Final Numbers

Re: Final Numbers

Postby SpinnerMan » Sun Jan 26, 2020 10:06 am

DComeaux wrote:We just need more birds to make it to this state for everyone to have an opportunity.

Opportunity. What's enough ducks for it to be considered an opportunity? If I killed as many as you do, I'd feel like I had hit the duck jackpot. I shot 1 duck in Illinois this year. It's not my first 1 duck year either.
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Re: Final Numbers

Postby DComeaux » Sun Jan 26, 2020 11:29 am

SpinnerMan wrote:
DComeaux wrote:We just need more birds to make it to this state for everyone to have an opportunity.

Opportunity. What's enough ducks for it to be considered an opportunity? If I killed as many as you do, I'd feel like I had hit the duck jackpot. I shot 1 duck in Illinois this year. It's not my first 1 duck year either.



4 to 8 per hunt with 2 men, and a few hunts like our last day.
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Re: Final Numbers

Postby MallardBay » Sun Jan 26, 2020 12:45 pm

Rick wrote:
What viable suggestions for improvement are being offered?


Their are many issues and the state acknowledges them. The biggest issue facing Unit 2 is the water has not been pumped off to manage for 6-10 inches of water throughout the unit. The levees and pumps are in place. Fuel to run the pumps (natural gas) source seems to be resolved as the current supplier has agreed to supply fuel in the future.

Another issue is a flood gate had been removed after the state took control. Rumor has it because the management bought a boat that wouldn't fit through the gate so they removed the whole structure. Again this has led to increased water levels in that Unit which is about 17k acres. Again, State says plan is to replace with improved gate and weir structure in near future.

I'd like to reiterate that I think the State, i.e. LDWF would like nothing more than to have beaucoup ducks. As with most things, enough money can solve most problems. The state has way too few of the former to solve the latter.
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Re: Final Numbers

Postby Rick » Sun Jan 26, 2020 1:13 pm

Thanks for the explanation. Hope they can work the problems out.
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Re: Final Numbers

Postby Ducaholic » Sun Jan 26, 2020 1:35 pm

DComeaux wrote:
SpinnerMan wrote:
DComeaux wrote:We just need more birds to make it to this state for everyone to have an opportunity.

Opportunity. What's enough ducks for it to be considered an opportunity? If I killed as many as you do, I'd feel like I had hit the duck jackpot. I shot 1 duck in Illinois this year. It's not my first 1 duck year either.



4 to 8 per hunt with 2 men, and a few hunts like our last day.



After the last two years I’d gladly settle for 3 Duck per man per hunt. Last two years I don’t think I averaged 2.
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Re: Final Numbers

Postby SpinnerMan » Mon Jan 27, 2020 8:54 am

DComeaux wrote:
SpinnerMan wrote:
DComeaux wrote:We just need more birds to make it to this state for everyone to have an opportunity.

Opportunity. What's enough ducks for it to be considered an opportunity? If I killed as many as you do, I'd feel like I had hit the duck jackpot. I shot 1 duck in Illinois this year. It's not my first 1 duck year either.



4 to 8 per hunt with 2 men, and a few hunts like our last day.

So it may take as many as an average of 4 birds harvested to even feel like you had an opportunity :shock:

By that standard there are extremely few duck hunters that have an opportunity.

I think this is the thing one of the guys mentioned in that series of videos. Pheasant hunters can only harvest 2 birds, which they don't do every time. Yet they are the happiest hunters. Some duck hunters are very unhappy unless they are getting more than double every time out. They just can't enjoy what they have. You have an incredible thing. The cup is a lot more than half full. It's an incredible opportunity don't let the fact that in theory it could be better take that away from you.
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Re: Final Numbers

Postby DComeaux » Mon Jan 27, 2020 11:07 am

SpinnerMan wrote:
DComeaux wrote:
SpinnerMan wrote:
DComeaux wrote:We just need more birds to make it to this state for everyone to have an opportunity.

Opportunity. What's enough ducks for it to be considered an opportunity? If I killed as many as you do, I'd feel like I had hit the duck jackpot. I shot 1 duck in Illinois this year. It's not my first 1 duck year either.



4 to 8 per hunt with 2 men, and a few hunts like our last day.

So it may take as many as an average of 4 birds harvested to even feel like you had an opportunity :shock:

By that standard there are extremely few duck hunters that have an opportunity.

I think this is the thing one of the guys mentioned in that series of videos. Pheasant hunters can only harvest 2 birds, which they don't do every time. Yet they are the happiest hunters. Some duck hunters are very unhappy unless they are getting more than double every time out. They just can't enjoy what they have. You have an incredible thing. The cup is a lot more than half full. It's an incredible opportunity don't let the fact that in theory it could be better take that away from you.


It's all of us older guy's down here have known, those that have seen better, and it will be very hard to transition to what's happening today. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy watching the sunrises in the marsh and all other non-waterfowl hunting activities, but I could also do this with a lot less work and the expense involved with waterfowl hunting. I'm anxious to see how the upcoming season plays out.
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Re: Final Numbers

Postby Johnc » Mon Jan 27, 2020 11:22 am

I thoroughly feel fulfilled when simply taking my 2 speck limit.

