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#1
07-03-2012, 02:45 PM
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Record number of ducks again!
 "Wow! The good-old days for ducks are right now." — Dr. Frank Rohwer, Delta Waterfowl's scientific director Duck Populations Hit All-Time Record Breeding Survey estimates 48.6 million ducks; Mallards at highest level since 1999 North America's total spring duck population is the highest ever recorded, according to the annual Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey released today. Conducted each May by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Canadian Wildlife Service, the survey puts the duck population at 48.6 million birds. That represents a 7 percent increase from 2011's record number of 45.6 million. "This is the highest duck count since we started the survey in 1955," says Dr. Frank Rohwer, Delta Waterfowl's scientific director. "We had excellent wetland conditions in 2011, the second-highest pond count ever. So last year, we made a pile of ducks. This year, we're counting them." Mallards, blue-winged teal, green-winged teal, gadwalls, canvasbacks, northern shovelers and scaup are all up significantly from last year, with both species of teal and shovelers at all-time highs. Blue-winged teal are estimated at 9.2 million, green-winged teal number more than 3.4 million and shovelers now top 5 million. Mallard breeding numbers sit at 10.6 million, a 15 percent increase over 2011 and 40 percent over the long-term average. Gadwall increased 10 percent over last year, and now total 3.5 million. The population is nearly double the long-term average for gadwalls. American wigeon are up slightly to 2.1 million, but are still 17 percent below their long-term average. Scaup numbers are up 21 percent to 5.2 million, the seventh-straight year that the bluebill count has gone up. Scaup are at their highest breeding population since 1991. Redheads declined slightly to just under 1.3 million, but still registered the second-highest population estimate in the history of the survey. Canvasbacks jumped 10 percent to 760,000, the fourth-highest count on record. "All in all, this is a great duck count," says Rohwer. Pond Counts Down While the total breeding population is strong, the news is different for breeding habitat. The survey is calling 2012 an "average to below-average" year for moisture. The total pond count for prairie Canada and United States combined has dropped 32 percent, from an estimated 8.1 million ponds last year to 5.5 million this year. "The ponds that are dry are the important ones for ducks — the temporary and seasonal wetlands," Rohwer says. "We kept the large ponds, but lost the small ponds." Drier conditions may account for the one species that shows a significant drop in the survey area. Northern pintails are down more than one million birds, from 4.4 million birds last year to 3.4 million. One possible explanation is that pintails didn't like the look of the drier conditions and just kept flying north. "Pintails numbers increased in northerly habitats such as Alaska," says John Devney, Delta's senior policy director of U.S. policy. "This suggests sprig over-flew the prairies this spring. Research has well documented that in average or dry conditions, many pintails head north to the boreal forest. The survey's ability to detect them is reduced." Significantly, the biggest decline in wetland conditions has occurred on the U.S. prairies. The pond estimate for the Dakotas and Montana is 1.7 million, which is 49 percent below the estimates from last year. Only the Coteau Region of North and South Dakota is rated good for 2012. No areas are rated excellent. "The Dakotas have carried a disproportionate load of continental duck production over the last few years," says Devney. "If we get dry here and lose the wetlands and upland nesting cover, the U.S. prairies just won't be able to produce at the amazing levels we have seen since the mid-1990s, and that will have a real impact on hunters almost everywhere." Conditions across the Canadian prairies have also declined this year. Temporary wetlands, crucial to successful breeding, retained little moisture because of a shallow frost seal and below-average participation. Last year, most of Saskatchewan and Manitoba was inundated with water. May pond estimates for 2012 in prairie Canada have dropped 21 percent, from 4.9 million to 3.9 million. The overall pond count is still 9 percent above average, but as the prairies dry out, you can expect a direct impact on hunting, says Joel Brice, Delta's senior director of conservation. "Let's not forget that we hunt the fall flight, not the spring count," says Brice. "Lots of ducks jammed into fewer wetlands negatively impacts breeding success. There's a good chance we won't see as many juveniles as last year, and those are the birds that are easiest to decoy. Still, it promises to be great year. We may just have to work a bit harder." For more information: Contact Delta Senior Director of U.S. Policy John Devney at 888-987-3695 Delta Waterfowl Foundation is a leading North American conservation organization, tracing its origins to the birth of the wildlife conservation movement in 1911. The Foundation supports research, provides leadership and offers science-based solutions to efficiently conserve waterfowl and secure the future of waterfowl hunting. Delta Waterfowl is based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Bismarck, N.D. Note to Editors: Download the species chart and other photographs from Delta Waterfowl's website: deltawaterfowl.org/duckpop/  
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#3
07-03-2012, 03:20 PM
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Yep. Don't mean they will come down here though!
