# Seeing fewer ducks!



## Rick Acker (Sep 26, 2002)

Been in the field alot this last week hunting geese and it seems there are way less ducks this year! No big swarms of mallards feeding like in previous years! Prediction! Opening weekend will be good, followed by a decent 2nd week with the NR's and by the 2nd week of October, we'll all be saying we're the heck are all the ducks. Nelson county seems way down anyway! Any thoughts?


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## TANATA (Oct 31, 2003)

Not sure where you're hunting but I've seen more this year then ever :lol: I'm pumped for duck season :beer:


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## Ryan_Todd (Apr 11, 2004)

i too have seen a lot more this year than last on my side of the border.


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## Leo Porcello (Jul 10, 2003)

This is only my first season here in ND but I have been seeing more ducks than I ever dreamed about. Of course they are not all the all mighty mallard but I mostly goose hunt so I don't discriminate.


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## Field Hunter (Mar 4, 2002)

Kind of interesting....the younger you are the more you are seeing. There are a lot of ducks but not as many are being seen by the older guys and guys with more experience than in years past. I guess that's the reason the NRs will always come to ND....even though there are reduced numbers from years past there always will be more than most other states.


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

Where I travel in the Central/South part of the state the numbers appear to be way down. Like Rick said, you get used to seeing swarms and tornadoes of ducks into the fields to feed this time of year, but I can barely count on two hands how many duck feeds I've seen.

I know some areas up north are doing very well, but the southern half is a huge disappointment.


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## gandergrinder (Mar 10, 2002)

I'd have to agree with Hustad on the central part of the state. I have logged a good number of miles this year and have seen two duck feeds and neither were over 500 birds. Last year was not what I would call a great year for ducks but we always have a ton of birds landing in the goose spread. This year the only thing that has come into the decoys in ND this year were some wood ducks.


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## GooseBuster3 (Mar 1, 2002)

To bad the duck population is down.... :roll:


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## MRN (Apr 1, 2002)

In the northern canadian stretchs of the pothole region there are more ducks than in previous years - they have some water now. But here things seem to be more late than previous years - cool summer??. Scouting a couple weeks ago we saw 3 or 4 different duckling broods yet - some puff balls, some with feathers. I doubt those guys would be field feeding.

M.


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## Matt Jones (Mar 6, 2002)

There's definitely fewer ducks in my neck of the woods than years past. We did see a TON of wood ducks on Saturday, must of seen several hundred buzz us. As for mallards and pinnies compared to two years ago I'd say they're way down.

What's weird is that there is excellent water conditions. There's sloughs that are almost void of ducks that a couple years back held them by the tens of thousands. It's really weird.


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## MOSSBACK (Jun 10, 2004)

We had a about 500 ducks bombing our goose decoys in the field this last weekend. But nothing like some years where never ending swarms of ducks funnel into the fields.


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

Bad hatches here too. I was told by a biologist it was to cold for the proper food chains, that the ducklings eat, to survive. That definitly makes sense to me. 8)

Just plain old wasn't as many nesting ducks here, north central ND.


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## fishhook (Aug 29, 2002)

I think it's safe to say the "good ol' days" for duck hunting are in the rear view mirror. Hopefully in a few years we will see another upswing in the cycle.


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## Old Hunter (Mar 8, 2002)

There is no doubt that the duck numbers are down in the south central part of the state. There is a very obvious reason. The CRP is dissapearing. Good duck broods in the water next to the CRP fields. Give higher payments to the guys in the duck belt. Pull some of the Crp money away from southwest ND. CRP in the central part of the state produces ducks and pheasants not so in the southwest. Hunters from ND to Texas benifit from duck producing CRP.


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## Leo Porcello (Jul 10, 2003)

Kind of sad to think what I am seeing is a lot of ducks (to me) and to you guys it is just a handfull. Wish I could have seen it years ago. Hopefully one day it will be back to normal.


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## DeltaBoy (Mar 4, 2004)

I think a lot of it depends on the area of the state your hunting.

