The changing face of fowlers

[aunt betty]

From the numbers I saw, it is around 1.6 mil sold per year. Will try to attach link.

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Do you think DU and Delta would lie to us in hopes of getting us upset about a problem and get us to throw money at it?
The article that went along with the story was about a survey some phd in sales and marketing did. He is trying to convince the reader that hunter numbers are declining. I honestly do not see it that way. More hunters, not less. I doubt the credibility of both publications.

[jarbo03]

Hello my name is rmk and I have a problem, each fall I get up way to early, I get in a boat freeze my ass off in my lame attempts to kill ducks. Thanks for letting me share.

Yes I do. I see the same thing as you. Way more hunters than I've ever seen, at least in this area.

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[jarbo03]

This is from fws.gov


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[DeadEye_Dan]

^^ an those numbers also jive with what we experienced with bird numbers.

Years with less birds = less stamps sold.

[Goldfish]

I'll bite on the "do what I want with my own land" thing.

I'm all about being left alone to do your thing as long as it doesn't affect others. When farmers turn their 5000 acres into a dead zone, and then tile the shit out of it, it's affecting everyone. Prairies eat up pollution as much as forests. When most of your land is dirt between the rows, obviously it isn't going to do as much. When farmers tile every square foot of their fields, there is no longer and natural sponges to filter and slow rainwater and snow melt, hence why we are having 500 year floods every 5 years, and why for the past 3 years we have had floods mid summer and fall (pretty much unheard of till recently). Add to the water run off issue, the water is polluted as fuck from dirt and pesticides. This is affecting everyone, so you no longer get to do whatever you want with your land.

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[assateague]

Nobody is arguing any of that. The argument is that by planting, they are fucking up duck numbers. And that most certainly is not a valid reason to tell someone what they may do.

[Tomkat]

Hello my name is rmk and I have a problem, each fall I get up way to early, I get in a boat freeze my ass off in my lame attempts to kill ducks. Thanks for letting me share.

Yes I do. I see the same thing as you. Way more hunters than I've ever seen, at least in this area.

I blame the Robertsons

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FIFY

[aunt betty]

Nobody is arguing any of that. The argument is that by planting, they are fucking up duck numbers. And that most certainly is not a valid reason to tell someone what they may do.

Pintails nest in prairies AT. Think about your till and tile everything ideas a bit.
Landowners and hunters will disagree on conservation and land-use issues and have been for a long time.

Its their land. Let them manage it completely alone for a while.

[DeadEye_Dan]

I'll bite on the "do what I want with my own land" thing.

I'm all about being left alone to do your thing as long as it doesn't affect others. When farmers turn their 5000 acres into a dead zone, and then tile the shit out of it, it's affecting everyone. Prairies eat up pollution as much as forests. When most of your land is dirt between the rows, obviously it isn't going to do as much. When farmers tile every square foot of their fields, there is no longer and natural sponges to filter and slow rainwater and snow melt, hence why we are having 500 year floods every 5 years, and why for the past 3 years we have had floods mid summer and fall (pretty much unheard of till recently). Add to the water run off issue, the water is polluted as fuck from dirt and pesticides. This is affecting everyone, so you no longer get to do whatever you want with your land.

sent from a phancy fone

And I'll play the devils advocate:
Currently - 1,500,000-2,000,000 people starve to death each year.
World population in 2050 is expected to be in excess of 9 billion.
Estimates are that we (as a human population) will have to increase our production of food by 250% between now an then.
To put that in perspective: we will have to produce more food in the next 30 years than has been produced, collectively, in the entire course of recorded human history.

It has to come from somewhere.

And before you swallow the hook tossed by all the tree huggers: more chemical fertilizer and pesticides are used on lawns and golf courses in the US than is used on all the agricultural land in the US - which by the way includes 97,000,000 acres of corn in 2013.

[Feelin' Fowl]

I'll bite on the "do what I want with my own land" thing.

