So, does everywhere suck now?

[buckpasser]

Years ago, when all the public water in my area was good (Seminole, Iamonia, Jackson, Micosukee, coastal big bend, Aucilla River) I lived for waterfowl hunting. I was blessed to be raised by a man that allowed me to hunt almost every weekend as a kid. It was great. Since then, I’ll admit, deer hunting is much more enjoyable to me. Not that deer are more enjoyable so much, but duck hunting at Seminole for example is maybe 1/100th the quality it was 20 years ago. In my current job I established a beautiful flooded field duck pond this fall. Heavy yielding corn, grain sorghum and sorghum alum planted in rows, fertilized and sprayed to perfection. Around the shallow edges is a thick band of jap millet. I had to run a portable pump from a nearby fish pond for weeks to flood it. At last full pool arrived around Nov 1. As suspected hundreds of woodies and around 15 bluewing with a dozen hooded mergansers showed up, and a seven gun limit shoot was the highlight. Since that day, no more than 5 woodies have visited at one time. After scrolling through this forum at what should be a fevered part of the GA duck season, it begs the question; does everywhere suck?

 

[ucfireman]

Too much pressure?
Just a guess. I have no experience. But 7 gun limit is 42 right, seems like a lot, maybe scared them too much?

 

[27metalman]

Too much water and the fronts haven't pushed across the U.S. like they need to just yet.

 

[Dustin Pate]

I’ve hunted some zero pressure private land and also public this year. All of it is off drastically. This is the 3rd year that wood duck numbers have dwindled in places that have produced for 20 years plus.

 

[across the river]

There is essentially nowhere east of the Mississippi River that is considered to be under drought conditions, and hardly any place in the entire US is under sever drought conditions. Couple that with the fact that there is hardly any snow cover below Michigan and Wisconsin, and there are plenty of places for ducks to go sit, all across the country. It isn't just Georgia. I've got buddies in flyway states that aren't hitting on much either. That is just part of waterfowl hunting. When you are trying to hunt a bird that has to fly thousands of miles and pick your spot out of millions upon millions of others, then you realize that there is a lot that has to happen for you to kill a duck. I agree with you about 20 years ago, and while some of that is without question due to the increased pressure public land gets, remember that most of Georgia was in a sever drought in the mid to late 90s. There wasn't really anywhere for ducks to go other than the lakes, rivers, and the few private holes that had water. We had a pond we could flood from a well, and our biggest problem then was the ducks would eat all the food out so quick, there was nothing left for the last half of the season. Today there is food everywhere, so flooded corn ponds aren't getting touched in a lot of cases. Supply and demand. Currently, every low spot in the state has water on it so everything is spread out. I saw a six wood ducks the other day sitting on this little low spot in the woods that isn't a 1/2 acre in size and 99.9% of the time is a dry a bone. Those spots are now everywhere, which is why they are sitting they eating acorns without being bothered, rather than sitting on your pond eating jap millet and getting shot at. Don't give up on it yet as it can change in a matter of days.

 

[WaterwackerSiah]

We had a lot of woodies around early in the season in the swamps.

Since the rain it does seem like the woodies are spread out. I thought it was because they migrated on from the area, but it could be they spread out. The pond we have planted does not have any ducks on it. However, there does seem to be increase in big duck numbers around.

 

[Hunter/Mason]

I own a 52ac. Swamp and we’ve only killed 30 wood ducks so far. We have saw an uncountable number of birds there just headed everywhere but our place. Only saw 1 group of mallards passing on by. It’s also planted in sorghum, millet, and buckwheat. Last year was terrible. The year before was great we killed wood ducks, teal, gadwall, pintails, geese, and black ducks. I’m sitting at my place on the Alabama coast and have been here since Friday. We haven’t pulled the trigger yet. All we have saw is a few buffleheads and I mean very few of those. We’re gonna Hunt 1 more time in the morning if nothing changes we will fish the rest of the week. Haven’t heard a shot from anyone else either.

 

[delacroix]

Short answer is yes.

 

[mizzippi jb]

There's been a change, and for the worse in the southern states mainly. There are plenty of theories... From flyway shifting to the NA waterfowl treaty changing the wording of the law in 1989 to allow flooding corn fields to "bait" ducks around the Ms River north of Arkansas. As long as the water and ground isn't frozen, the ducks and geese can feed. Whatever it is, it's taking a toll on my desires. Been at it for a while... Sitting in the passenger seat on the way back from trip no. 3 across the big river. And it ain't what it used to be

 

[mizzippi jb]

I talked to some boys out there who know your folks. 2 boys who own goose grabbers and occasionally guide for retriever lodge. Me and them boys are in the same tax bracket..... Their clients are quite a few notches above

 

[Hooked On Quack]

Gimme a call Jb..

 

[kingfish]

Got a buddy in McClure Illinois that has 800 acres right on the Mississippi River. That entire parcel has been set up for ducks. CRP, DU, Delta etc have all been out there getting it set up. 3 pits, one leased the other 2 for him, family and buddies. There's over 1000 decoys in the area. 2 years ago his count was over 300 ducks for the season. Last year just over 60, this year he is in the 40's with this month left. Something is up. Not sure what, but something is up. No one really knows the answer.

 

[Duckbuster82]

There are plenty of birds to be found, they have changed areas due to food sources changing and moving. Overall numbers may be down in areas that use to hold them but I think it’s due to birds being spread out, more ponds being planted, and the fact that all of the food has been removed from the majority of public waterways has changed the migration path of birds.

