refuges in Missouri are just a drop in the bucket compared to the change in agricultural practices up there (granted they’re biased because Bradley Ramsey’s side business designs places specifically to hold ducks, but I digress). That may be the case acreage wise, but it’s hard for me to completely buy into that when I look at the data from the duck counts from Forbes biological station. Back in November (the 5th coldest on record for Missouri), two individual duck clubs just north of St. Louis were holding a combined 147,000 mallards. The 6 refuges in that same area were holding nearly 360,000 mallards combined. At the same time, AGFC counted 360,000 mallards in the ENTIRE eastern half of the state of Arkansas. That’s significantly more mallards on 8 individual places just north of St. Louis on the river than in the entire eastern half of the state of Arkansas. That’s a whole lotta holding power in just 8 individual locations. Not sure what the answer is (or if there is one), but those numbers tell the story.

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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby Rick » Wed Dec 26, 2018 7:19 pm

Don't you suppose the Arkansas counts are just made along standardized transects, rather than the every-duck-on-the place estimates of the Missouri sites?
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Re: 2018-2019 Season Log

Postby DComeaux » Wed Dec 26, 2018 8:00 pm

Either way they have a whole lot of ducks for this time of the year, and are giddy about it.
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