72nd annual spring breeding duck survey showed an index of 3.4 million birds, up 20 percent from last year. That’s the 22nd highest index on record and stands 40 percent above the 71-year average.
Also, in AP hunting zones – including southeastern Pennsylvania – the length of the regular season has been decreased from 50 to 30 days and daily bag limits have been reduced from three to two geese per day.
Ian Gregg, game management division chief for the Game Commission, said there isn’t one single cause that is responsible for the declining mallard population. Contributing factors include habitat changes impacting food reserves, competition from Canada geese on food sources and genetic issues resulting from hybridization with domestic mallards.
A waterfowler’s season is never over, even when the trusty, weatherbeaten old shotgun is cleaned and racked and the bags of decoys and other paraphernalia of the trade are stowed in the barn for winter. That is because waterfowlers, duck and goose hunters, never stop watching the sky and sniffing the air, looking, looking, looking. They are, in their own…
It’s possible you could spend a couple of hours setting up for a morning hunt, only to have it over within five minutes – depending on the day, of course. We need to look at the big picture and not get discouraged. Don’t hang up those waterfowl calls just yet.
Canada goose numbers remain good in many areas and should provide some opportunity for goose hunters over the next week, especially in central and southern Minnesota.
But Canada goose numbers remain good in many areas and should provide some opportunity for goose hunters over the next week.
But Canada goose numbers continue to increase slightly each week in most areas. And while wetlands conditions remain good, hunting pressure is extremely low and will likely decline further with the deer opener this weekend.
Swans, grebes, shorebirds and others help hunters pass the time in a duck blind.
Hunter numbers have declined significantly from earlier this season, according to Minnesota Waterfowl Migration and Hunting Report.
Water levels remain fairly dry in the northern portion of the state but good to excellent across most of the rest of the state.
Wetland habitat conditions are variable across the state, with some dry conditions in the northern portion of the state, for Saturday’s opener.
But survey says most populations are still above long-term averages.
The latest U.S. Drought Monitor map shows just 2 percent of North Dakota in some stage of drought. That compares with 82 percent at the same time last year.
This year’s duck brood index was up 37 percent from last year, and showed 5.11 broods per square mile, an increase of 39 percent.
“The survey is designed for mallards and our breeding mallard population remains above its long-term average.”
Hunters will see several changes in the state’s 2018 Canada goose season. (Photo by Tim Eisele)Wisconsin waterfowl hunters will see some major changes in the 2018 seasons. The Natural Resources Board approved the seasons that include: A uniform statewide opening of the duck hunting season on Saturday, Sept. 29. Elimination of the Horicon goose zone. A Canada goose season in…
The season is expected to look similar to previous waterfowl seasons overall as far as season length and duck bag limits, but with one significant change on the duck side of the season – the duck zones would all open on the same day, if NRB members approve the season framework as offered by the DNR.
Beginner duck hunters encouraged to attend a free waterfowl identification workshop.
An additional 16,400 mallards were tallied statewide.
But it was a successful hunt, one we’ll remember for a long time.
Michigan’s waterfowl season ended with a sky full of ducks, including mostly mallards and a few black ducks.
On Nov. 11, 1940, a blizzard dropped temperatures from the 60s to single digits in hours and trapped duck hunters across the Upper Midwest. (Iowa DNR photo)The song still haunts me. And I have no idea what it would be like to be on a ship in distress a mere 15 miles from the safety of Whitefish Bay, or even…
Total ducks on the Mississippi River during the first week of November reportedly 146 percent above the 10-year average and 86 percent above late-October count.
Waterfowl hunters can expect good things this fall.
Sentence also includes two-year ban from guiding for fish or wildlife in the refuge.
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