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Started By
Message
re: Shortstopping Ducks over 25 years not 20
Posted on 1/13/26 at 10:05 am to choupiquesushi
Posted on 1/13/26 at 10:05 am to choupiquesushi
Can’t shoot ducks into February. The way it’s always been, the way it’ll always be.
I usually go to Wyoming and work the late dark goose season over there. You could stack the ducks like cord wood if they allowed duck hunting then. It’s insane.
I usually go to Wyoming and work the late dark goose season over there. You could stack the ducks like cord wood if they allowed duck hunting then. It’s insane.
0
Posted on 1/13/26 at 10:06 am to geauxbrown
I still see robins like I always have.
Posted on 1/13/26 at 10:08 am to AlxTgr
quote:
I still see Robins…
That’s good news. I don’t see them like I did when I was kid here in northeast Louisiana. I’m 60.
Posted on 1/13/26 at 10:16 am to chew4219
quote:
hundreds of thousands of acres that were once rice.
this isn't true
Maybe 40k tops replaced by cane
From its peak in 1980 rice acreage is down 150k to what it was this year
A lot more replaced by development, saltwater intrusion, and a lot of land that used to be rice in western vermillion, Cameron, lower Calcasieu is just grown up in grass/trees or used as pasture
eastern Vermillion is where you see the acreage replaced by cane
Parishes like Acadia, Jeff Davis, and Evangeline don't grow much less rice than they did 30 years ago
Posted on 1/13/26 at 10:26 am to CitizenK
As mentioned January 31st is the final day allowed to be hunted for ducks per the feds. You’ll never be able to legally hunt ducks in February.
Most marsh hunters don’t really like more days in January due to lack of water. Ponds go dry and or are very difficult to access this time of the year.
Most marsh hunters don’t really like more days in January due to lack of water. Ponds go dry and or are very difficult to access this time of the year.
Posted on 1/13/26 at 10:42 am to LSUbub12
I wonder if / how magnetic north movement affects migration.
Since 1990 magnetic north has moved ~ 600 miles from Canada towards Siberia.
If birds use some sort of magnetic navigation you'd think that would affect their migration.
Makes me wonder about weather patterns as well. The last 20yrs we have seen tornado alley shift east from the plains to the midwest/south.
Since 1990 magnetic north has moved ~ 600 miles from Canada towards Siberia.
If birds use some sort of magnetic navigation you'd think that would affect their migration.
Makes me wonder about weather patterns as well. The last 20yrs we have seen tornado alley shift east from the plains to the midwest/south.
Posted on 1/13/26 at 10:43 am to LSUbub12
quote:
As mentioned January 31st is the final day allowed to be hunted for ducks per the feds.
That wasn't even the case until 1998 when Trent Lott added it into the bill that clarified baiting laws. The bill is the one everyone claims "changed" baiting, but all it did was clarify it. Flooded corn has always been allowed under the law. Anyway, Lott added the provision because MS (southern hunters in general) complained ducks were arriving later, which we know isn't true. The same old adage about ducks being everywhere after January 31 so they just got here, again not true. You see them spread out and in new places because they aren't being pressured by hunters.
The season always ended sometime between January 15-20. Biologists know that is when hens and drakes start to pair up in breeding pairs before going back to the breeding grounds. The amount of energy that is expended by ducks during courtship is then wasted if you shoot one of the pair after they are paired up. Then the hen has to start the courtship process over again before heading north. So once again, due to hunter pressure, some politician changes a law that has a detrimental affect on the population because bubba thinks he will kill more ducks if he can hunt until January 31. Then he doesn't kill anymore and wants the season to go into February...
Posted on 1/13/26 at 11:00 am to LSUbub12
Veterans and youth days
Posted on 1/13/26 at 11:52 am to LSUengr
quote:
Flooded corn has always been allowed under the law.
Correct I know of a club that’s been doing it since it established in 1954
Posted on 1/13/26 at 12:19 pm to SmoothBox
I hunted all areas of south Louisiana from central to west and everything in between. After graduating in the late 90's started hunting southwest OK. It was amazing through the 2010's. Started declining, now it too has less and less ducks and geese. Something is certainly up... Now going to have to go further and further north or west just to kill birds.
BTW the birds we hunted this past weekend were stale AF...
BTW the birds we hunted this past weekend were stale AF...
Posted on 1/13/26 at 12:59 pm to Louie
quote:
BTW the birds we hunted this past weekend were stale AF...
If you were in SW OK they indeed are stale AF.
Posted on 1/13/26 at 1:04 pm to Louie
It’s currently 46° in Calgary. The birds are stale everywhere.
Posted on 1/13/26 at 1:09 pm to LSUengr
I would expect to see a hen checking out my 4 boxes any day now.
Posted on 1/13/26 at 1:34 pm to Midtiger farm
quote:
this isn't true
Maybe 40k tops replaced by cane
From its peak in 1980 rice acreage is down 150k to what it was this year
A lot more replaced by development, saltwater intrusion, and a lot of land that used to be rice in western vermillion, Cameron, lower Calcasieu is just grown up in grass/trees or used as pasture
Does any of this refute the sentiment of my statement? Or do you just want to nitpick?
So down 40k to cane and 110k acres to fallow land or development?
Thats roughly 230 square miles of habitat lost in Louisiana. You’re telling me that doesn’t have an impact on migration?
Posted on 1/13/26 at 2:42 pm to Capt ST
We ended up with 24 ducks and 2 lesser in 3 days of hunting. This was by far the worst season there in history.
