LITTLE ROCK — With COVID-19 cases beginning to increase in Arkansas, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission wants to remind everyone to put a little space between them and other hunters at camp, at the boat ramp and in the blind this duck season. Try to maintain a 6-foot distance between yourself and any hunter who isn’t in your close…
Unique weather phenomenon in northern Iowa resulted in hundreds being stuck and killed by vehicles.
Stick with traditional anchor lines when setting waterfowl decoys.
With another shot of cold hitting next week, the waterfowl window is closing, so get out now.
Excellent breeding conditions in the Dakotas and Manitoba helped produce an abundance of ducks, which should benefit hunters this season.
Hen mallard daily bag limit increases to two per day for 2020 season.
The state duck stamp has been the same cost since 1997, while inflation and higher costs of gasoline and equipment to “build” habitat eat away at its effectiveness.
Annual breeding population survey estimates 38.9 million total ducks, down 6 percent, while May pond counts drop by 5 percent; mallards, gadwalls and greenwings increase.
(Photo by Brian Peterson)NEW YORK — A mother duck and her nine babies were crossing a New York City street when three ducklings fell through a storm grate and had to be retrieved by police. The news site Gothamist reports that the rescue happened Sunday in the bustling Brooklyn neighborhood of Park Slope. Witness Lynn Harris says the mother duck…
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…
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