Crawfish
The expansion of crawfishing the rice fields of southwest Louisiana is creating a big problem for field duck hunters. I've seen a dramatic rise in crawfish acreage the last few years. I've lost some really good blinds over the years to crawfish. I can't blame the farmers, with the price of rice ( f'ed up by the govt with trade restrictions ect..) at very low levels. Farmers are looking for other ways to stay in business. If this increase in crawfishing continues, I'll say that in twenty years field hunting will be a dead sport. It's not just that it ruins that specific farm/field. But the pop guns ruin about a surrounding mile. Crawfish farmers don't want a duck or goose (or any other bird) in their fields, period. This loss of habitat will change flyways and birds (ducks, geese, shorebirds etc. will quit coming down here, if there is not adequate acreage available to them. This is a relatively new industry, but I've seen it becoming a much bigger issue to hunters in the last two years. In the meantime I'll keep finding new areas with less crawfishing, which are getting harder to find. It's a tiny drop in the bucket, but I don't eat them anymore, or serve them at our lodge.
Hopefully supply will meet demand and the destruction of waterfowl habitat won't expand any further!
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