The glory days are gone duck wise. Not coming back or if does cycle back around will be quite a long time.

First year in my 40 years of time in field we didn’t use a duck decoy. Put them in the truck in case but never put out and I feel just as content
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Re: Final Numbers

Postby SpinnerMan » Mon Jan 27, 2020 12:25 pm

DComeaux wrote:
SpinnerMan wrote:
DComeaux wrote:
SpinnerMan wrote:
DComeaux wrote:We just need more birds to make it to this state for everyone to have an opportunity.

Opportunity. What's enough ducks for it to be considered an opportunity? If I killed as many as you do, I'd feel like I had hit the duck jackpot. I shot 1 duck in Illinois this year. It's not my first 1 duck year either.



4 to 8 per hunt with 2 men, and a few hunts like our last day.

So it may take as many as an average of 4 birds harvested to even feel like you had an opportunity :shock:

By that standard there are extremely few duck hunters that have an opportunity.

I think this is the thing one of the guys mentioned in that series of videos. Pheasant hunters can only harvest 2 birds, which they don't do every time. Yet they are the happiest hunters. Some duck hunters are very unhappy unless they are getting more than double every time out. They just can't enjoy what they have. You have an incredible thing. The cup is a lot more than half full. It's an incredible opportunity don't let the fact that in theory it could be better take that away from you.


It's all of us older guy's down here have known, those that have seen better, and it will be very hard to transition to what's happening today. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy watching the sunrises in the marsh and all other non-waterfowl hunting activities, but I could also do this with a lot less work and the expense involved with waterfowl hunting. I'm anxious to see how the upcoming season plays out.

I don't understand not enjoying what you have even though, yes of course there has been better. I doubt this is the bottom for you guys either, but maybe back in the 30 day seasons it was better for those much fewer days. Obviously a shorter season should have a higher fraction during the peak migration period.

But my point is that it's only bad relative to expectation. For most waterfowl hunters, it would be wonderful. I guess the truth is that when you are on top, there is nowhere to go but down. It's unrealistic to think that when you are at the top of the top that should be what you expect for decades on end. Climate changes, weather patterns change, agriculture changes, land use changes, ... All those have to work in your favor to be the top of the top. All those are working against you, but you still have it very good.
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Re: Final Numbers

Postby DComeaux » Mon Jan 27, 2020 4:11 pm

SpinnerMan wrote:
But my point is that it's only bad relative to expectation. For most waterfowl hunters, it would be wonderful. I guess the truth is that when you are on top, there is nowhere to go but down. It's unrealistic to think that when you are at the top of the top that should be what you expect for decades on end. Climate changes, weather patterns change, agriculture changes, land use changes, ... All those have to work in your favor to be the top of the top. All those are working against you, but you still have it very good.


I agree with most of your comments and I have mentally resigned myself to more poor seasons in the future. I do however believe that our current situation is exacerbated by man made design. It may not be intentional but it could very well have an affect. Hopefully this state and the flyway take a deeper look into this situation, and for now I'll just keep on keeping on.
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Re: Final Numbers

Postby SpinnerMan » Mon Jan 27, 2020 5:48 pm

DComeaux wrote:
SpinnerMan wrote:
But my point is that it's only bad relative to expectation. For most waterfowl hunters, it would be wonderful. I guess the truth is that when you are on top, there is nowhere to go but down. It's unrealistic to think that when you are at the top of the top that should be what you expect for decades on end. Climate changes, weather patterns change, agriculture changes, land use changes, ... All those have to work in your favor to be the top of the top. All those are working against you, but you still have it very good.


I agree with most of your comments and I have mentally resigned myself to more poor seasons in the future. I do however believe that our current situation is exacerbated by man made design. It may not be intentional but it could very well have an affect. Hopefully this state and the flyway take a deeper look into this situation, and for now I'll just keep on keeping on.

More good seasson, but not nearly as good as fantastic seasons of the past. They are not poor seasons. They are less good :thumbsup:

One duck like my season, that is a poor season and I expect nothing but poor season. That's why like this year, nearly all my duck hunting will now be when I travel or assuming we have a winter again unlike the last two winters so I can duck hunt in the fields by the cooling lake. Watching all the ducks fly around yesterday, I so wish our season was open in January. It's the only time I see many ducks any more. That's why I started exploring new places to deer hunt this year and will hopefully capitalize on what I learned this year. I like my odds for deer hunting next year.

I absolutely agree that man-made design is part of it. Everybody wants more ducks and people spend can afford to spend a lot of money on habitat. I think a big part of it is the great success of the environmental regulations (the good regulations and not the crazy nonsense of today) that stopped a lot of the wetland draining and forced the creation of a lot of small wetlands to keep runoff from heading straight into the streams. There has been a lot of money spent to rehab old degraded wetlands as well. There are also all the manipulation of simply controlling the water level on picked fields. I suspect that far more people do that today because more people can afford it. Then there are the flooded crops which I have no doubt is more common because more people can afford it. I think there are a host of things that fall into the man-made design part of it of which flooded standing crops are only part of it.
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