With the general waterfowl season now closed, hunters are turning their thoughts towards the 2007 Conservation Action and light goose hunting. Those willing and able to extend their waterfowl season and pursue these magnificent birds, can reap the harvest of liberal bag limits and an outstanding hunting opportunity.
Hello folks, and, as always, welcome to Waterfowler.com.
The 2006-2007 General Waterfowl Season is closed and hunters in Northern California, Central Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, and the New England states are celebrating the memories of an absolutely outstanding hunting season. Of course for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, and normally top harvest states such as North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas and Arkansas struggle with drought conditions through most of the season and harvest totals in those states dropped significantly over previous years.
As the seasons pass, the long-term effects of increased no-till practice and global warming across the United States, snow cover has become the single-most important factor in moving the bulk of mallards to southern destinations. Despite multiple, harsh cold fronts this season, subsequent warming trends allowed rivers across the northern tier to remain open, and hardy mallards weathered the brief storms and hugged the snow-line.
While calendar migrators such as divers and the early gray ducks moved south in force, tepid weather across the south kept waterfowl activity in the southern ends of the flyways to a minimum. So what does it all mean to the waterfowl hunter of the new millennium? Simply put, there is no shortage of waterfowl but hunting them is becoming more difficult unless you are willing to hunt where the ducks are. Now, more than ever, waterfowl hunters are at the mercy of Ole’ Mother Nature to provide the harshest of weather to move waterfowl into the deep-south. There was a time, in the not so distant past when waterfowl pushed south to feed because every acre of tillable ground in the north was plowed to the edge of the road soon after the harvest. This is no longer the case. There was a time when rivers quickly froze in the north, shortly after the larger lakes. This is no longer the case.
As the late-summer drought persisted on the prairie, Waterfowler.com predicted a banner season for hunters in the northern and central portions of the Mississippi Flyway. Before we pat ourselves on the back, let us admit that our prediction wasn’t the result of extreme rocket-science – or waterfowl biology as it were. Ducks and geese need food, water, and a safe haven from hunting pressure. The U.S. drought monitor map will reveal both areas with water, and those areas where crops and forage have had the opportunity to grow – revealing “where” ducks are likely to go. “When” ducks move is determined by pressure fronts, and after 10-years of tracking waterfowl online, WFC has discovered that when ducks move, they settle where the jet-stream button hooks and turns north again. After the front passes, and temperatures warm again, waterfowl will consistently ride southerly winds back to cooler zones in the north.
If there is one thing the Internet and Waterfowler.com has done over the past decade, it has helped dispel the perceived myth that ducks move south and stay south. Migration activity from the time waterfowl leave the nesting grounds and until they return is constant activity. Just how far these birds move during those flights will vary with hunting pressure and the winds of the day. Thanks to satellite tracking studies, waterfowl hunters have had the opportunity to witness just how mobile ducks are, even after they have arrived in the south.
So in this world of inconsistencies and waterfowl migration, which states have been the consistent “duck capitals of the world” the past decade? Ohio, Missouri, Oklahoma and New Mexico – but that’s a secret, so don’t tell anyone.
Speaking of 10-years, in June of this year, Waterfowler.com will celebrate our 10th anniversary of tracking the North American Waterfowl Migration. With ample snow cover in the Prairie Pothole Region, we’re hoping for another fantastic nesting season and another banner year for ducks and geese.
Until then, we’re making plans to chase some mid-continental light geese, and hope you are doing the same – so stay tuned for our spring snow goose tracking reports.
