The last weekend of the regular season is just days away, and the light goose conservation season is about to kick off. Wild weather and extreme high water in many areas will make for a challenging weekend as the 2004-2005 season comes to a close.
Hello folks, and as always, welcome to Waterfowler.com.
Before you pack up all your gear and call it a season, be sure to consider taking advantage of the upcoming spring snow goose season. And don’t forget to check your local regulations for special post-season youth hunts. Both of these are a great way to extend your hunting opportunities and taking a young person out on a hunt, just for them, is a wonderful way to help insure the future of our waterfowling heritage.
And now, on to the Migration Report.
PACIFIC FLYWAY
Success picked up last week for hunters in the mid- to lower flyway, while the upper portions of the region saw a bit of a slowdown. With only one weekend to go, the trend is likely to stay about the same. That being said, some hunters in the upper flyway have reported new birds moving in, but these concentrations are a bit scattered and difficult to pattern. If you have the opportunity, some end-of-the-week scouting could prove very helpful before making your plans for the last outing.
CENTRAL FLYWAY
The mid- and southern areas of the flyway are holding good numbers of ducks and light geese. Back and forth freeze and thaw cycles over the last week have made pinpointing bird locations trying at times, but as the last weekend rolls around it looks as though bird numbers will hold steady for most Central Flyway states where the season remains open.
A push of arctic air into the upper flyway could move a few more geese and ducks south, but the primary influence of the current weather pattern should be to hold birds in areas of current concentration.
All eyes and minds of the eastern flyway are now turning towards the upcoming conservation season. As the regular season wraps up, we encourage everyone to continue reporting goose sightings, whether you plan on hunting the white wave or not.
MISSISSIPPI FLYWAY
Last weekend’s bitter cold produced mixed results in the lower flyway. With the Mississippi River and many of its tributaries above flood stage, many backwater areas remained free of ice, allowing any new birds moving down the flyway to spread themselves out over a vast area.
New birds have been reported in northern Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas, but conditions are tough and the birds have been less than eager to decoy, typical of late season waterfowling for the lower flyway.
With warm weather returning and the waters still rising, hunters should try to concentrate on newly inundated areas where food supplies, wild and agricultural, are becoming available.
The recent Mid-Winter surveys show the heaviest concentrations of ducks along a line from Arkansas into the North Delta of Mississippi. The numbers indicate a higher mallard concentration than the previous season, but below the short term average. Above and below this region, Missouri and Louisiana surveys show an overall decrease in waterfowl from the previous year’s survey.
ATLANTIC FLYWAY
With yet another clipper system moving into the mid- to upper flyway, duck numbers have increased from the Mid-Coastal states southward. As temps begin to fall and the system sends the mercury below the freezing mark as far south as Florida, there is a good chance that migration activity for the southern flyway will kick into high gear just in time for the last weekend of the season.