 

[Triple BB]

Weather

 

[jdgator]

The duck population is still healthy. The birds just aren’t heading south like they used to.

 

[Duckbuster82]

Birds are not going south because of food not weather. If we depended on weather we would never see birds. There are birds that already migrate south. My roommate from college is killing 6 gun limits 2 times a week in Florida. How is that possible if we are waiting on weather it’s hot as can be there. We no longer have large amounts of food here, birds are staying north were there is food and what birds do make it this way continue on down the road to where there is ample food.

 

[across the river]

Birds are not going south because of food not weather. If we depended on weather we would never see birds. There are birds that already migrate south. My roommate from college is killing 6 gun limits 2 times a week in Florida. How is that possible if we are waiting on weather it’s hot as can be there. We no longer have large amounts of food here, birds are staying north were there is food and what birds do make it this way continue on down the road to where there is ample food.

Food and the weather go hand in hand. When the water is all frozen up, they can't feed, so they are force to move south. Some species move based on the sun and other factors, but most move when the water freezes up, or a huge front pushes them out.

If you look at the telemetry studies they do on ducks, they typically don't just fly down a couple of miles at a time. They tend to hang out wherever they are hangin out and then when they leave they head down to wherever they are imprinted to and set on going, whether that be Louisiana, Florida, or Georgia. They often fly hundreds of miles at a time. When they leave to head north they do the same thing. The ringneck that delta tagged on Seminole and Santee didn't state hop all the way up and down the U.S. They tend to hang out until the decide they need to go, and then head out for a long trip to go to wherever they have been before. GPS studies on Mallards have shown the same thing. Many hang out in Canada or the Northern U.S. and then when frozen out, head straight to Arkansa, Oklahoma or where they are going. The Ringneck, Blue wing teal, and Redheads your buddy is killing probably flew pretty much to wherever they were going in Florida when they left Michigan or wherever the came from. They aren't following the snow line all the way down the states. It isn't the weather in Florida affecting them as much as it is the weather in Canada, where they flew there from.

While I do think it impacts Georgia some, it is a much bigger factor in flyway states where people are used to hunting the same spot everyday and counting on new birds flying through every day. In that situation it is a numbers game. It just isn't happening like it used to, because they just don't get the numbers like they used to, because the birds aren't having to leave where they are. Some birds will always fly South, you just won't get as many if the states north of here don't freeze up. Once reason the lakes in Georgia aren't anything like they used to be is because the birds never have a chance to imprint on the lake until after the season. If they do land there some redneck runs them up before they have 24 hours to sit. When they are frozen out of Canada the next year, they head straight to Florida or wherever they ended up that no one messed with them for long enough for them to imprint on the place.

 

[Duckbuster82]

Yes, but if there is no food here there will be no reason for birds to return. Birds seem to be imprinting new areas and changing their migration tracks. birds we see here are not affected by ice. Ringnecks gadwall teal are all birds that migrate to migrate. There is no reason to be here. When new birds show up they go to large bodies of water then fan out from there finding better food sources and safe areas. They do the same when they arrive at a private club. But when the birds show up at all our rivers and likes there is no food so they find more suitable states.

 

[Mexican Squealer]

My club is in a heavily managed area with more acres of flooded impoundments than I can count. I speak daily to waterfowl managers that (other than this year and last year) hold thousands of ducks and have since the 1700’s...The food we plant and that they plant as well as the moist soil foods we manage for have not changed one bit. Three seasons ago was incredible at all of the places I speak of. The past two have been pathetic. I am 4 miles off the Savannah river. The other places I speak of are in the Santee Delta, Ace Basin and other parts of the lowcountry. Not Georgia but not far away. The places that I do agree are suffering due to the killing off of the hydrilla etc are the public rivers and waterways....thousands and thousands of acres of duck food gone. Hated when they started killing off the grass and am sure we are feeling the effects now. I do believe weather is a factor though. Photo period migrators will always move. Birds with food and accessible water don’t go any further than they have to. On a lighter note, we did kill mallards, ringnecks and a couple of teal last Saturday.

 

[across the river]

Yes, but if there is no food here there will be no reason for birds to return. Birds seem to be imprinting new areas and changing their migration tracks. birds we see here are not affected by ice. Ringnecks gadwall teal are all birds that migrate to migrate. There is no reason to be here. When new birds show up they go to large bodies of water then fan out from there finding better food sources and safe areas. They do the same when they arrive at a private club. But when the birds show up at all our rivers and likes there is no food so they find more suitable states.

It isn’t just Ga. I have a good buddy in Arkansas that is a member of a club that is thousands of acres of rice plantation. Historically, they have hunted many of the blinds pretty much everyday and essentially all of them every weekend when the all show up. I have typically just keep days open and headed out when the masses showed up, but the last two year they haven’t. I haven’t even gone this year it has been so bad. I have another buddy in Mississippi that has a much smaller place all to himself. He has corn planted in one pond and does moist soil in another. He has killed some birds this year, but he is only hunting once a week and by himself with one other guy. He said there just aren’t enough birds coming in to replenish any numbers to hunt it more than that. That is essentially what it has typically been like on my place here in Georgia, but it hasn’t picked up much other than woodrows the last couple of years and it hasn’t been hunted much at all. There is no less food than there has ever been. I know a guy right now with acres of corn on a place that hasn’t had much of anything show up this year and he isnt alone. There are plenty of private holes full of food that just don’t have the birds that they have historically had. It isn’t lack of food causing them to not have birds like they have in the past.