New early teals seasons for the upper Mississippi Flyway.
The count down is on for resident Canada goose and Dove seasons in many states – and the start of hunting season is just over 30-days away. That’s right, a mere month away. As we ramp up for the coming season, and another record year for duck production, issue #22 of Waterfowler.com Journal is in production and slated for a September release to celebrate the arrival of another hunting season.
The 2014 off-season has been quite productive for both waterfowl and waterfowl management. Duck numbers will reach another record this season and in response to those numbers a number of states in the Upper Mississippi Flyway will host in their first early teal seasons this year – including Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa and Minnesota. Waterfowler.com encourages our readers to consult their state regulations for details and to participate in these experimental seasons. Of course, during teal-only seasons, species identification is paramount and wood ducks can be easily mistaken for teal during the early season before waterfowl molt into colorful breeding plumage. Waterfowler.com reminds our readers to hunt safe, hunt legal and take extra precaution with regard to species identification.
While some government agencies continue to work hard to improve quality-hunting opportunity for sportsmen, the polarization on Capitol Hill continues to put politics before good policy for sportsman. Much to the disappointment of the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) and sportsman everywhere, the Bi-Partisan Sportsman’s Act of 2014 died a horrible death on the Hill, thanks to ongoing political shenanigans. Despite the bill having overwhelming support from both sides of the aisle, the bill was destined for failure long before the it was put to a vote and amended to death in order to insure it’s failure. In short, the block was the result of long-term political maneuvering, as the bill’s sponsor, Senator Kay Hagen (D-NC), is running for re-election this November and allowing Hagen to take home a win to North Carolina sportsmen would be in direct opposition to the GOP’s goal to win a majority in the Senate this fall.
In all likelihood, the third attempt to raise the price of the duck will also fail as well if the Federal Duck Stamp Act of 2014 should proceed to vote before the mid-term elections. The bill is a bi-partisan effort with widespread support amongst sportsman, Ducks Unlimited, Delta Waterfowl and has heavy congressional support from both sides of the aisle — which in any other political environment would insure it’s passage. Waterfowler.com encourages our members to contact their representatives and demand they put policy before politics and vote to pass a clean Duck Stamp bill today
This coming duck season will mark 17th year of migration reporting for Waterfowler.com and we look forward to the continued support and participation from our readers. As we continue to expand our integration with social media tools on the web and in our magazine, we invite our readers to give the new “Clip” feature in our digital magazine – where they can tag, clip and comment on specific content on social platforms.
We look forward to your feedback on the current issue and Issue #22 when it releases in September. Until our next report, begin your preparations and plans for the 2014-2015 waterfowl seasons today.