Ducks numbers are down, but things don't look that bad in the areas that I have been scouting. I think it will get interesting as the migration starts, then we will see what the duck number's are like.


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## Remmi_&amp;_I (Dec 2, 2003)

#'s have seemed way down where I am scouting too. We hit every backroad between Bismarck and Garrison last night and weren't seeing what we expected.


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## Chris Schulz (Sep 7, 2004)

i am a new resident to north dakota but have been hunting here for many years in the southern part of the state. this past weekend i was scouting up near laimore and i have seen plenty of birds. but i guess where you are hunting tells the story


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## hoosier dhr (Jul 24, 2003)

Ive seen something ive never seen before this year just in the past month to today in 3 different areas, Baby ducks. ???

saw to broods for sure in the spring (not surprising) but this late in the year i wonder if they will survive even if they dont get shot.


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## nickle ditch (Aug 26, 2002)

About seven days ago i saw a hen mallard with eight ducklings that were no more then a few days old. Now thats a late hatch.


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## zx2dxz (Aug 20, 2004)

according to the fish and wildlife department Duck population is up 16% and Mallard population is up 6%, sooo its not that they arent there its just that u arent seeing them.

First day of early season goose i saw more ducks then i saw geese... ducks would swing right into our blind and flare 5 yards from our faces. Plus the pond that i have lined up is loaded with ducks and geese and no one has been able to jump the roost here so they will continue to be there, plus there's 2 private ponds about 500 yards to the west and a wildlife 'no hunting' pond about 1500 yards to the south of it. 

lata, 2d


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## Matt Jones (Mar 6, 2002)

zx2dxz said:


> according to the fish and wildlife department Duck population is up 16% and Mallard population is up 6%, sooo its not that they arent there its just that u arent seeing them.


That's the point...there's a lot of people who are becoming very skeptical about the counts. No one is saying they're aren't seeing ducks, they're just saying that they aren't seeing the numbers we use to see only a few years ago yet the counts remain just peachy. The counts for ND dropped dramatically this year. I'm not even sure where the boost in numbers came from this year...I didn't think the Canada side of the PPR looked that hot. What I find the most disturbing is that there's excellent water where I typically hunt; to the point where we have sheet water in the fields. Yet duck numbers are significantly lower than they were even just two years ago. Everyone knows that dry potholes=fewer ducks...but when water everywhere=fewer ducks something's up. Maybe the numbers were just absurdly high a few years ago and we shouldn't be comparing then and now because there are definitely still enough ducks to have some excellent hunts...Just not enough to make your jaw drop when you have thousands of ducks trying to land in your spread all at the same time like they did a few years ago.


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## Dekes (Aug 21, 2004)

Hi all,

I spend a lot of time in small airplanes with my job and see a lot of North Dakota and there are areas, especially between I94 and Highway 200 where there are large numbers of waterfowl. In the triangle from Wing to Hurdsfield to Goodrich and back to Wing, duck numbers are especially high. Another really high population are is the area between Devils Lake and Cando. Good Hunting


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## gandergrinder (Mar 10, 2002)

That information gives me a good idea of areas that I will now try to avoid.


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## Decoyer (Mar 2, 2002)

Common guys if you are seeing ducks, keep it to yourself. People will find ducks when they get out here, no need to advertise to the world wide web where there are ducks in ND this year.....


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## Field Hunter (Mar 4, 2002)

Come on, let everyone find there own ducks.....The competition this year is going to be immense going by the greatly reduced duck feeds in the fields that I'm seeing over the last two years. I can only hope that when competing groups show up at the same field this year that common sense prevails......well, I can hope, anyway.


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## shawn114 (Aug 22, 2003)

I am a NR and I also agree with you guys. Keep it to yourselve's. Dont get me wrong, I appreciate that you want to help and be a part of cyber-conversation, but it If I wanted to know how many birds are where I hunt, I will call the land owners that let me hunt on their land. Water levels and weather info is okay to me. But be Hush, Hush on exact locations. Hate to see guy's from my area coming out there knowing exactly where to go, sort of speak. Let the new guy's do their own research and homework like I did.
It's more self rewarding to me anyway.


