# Arkansas hunters look inward to solve scarcity of ducks



## tumblebuck (Feb 17, 2004)

I copied this from another website. Seems the conclusions reached in this report are what most on this website have been saying for a few years now.

Arkansas hunters look inward to solve scarcity of ducks
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Bob Marshall
For the last few years, waterfowlers across the South, frustrated at empty skies, have been looking for someone to blame for a string of increasingly poor duck seasons. Their angry search resulted in conspiracy theories that covered all the usual suspects (those lying federal and state agencies, selfish Yankee short-stoppers, inept biologists) and some unusual ones (Ducks Unlimited!).

The red-hot center of that anger and angst was Arkansas, where over the last decade duck hunting became even more serious than a religion or lifestyle -- it became big business. So it was no surprise when the Arkansas Wildlife Federation formed a Duck Committee with a special charge: Find out who, and/or what, is responsible.

And after six months of serious investigation, those Arkansas duck hunters -- among the most rabid in the nation -- told their brethren across the nation how to find the party most responsible for the demise of their sport: Just look in the mirror.

After examining all the theories, after interviewing experts in every field from waterfowl biology to finger-pointing, it all came back to this: too much hunting pressure.

Their report, "Improving the Quality of Duck Hunting in Arkansas, " is so thorough and balanced, it has won national awards from conservation groups.

"There are a lot of things affecting the migration, but the main thrust, the biggest factor by far -- and the thing that affects almost everything else -- has been too much hunting pressure," said Terry Horton, executive director of the AWF. "We're just hitting these birds too hard for too long, and that has profoundly affected the way they behave on the flyway."

The committee found what some of the more rational voices in the duck-hunting community have been saying all along: We've got more hunters than ever, hunting more days than ever, with seasons starting earlier and ending later than ever, with the higher bag limits than ever.

Ducks may have bird brains, but they aren't stupid. If they're shot at consistently in one place, they leave for good. That can be a pond, an area or a region. Hunting pressure moves birds.

Certainly, there are other important factors, including warmer winters, falling production on the prairies, changing farm practices and the millions of acres in waterfowl refuges on the flyway. But hunting pressure exaggerates the impact of each of these.

Birds lingering longer on snow-less fields up north can do so because of waste grain left by no-till farming. But they return to those areas -- actually flying north again -- during the fall or winter because of hunting pressure.

Falling production means fewer birds coming south. But hunting pressure in early September up north means many young birds are killed, and the older, wiser birds that head south are more wary than ever.

Wildlife refuges that once served as a reserve of birds for surrounding private or public hunting lands, now act as daytime homes for most birds in many regions due to hunting pressure outside the refuge. The birds only leave those refuges at night, when the guns fall silent on outside lands.

Sobered by what they discovered, those Arkansas duck hunters reacted in a way that honors the true spirit of the waterfowling tradition. They made a series of recommendations to their wildlife commission that puts the emphasis on returning quality to hunting by reducing pressure.

"The name of our report is 'Improving the Quality of Duck Hunting in Arkansas -- not 'Improving the Number of Ducks We Kill in Arkansas,"' said Horton. "Our people want a return to enjoying their experience.

"There's plenty we can't control -- weather, some farming practices, drought. But we can control the biggest single factor ruining our sport. That's hunting pressure. That's the main thrust of our recommendations."

Those recommendations are a remarkable example of hunters accepting responsibility. They include:

-- Reducing the season by one week and including two one-week splits for birds to rest.

-- Reducing the limit to five, including just three mallards, only one of which can be a hen.

-- Banning spinning-wing decoys.

-- More sanctuaries for ducks on public lands, not fewer.

*-- Limiting the number of hunters (especially non-residents).*

-- Morning hunting on only public lands and nearby private lands.

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission enacted many of those recommendations last season, and others will go into effect this season.

The best thing that could happen to duck hunting is for that spirit of personal responsibility and self-control to become a wave that spreads to waterfowlers everywhere.

As Horton said, we can't control weather or farming, but at least we can control ourselves.


----------



## Dan Bueide (Jul 1, 2002)

Tumble, thanks for the post, and yes, these are very familiar themes.

As explained in this piece, all sorts of excuses are offered for poorer waterfowling, and some are contributing causes, but the primary factor is too much pressure.

