The spring waterfowl surveys have begun and reports have already begun to roll in at FLYWAYS.US. As expected the mild winter has had some impact on seasonal wetlands but early reports indicate fair to good conditions in central Canada, with heavy spring rains recharging many areas in the east. While it’s still too early to make any definitive assumptions for the entire breeding area, we will follow the reports with a hopeful outlook. Hello folks, and, as always, welcome to Waterfowler.com. For our readers, real-time reporting is the stuff dreams are made of. Throughout the hunting season, we wait for good news to arrive from our participants that the migration is underway and birds are on the move. If you are anything like us, and we’re sure some of you are, we think you’ll find similar excitement in the survey team reports at FLYWAY.US. Continue reading

Record high temperatures across most of the nation during March resulted in a fast and furious spring migration for snow geese. Hunting in the northern reaches of the Central and Mississippi Flyways was difficult at best as birds quickly moved north. While the unseasonably warm temperatures have been tough on light goose hunters, the spring field trial season has begun in many states and both dog and trainer have been enjoying the pleasant weather. Hello folks, and, as always, welcome to Waterfowler.com. The mild winter that left many ducks and geese lingering in northern states during the general waterfowl season thawed quickly this past month. Spring seemed to have sprung right into summer temperatures and light geese, ducks, swans and cranes pushed their way north towards their nesting grounds. Continue reading

As the first groups of snow geese begin to arrive in North Dakota, spring has spring across the nation in grand fashion. Flights of juvenile geese remain scattered from northwest Missouri into Iowa and Nebraska. With record warm temperatures and southerly winds pushing them back to the breeding grounds, light goose harvests in the central portions of the Central and Mississippi Flyways is expected to drop significantly over the next week. Hello folks, and, as always, welcome to Waterfowler.com. “Got time” in the Mound City, Missouri area has switched gears to “getup and go time” over the past two weeks. Snow goose numbers at the Squaw Creek NWR rose to a peak of just over 1 million birds, and then dropped to 300,000 by the next survey. While juvenile geese are still being harvested at this time, open water in the north is inviting them home to the breeding grounds… Continue reading

A series of snowstorms will cross the Plains this week, adding snow to the migration barrier of mid-continental light geese – extending the opportunity hunters have along the snowline. At this time geese are strung out from eastern Colorado to Western Illinois with the concentration of birds in northwest Missouri excellent at this time. Hello folks, and, as always, welcome to Waterfowler.com. While there has been no shortage of light geese this season, hunter success has varied greatly in the Central and Mississippi Flyways as the first dense flights of adult birds have moved north. As hunters wait for the arrival of juvenile flocks that migrate later, they have been constantly reminded how difficult this species can be to hunt when trying to decoy these massive flocks. Even with the aid of electronic callers and mind-numbing volumes of decoys, success is not an absolute. Continue reading

As another snowstorm works its way across the nation, the light goose numbers at Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge in Missouri soar to over 700,000 birds. With hunting pressure relatively low at this time, hunter success has been good to excellent in the Mound City area. The snow goose exodus has begun at Bosque del Apache NWR in New Mexico – with few birds remaining after the northern migration began just two days ago. Hello folks, and, as always, welcome to Waterfowler.com. Hunting under the Conservation Order is off to a great start in the southern portions of the Central and Mississippi Flyways. The light goose northerly migration has begun and the race to the edge of the snow and freeze line is on. According to park officials at Bosque del Apache NWR, light geese began to depart two days ago and all but a few remain on the refuge.… Continue reading

As the 2011-2012 General Waterfowl Season nears it’s final hunting days a remaining special youth hunts, it will likely go down on the record books as the season that “could have been” for many states. Looking back at our reporting archives, it’s becoming apparent that the seasonal weather patterns that produce greatest numbers of ducks also deliver the mildest migration patterns. Hello folks, and, as always, welcome to Waterfowler.com. As Waterfowler.com begins it’s 15 th year of Migration tracking and reporting, we’ve taken a walk down memory lane and reviewed or historical data – not with a find tooth comb mind you, but more of a nostalgic speed read. Surprisingly, the years that stood out the most were not those were harvests were closer to normal and satisfactory, but those where our members and readers where shouting, “where are the ducks?” Continue reading

The first major winter storm blanketed areas of the north last week, finally pushing late-migrating birds further south. While the snow arrived too late for many waterfowl hunters, hunter success has improved dramatically in states that remain open through the end of the month. Hello folks, and as always, welcome to Waterfowler.com. Winter has finally arrived in areas of the north, albeit late and meaningless for a number of states in the mid-south where the duck season has already closed. Despite the record number of waterfowl migrating this season, waterfowl hunters have been harshly reminded that hunter success is dependant on weather – which is unpredictable at best. Continue reading

Despite the arrival of the Winter Solstice, warm air continues to embrace the nation. With temperatures averaging 25-35 degrees above normal this week, areas in the U.S. Prairie Pothole region could reach record temperatures this week and coddle and already stalled migration of northern birds. Hello folks, and, as always, welcome to Waterfowler.com. Whether you call it Global Warming or simply cyclical Climate change, warm and dry conditions continue to plague hunter success in the southern half of the nation. While waterfowl hunters remain hopeful that the duck driving Clipper System will rear deliver ducks before the end of the season, data available at the Climate Prediction Center does little to fuel those hopes. With the exception of the Pacific Northwest, temperatures across the rest of the nation are expected to remain well above average through January, with the epicenter of unseasonable temperatures radiating outward from southwest Missouri. Precipitation will… Continue reading