Feds won't allow into February. That's for the best though. So many negative effects you can have on the breeding season.

Like Jude said earlier... Open one week later and and only one week split. Hell Missouri south zone opens last week of November and has no splits.


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If we would open 1 week later and keep the 2 week split we could hunt till the last weekend in Jan.

Why the ducks didn't reach Louisiana.
 

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Sorry my math was off there.

Why the ducks didn't reach Louisiana
 

I understand our numbers were low this year, but it is a funny thing because in my area ( between Theall and Forked Island ) the ducks were there. However, there was approximately 2sq mi of second crop stubble and with the open fields to the N and W of us the birds set up shop and held there most of the season. I saw a congregation of mallards and pintail several weeks ago that was unbelievable. The amount of pintails in that area was unreal this year with mallard numbers considerable as well. I think the ducks just simply change patterns from year to year, congregating higher in different areas that they are instinctively used to going to, its the luck of the draw from year to year...we will never have them figured out.

Keep sending y'all's money to DU and they'll save the ducks. May not come here. But there will be ducks. 30 and 3 or bust.

I was waiting for that.


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I knew it was coming. Never fails every duck thread someone will bring it up.


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Duck hunting is a huge fad right now. Bigger than ever. 30 and 3 or bust. Dumpin money to du and they laughin as they renovatin their private land.

Satellite imagery would probably be the most accurate way to assess waterfowl populations. Ecological applications of satellite images are on the rise.

Nobody is blaming rice farmers. Just stating facts that growing Clearfield rice varieties allows farmers to use herbicide mixes that effectively eliminate red rice and other moist soil plants in the fields. That technology wasn't available operationally 20 years ago. The resulting waterfowl habitat from the Clearfield regime is of much less quality than the habitat created by traditional rice farming.

On the flip side, many would argue that using Clearfield varieties allows many farmers to still still able to plant rice in areas where the cost of competition control or the amount of red rice made growing rice unprofitable.

Robbie aka Big Hutch

Saltwater intrusion

Another thing about the Clearfield rice is the lack of water it takes to grow it.


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Y'all are spot on.:)

Like most of us, i have came up with my own conclusion as well. I have been hunting the same spot for 20 years in the spring bayou wma, a small hole in flooded timber. The majority of the ducks i see\kill are 80% mallards, 10% woodies, 5% greys, and 5% teal. Very rarely anything else. When i first started hunting, there was a large area of the wma that was closed off and designated for waterfowl refuge. Ever since they allowed hunting in all areas of the wma, I find the area does not hold nearly as many birds. However this year and for the last few years, my ring was dry until we finally got a little rain after the opening weekend. It gave us just enough water to hunt, but not enough to hold any birds. If you look at almost every "rain producing front" from opening day on, all or most of the rain pasted north of Louisiana, not giving us much of the flooding rains. I contribute most of the irregular number due to lack of water around the area. I did have a hand full of good days, even seeing large numbers of mallards flying high. I couldn't rap my head as to way one day i would see many many ducks and the very next day i could count them on one hand, which again supports my theory that lack of water and abundance of hunters just keeps them roaming, and the ducks finally final that safe place and are sitting. One another note, since after Christmas, the ducks were very shy. I had many flocks of mallards circle a few times and just leave. I think we need a drought up north and a very wet fall and early winter here to see the numbers return. Just my $0.02

Yall just need to do what i have done for the last few years. hunt the first split and smash the ducks, then deer hunt the second split except for the cold fronts. works like a charm.

a couple years of 30 and 3 would do wonders for the ducks. it will never happen though, too much money involved.

so we would get 30 and 3, while the rest of the country still has there same days and limits or would everybody everywhere go to 30 and 3?

Limits are flyway wide.

We have more ducks than ever..........
Where they go and how long they stay in another story.

Then you have too many guys that out and buy a Benelli, a dog, name it Benelli, a mud boat, some shiney new camo and are convinced beyond measure that they are a duck hunter.

Then when they do not kill anything ***** about "no ducks" "DU short stopping" "no food for the ducks" "too many hunters" (I agree with this one" and whatever belly ache they have.

This has been the same damn conversation for 35 years.
So many people talk about the "good times" and were not even born then.
Legends are made by telling the story over and over for generations.

want to KILL more ducks?
take away mojos
take away mud motors
limit CALLING to only those that can
no afternoon hunts

U mean barrel stickers and black beanies aren't cool?

of course they are............

but does it help you kill ducks? LOL

I am not busting anyone's chops that do this, hell I stick them in my gun room and they look cool there, and likely just as effective at killing ducks.

Mr. Reynolds is highly regarded in his field. While I do not always see his side of a story ON MY PARTICULAR PIECE OF HUNTING LAND, I have to respect his education and experience to a larger picture.

It would be like me telling Southern151 how to weld a pit together or fix my car.