A handful of states have released their spring survey numbers and a few have even released tentative season dates. But until the official counts are released, speculations are still widely varied about the shape of the upcoming waterfowl season.
Hello folks, and as always, welcome to Waterfowler.com.
The final details for this year’s WFC Timber Hunt have been put together and booking begins today. From January 14th -17th WFC members and staff will join the fine folks at Mallard Retreat in Stuttgart for three days of ducks and geese in the timber and rice of the Grand Prairie. Full details and booking information are available in the Member News and OnLine Lodge section of WFC. Be sure to book your spot soon; space is limited and available on a first come, first served basis.
WFC will be on hand for the Ducks Unlimited Great Outdoor Festival in Oshkosh, WI again this year. If you are planning to attend the event, be sure to stop by our booth to say hello and register to win one of several door prizes. WFC is currently working with several sponsors and advertisers to bring along a bag of goodies for the show. Members who wish to can also volunteer to spend some time helping out at the WFC booth during the festival. So drop by the booth, hang out and meet some of the staff and your fellow members.
As the season draws near, WFC encourages all our VFEs to keep their fellow members up-to-date on the latest news from their home states. State forums and field reports are a great place to report and talk about the goings-on in your area. State forums can be accessed from either the top menu of the WFC home page or by following the field reports link and clicking on the state forums at the top of any state Field Report page.
And now on to the Breeding Ground Report.
Numbers that have come in from a handful of states have done little to clarify the prospects for this year’s season frameworks. Overall duck numbers are up in the few Central Flyway states that have published their reports, but several key elements in the AHM model—namely potholes and mallard numbers—are down in one of the big duck factory states, North Dakota. Minnesota mallard counts were up 34% over last year and Blue wing teal in that state saw an incredible 83% increase from 2003. On the downside, pond counts were down 19% from last year. It should be noted, however, that late spring rains improved water conditions in much of Minnesota.
Montana figures seem to be indicative of the widely varied conditions throughout much of the rest of the breeding ground. Mallards were down 30% from 2003 but wigeon and green wing teal were both up—green wings by 60% to near record numbers. Divers saw an overall decrease with the one astounding exception being ring neck ducks, whose numbers jumped by 670% (yes, you read that right, 670%) putting their numbers almost 40% above the 10 year average. It should be noted, however, that this jump is most likely attributed to a shift of breeding birds into the survey area from other breeding grounds that were in drought at the time. Canada goose numbers rose again this year, up 19% from 2003 as did pond numbers, up 20% from last year and 5% above the ten year average.
On the West Coast, California reports a sharp drop in mallard population. Mallards were down 22% from last year and total duck numbers were down 21%. Based on these numbers, the California Department of Fish and Game has recommended a moderate season package.
In the Atlantic Flyway, New York was the first state to post proposed season dates. The proposed dates are based on a liberal season framework but will not be official until the final numbers are in from the USFWS and their framework options are made public.
A report out of Texas has the teal season running 9 days this year. A report in the Huston Chronicle on July 3rd announced bluewing teal population of 4.07 million, down from 5.3 million last year.
The final numbers from all survey states are expected this week. As soon as the numbers are available we will post a special update, so stay tuned, it’s about to get interesting.
