No Duck Theories

[sportsman450]

All I'm sayin is what is the point of MS having a 30/3 season if noone else is?

Sportsman450 says it will make a significant difference, I disagree!

My earlier post lacked clarity because I didn't finish what I meant to say.

If only Ms went to a 30 day season,it wouldn't make much of a difference,but if it were implemented over the entire flyway,it would make a big difference.

[cajun squealer]

[quote="coonman"]The map you are showing is after all that has started to melt. When did all those new ducks show up. [quote]


Not two weeks ago. Weather was much colder then, but the ducks hadn't arrived yet. The Nebraska to Mississippi flight could take as little as 2-3 days. I don't, however, argue that it didn't play some part. It most definitely is an important factor, but only one piece to the puzzle.



[quote] More people are starting to get into the sport of duck hunting so they are changing the way they farm up north so they can hold more ducks.[quote]


Now you're talking! No-till farming is one of the most overlooked factors in regards to waterfowl migration. Could it be that the supply of waste grain food in northern states has just recently been reduced to levels that force movement in search for food? I'm not sure. You tell me. Just because the ground is white doesn't mean ducks can't dry feed. Now, granted, 27 inches of snow will definitely prevent waterfowl from dry feeding, but I've gotten reports of people witnessing what appeared to be an isolated, "backwards snowstorm"! This turned out to be a large number of ducks flapping their wings while standing on the ground and blowing inches of powder out of the way to get to food! Dem ole dukz iz gettin purdy smart!

As far as season lengths and bag limits go, I 'm about to the point of just wanting to bite the bullet and go along with whatever would eliminate the most wanna-be duck hunters on a nationwide scale! If this offends anyone, you're probably the wanna-be! And, no, I'm not sorry!

[mallardhunter]

Coonman, you are right, but good luck getting folks to believe you. They're convinced it's black magic, a government conspiracy or the mythical "too many hunters" theory. They all forget that there was virtually no snow up north until right at the end of the season down here.

Sportsman450

Lets say you have a 60 day season in Mississippi,and a hunter averages hunting 1 out of every 4 days.Thats 15 days hunting.In a 30 day season,that same hunter would only have hunted 7-8 days.If he was furtunate enough to kill limits,that would be 90 dead ducks in a 60 day season as opposed to 42-48 in a 30 day season.A a 50% reduction in harvest per hunter,multiplied by the total number of hunters,would be very significant!

Are you saying that reducing the harvest (due to a 3-day season) would put more ducks in the air this year, or next year? If I'm misinterpreting your statement, what would be "significant" about a 50% reduction in harvest? I mean, how would it help?

[mallardhunter]

As far as season lengths and bag limits go, I 'm about to the point of just wanting to bite the bullet and go along with whatever would eliminate the most wanna-be duck hunters on a nationwide scale!

Just curious. Can you identify any negative aspects of a dwindling population of duck hunters? I mean, as it affects the ducks? Or are fewer duck hunters a 100% good thing for the ducks?

[hillhunter]

What about bigger splits during the season, to let ducks move in without pressure? Give'em a couple of weeks to relax in good ole MS before we wax'em.....just a thought.

[cajun squealer]

Just curious. Can you identify any negative aspects of a dwindling population of duck hunters? I mean, as it affects the ducks? Or are fewer duck hunters a 100% good thing for the ducks?

Quite possibly. Fewer hunters means fewer gun barrels pointed at them, hence more survival and less pressure. But here's the catch: the vast majority of waterfowl conservation proponents are those same hunters raising the levels of hunting pressure; end result being less money/funding to save/create/enhance habitat. This doesn't even take into account the financial consequences that would befall the commercial/retail/tourism waterfowl markets.
But, primarily, fewer duck hunters (especially yankees) is a good thing for all true waterfowl hunters. Just ask anyone who paid visit to a severely overcrowded management area.
I dispise trendy, sticker-loving, high-balling, "Look what I got with Daddy's credit card" non-hunters. The whole thing has gotten out of hand. Whether there are ducks or not, a crowd of poeple at 5:00 in the morning just ruins the experience. I speak this mainly on behalf of others. I, myself, choose to get as far away from other hunters as possible.

END RANT!

[Chuckle12]

There's a dead horse somewhere and ya'll are whoopin' the hell out of him.

[Chuckle12]

Yep, I found him...



Give 'im hell!!!!!

[sportsman450]

Coonman, you are right, but good luck getting folks to believe you. They're convinced it's black magic, a government conspiracy or the mythical "too many hunters" theory. They all forget that there was virtually no snow up north until right at the end of the season down here.