I'm all about being left alone to do your thing as long as it doesn't affect others. When farmers turn their 5000 acres into a dead zone, and then tile the shit out of it, it's affecting everyone. Prairies eat up pollution as much as forests. When most of your land is dirt between the rows, obviously it isn't going to do as much. When farmers tile every square foot of their fields, there is no longer and natural sponges to filter and slow rainwater and snow melt, hence why we are having 500 year floods every 5 years, and why for the past 3 years we have had floods mid summer and fall (pretty much unheard of till recently). Add to the water run off issue, the water is polluted as fuck from dirt and pesticides. This is affecting everyone, so you no longer get to do whatever you want with your land.

sent from a phancy fone

The 500 year floods were poorly named.
Floods in the summer and fall are due to excessive and unrelenting rain.
Pollution is necessary. My dad works in a water treatment plant...are you trying to get my dad fired?

[Tomkat]

I'll bite on the "do what I want with my own land" thing.

I'm all about being left alone to do your thing as long as it doesn't affect others. When farmers turn their 5000 acres into a dead zone, and then tile the shit out of it, it's affecting everyone. Prairies eat up pollution as much as forests. When most of your land is dirt between the rows, obviously it isn't going to do as much. When farmers tile every square foot of their fields, there is no longer and natural sponges to filter and slow rainwater and snow melt, hence why we are having 500 year floods every 5 years, and why for the past 3 years we have had floods mid summer and fall (pretty much unheard of till recently). Add to the water run off issue, the water is polluted as fuck from dirt and pesticides. This is affecting everyone, so you no longer get to do whatever you want with your land.

sent from a phancy fone

And I'll play the devils advocate:
Currently - 1,500,000-2,000,000 people starve to death each year.
World population in 2050 is expected to be in excess of 9 billion.
Estimates are that we (as a human population) will have to increase our production of food by 250% between now an then.
To put that in perspective: we will have to produce more food in the next 30 years than has been produced, collectively, in the entire course of recorded human history.

It has to come from somewhere.

And before you swallow the hook tossed by all the tree huggers: more chemical fertilizer and pesticides are used on lawns and golf courses in the US than is used on all the agricultural land in the US - which by the way includes 97,000,000 acres of corn in 2013.

History would show, I think, that the worlds population carrying capacity will be reached and then there will be a boom cycle. In other words, we may, or may not, be able to increase production enough to feed everyone.

My bet is that humans, being stuck with human nature, will find a way to fuck it up. Famine, disease, most likely war, will be some of ways that the earths population will be decreased in time.

[vincentpa]

There are far too many blacks and Jews getting into the sport. I'm getting out. Damn Duck Dynasty!

[one2many]

I'll bite on the "do what I want with my own land" thing.

I'm all about being left alone to do your thing as long as it doesn't affect others. When farmers turn their 5000 acres into a dead zone, and then tile the shit out of it, it's affecting everyone. Prairies eat up pollution as much as forests. When most of your land is dirt between the rows, obviously it isn't going to do as much. When farmers tile every square foot of their fields, there is no longer and natural sponges to filter and slow rainwater and snow melt, hence why we are having 500 year floods every 5 years, and why for the past 3 years we have had floods mid summer and fall (pretty much unheard of till recently). Add to the water run off issue, the water is polluted as fuck from dirt and pesticides. This is affecting everyone, so you no longer get to do whatever you want with your land.

sent from a phancy fone

most the shit a few you think is gospel is in reality urban legends

[one2many]

There are far too many blacks and Jews getting into the sport. I'm getting out. Damn Duck Dynasty!

[aunt betty]

I misread the chart. 1 million is the bottom.
This season I will make a point of photographing and posting the crowded boat launch clusterfucks I deal with on weekends.
So far, I have only shown the good stuff. Dead ducks and dog pics.
The boat ramp at 4:30 is like grand central sometimes.

[Goldfish]

F the world. If you live in a desert and can't get your own food, I see no reason to continue to feed you for you to fight over some patch of sand.

