# Delta Press Release



## DeltaBoy (Mar 4, 2004)

July 8, 2005

For immediate release from Delta Waterfowl...

Mixed Bag in Spring Breeding Duck, Habitat Survey

BISMARCK, ND-Duck hunters will find a mixed bag of results in the 2005 Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey, which was released Friday by the Division of Migratory Bird Management.
"The good news is that prairie Canada was wet this spring," says Rob Olson, president of Delta Waterfowl, "but the best news is that the Prairie Pothole Region in both the US and Canada received a lot of moisture after the survey was conducted, so conditions are even better than what the survey suggests.
"Recent rains could mean we'll see a better re-nesting effort from hens this year," says Olson. "More wetlands could also result in improved brood survival. Another benefit is that the ground is soaking up a lot of water, which could translate into improved wetland conditions by next spring."
But while things are looking up on the breeding grounds, there are still some concerns.
"The most disappointing finding of this year's survey is that while May ponds were up dramatically across prairie Canada, mallard numbers didn't respond accordingly," says Olson.
"May ponds in Saskatchewan were up 24 percent from the long-term average (1961-present), but mallards were 17 percent below the long-term average.
That's cause for concern; it tells us something is wrong with the Canadian duck factory."
Breeding mallards across the traditional survey area of the US and Canada stood at 6.8 million, down 9 percent from a year ago and down 10 percent long-term. The total-duck breeding population across the traditional survey area was 31.7 million, down 1 percent from last year and 5 percent below the long-term average.
"The mallard population is now 37 percent lower than it was just six years ago in 1999," says Olson. "Hunters wondering why they're not seeing as many mallards as they did in the '90s need look no further than that number."
Another bright spot of the survey is that the northern pintail breeding population jumped from 2.2 million to 2.6 million, a 17 percent increase from a year ago. Unfortunately, pintail numbers are still 38 percent below their long-term average.
Other species showing increases from 2004 were American wigeon, up 12 percent to 2.2 million; blue-winged teal, up 13 percent to 4.6 million, and northern shoveler, up 28 percent to 3.6 million.
On the down side, gadwall fell 16 percent to 2.8 million, green-winged teal were off 12 percent to 2.2 million, redheads were down 2 percent to 592,000, canvasbacks slipped 16 percent to 521,000 and scaup dropped another 11 percent to 3.4 million.
Prairie Canada recorded 3.9 million May ponds, up a whopping 56 percent from last year and 17 percent higher than the long-term average. The US had
1.5 million May ponds, up 4 percent from last year but 4 percent below than the LTA. May ponds have been counted on the US side of the PPR since 1974.
The combined May pond count across the PPR was 5.4 million, 37 percent higher than last year and 12 percent above the LTA.
"May ponds in prairie Canada were 17 percent above the long-term average, but the prairie provinces attracted just 2.9 million breeding mallards,"
says Olson. "That number is 36 percent below the goal set by the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP).
"Meanwhile, May ponds in the US were 4 percent below the long-term average, yet the US still attracted 1.7 million mallards, which is 42 percent above its NAWMP goals. What that tells us is that we still have some major production problems in prairie Canada."
The most extensive wildlife survey in the world, the spring breeding survey is conducted by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Canadian Wildlife Service. This year marks the survey's 50th anniversary.
The survey released Friday is being called preliminary because it does not include numbers from the Eastern survey area.


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## diver_sniper (Sep 6, 2004)

its good to know there is alot of water right now, and that some breeds have gone up. hopefully this water sticks around for a few years, its hard to expect everything to get better right away. lets just hope for a snowy winter and consistant rain fall in the future.