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#4
07-03-2012, 03:29 PM
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Man another one!?! A few more of these record years and I'll be scratching every hunt. I'm waiting for a pi$$ poor hatch, then I know I'll smoke em!
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#5
07-03-2012, 03:51 PM
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They do have wings! Let's hope on a colder and wetter winter.
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#6
07-03-2012, 04:22 PM
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#7
07-03-2012, 04:29 PM
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#8
07-03-2012, 04:39 PM
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#10
07-03-2012, 04:50 PM
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#11
07-03-2012, 05:14 PM
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#12
07-03-2012, 05:32 PM
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http://www.wildfowlmag.com/destinati...qual_0510.html
Long read, but the cliff notes are: •equal opportunity for all hunters •It is illegal to pay or charge for access to land for hunting purposes •locals don't want outside influences (sports) ruining their rich hunting tradition (like they have here) by driving up the prices of leases. Before you get mad and call me some kind of democrat, I don't hold any ill will towards someone who leases land for waterfowl, no matter how much they pay. I'm happy they can enjoy waterfowl hunting with their friends and family and can afford it. Louisiana has many public land hunting opportunities that I enjoy. I just don't agree with paying more money for a GOOD lease than what I pay for my home because of some rich tool from New York wants to try duck hunting. Rant over
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#14
07-03-2012, 06:22 PM
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Dam! Change every word for duck and insert RED SNAPPER....WHOOOOOOOOO
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#15
07-03-2012, 06:23 PM
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Thanks Paul. You would think I am posting negative news. A record duck population is good for all duck hunters no matter where you hunt. I guess when the prairies dry and we go back to 30 and 3 they will be happier. Unbelievable!
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#17
07-03-2012, 06:43 PM
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I grew up south of I - 10 and hunted the Point Au Fer for all of my youth.....since then i have hit the Lake Arthur area on rice fields and fresh water marsh. The ABSOLUTE most ducks i have EVER seen in one area was in the peanut fields of Oklahoma last year.
They classify them as tornados ie F-4. It was the strangest hunt i ever had...we are looking at a blue bird sky and not seeing a bird in sight, laying down in a coffin blind....dry as a bone and drinking cold "pops". I'm shaking my head thinking we came all this way for a beautiful sunset and the guide says they will be here in 15 minutes...keep looking in the north. I'll be damed but off of the lake a couple miles away a black cloud picks up and starts moving toward us. We had 10 of us on the ground and got our limit in 2 groups. You COULD NOT flock shoot.... They already have my money for next year. My take on the duck migration is that we have lost generations of ducks since i was young hunter. Ducks are creatures of habit and will travel where there is food, water safety and sex. If they are not FORCED to make it down here, why come? They guide told us "folks from down south" that the best hunting is when it is sleeting....because they do not know if it will snow and lock up the ground for a week or not so they dive into the fields. It takes atleast week of frozen fields nad covered in snow to get them moving south.... Last time i checked....has not snowed down here in a while. I guess we are getting all of the "older snow birds" that cant tolerate the cold weather anymore. Just my take.... RC
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#20
07-03-2012, 06:58 PM
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I would not care if the report stated it was the worst numbers in the past 50 years. I will be out there day one until. I am excited for teal season and ready to shoot at them ducks.
On a side note, Canada is a great hunting experience and I recommend everyone experience it one time in there life if they enjoy duck hunting. I hope to save enough to travel to South America and pull the trigger down there. Cheers!
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