If we really do continue to try and feed the world, food prices will become so high that only the wealthy well be able to afford to eat, the rest of us will have to try and grow our own or live off the wildlife, that are no longer there because they dont have a place to live. You can't tell me that going from 6ft high cover as far as you can see, to mowed to the dirt for the next 4 months of snow and freezing temps is good for wildlife/nature.

If we need to double production, how are we going to do that by farming the 30ft of a fence line?

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[DeadEye_Dan]

If we need to double production, how are we going to do that by farming the 30ft of a fence line?

sent from a phancy fone

You ever see a yield map and see how much water/sun/nutrients are sucked up by those fence rows?

97,000,000 acres of corn would have a lot of fence rows.

But, it's not just removing fence rows, it's better science, better crop genetics, being more efficient, finding ways to make marginally productive ground productive - a multitude of things combined will have to carry the day.

The most productive land it the world is in Africa/Middle East (ever hear of the Fertile Crescent?)...but we've got environmental whackos decrying the use of GMO's based on nothing more than emotion.

You think some guy in sub-Saharan Africa would prefer to have access to drought tolerant corn or watch his family starve to death?

[Goldfish]

So, cut down the trees you are saying? Any of ya remember the dust bowl? I realize that farming practices have gotten better since then, but you can't go all 180 on it and not expect the same result

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[DeadEye_Dan]

So, cut down the trees you are saying? Any of ya remember the dust bowl? I realize that farming practices have gotten better since then, but you can't go all 180 on it and not expect the same result

sent from a phancy fone

Dust bowl wasn't a result of no trees, it was a result of bare land.
Current farming practices (no till, cover crops, etc.) prevent that situation and also require less use of pesticides & chemical fertilizer.

[Goldfish]

Lies. I read on Facebook that farmers are evil

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[DeadEye_Dan]

Bon Jour!!

[aunt betty]

Greed.

[(MT)Montanafowler]

And I'll play the devils advocate:
Currently - 1,500,000-2,000,000 people starve to death each year.
World population in 2050 is expected to be in excess of 9 billion.
Estimates are that we (as a human population) will have to increase our production of food by 250% between now an then.
To put that in perspective: we will have to produce more food in the next 30 years than has been produced, collectively, in the entire course of recorded human history.

It has to come from somewhere.

And before you swallow the hook tossed by all the tree huggers: more chemical fertilizer and pesticides are used on lawns and golf courses in the US than is used on all the agricultural land in the US - which by the way includes 97,000,000 acres of corn in 2013.

History would show, I think, that the worlds population carrying capacity will be reached and then there will be a boom cycle. In other words, we may, or may not, be able to increase production enough to feed everyone.

My bet is that humans, being stuck with human nature, will find a way to fuck it up. Famine, disease, most likely war, will be some of ways that the earths population will be decreased in time.

it won't be a boom, it will be a bust. the boom is what got us to K in the first place, during the last century. We are very nearly at K right now. The bust will be a superbug (probably a weaponized bug) that makes smallpox look like child's play.

[one2many]

So, cut down the trees you are saying? Any of ya remember the dust bowl? I realize that farming practices have gotten better since then, but you can't go all 180 on it and not expect the same result

sent from a phancy fone

Goldie get the fuck out of the twin cities bro, they are making you one of them

[one2many]

Greed.

fucking A right!!!!!!!!!! got to make the dollars when we can. far more bad days money wise then good days

[one2many]

Lies. I read on Facebook that farmers are evil

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i did lol

[one2many]

DeadEyeDan

[Goldfish]

So, cut down the trees you are saying? Any of ya remember the dust bowl? I realize that farming practices have gotten better since then, but you can't go all 180 on it and not expect the same result

sent from a phancy fone

Goldie get the fuck out of the twin cities bro, they are making you one of them

Really, over all I'm on the farmers side, and most of that was just me talking out of my ass, but I do whole heartily believe that drain tile is horrible for the environment. Wonderful for farmers, but screws everything else down the line. The rest was kinda picking on stuff and running with it

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