We've talked about waterfowl longevity before: http://nodakoutdoors.com/forums/viewtop ... light=band. They may not be planning the next Mars mission, but waterfowl are smart enough to survive, and learn and teach what it takes to survive. Even if reared here, once flight worthy, they have zero need to stay here. A barely or corn field in SD or Sask. is no different than one in ND. With 175% of the pressure of SD, and 125% of the pressure of Prairie Canada, ND not only prematurely chases them out each year, we're teaching them a "hot zone."

Remember when snow geese used to stage here big time? IMHO, in terms of its migration patterns and feeding and safety habits, the snow goose has evolved about the equivalent of 10,000 years in just the last 25. First they moved West to avoid pressure, and when the pressure moved with them, they adjusted to stay North until they had to move. And, at the first sign of pressure, they've learned the strength in numbers game - more old eyes to spot danger. No reason ducks won't do some or all of the same.

MN is going to realize habitat is only one of its problems. When you pack 100,000 waterfowlers into every ducky nook and cranny across the state on the opener, you won't hold birds, even if you grow them.

Baseball starts with pitching. Football starts with defense. Once habitat is adequate, quality hunting (especially waterfowl) starts with a lack of unreasonable pressure.

Pigs get fat - hogs get slaughtered&#8230; Like just about everything else, however, the other players and policy makers probably won't acknowledge and try to fix things until smaller problems have become bigger ones, and the necessary adjustments are more painful and thus harder (if not impossible) to implement.

Arrrrggghhh!


----------



## djleye (Nov 14, 2002)

> "We're just hitting these birds too hard for too long, and that has profoundly affected the way they behave on the flyway."


Oh come on now.......We all know that pressure doesn't affect birds!!!! :eyeroll:

Is this more ammo in our cause, :huh: , or will this not help us at all???
Great article, I am surprised that it took this long to do a study that the majority of long time ND hunters have known all along, we have seen it first hand!!!!


----------



## gandergrinder (Mar 10, 2002)

And the truth shall set you free. North Dakota is headed this direction. Give it 5-7 years and the same thing will be happening here. :eyeroll: Except everyone will finally realize it then and it will have been to late.


----------



## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

I don't think it will ever be to late to reduce pressure.Unfortunately it has to come to the state is seems to be in Arkansas in order for people to realize there can be to much pressure.

We all know that right now....money does the talking.Just look at how our deer herd in managed....lottery licenses to keep the pressure down in specific areas.And our deer hred is busting at the seems....some day we will get it right for waterfowl too.


----------



## Bert (Sep 11, 2003)

I dont know...

Are there more duck hunters these days than there were in the 50s? 70s?

Yes, Minnesota has a habitat problem. A big one. An insurmountable one if you ask me and are referring to a return of the "good ol days".
But up until two years ago, we had what I would consider fair to good shooting. Two years ago it sucked and last year it really didnt pay to go. 
Now neither the habitat nor the hunting pressure over here changed one way or another over the course of a couple of years to where there was a pi$$ poor hatch and no flight.

Some of you talk of ducks educating themselves and their young.
Those ducks...the less than a year average age ducks... which suddenly, during the last four or five years became that much more evolved than their predicessors who were undoutedly just a shot at, have to be somewhere.

Where the hell are they? There were lots of birds in the Dakotas but nowhere near the numbers that would indicate that the Continental count was even close to being accurate.

Opening day in Minnesota moves a lot of ducks around. If the weather isnt pushing them though, they may move NSEorW. I dont believe that there is anything in a ducks instinct that tells him or her that South means safety from anything other than the weather and if that was the case, the boys down south should be lighting them up due to all this northern pressure.

Where are the migrating birds? Those from Canada that have no choice but to move south or freeze to a lake?

You think they are all in North Dakota? What is left of them maybe but lets face it, there are fewer ducks and it has little to do with pressure.

For those of you who believe that it is pressure or overharvest... would you be for a closed season for one year to prove the point?

I would be all for it if I thought it would bolster the population but I firmly believe that it goes beyond that.

Ducks that are not shot or shot at are still going to keep rearing smaller broods or none at all.

North Dakota may have some sad years ahead. The Dakotas may be the last states to feel it but I think it is coming and those dark days will not be the result of "too many NR hunters" pressuring or killing too many birds.