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## 4CurlRedleg (Aug 31, 2003)

Damn!! Another piss-poor year for duck huntin'. Unless of course your into shootin' "Hole Ducks"!! 8)


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## Bob Kellam (Apr 8, 2004)

Reading the press release should make anyone who reads it realize the importance of habitat. Water is important but no waterfowl that I know of lay their eggs and let them sink to the bottom of the pond. Ponds are important for the vitality of the hens and to increase their ability to improve nesting success. The U.S. portion of the PPR is habitat rich with vast expanses of CRP and some native prairie and grasslands all interspersed with potholes. Canada does not have the nesting habitat intensity that the U.S. side has and the resulting numbers bear this out. Why has duck hunting declined in so many areas? because there are fewer ducks.

Good Article, Thanks Delta for all you do.

Later
Bob


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## Field Hunter (Mar 4, 2002)

With Mallards and Pintails off that much from long term averages can we expect that the liberal seasons through out the flyway are over? I would vote yes.

I've been to Canada, the habitat up there looks bleak compared to the CRP in ND. Since the farming practices in Canada changed it won't really matter how many potholes there are up there if there is no nesting cover to go along with it. You can build all the water projects that you want but....remember the mallards and pintails nest away from the water.

Let's get the limits back down to 3-4 mallards a day with one hen and get this population back on track. Keep the limit perday at 5-6 ducks but shoot more of the ducks that are showng dramatic increases in population. I know that many guys won't shoot if it isn't a mallard but it might be time to hunt the populations that are abundant and leave others to build back up. It's time to put the actual biologists back to work in the decision making role and get the politicians and those making big bucks from the industry out of it.


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## jhegg (May 29, 2004)

Monte,
How many spoonies do you think you can get field hunting? :-?


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## Field Hunter (Mar 4, 2002)

How about a spoony derby one morning.....We can set up in a transition slough in the middle of a field....Are you in Jim? Dan really likes the spoonbill jerky I made last year! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Seriously though, why not drop the limits a little? Obviously everyone in the flyway targets the mallards and with the advent of the spinners and full body goose decoys they are more in danger of being shot than every other species.

We'd find out in a hurry who the hunters and the shooters were in ND.


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## jhegg (May 29, 2004)

A spoonie derby sounds good to me. I know the best spoonie pass in the state. We can bring your trailer with the grill and have a great time! How many can we sign up?


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## Matt Jones (Mar 6, 2002)

...A couple questions for anyone who might understand AHM better than myself;

I know under AHM there needs to be a mallard breeding index of 7 million for a liberal season, but is that a hardline stipulation? If the brood surveys come out and they're unbelievable could the season still be liberal or will a moderate package be the highest it can go? If you factor in that the index is pretty close (6.8 million) and if the brood survey is really good (which it's looking like it might be) we could have more mallards in the fall flight than last year with a shorter season.


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## just ducky (Apr 27, 2005)

_*


Field Hunter said:



...Keep the limit perday at 5-6 ducks but shoot more of the ducks that are showng dramatic increases in population. I know that many guys won't shoot if it isn't a mallard but it might be time to hunt the populations that are abundant and leave others to build back up.

Click to expand...

*_I agree. One of the main reasons I come from out of state to hunt in ND each year is the variety of birds you have there. I can shoot mallards back here in Michigan, but when I'm out there, I specifically target the others.....gadwall, widgeon, pintail, divers....


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## brobones (Mar 10, 2004)

We need 3-5 wet years to get the numbers back up here in Sask. Lots of water lying everywhere this year but with very poor cover to nest in. Since it has been dry for so many years the farmers have been able to farm a lot of the potholes and surrounding areas of water. When you do get water in them like this year there is not a whole lot of good cover around to nest in. Predators can easily find the nests. I think a lot of the ducks are nesting further north in the forest areas, when we had so many years of draught in the central southern parts of Sask the north always had water. They might have had to fly up to 6 hours north of the southern part of SK but they sitll could nest. Just my 2 cents worth


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## Dan Bueide (Jul 1, 2002)

Matt,

I couldn't explain the details of AMH any better than I could explain the details of the quaterback rating.

But, I don't think the mallard count is hard and fast. Canadian May pond counts also play a big role.

The pros I've spoken with all think we'll be liberal again this year.


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