Had a couple of hundred birds on the hole scouting it, saw a rodeo of birds that wanted nothing to do with the spread. It was crazy watching them work the first morning. Most landed in the center of the hole 30 yards outside of gun range. Managed to get a passing shot and they all left to other holes and then picked off what we could. Disappointing, but it seems everyone had these experiences this year.
Had a couple of hundred birds on the hole scouting it, saw a rodeo of birds that wanted nothing to do with the spread. It was crazy watching them work the first morning. Most landed in the center of the hole 30 yards outside of gun range. Managed to get a passing shot and they all left to other holes and then picked off what we could. Disappointing, but it seems everyone had these experiences this year.
Posted on 1/13/26 at 2:56 pm to chew4219
quote:
So down 40k to cane and 110k acres to fallow land or development?
a bunch of that fallow land just reverted back to marsh or is still flooded and able to be hunted
quote:
Does any of this refute the sentiment of my statement?
Actually it does - when you claim cane taking over for rice is a main reason we don't have ducks.
Claiming we lost hundreds of thousands of acres of rice - when in 2005 we grew only 50k less acres than we did 1996
Just admit you were spouting off about things you have no clue about
The ducks don't even know the habitat is lost because they don't make it this far anymore
This post was edited on 1/13/26 at 2:57 pm
Posted on 1/13/26 at 3:19 pm to CitizenK
Cohen Wildlife Lab has an interesting Facebook post on this, based on their research. Upshot is flooded corn isn't the only issue, but it is definitely an issue. They have some interesting research based info in general regarding waterfowl, wildlife, etc.
LINK
"Here is what our science tells us about flooded corn in west Tennessee. It's important to understand the facts and nuance.
First and foremost: We need larger support for improved wetland quality and quantity, especially in highly degraded natural wetlands. Without flooded crops, many wetland systems have become so degraded that they may not provide the food waterfowl need during winter. Also, flooded corn has been around a lot longer than the 1990s. Having said that:
The scale of flooded corn in West Tennessee is massive: ~3,000 acres provide ~86 million duck energy days—about 13× more than traditional wetlands and nearly two-thirds of what conservation planners expect the entire state of Louisiana to provide annually. It's a lot of food on the landscape and it affects local mallard distributions. Check out the picture that shows the flooded corn distribution on our west TN landscape.
One pattern dominates mallard behavior: selection of refuges during the day and flooded corn at night.
But WHEN they use corn depends on hunting pressure:
Sanctuary corn: 24/7 use, depleted 2-4× faster.
Hunted corn: generally avoided in daylight and ~50% of fields had some corn remaining by mid-March.
Corn creates highly predictable flight lines between roosting sanctuaries and feeding areas. Mallards commute to where the corn is reliably and repeatedly. So even across landscapes where it is planted, the effect on hunt quality can be mixed. Mallard flight distances and exploration of landscapes increase as corn is depleted from the landscape.
The big question is: How does this concentration of predictable, high-energy habitat + weather + hunting pressure interact to shape flyway-wide settling patterns? There is no silver bullet answer, but that's the research we're currently focused on."
If you want to read about corn and mallards, check out our science LINK
LINK
"Here is what our science tells us about flooded corn in west Tennessee. It's important to understand the facts and nuance.
First and foremost: We need larger support for improved wetland quality and quantity, especially in highly degraded natural wetlands. Without flooded crops, many wetland systems have become so degraded that they may not provide the food waterfowl need during winter. Also, flooded corn has been around a lot longer than the 1990s. Having said that:
The scale of flooded corn in West Tennessee is massive: ~3,000 acres provide ~86 million duck energy days—about 13× more than traditional wetlands and nearly two-thirds of what conservation planners expect the entire state of Louisiana to provide annually. It's a lot of food on the landscape and it affects local mallard distributions. Check out the picture that shows the flooded corn distribution on our west TN landscape.
One pattern dominates mallard behavior: selection of refuges during the day and flooded corn at night.
But WHEN they use corn depends on hunting pressure:
Sanctuary corn: 24/7 use, depleted 2-4× faster.
Hunted corn: generally avoided in daylight and ~50% of fields had some corn remaining by mid-March.
Corn creates highly predictable flight lines between roosting sanctuaries and feeding areas. Mallards commute to where the corn is reliably and repeatedly. So even across landscapes where it is planted, the effect on hunt quality can be mixed. Mallard flight distances and exploration of landscapes increase as corn is depleted from the landscape.
The big question is: How does this concentration of predictable, high-energy habitat + weather + hunting pressure interact to shape flyway-wide settling patterns? There is no silver bullet answer, but that's the research we're currently focused on."
If you want to read about corn and mallards, check out our science LINK
Posted on 1/13/26 at 3:36 pm to Albatross47
quote:
Corn creates highly predictable flight lines between roosting sanctuaries and feeding areas. Mallards commute to where the corn is reliably and repeatedly
This is where Tony V excels. His blinds sit in a strip of woods in between flooded corn fields and refuges.
The more concerning issue is that 3,000 acres of corn is equal to 2/3’s of LAs estimated food.
This post was edited on 1/13/26 at 3:39 pm
Posted on 1/13/26 at 3:44 pm to Midtiger farm
quote:yes. we just need a shitload more ducks to fix this.
The ducks don't even know the habitat is lost because they don't make it this far anymore
This post was edited on 1/13/26 at 3:45 pm
Posted on 1/13/26 at 3:53 pm to Louie
quote:
Had a couple of hundred birds on the hole scouting it,
We had 4-5 hunts where we found them like that and next day sat there looking at basically empty skies, best day was 7. Then go to a hole we only saw 15-20 in and absolutely smash them. Been the most unpredictable season I can remember.
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