Sportsman450

Lets say you have a 60 day season in Mississippi,and a hunter averages hunting 1 out of every 4 days.Thats 15 days hunting.In a 30 day season,that same hunter would only have hunted 7-8 days.If he was furtunate enough to kill limits,that would be 90 dead ducks in a 60 day season as opposed to 42-48 in a 30 day season.A a 50% reduction in harvest per hunter,multiplied by the total number of hunters,would be very significant!

Are you saying that reducing the harvest (due to a 3-day season) would put more ducks in the air this year, or next year? If I'm misinterpreting your statement, what would be "significant" about a 50% reduction in harvest? I mean, how would it help?

I'll address the second part of your post first.Simply put,it we went to a 30/3 season instead of a 60/6 season,throughout the entire flyway it would impact the nunbers of ducks heading back to breed even more than my original post estimated because I left out the reduction in limits.There would actually be only 21-24 ducks killed with 30/3 as opposed to 90 with 60/6.

I don't have the figures here,and I don't have the time to find them (I'm working out of town) ,but if you don't think that sending that many more ducks back north to breed would be significant,I think you need to rethink things.

As for your black magic-gov't conspiracy theory statement,here's my opinion.Those of you who believe this problem is based totally on weather problems,need to get your heads out of the sand.While the weather is affecting the migration,it's not even close to being the only,or even the main,part of the problem.Those of us who have been hunting long enough to remember back as far as 30 years or more,can remember some bad years,but nothing like what's been happening lately.

If you want a realistic view of the problem,SEE HAMMER'S POST!!!

[chopper30]

I dispise trendy, sticker-loving, high-balling, "Look what I got with Daddy's credit card" non-hunters. The whole thing has gotten out of hand. Whether there are ducks or not, a crowd of poeple at 5:00 in the morning just ruins the experience. I speak this mainly on behalf of others.

You sound like some hunter yourself! If you get so far away from everyone, what does the crowd matter, cajun squealer.

[coonman]

Here we go I think this is what we need Nov 15th until Dec 15th and 6 bag limit. Jan 15th to Feb 15th and 3 bag limit. No Mallard HENS!!! How would ya'll like that? That way we would be killing less of the paired up ducks in Jan and Feb. This would be pretty nice wouldn't it. All well doesn't hurt to dream.


Cajun Squeler from all the reports I have gotten most of the ducks showed up after the first big snow storm we got up here.

[RIP EM]

Coonman,... I love the idea !

Question is,.... How do we get the bozos in our State and Fed. senates, and legislators to go for it ?
Hell,... they don't listen to a dang thang else we have to say !

Rip Em !

[cajun squealer]

I like Coonman's idea of Nov. 15-Dec. 15, Jan. 15-Feb.15.
Is is just me, or does it kinda seem like we now almost have three distinctive classes of migratory fowl? There are the early season migrators that are here in MS before the season starts and for a couple weeks there after even though it's 70-80 degrees here in MS and with very little snow cover up north. Then there are the fowl (primarily mallards) that sit on the freeze line the whole season and seldom make it down into the deep south. The mid-season migrators seem to be influence by several factors.
In regards to the early season migrators, I notice something a little unusual this year. On the opening weekend in the west zone of LA hunting marsh 12 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, the ducks seemed unusually wary. Both call shy and decoy shy. The cause? Who knows? Are some of these ducks migrating earlier because of hunting pressure in the north or just because that's what their conditioned/genetically disposed to?
It may seemed far fetched, but it's not really all that inconceivable. If there is any validity to this theory, it probably looks like more a continuum of charateristics than actual classes. Guess it's always been this way, but the variations seem to be getting more pronounced.
Just some more unanswered questions. Any thoughts?

[RIP EM]

CS,... I'll add this,.... It seemed as if the early and mid-season birds were a little more call-shy,.... than the later bunches that arrived !

Keep in mind that this could have been due to a drastic decrease in calling after the first of the year !

It's not like we overcalled, before the first,... the birds just seemed to leave it with ya if you hit call at all,... early in the year ! Seems as if they would put up with a lot more calling later on in the year !

This is opposite of what one would think !

Rip Em !

[mallardhunter]

Question is,.... How do we get the bozos in our State and Fed. senates, and legislators to go for it ?

We don't! Last thing we need or want would be to involve politics and politicians in the season-setting process. Call me crazy, but I prefer to let the waterfowl biologists and wildlife professionals set the season and bag limits based on the available data. I would love to hunt 'em till April though, but it ain't gonna happen. And I appreciate what Lott did a few years ago for us, but, as a rule, let's not get the politicians involved in the season-setting process.

You can petition your state G&F agency to utilize the framework set up by the feds any danged way you choose. If it's a split you want, ask your state guys to give it to you.