Labor Day kicked off the 2003-2004 early migratory game bird season for many across the country. With the first shots now fired the momentum is building for the main event; the regular season is fast approaching and Waterfowler.com has just added a new server array to handle our ever expanding resources and bandwidth needs.
Hello, folks, and, as always, welcome to Waterfowler.com
Rain or shine, limits or less, waterfowlers got their first taste of the season to come over the holiday. Early season goose hunting for some, and doves for many marked the end of the long wait. Time will move fast now that the first hunts of the season are under our belts.
Be sure you can keep up with the latest on all things web-footed by renewing your Waterfowler.com Membership before the season gets into full swing. Check your expiration date by logging in from the main page and looking in the Current Access Level box in the upper left hand corner of the screen. Several new levels of Membership are now available and the benefits of Membership just keep getting better.
The Migration Map is up and running again for this season. Remember to select the LEVEL OF ACTIVITY and TYPE OF WATERFOWL before submitting your data. This year teal have their own category and map for the early season, so be sure to report them in their appropriate category.
And now, on to the Migration Report.
Speaking of Teal, South Louisiana and coastal Texas reported an explosion of the little rockets last week. Numbers in some areas climbed from a few hundred to several thousand. Old hands along the end of the flyways are telling of record concentrations of blue-wings along with an unusually early arrival of pintails.
Between the coast and the breeding grounds, teal are a bit more scattered. Successive fronts and heavy rains have put a large amount of new ground under water and the teal are spreading out to feed in the abundant areas of shallow flooded grasses.
For coastal residents the continuing trend of tropical weather might scatter birds somewhat over the next week. Timing of these storms can make or break the early teal season along the coast, so regular observation and scouting will be of the utmost importance over the next two weeks.
With another warming trend slated for much of the country for the next week, resident geese should hold to their observed feeding and resting patterns. Early season goose hunters’ reports are just starting to trickle in, but from the looks of it, no major move has been made by the big birds from grass to harvested fields just yet.
As the opening days march south along the flyways, hunters from all walks of life begin their annual rituals. Licenses are bought, camps stocked and misses cleared out of their favorite guns on dove fields and sporting clays ranges. You can almost feel it in the air. Autumn is coming and waterfowlers across the country are gearing up to greet her.
