As more southern states prepare for their openers a resounding cry is going up from duck hunters across all of the US. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
Hello folks, and as always, welcome to Waterfowler.com.
With the official kick-off of the Holidays just a week away it is a great time to stop by the WFC ProShop for your Christmas shopping. With super saving on everything from boats to blind bags the WFC OnLine ProShop will save you time and money when you are buying for the duck hunters on your Christmas list, and you might find a thing or two for Santa as well. Visit the ProShop today and get a head start on your shopping. No lines, no carolers, no walking through miles of mall parking, and its all about ducks, ducks, ducks.
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And now, on to the Migration Report.
CANADA
Unseasonably warm weather continues across much of the nation. At a time when snow should be piling up, rain and warm weather is still in place for much of Canada. Though some of the smaller bodies of water have begun to ice up, a lot of water remains open and the food supply for waterfowl remains high. Slightly colder weather should move across much of the country this weekend but snow accumulations are expected to be minimal. Ducks and geese that have moved toward the US/Canadian border are not likely to make any major southward shift until a more vigorous front locks up waters and buries the ample foods available.
PACIFIC FLYWAY
In the northern flyway coastal hunters are reporting a nice increase in bird numbers over the past week. This may change though as a strong storm system moves inland over the next few days. Hunters inland could see a west to east shift of birds as the pacific storm rolls in.
Diver numbers on the lower Columbia appear to be rising with reports of fast open water action coming in over the last few days. In other mid flyway areas duck numbers appear to be holding steady with slight rises in scattered locations. Pressure is taking its toll on hunter success as the birds hang around. Look for isolated waters and out of the way fields that are likely to have experienced less gunning pressure. Reduced decoy spreads and light calling should help ease workable birds closer while waiting for fresh birds from the north.
Lower central and southern portions of the flyway have seen a slight rise in duck numbers and a nice increase in the movement of light geese. As the next front plows into the upper coast another shift of birds down into California and inland southern flyway states seems likely.
CENTRAL FLYWAY
All eyes are on Canada and the Dakota as the weekend draws near. Light goose numbers on this side of the Canadian border are climbing and ducks appear to be moving south out of North Dakota.
Mid –tier states have been reporting a shift of ducks down the flyway over the past week, but lot of the movement seems to be on a hop, skip and jump pattern. That is to say, concentrated pockets of ducks and geese are showing up and vanishing in a more random pattern. Until a major front moves south expect the migration to remain on a scattered basis. Scouting is of the utmost importance. Concentrations of ducks and geese are not being reported in wide areas, but rather in isolated pockets whose patter seems to have very little rhyme or reason.
Coastal Texas reports fair to good bird numbers. Pintail, though not yet in season, are thick in some areas and the redheads and wigeon have begun to build in numbers. Further west mallard numbers are steady in New Mexico, but these birds have begun to show signs of pressure wariness.
MISSISSIPPI FLYWAY
With the waters of the far north still open birds are widely scattered across most of the upper flyway. Divers have begun to raft on many large northern lakes and goose numbers are still strong from Minnesota across the top of the flyway.
Over the past week a large effort to harvest remaining grain crops has served to make more feed available to birds holding in the upper flyway. Ample food and open water has given the ducks and geese unlimited feeding and resting options, scattering what birds have moved into the area. Slightly colder weather should move into the region by early next week and some snowfall is predicted, though it is still too early to tell how wide spread the precipitation will be and how much snow cover it will provide.
Newly harvested fields of corn and soybeans have been the best bet in areas of southern Wisconsin and Northern and eastern Illinois, but even these are highly susceptible to pressure and should be scouted and rested between hunts.
Some states in the southern portion of the flyway are seeing a large number of early season birds. The most recent survey by the Arkansas Game and Fish shows a 126% increase in duck numbers from the same time period last year. Excellent habitat conditions across the state are given the credit for holding large numbers of ducks and geese just in time for the opener. As warm as it has been though, it is anybody’s guess how the area will fare once the guns start blazing this weekend.
The rest of the southern flyway is reporting decent numbers of both ducks and light geese, but surveys from the region show numbers are down slightly from previous years. Heavy rains across much of the lower flyway have made vast areas available to waterfowl and the birds are likely to move to the most recently flooded fields, woods and marshes.
ATLANTIC FLYWAY
The upper east coast and inland northern flyway states continue to hold a good number of ducks, but with few new ducks moving into the area birds are edging toward being call/blind shy. Still, the region has had some of the better waterfowl concentrations of the flyway thus far this season. Sea duck numbers are steady to slightly rising and the reports of inland puddle ducks continues to look promising.
Mid flyway states saw a bump in bird numbers this past week. After the snows up the coast, teal, mallard and ring neck numbers have improved from Virginia all the way to Florida. Fresh birds moving into the lower end of the flyway should provide good early season shooting for late opening states.
After this weekend it’s all Turkey and Christmas trees. The Holidays are here, well almost. And everyone seems to have a common item on their wish list, cold weather. So, I guess we will soon see if the nation’s waterfowlers have been naughty or nice. Will Santa deliver an early gift of duck moving weather or will the warmth continue as we baste our Thanksgiving turkey? It’s hard to say, but you can probable guess what gets the most votes.