What is the problem? I dunno. Hundreds of biologists are scratching their egg shaped heads.
Something to do with food? Chemicals? Climate change? The change in ownership of the Vikings?

I wish I knew the answers. I dont.

Minnesota's local production hasnt been a big factor in the size of the flock for about 40 years. Our hunting has, for about as long as I can remember, revolved around the flights from the north. The same can be said for Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa...work your way right down the Mississippi.

If you want to worry about somthing, dont worry about who grasps at the last straws in the pile. Worry about why the pile is running so short.


----------



## Dan Bueide (Jul 1, 2002)

Bert,

I don't know either. No one really knows, as there's little to no scientific information about pressure and its effects. I thought I heard one was beginning, but of course it will take quite a few years to gather meaningful data on a subject like this, and there isn't any real "baseline" to measure against. So, the best we can go off of for now is some loose statistics (e.g. hunter umbers and refuge counts as various points of the season and over years) and a lot of anecdotal info. Most of the biologists I've spoken with (yes, avid duck hunters with potential biases), believe that pressure certainly has temporal effects, but probably long-term too.

MN may not have significantly fewer duck hunters than it did 40 years ago, but perhaps pressure has played its part. Duck hunting may have gone from fair to poor in the last few years, but how long ago did it go from great to good and then from good to fair? You're not the only one to suggest that duck counts aren't apples/apples with those of earlier years. But even so, why do good numbers still pass through the Dakotas, maybe much higher relative to a MN/ND comparison of 40 years ago? Habitat and food sources are scarce in MN? Maybe, but that probably means many have learned to shift West. Not too much of a stretch to think they may learn to make long term shifts and changes because of pressure too.

Also consider how waterfowling has changed in the last 40 years. Better and better equipment has made us more lethal and there is virtually no place that cannot be accessed - those tucked away, tough to get places aren't so much any more. 19 foot deep well, 150 horse-powered duck boats for all but the nastiest conditions on the biggest of water. Low draft mud buddy powered boats that get you through miles of swamp you would have never thought about walking or polling to or even knew existed.

Nothing says a pressured duck has to go south, except nature. Some will move in all directions. Snow goose hunters will tell you about snows testing the ND borders and then apparently migrating back North. But, eventually they will move South, and pressure will hurry them along. I think many waterfowl are essentially procrastinators, and don't move until they have to. Food, water, safety - any of those will get them going on their pattern, more South than any other direction. Those that have hunted NE SD the last several years will tell where a whole bunch of ND and ND migrating ducks hunker down pretty early in October and until much later when weather finally forces them along further South. So close to ND with similar weather and habitat conditions, it's hard to discount pressure.

Habitat is critical to Continental duck numbers. But, pressure has a big impact on how 100,000's of duck hunters participate. Seems like both are pretty important issues. There's a Ding Darling sketch that portrays a slough ringed by hunters and groups hammering away a one, lone duck. Clearly Ding's push was habitat, and we're all the better for his work. But I often think of that sketch in relation to ND's pressure issues too.

Would I be in favor of a closed season? If necessary, sure. Seems a little harsh here, today, based upon the number of ducks that are reared and pass through ND. But, I'd hugely support a reduced limit along the lines of the one suggested in Arkansas, or even lower (e.g. 4 total, 3 mallards, one hen). That would get hunters in and out of the field quicker and may keep some of the gunners at home - less pressure.

I don't know either. Just have some really strong hunches that don't seem to go away the more information that becomes available and the more we talk about this stuff.


----------



## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

So we should be on the lookout for Arkansas outfitters and such to be appearing so they can show us how to get rid of ducks permanently.


----------



## Bert (Sep 11, 2003)

Dan

Mn went from great to good in the few short years it took to drain the prarie. However, it was stable at "good" since then excepting those years where drought played a part which is normal and natural.

Point being, there is somthing else going on here. Habitat here in Ottertail county is as good as it is going to get. I still think that a 3 year drought would bring back some shrimp but as far a water and vegitation goes, the sago, celery and rice are as good as I can remember.

On Dead Lake where huge rafts have gathered and staged for eons in the late of the year, there was zilch this year.

Three years ago, the evening sky was still filled with the rush and rip of stubby wings from late October until the water got hard.

