Ducks Unlimited and Waterfowler.com have partnered to answer the popular question “Where are the ducks?” This season the WFC Real Time Migration Mapping System will be available from the DU home page, www.ducks.org. With the Migration Map moving into its fourth year, the added participation from this partnership will bring even more valuable information to the map, and to waterfowlers across the nation.
Just in time to gear up for the season Waterfowler.com has announced our latest member savings on the hardest hitting non-toxic shot around, Hevi-Shot. Now through October 1st 2004 WFC members can buy Hevi-Shot for as little as $330 per case ( 1 ¼ oz. 7 ½ ‘s ). This special offer also includes FREE SHIPPING and is only available to Waterfowler.com Members. Full details are available under the Member Areas menu of the WFC home page in the Exclusive Discounts section.
So what about the newest offering from Environmetal, Hevi-Steel? This year WFC will offer Hevi-Steel, a mixture of tungsten and steel that is heavier than lead, lighter than Hevi-Shot but less costly than other nontoxic loads. Hevi-Steel will be in the ProShop soon, so keep checking back to see the latest in Member Savings on the news offerings from Environmetal.
Oshkosh, here we come! WFC Staff will be on hand at the Ducks Unlimited Great Outdoor Festival in Oshkosh, Wisconsin again this year. Be sure to stop by and say hello. WFC will be raffling off a Bandit Aluminum Pirogue, worth over $595, at the show this year. The drawing will be held Sunday and you must be present to win. Bandit Aluminum Pirogues are available in the OnLine Proshop—stop by today and check out these incredibly stable and durable little boats.
Timber Hunt 2005 is currently booking. This year marks the return of the WFC Timber Hunt. We will join the good folks at Mallard Retreat in Stuttgart, Arkansas for three days of ducks, geese and good times this January. Bookings are first come, first served and open to all current WFC members. Full Details are available in the Member News section of WFC.
And now, on to the Migration Report.
The USFWS has approved the Liberal Season Package for all four flyways. Only a few steps are left in the process but already several states have published their tentative season dates for 2004 – 2005. Be sure to check with your state wildlife agency in the coming weeks for the official season frameworks and bag limits.
Cooler air moving down into the Midwest this week should have the teal getting antsy. Highs along the Illinois / Wisconsin border over the next few days are expected to only reach the lower seventies with lows in some areas dipping into the forties. Summer is still around, but cool snaps like the one expected this week certainly get the blood pumping for the early seasons on teal and geese.
Scattered reports from breeding ground states indicate a fair to good late hatch and brood survival, good news after the 11% decline in overall waterfowl breeding populations noted in the 2004 USFWS report.
The time has come to finish up last minute projects and get vacation days marked off for the fall. The season is fast approaching and it can’t come a moment too soon.
Migration Update August 10, 2004
It’s Teal tracking time! The Waterfowler.com Migration Mapping System, sponsored by Ducks Unlimited, is up and running. With early waterfowl seasons only a few weeks away it is time to start reporting the movements of teal and other waterfowl.
Hello folks, and as always, welcome to Waterfowler.com.
Last year’s addition of teal as a subcategory on the Migration Map proved to be a huge success for those taking advantage of special early teal seasons. With cool snaps lining up in the forecast for the plains and upper mid-west, the blue-wings are bound to be on the move. Be sure to stop by the Waterfowler.com Migration Map as the season approaches to view activity and file reports of early migrations in your area.
The WFC staff is burning the midnight oil, preparing the latest issue of Waterfowler.com Journal. Issue #13 is due to mail in the first week of September. Make sure to check your user profile and update your mailing address to ensure delivery. If you are not yet a Waterfowler.com Member Join Today to have your name on the list for the next mailing.
If you are planning to attend this year’s Ducks Unlimited Great Outdoor Festival in Oshkosh, Wisconsin be sure to stop by our booth and say hello. WFC will be on hand for the festival and we have a few treats in store for new and current members who pay us a visit during the show. We hope to see you there.
Don’t forget to renew your WFC membership before the season kicks off. With new products and special Member Only Discounts available through our Online ProShop, and Exclusive Member Discounts on Hevi-Shot and the new Hevi-Steel, just to name a few, your Waterfowler.com Membership pays for itself faster than a blue-wing buzzes the spread. Special renewal offers are available for every level of Membership, so be sure to renew before the opening bell.
And now, On to the Migration Report.
The Dog Days of Summer feel an awful lot like the first breath of fall for much of the US. Unseasonably cool weather has been a regular topic for waterfowlers for the past few weeks, their keen meteorological interest focused primarily on one thing, Teal.
But teal are not the only birds reacting to this recent weather trend. Reports have been coming in of more “fall-like” activity being exhibited by everything from local geese to mallards. With only a few weeks until the first of the early waterfowl seasons kick off, hunters everywhere are keeping a keen eye on the weather, local birds and the migration map. Though it is doubtful that we have seen the last of summer, regular “cool fronts” make the timing of early season hunts even more critical this year. Teal seem to despise frost on their tails and weather of the sort that has moved across the northern tier the past few weeks may have those little birds on the road to Mexico before you know it.
As the first wave of the migration gets underway, be sure to report activity in your area on the WFC Migration Map. With everyone lending information your ability to intercept this year’s teal travel looks promising.
