Feeding Ducks in Yankee Land

[dos gris]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by h2o_dog:
<STRONG>
If I can do that here what keeps Joe Sixpack from doing the same thing in the Dakotas and Iowa the day after their season ends in mid-December???? Hmmmmm.

[ January 10, 2002: Message edited by: h2o_dog ]</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Money keeps Joe from doing that. Do you realize the scale of operation you would have to undertake in order to have a considerable impact on traditional migration patterns for a couple million or so birds. I don't think the Fed's or PETA or who ever all of a sudden decided "lets feed the birds and keep them from going south" and poof they stopped coming.

[mallardhunter]

Here's the main reason the duck numbers are down currently in Dixie:
http://www.weatherimages.org/data/imag185.html

Plain and simple. When snow covers the food, ducks head south - and only as far as they need to escape the snow. Freezing temperatures help, but it takes snow north . . . of wherever you are . . . to push ducks in great numbers to you. This is one of the driest years on record up north. This will both help and hurt the ducks. They are not having to make the long southerly journey and they are not getting pounded by us in the South. They will start the breeding season in better physical shape than usual. They will be hurt because, without the snowfall, the breeding grounds are gonna be dry! (Unless the snows come late this year).

I agree with those who say there are ducks, you just gotta work at it harder - and, I think, expand your geographic horizons. Instead of saying, "I think we'll hunt the south side of Forked Lake tomorrow", you need to think in terms of looking in other counties, other states perhaps.

I can confirm that at least on one occasion, a National Wildlife Refuge has dumped corn out on the ground for the ducks. It ain't "hand-feeding". Get real! It's by the dump truck load. Saw it with my own eyes back in the 80's. Don't know if it has happened since or before, but I'll bet it has. At the time, I was a member of the press, and contacted the manager of that NWR to inquire about it. He flat-out lied and denied that any such thing had occurred. When confronted with the date, time, and name on the side of the dump truck, the fact that I had photos, plus my vantage point for watching the trucks rumble into the refuge, he put me on hold and came back on and said they had been "banding ducks" and that was what the grain was for. After informing him that it is against USF&WS policy to band birds during hunting season, he said it was a mistake and it wouldn't happen again (I think he lied and denied AGAIN, personally).

A NWR is somewhat judged on how many ducks and geese they are holding. It is therefore, within the bounds of logical thought, that a refuge manager would feed the birds to hold them, so their counts would be higher, and the refuge would be seen as successful. However, even the Federales and states combined cannot feed 80 million ducks and hold 'em anywhere! When and if the snow comes, the ducks will appear.

I personally don't think PETA has enough sense to know what a duck needs to survive. Their lack of knowledge about wildlife and animals is abundant. They'd be more likely to take wren houses and nail them on trees, thinking ducks would use 'em! PETA seems far more concerned with stopping hunting than acquiring land and actually helping animals - IMHO.

And all topwaters who surf the net looking for ducks, get real. Anybody with a brain who has found the ducks ain't gonna post it. The nimrods who see groups of woodies and 'ganzers are the one's posting that they've hammered 'em big time! Wheeee!! Best you can do is look for areas where nary a word is being spoken. Those boys are too busy hunting and cleaning ducks, and have too much sense to post what they've found.

And everbody needs to spend the bucks for a lease at least once in their lifetime. For the most part, it will be an educational process, just part of becoming a duck hunter.


Click here if the above URL doesn't work. This is why the ducks ain't in Dixie!

[WNE Driver]

h2o said -

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

what keeps Joe Sixpack from doing the same thing in the Dakotas and Iowa the day after their season ends in mid-December???? Hmmmmm.

Hmmmmm indeed...Well, let's see.

1. It would more than likely attract a goose or two or 2000 (along with deer, turkeys, pheasants, etc) causing a baited situation (see my last post in this thread) as our goose season here generally extends past our duck season.

2. The water would be a little tough to find as most would be ice.

3. Joe Blow would have to have quite a little $$$ to buy the corn, transport the corn, keep open water, etc. I know Joe Blow and he has enough sense and $$$ to just join a club and not jack with it.

Could he imprint a few? Sure! How do you think some towns up here end up with resident ducks? Is he going to imprint enough to make a "honey hole" or impact a migration - not hardly.

[WNE Driver]

Mallard -

What refuge in what state?

If you have photos that could be scanned, I think they should be posted.

I would be the first to write a letter to the site supervisor as well as the head of the USFWS stating that is unethical.

