Duck Season

[PawDawg]

I think a major problem is just what Honker said. A lot of spots are just simply being over hunted. You can not hunt everyday and expect to kill ducks. Duck hunting's popularity is at an all time high and unfortunately most don't really know what they are doing. Resting areas are crucial to give ducks a chance to rest and stack up. Within about 100 mile radius from Monroe there are probably more hunters than anywhere else in the nation. Everybody that has a place to flood is doing it.

The over hunted argument is relative...

Not many years ago folks hunted EVERY day. Not the same hole every day, but still every day. I hunted five days per week for five years. The numbers of ducks went down exactly at the time DU began working with the Feds to establish resting areas. Where do you get the stats about duck hunting being at an all time high? My guess would be at an all time low. Sounds like DU is giving you their spin on the need for resting areas. Ducks don't leave the resting areas unless they run out of food or they freeze up. That doesn't happen down here, so the few ducks we get are safe for the entire season in the resting areas. Fewer resting areas locally mean more ducks to kill...not what DU wants.

[honker22]

here are the #s from the survey of ducks in 07
http://www.ducks.org/news/1305/Duckn...upslightl.html

[Red's Better]

The over hunted argument is relative...

Not many years ago folks hunted EVERY day. Not the same hole every day, but still every day. I hunted five days per week for five years. The numbers of ducks went down exactly at the time DU began working with the Feds to establish resting areas. Where do you get the stats about duck hunting being at an all time high? My guess would be at an all time low. Sounds like DU is giving you their spin on the need for resting areas. Ducks don't leave the resting areas unless they run out of food or they freeze up. That doesn't happen down here, so the few ducks we get are safe for the entire season in the resting areas. Fewer resting areas locally mean more ducks to kill...not what DU wants.

I was referring to the number of hunters, not ducks. I said the number of ducks have "increased" over the past several years.

[Red's Better]

I will be the first to agree that these reports just give you a bunch of gaudy numbers that really dont mean much to the individual hunter. It would be nice to have them break down what you they are doing for our specific area.

At the same time, I would bet the number of people that duck hunt has probably doubled in the last 20 years. That makes a large difference because almost everyone in our area that has farm land is flooding it and leasing blinds.

[Dawgy Dog]

The over hunted argument is relative...

Not many years ago folks hunted EVERY day. Not the same hole every day, but still every day. I hunted five days per week for five years. The numbers of ducks went down exactly at the time DU began working with the Feds to establish resting areas. Where do you get the stats about duck hunting being at an all time high? My guess would be at an all time low. Sounds like DU is giving you their spin on the need for resting areas. Ducks don't leave the resting areas unless they run out of food or they freeze up. That doesn't happen down here, so the few ducks we get are safe for the entire season in the resting areas. Fewer resting areas locally mean more ducks to kill...not what DU wants.

What rest areas is the federal government creating with DU? Also, DU does not have a hand in the population or harvest numbers. The feds do. DU just trumpets the results if there is any increase at all.

[PawDawg]

At the same time, I would bet the number of people that duck hunt has probably doubled in the last 20 years. That makes a large difference because almost everyone in our area that has farm land is flooding it and leasing blinds.-Red

I'll bet you a duck hunt that the number of hunters has not doubled in the last 20 years.

The duck stamp numbers that I could find only go up to 2003, but sales for Mississippi and Louisiana went down drastically from the late '70s to the early 90's. From the early 90's to around 2000 there was in increase. Those are the years that I hunted seriously and my hole was SICK with ducks. For the years '01, '02, & '03 the sales began to fall and those are the years I personally began to see the duck numbers dwindle. Nationwide duck stamp sales have flat lined from the late 80's to '03.

My stance is that hunters have not increased (probably declined), but I will agree with you that hunting acreage has increased by a very large amount in the past 20 years.

[PawDawg]

What rest areas is the federal government creating with DU? Also, DU does not have a hand in the population or harvest numbers. The feds do. DU just trumpets the results if there is any increase at all.

DU tries to be directly involved in all conservation/wetland protection programs that benefit "wildlife" (or so they say). The rest areas are part of those programs. Do you think they are not involved? How do you get that DU does not have a hand in population or harvest numbers? What do they do with all the money?

My beef with DU is that they are now primarily a conservation group and not a hunter friendly group, but they got their start from the hunter's pocket book.

[Dawgy Dog]

DU tries to be directly involved in all conservation/wetland protection programs that benefit "wildlife" (or so they say). The rest areas are part of those programs. Do you think they are not involved? How do you get that DU does not have a hand in population or harvest numbers? What do they do with all the money?

My beef with DU is that they are now primarily a conservation group and not a hunter friendly group, but they got their start from the hunter's pocket book.

I agree 100% that DU is heavily involved in government conservation programs, specificaly WRP. DU does not fund any of that wetland work, it is all paid for by tax dollars (and DU makes a pretty penny off of the work too). In addition, the wetlands created by WRP are not necessarily "rest areas". The goal of WRP is not to create duck habitat. It is to re-establish previously destroyed, degraded wetlands for wetland wildlife species, soil conservation and water quality. The landowner controles access to these sites. If they choose not to hunt them then I guess they are "rest areas" but that is the landowners choice, not DUs or the Federal Govt.

The waterfowl harvest and population numbers have nothing to do with DU. Every year the USGS in conjunction with the Fish and Wildlife Service conduct population surveys in northern North America (the longest running wildlife survey on earth). They create the population estimates, which are then heavily publisized by DU. The harvest results are the same type thing, fedreal government does the work, creates estimates and DU and the rest of the media push them to the public. DU does have a tendency to claim anything waterfowl related as thier own, but survey numbers are not theirs.

I 100% agree with your beef with DU. They have lost focus. They are more interested in the mighty $ than the lowly duck hunter. So much more money to be made through government contracts than member contributions I guess.

I work in the waterfowl arena and get to see DU in action every day; very interesting.

DAWGY

[PawDawg]

Dawgy, you are obviously in the know on this subject. The resting areas I'm so upset about were indeed purchased with government funds. What has upset so many former DU members like myself is that DU seems to take the lead in organizing the purchase of of these type properties. I believe what you say, but DU sure wants folks to think they are in charge and a major contributor to wetlands restoration and wildlife habitat. Having dealt with the Corps on wetlands issues in the past, I have a bad attitude toward their handbook and tree huggers in general. Hope you ain't one of them.:icon_wink:

[nadB]

Here's my personal "duck resting" area. Lot's more water for them to "rest" on during the winter wet season. Here, ducky; Here, ducky; Fly in and "rest".