Waterfowl Field Report
Louisiana Waterfowl Survey
The estimate of 2.7 million ducks on this survey is 25% higher than the 2.16 million estimated in December and is 69% higher than last January’s record low estimate of 1.6 million. It is similar to the most recent 5-year average (2.67 million) but remains 13% below the 30-year average of 3.1 million ducks. All species except mottled ducks, and pintails increased from the December survey, and estimates for all species are higher than last January. Although lower than in December, the mottled duck estimate of 93,000 is substantially higher than last January’s estimate of 57,000 and is higher than the long-term January average of 82,000. Blue-winged teal remain well above the long-term average of 99,000, and the mallard estimate is about 1/3 the long-term average of 410,000 for January. Add a comment Read more...
Two Weeks Left
We limped into last weekend with all the field report info we could gather and a pretty good idea that the thaw would open things up for us. In fact, the obvious hungry duck syndrome lulled us into being lazy on Saturday. Paul and Jon had seen large numbers of blacks jacks using a common WMA area, so we decided to risk it all in hopes of easy gunning. Of course not even a quarter of what they'd seen ever flew in and the morning was worthless. At this point in my waterfowling career, I'm pretty used to things not working out the way you'd planned, but you always hate it a little more when you take the easy route and it doesn't work out. It's like leaving chips on the duck hunting table for no good reason.
Add a comment Read more...Stone Cold Lock
I took the time that I would have spent hunting this weekend to do some snooping. Sometimes it pays to just observe. It really didn't pay all that much this time but I did manage to find a geographical occurrence that will prove valuable in the future. Ground water from a small mountain bubbled up into some flooded timber making what would otherwise seem to be nothing special, the only naturally open water available.
Add a comment Read more...Migration and Activity Alert
An arctic blast is ringing in the New Year east of the Continental Divide,
bringing chilling winds, snow and ice to most of the south. With
temperatures staying well below zero in the north and below freezing in many
southern states, waterfowl activity is expected to increase significantly
over the next few days.
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Southeast Tennessee-North Alabama
In a season filled with variables, it's coming down to the wire. To start the second half, hunters are reporting slight increases in big duck numbers seen, but the migration could prove too little too late. We've seen pintails, mallards and ring-necks on the refuge as early as four weeks ago clearly defining the early part of the winter migrations. Gadwall numbers seem to be short of the norm, but contending with thousands of acres of flooded land not normally a part of the equation is making it difficult to evaluate just how many gadwall are in town for the winter.
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