As cold air slides out Canada this week, ducks are on the move in Manitoba. Green-winged teal and wood ducks are starting to bug out of their northern haunts, and ring-necked ducks are passing through the Great Lakes regions — providing spectacular early season diver hunting for big water hunters from Minnesota to New York.
Hello folks, and, as always, welcome to Waterfowler.com.
Hunter reports from Canada continue to rave about the abundance of waterfowl this season. Duck hunters in Southern Manitoba and Saskatchewan are reporting excellent success and a noticeable increase in pintail numbers over previous years.
Ongoing precipitation and cooler temperatures across most of the U.S. continued to improve the quality of hunting habitat in many areas and fuel migration activity. The current jet-stream pattern is diving across the prairie and hooking over the Great Lakes. These favorable migratory winds are expected to bring fresh flights of birds to northern portions of the Mississippi Flyway.
Waterfowler.com readers are encourage to post their hunting and scouting reports as often as possible to help keep track of the fast-paced migration activity this year.
ATLANTIC FLYWAY:
Opening weekend in New York was greeted with an abundance of hunting pressure, success and waterfowl populations. Ring-necked duck, widgeon, and wood duck numbers are reported as above average for this time of year, with goose and mallard populations good to excellent. Sea duck hunting in Maine is off to a fair start with Eider numbers low and scoters fair. Wood ducks numbers are excellent throughout most of the state with black duck and mallards fair. Canada goose numbers continue to build from Pennsylvania to New Jersey, and duck numbers in Delaware are on the rise. Hunting in North Carolina was good to excellent opening week, with teal and wood ducks providing the best shooting for most hunters before the season split.
MISSISSIPPI FLYWAY:
While most of Dakota Prairie remains abnormally dry, migration patterns are shifting to the east, and hunting action is hot in the Upper Mississippi Flyway. The dark-cloud of duck hunting has lifted over Minnesota this season and mallard numbers are above average in the west-central part of the state. Ring-necked ducks are providing excellent shooting, and the first flights of bluebill have begun to arrive. Early season action has been filled with an abundance of waterfowl activity and hunter success. Shooting in Wisconsin begins again this weekend, after a season split and the second opener is expected to provide good shooting for gadwall, pintail and widgeon. Wood duck numbers are expected to decrease over the next week as the ongoing cold front grips the northern tier. Flights of white-fronted geese are trickling into Iowa this week, and Canada goose numbers are good to excellent in most areas for this time of year.
CENTRAL FLYWAY:
Persistent drought conditions continue to plague hunting in North and South Dakota. Competition is high for good hunting habitat and hunter success is low. With birds consolidated into smaller areas, hunting pressure has forced birds to nocturnal feeding habits. In short, hunting is difficult and frustrating for many resident and non-resident waterfowl hunters on the prairie. Hunter success in Colorado ranges from fair to poor as local birds are gone and the northern migrants have yet to arrive in substantial numbers. Gadwall, widgeon and green-wing teal are on the move in Oklahoma and Nebraska with mallard number slow to build. Canada goose numbers are fair in the plains states, with no significant reports of snow goose activity thus far this season.
PACIFIC FLYWAY:
Hunting in Idaho is underway and hunter success was good to excellent in most areas. Bags were mixed and included everything from mallards to canvasback. Hunters in Washington Oregon and California are counting down to opening day and duck numbers continue to build prior to the season. Mallard numbers are good to excellent for this time of year and white-fronted goose numbers are increasing in northern California. In Nevada, early October waterfowl counts are above average in most areas and water conditions good to excellent in most areas.
Until next week, hunt safe and hunt often.
