Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the camp, the gun dogs where snoring, all muddy and damp. Members were pacing from reports they had got, migrants were moving on cold winds they’d caught. With mouse buttons clicking in the glow of blue screens, members were posting like you’d never seen. Come mallards, come pintails, teal and geese, on widgeon, on gadwall and spoonies the least. Their wings they will whistle and hens will quack, you’ll never sleep now, well, maybe a nap. So hang up your waders and nestle in bed, dream about decoys and big green heads. As the season continues and we wait for this night, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good flight!
— Happy holidays from the entire WFC staff.
MIGRATION UPDATE – December 21, 2005 – The official arrival of winter happens this week, but in most of the country it seems as though old Jack Frost has been hanging around for weeks. With below average temperatures covering much of the Northern United States, the migration is in full swing and late season waterfowling is about as good as it gets.
Hello folks, and as always, welcome to Waterofowler.com.
WINTER WEATHER SPECIAL – Waterfowler.com is pleased to announce the addition of FlyinDawg Productions’ Waterfowlers Wetsuit to our online store, HuntersProshop.com.
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Now through January 1st, 2006 this great new product is on sale for $10 off the regular retail price. PLUS, with every purchase, Flyindawg will donate $5 to either DUCKS UNLIMITED or DELTA WATERFOWL, your choice.
A Waterfowler.com membership is a great last minute gift idea for the duck and goose hunter on your Christmas list. With the migration kicking into high gear, Waterfowler.com’s Migration Map, email Migration Alerts and State-by-State Field Reports let the hard core waterfowler know all the when, where and how of staying on the “X”. Waterfowler.com puts a wealth of migration information at your fingertips, tools no hard core duck and goose hunter should be without.
And now, on to the Migration Report.
PACIFIC FLYWAY
The concentration of ducks on the northern Puget Sound continued to build this week. From the British Columbia border to Seattle reports of new birds have been constant and gunning has been above average.
The interior areas of the upper flyway have been plagued with ice and freezing rain, but in areas where hunters can find, or create, open water the gunning has been good for Washington, Oregon and Idaho.
Coastal areas of southern Oregon and northern California have been hit by a series of Pacific storms, bringing high winds and dangerous conditions on local waters. The big storms appear to have moved a fair number of ducks and geese inland in areas of the Oregon, California border and southward as far as the Sacramento Valley.
The southern interior flyway has benefited from a cold air mass hanging over the northern interior flyway. Utah picked up and continues to hold a large number of ducks, particularly on and around the Great Salt Lake area. Nevada and Arizona have also seen a rise in overall waterfowl numbers, but the increase in these states has been less dramatic.
The Christmas outlook for the overall flyway is favorable. Caution, however, is advised along the coastal reaches as more strong Pacific storms roll in.
CENTRAL FLYWAY
Hunters, willing to fight the ice and cold, in Montana are still having good hunts for mallards and Canada geese, but heavy ice flows are making the conditions very challenging, if not down right treacherous. Please remember, no duck is worth risking you or your dog’s life.
Further south, the picture is more ‘hit and miss’ for the mid-tier states of the flyway. Although bird numbers remain fair to good, many hunters are reporting extremely call and decoys shy ducks and geese. In many cases hunters are having better success with reduced decoy spreads and less calling.
With a warming trend on tap over the next few days it is a safe bet that the highly pressured ducks and geese will make a move to any waters that become open as a result of the rising temperatures.
Portions of northern Texas reported a drop off in duck numbers this past week, but goose numbers remain strong. Favorable winds, after the Christmas Holiday, should bring a new batch of birds to this area.
Coastal reaches still appear to be holding good numbers of ducks and light geese, but warmer weather over the next few days, is likely to stagnate migration into the area and make the local waterfowl less active.
MISSISSIPPI FLYWAY
Goose numbers are very strong in the west-central portion of Illinois. The most recent survey from that area shows Canada goose numbers holding at around 35,000 birds, an increase of over 15,000 from the five year average. Southern Illinois is still holding a large number of ducks, as well as a surprising number of snow geese. The estimate of roughly 105,000 snows is more than three times higher than the five year average and up more than 50,000 from the same survey time in 2004.
Waterfowl numbers began to decline in northern portions of Missouri over the last week, with a corresponding increase in duck numbers for the central and southern parts of the state.
Bird numbers appear to be holding in southern Indiana and Ohio, but hunter success has dropped off somewhat due to gunning pressure. More open water should become available over the next week, as temperatures move back up to more seasonal norms. As the mercury raises ducks and geese are likely to seek out newly available waters, shifting feeding and roosting patterns established during the last cold front.
In the southern flyway, Arkansas and Louisiana re-opened their season last weekend and as expected gunning for the first few days was very good in many areas. The lack of water, however, has made waterfowl concentrations extremely susceptible to pressure and the number of ‘barrel burner’ hunts quickly tapered off once the weekend passed.
Recent rainfall for parts of Louisiana and Mississippi should help improve habitat conditions, allowing the birds more areas to feed and congregate, but lack of water is still the major limiting factor for a significant portion of the lower flyway. Parts of Alabama, however, are reporting an unusually high influx of mallards, along with gadwall and other smaller puddle ducks and divers.
ATLANTIC FLYWAY
The upper flyway is in store for another round of snow, with a brief warming period right around the holiday. Goose numbers in the New England states are good and duck numbers are holding steady. As another storm rolls into the area a shift of birds into the upper flyway could happen, as early as Friday. The front is also likely to move some of the localized birds a bit farther down the flyway.
Central flyway states reported a marked increase in diver and sea duck numbers this past week, with puddle duck concentrations also rising, but less dramatically. With a more snow falling in the upper flyway another push of birds should be moving into Virginia and North and South Carolina by the weekend.
In Georgia and Northern Florida have reported better than average duck numbers over the past week. The rise in waterfowl numbers should continue as hunting pressure mounts in the neighboring states to the north and cold weather grips the far northern flyway.
