Hello, folks, and, as always, welcome to Waterfowler.com.
On October 1st Waterfowler.com will unveil our new GIS MIGRATION MAPPING SYSTEM, a real-time migration tracking system. Using the latest in GIS technology and information from the over 100,000 waterfowler.com users will provide our readers with real-time migration tracking.
This revolutionary system will compile information from members and guests on the level of migration intensity in their area and make it available in an easy to read GIS map format.
Using the Zip Code locator that will be part of the reporting system, users can input their observations of the migration up to three times, from three different zip codes, in a twenty-four hour period.
Maps will detail the migration in the following categories: Puddle Ducks, Diving Ducks, Sea Ducks, and Light and Dark Geese, allowing hunters across the continent to keep up with their favorite species in those hours when they can not be afield.
We would also like to remind our members that the new Waterfowler.com PRO SHOP is now open and ready for business. Within, you will find discounted prices on an ever widening selection of the MUST HAVES for waterfowling.
And now, on to the Migration Report.
Cooler weather this week came just in time to make the youth weekends and first regular openers feel right, and it didn’t hurt the hunting any either. Father south, hunters on the coast had to keep one eye out for teal and another on the gulf as hurricane Isidore lingered, trying to decide on her path for the coming week. Mid-latitude states also found the temperatures more reasonable as hunters sought out teal to hold them over until the regular opener. All in all, it looks to have been a better than average week for waterfowling.
PACIFIC FLYWAY
Yong waterfowlers in the Pacific Flyway got their first crack at ducks for the 2002-2003 season this past week. Warmer than average weather meant that parents and children out to enjoy the early youth hunts had to rely on local birds for their big ducks and, as expected, shooting for mallards was better Saturday than Sunday. Teal numbers seem to have been good, however, and greenwings and woodducks kept barrels hot for the second day of the youth season for many. A cooling trend over the next few days should restart the migration out west. Reports Alaska and western Canada still show most of the birds holding north of Vancouver and in the Peace River of Alberta. Hunter success in Canada and Alaska has been good thus far and only looks to improve as the week progresses.
CENTRAL FLYWAY
Cooler weather moved down out of Canada in time for the opener in North and South Dakota. Though water levels in portions of both states are low, hunter success was better than expected. Due to late hatches in some areas, identification was tough for some this weekend but mallard numbers were good in most areas. The cold front pushed much of the teal migration out of the area but teal bags were still high as the season got underway. With another cold front moving in this week, both duck and goose numbers should continue a slow increase. On the lower end of the flyway, hunters in Texas finished out the teal season with spotty results. Recent heavy rains moved the birds out of many coastal marshes and inland to freshly flooded rice and moist soil areas.
MISSISSIPPI FLYWAY
Iowa waterfowlers were first out of the chute for the regular season in the Mississippi Flyway. Teal were present in strong numbers for most hunters, but local mallards put in appearances for many along the Big Muddy. As can be expected with teal, success was spotty and of the “here today, gone tomorrow” variety. Youth hunters in the far northern reaches of the flyway had better success with the big ducks while the teal season marched on at the bottom end. Teal concentrations on the Louisiana coast were lower than expected, but hunters in the northern half of the state got a fresh push of birds just in time for the opener. As cooler weather eases down the Mississippi Valley this week, teal numbers for the lower flyway should increase while the first waves of migrating mallards can be expected on the edge of the front for hunters on the north end of the flyway.
ATLANTIC FLYWAY
With temperatures running slightly above average for the northern end of the Atlantic Flyway, the onset of the migration has yet to evolve in any real way. Early teal hunts from the central portion continued to be spotty this week. On the southern end of the flyway, teal have yet to arrive in good concentrations so wood ducks took up most of the bag for hunters of the sunshine state. Georgia still looks to be the best bet in early teal season, but warm weather over the next week may have the birds less active than waterfowlers would like. Barring any unforeseen fronts it looks as though the teal season may be in a holding pattern for hunters of the Atlantic Flyway.
Until next week, good luck and make an extra effort to ID those early season birds.