Aside from this, see the figures relating to corn/duck in the my first post of this thread. How much corn did you witness?

[peewee]

WNE, not to ruffle any feathers but if a baited field is a mile away and they try to give me a ticket for hunting a totally different place. Theres gonna be a booty whoppin somewhere.

[WNE Driver]

I agree Peewee, but I have seen it happen.

Long story short -

Some friends told me they knew nothing of it and I don't believe them.

Some friends told me they knew nothing of it and I do believe them.

Some friends didn't hunt different fields til the second day of season and were greeted by CPO's telling they couldn't hunt their other "legal fields" as it was adjacent to a baited field.

It did make for hard feelings and I don't think that same group guys has all hunted together since.

[astanford]

Hey WNE Driver,
This post is on the Duckcentral.com site
under Tenn. Hunting Reports "Refuges"
By DuCrazy from Kearney ,Mo.
He did not believe us either!

_____________________________________________
Just made a trip home this past weekend to West Central Illinois from KC MO.

You guys are almost right about this hand feeding on the refuges!


It's actually worse than what you think

Seems the Dept of Cons in Iowa and Ill have been approaching farmers to participate in a covert conservation initiative. Its called something like WGDP. Guess it stands for Wildlife Grain Dispersal Program.

Here is how it works. Grain farmers that do not allow hunting along the flyway are compensated by paying them their highest average yield from the past 5 growing seasons. In turn, when they harvest their corn and soybeans they are to open up the grates in their combines to allow 50% of the grain they harvest to be dispersed on the ground.

Can you believe this????
_____________________________________________

What do you think?

My point is that in years past everthing didn't have to be perfect for us to have ton s of ducks down here!!!!!!!!!


"I'm gonna get fired. You know why? Because of a damn duck"

[MALLARDBUSTER]

WILL SOMEONE PLEASE PULL THE PLUG ON WNE DRIVER

[astanford]

Meeka:
I guess it makes you feel better to ream everybody else. I'm gonna tell you son I've been huntin' 25 years, I've seen good years and bad one's, but I've never seen one like this. I'm killin some ducks, but when you've seen ducks like I've seen'em before you'll understand what I'm talking about. Hope you get the pleasure on of these days.

[WNE Driver]

HighBall -

Well let's see...First, what doesn't make sense about the post that you copied/pasted is that there is absolutely no need for a program such as this. There is more than enough waste corn left on the ground for waterfowl without a program such as this.

I hunt in Central and West Central Illinois (Woodford, Peoria, Mason and Fulton Co's). My family has been farming or involved with farming since the '40's in Tazewell Co. I hunted near Chatauqua NWR and Rice Lake SWA and never have heard of such a program.

Just to be fair, I will make a phone call to the local and/or Springfield DNR office tomorrow under and tell them that I am interested in enrolling in the program that post describes. Whatever I find out, I will post here.

I understand that not everything had to be perfect for you to have ducks in the past, but have you ever hunted a season when everything was so wrong?

As I have stated before, anyone is welcome to come visit and check it out themselves. I will play host and guide and we will go anywhere you like as long as it is legal or close to legal.

MallardBuster...You can pull my plug anytime...Big Fella [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

[magnum]

I think we are all tired of this horrible season, and the lack of "green" in our diet is causing some sort of psycological interference and we are dreaming up far-fetched, sabatoge, covert opperation ideas about why the ducks aren't here. It is nothing more, and nothing less than the WEATHER.

MAG

[astanford]

Yeah WNE,
I'm just relaying what the guy said. Look at some of his earlier posts on the site I mentioned, he was sure there was no attempt to supplement the feeding of waterfowl up north. Look I'm not stupid enough to think ya'll can hold all the ducks up there if they want to come. They just don't come like they did a few years back. I think the main problem is the warmer weather pattern and maybe too many refuges. What do ya think? When are we goin' fishing?


"I'm gonna get fired. You know why? Because of a damn duck."

[astanford]

Mag,
I agree, I'm just bored out of may mind waiting on the "Grand Migration". Good luck to everybody, I hope ya'll wear their butt's out when you get a chance, I know I will.

[WNE Driver]

Friends are catchin catfish at one of them cooling lakes everyone talks about. They seen six fish stingers goin 20-30# though theirs was closer to 10 - 15.

Let me know when you will be here, and I will have the boat loaded and rods ready.

Feb. 15 they open that same lake I mentioned earlier up to boats. I think I got a good walleye pattern figured out for it.

[dos gris]

Well said, but who is grey duck?