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## Dekes (Aug 21, 2004)

If you noticed, the areas that I wrote about are huge areas. I didn't give anyone's secret spot away. Geez, you'd think I raped somebodies sister. Get real.


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## Miller (Mar 2, 2002)

Dekes, the fact that this topic alone has been viewed by almost 1000 people is why they're paranoid.Researching this website is VERY popular for people looking where to hunt.I know you're trying to help, and people appreciate it, but some people think it hurts too.

Ya even I don't get it. :withstupid:


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## DeltaBoy (Mar 4, 2004)

I will tell ya where to hunt or scout... Get in the rig and start hitting the mighty dusty trail. Birds are out there boyz, just keep your eyes open. It's almost time...


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## Decoyer (Mar 2, 2002)

I don't think most people comprehend how many people are looking at this sight. The interent has become VERY popular in the last few years and I wouldn't be suprised if over half of the people coming here use a website just like this in planning their hunt. If someone wants help, do it through a pm.


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

I agree....this site is ranked number 2 on all waterfowl websites.With the refuge forums being number 1.Just look at how many views some of these topics have....

I understand your quest for information,but there are too many people reading this.It is difficult to give that kind of info and then see your area overrun by hunters.

Plus I would never give info about an area I am not familiar with.


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## GooseBuster3 (Mar 1, 2002)

Somebody ask's me where I hunt, I tell them" Im hunting around". :lol:


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

dekes, thanks for posting some help.

I'm sorry you had to get jumped on for doing just that.

 :roll:


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## hoosier dhr (Jul 24, 2003)

ya thanks dekes, that is a pretty big area, i hunt about a 75 mile (+/-) radious from starkweather, i do my own scouting when i get there, but it is nice to here the reports :beer: 
ill be there the 3rd week of Oct. and i cant wait  this will be my 3rd yr and ive met some great locals(and hope to meet and hunt with more) and never had any problems with other hunters.

Hope all (even GB3) you res's have a great 1st week, wish you had 2.


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## Shu (Oct 21, 2003)

I talked to a farmer near Tappen last night and the story is this: a little more water this year, fewer ducks, geese about the same.


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## Eric Hustad (Feb 25, 2002)

I also noticed there weren't as many ducks around the area we were hunting last weekend. Usually in early season the ducks are thick in the decoys, but this year I didn't see much flying in the way of ducks. Could be just the area we were in....


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## fishhook (Aug 29, 2002)

The woodies are in full force at oak park here in Minot...saw them last night with my kids. They are in full plumage and look great...maybe this is my year!!! Never have shot one, but i'm hoping for the best.

Saw my first flock of migrators last night. A high flying flock of lessor canada's (60-70) flew over my house. Here they come!


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## Bob Kellam (Apr 8, 2004)

Here is the skinny from the USFW trends in duck breeding populations 1955-2004
July 8, 2004

http://migratorybirds.fws.gov/reports/s ... map_04.pdf

Happy reading!

Have a good one!

This report is long and takes a little time to load. sorry about that, it is a very informative study.


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## Shu (Oct 21, 2003)

thanks Bob - good info.


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## bioman (Mar 1, 2002)

The following article is forthcoming from Delta. Provides excellent comparison between last year's production and estimates of this year's production...

http://www.deltawaterfowl.org/multimedi ... tatus.html


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## Bob Kellam (Apr 8, 2004)

Your Welcome Shu!

happy hunting, Be safe!


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## Bob Kellam (Apr 8, 2004)

Sports section in the Forum today said the numbers will be down 40% but they are still forcasting a good season, I hope so 

Scouting has been hit and miss, lots of miles and definatly sparse populations. There are some out there though  

Have a good one!


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## dosch (May 20, 2003)

Put alot of miles on this weekend in the Lake Region. Lot of standing crop and very few ducks. I would say maybe 50 % less then the
same area had last year. By Oct. 10th it will be doom and gloom for the ducks.


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## GooseBuster3 (Mar 1, 2002)

Its going to be a repeat of last year you are saying? :wink: I dont have to worry then.


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