Looks like we made it? Migratory bird season opened this week in several states. The Wednesday opener’s for dove, teal and nuisance geese were by and large a success and openers in other states this coming weekend look promising.
Hello folks, and as always, welcome to Waterfowler.com.
WFC would like to thank all our members, old and new, who stopped by the booth at this year’s Oshkosh Ducks Unlimited Great Outdoors Festival. It was great to get to put some faces with usernames and see old friends. The show was a big success and we hope to see you all again next year.
Fall is fast approaching and the early seasons are underway. Be sure to check your user profile and renew your WFC membership to ensure you have the latest information at your fingertips as the regular season approaches.
If you have not yet become a Waterfowler.com Member, it is a great time to join. From real-time migration tracking to exclusive member discounts, a Waterfowler.com Membership is a sure-fire way to save time and money doing what you love, hunting ducks and geese. Click on the Join Today link on the home page and see why Waterfowler.com is being called “the best deal in duck hunting.”
WFC would like to wish everyone a happy and safe Labor Day weekend. In many areas, this holiday marks the kick off to the hunting season. Be sure to double check your licenses and stamps, plugs and shells and have a safe and successful opener. If you have the chance, take a kid with you this weekend. Children are the future of waterfowling, make time to take them to the field. A day spent watching a young person awaken to the wonders of this great tradition is one of the most rewarding and important things we can do.
And now, on to the Migration Report.
Doves and teal and geese, OH MY! Wednesday kicked of the early migratory bird season in many US states. As one might expect, results from the Wednesday openers are mixed.
A cooler than average summer has teal spread out from the northern tier all the way to the Texas coast. It seems no one is without a few blue rockets around, but heavy concentrations are not yet being reported in any large areas. Local conditions will dictate success or failure of teal openers. Look for recently flooded shallows and weed fields to hold better concentrations of birds.
Local geese proved well worth the effort for many this week. Hunters playing hookey for the September 1st nuisance goose opener, report good to excellent success. A full moon had birds in many areas feeding late into the night on early harvested grain fields. As fields continue to be harvested, local geese are likely to spread out and make scouting ever more important. Just because they wanted field X today doesn’t mean they will want it tomorrow? Keep an eye out for fresh fields; once the harvesters are gone, the geese will surely pay a visit to the new banquet.
So what is in store for the long weekend?
A respectable cold front moving across the upper Mid-West should put teal on the road and get local geese concentrating on available grain fields. With the cooler weather forecast to hang around through the week, look for teal concentrations to bulk up as they prepare to move out. Geese will most likely take advantage of any newly harvested fields as the cool weather takes hold, though the front is not likely to drive the big birds south, at least not in the US.
Reports out of Canada indicate an early movement of both light and dark geese out of the arctic. Canadian hunters may find birds well south of their normal range for this time of year.
It has begun. Whether you are out for teal, geese or doves, the early season is a prime opportunity to bring along a new or young hunter. Give someone new the opportunity to share your blind or dove field this weekend. Be safe, have fun, and enjoy the return of our time of year.
