Posted By:
Kris-Bertelsen
Field Editor
12-30-2011 14:10
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Still large numbers of geese and mallards around the Chippewa Valley. Came back from Lake Wissota today and saw hundreds of geese in the fields up there. I watched hundreds of mallards flying to the fields last week on the south side of Eau Claire past highway 93. We got birds yet – anywhere there is open water.
Posted By:
DU870
Web Member
12-19-2011 10:46
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John,
We stil have a fair amount of ducks around the southern wisco area. Going over the lake today there was a good 100-150 mallards and other ducks. I do think we have lost a majority of our birds when we froze up a couple weeks ago but that ice has left and we now have a lot of open water.
Posted By:
John-Donelon
Field Editor
12-18-2011 10:38
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Here in Missouri,on
a lease I share,mallard hunting has been poor. We are in a triangle of three water refuges.All I keep hearing and seeing on posts are that mallards are still up north due to mild winter weather in the Dakota’s,Minn. and Wis.,all states reporting very little snow this year.What’s up with the mallards in the northern states?Thanks for any replies.
Posted By:
Duck Toller
Field Editor
Southeast 12-14-2011 13:37
Cloudy, Rain & Thunderstorms – 35-40 Degrees
It’s been awhile. The season in Wisconsin is officially over today. Hunted ducks the last weekend in a down-pour. Had scouted a flock of 150 bluebill on the water but were unable to get them to decoy. We bagged some bufflehead and that was all. Sunday I hunted some private land. Weather again rain but not as bad as the day before. Mallards were still hard to finish. All and all a good season. Now, until next season, I’m a waterfowl watcher! Quite a number of coots on LG along with a few mallards and buffleheads. Yesterday I went into Illinois to Peoria to pick up my daughter from college. South of Rockford there were lots of geese flying over the hwy and in the surrounding fields. South of La Salle I followed the Illinois river and stopped at the Hennipen and Hopper Wetland. Not 1 duck was seen! I climbed the observation tower and glassed the whole area. All I saw were a few Canada geese. When I got home I drove out southwest of town to the water treatment plant. The ponds were frozen but I witnessed well over 500 mallards swarming the adjacent field. With this mild weather and no snow cover it’s hard telling exactly where the ducks are, even with ice on the small water…?
Posted By:
DU870
Web Member
12-14-2011 11:22
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Posted By:
DU870
Web Member
12-14-2011 11:08
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Trial Lawyer- I think that with a start date that late in October, we stand a good chance of loosing a lot of woodies, teal and some other local birds. The first good frost and woodies are headed south.
Ending in Mid December could be nice. This year especially as we still have open water and birds around. However all it would take is a big cold snap in November and we would be locked up. I think it was 3 years ago I hunted the deer opener with snow and people were ice fishing.
Posted By:
Kris-Bertelsen
Field Editor
12-11-2011 19:26
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I have an editorial that I will post on the forum with my interpretation of looking at the big picture. It is too much for the report page so I’ll just give my thesis.
My thesis is that it is the 12th of Dec, and I would be able to still hunt both ducks and geese especially in the fields. This is the 10th year at least of this. Geography plays a large role in bird numbers and needs to be taken into consideration. Other hunting seasons plays a large role availability of hunting opportunities and needs to be taken into consideration.
I would favor either starting a week later, or closing down during the 9 day deer gun season to add days on too the end of the season. I would also favor moving the split for North/South back to the original HWY 10 boundary from years ago.
Posted By:
ABest
Web Member
12-09-2011 19:55
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Sure would like to see season made 1 week longer. Have a ton of Mallards in front of the house right now. Heading to Nebraska on Sunday Platte river. They are open till end of January.
Posted By:
Trial Lawyer
Web Member
season dates 12-09-2011 10:21
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If you hunt over water, I assume you like the existing season dates. If you hunt in the fields, I expect you would want the season extended. I hunt both and would like to see the season extended.
I will continue to research past migration dates compared to our season ending dates to develop a database of evidence. My tentative suggestion would be to start the 2012 duck season on October 6, 2012, have a 7 day break and end the duck season on December 12, 2012. What is the collective wisdom of the group?
I would encourage each of you to contact your local representative to the Congressional Congress, particularly those members who sit on the Conservation Congress Migratory Committee, to discuss your concerns. Here is a link to the roster of county delegates: http://dnr.wi.gov/org/nrboard/congress/members/local/ and a link to the July 30, 2011 committee minutes where they discussed the new duck zones: http://dnr.wi.gov/org/nrboard/congress/minutes/2011/MigratoryJuly%2030.pdf.
Collectively, let’s continue to share our ideas.
Posted By:
Kris-Bertelsen
Field Editor
DU State Convention 12-07-2011 13:36
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Join us in Green Bay for the 2012 Wisconsin State Convention. The Convention is for all Ducks Unlimited Supporters. Join us to in Celebrating the Ducks Unlimited 75th Anniversary.
Special guest this year include DU Chief Biologist Dale Humburg, WDNR Secretary Cathy Stepp, Director of DU Government Affairs Office in DC Scott Sutherland and Wildlife Biologist and Manager for State Grants for Western Canada Dave Kosterksy.
The official convention start is Friday at 6PM with a Tailgate party and runs through Saturday Night’s Dinner. For full convention details click on the image of the flier below.
For more information www.ducks.org