If the continental population was as high or even close to as high as they said it was, how could it fall off the table here so drastically in two short years with no more pressure and the same habitat?
Some suggest evolution and or education of the birds. In two years? All of them?

The thing that gets me is that if you took the ducks that were in the Dakotas this year and peeled off the birds that used to run through MN and Wisc, you would think they were on the way to extinction.
The Dakotas have the birds they have because the flyway has shifted for want of habitat but even though the numbers look good out there, when you see no ducks in the neigboring states, the OVERALL numbers look horrible. I dont believe that pressure pressure has played a big role.

I guess there are two ways to look at it regarding pressure. You can say "well what is here is here and Im going to get while the getting is good and to hell with anybody from Minnesota"...or you could say..."We shouldnt waste our ammo shooting rabbits in the front yard when there are grizzlies in the back" ie. perhaps what happens or has happened in Minnesota and Wisconsin and Canada may ultimately have a negative impact on the overall population and eventually even hurt us. That being said, you guys may be money ahead in the long run by helping your neighbors to the North and East instead of patting yourselves on the back for the ND habitat that most of you really had nothing to do with.
You have had a hand in keeping people out but you didnt save the wetlands from the tile and you didnt invent CRP and you didnt fix it so that there are 5 miles between mailboxes in much of the state.

What is going to happen to the sport when the Dakotas are the last states to produce significant amounts of ducks and you cant count on Canada? Those birds are still going to get shot down south. You will still encounter a drought from time to time...

I guess what I am getting at is that the energy spent in railing about what NRs are doing to "your" ducks in the way of pressure should be directed towards "what the hell is happening to "OUR" ducks or in several years it may just not matter.

The isolationist has no one to blame but himself.


----------



## Dan Bueide (Jul 1, 2002)

Bert,

As you've suggested, habitat anywhere can't be assumed. In the next several years, there's a good chance that a bunch of really good waterfowl nesting habitat in the form of ND CRP will be gone. And, the tiling has begun here too and will get very polular in the next several years, especially if ethanol takes off.

I guess I look at it this way. If the North and South ends of my house are both on fire, I deal with the one I see as the biggest immediate threat and hope that when I get that one handled, I still have time to work on the other end or others who are already working on it will have gotten it to a point I can pitch in too and make a difference.

Chasing ducks out early is just one of the negative side effects of pressure. It's also what fuels the whole commercialization and excluvity process. It's not an all or nothing porposition: Zero NR or unlimited NR. I think there are ways to find a reasonable balance.

Thanks for your conservation/habitat efforts - they're greatly appreciated. Some day I hope to channel my energies that way too.


----------



## 4CurlRedleg (Aug 31, 2003)

Arkansas has a huge commercialization steamroller on the move, it will be interesting to see how it shakes out. Money or the duck hunting heritage. A question coming to a state near you, ND.

All this from the state who boasts number 1 or number 2 in the nation for killing ducks. You can't pick up a waterfowl magazine without seeing it advertised.


----------



## zettler (Sep 7, 2002)

This is a GREAT thread and hope you all do not mind that I borrowed it and have my Illinois "Hood" discussing it right now....and things have gotten very interesting!

Will report back after I see more input.


----------



## Ron Gilmore (Jan 7, 2003)

Bert in regards to pressure, I do believe that the USFWS has stats that show hunters today spend more time afield than in the past. Also weather has been a factor in the length of time for example ducks get hunted in the northern tier of the flyways along with changing Ag practices. No till has been a boom for food supplies compared to the 70's when the plow ruled the prairie.

In the past we had the idea of stopping the shooting time at 12 or 2 pm I do not remember. I was opposed to this from a limitation on hunters. But more and more I am thinking it worked for the snow geese back in the 70's and 80's it just might work for the ducks also.

Certainly it is interesting to see a state as commercialized as AR seeing some need for change. I will look forward to seeing if any of this gets put in place.


----------



## bioman (Mar 1, 2002)

Check out this article on Madduck, very informative and draws particulars about hunting pressure caused by the increase in NRs and the overall duck harvest increase in ND.

Read the following statement and tell me the hair on your arms and neck didn't stand up. 
Quote: "Commercial hunting operations sprang up overnight. Two commercial operators today lease as much North Dakota land as the federal government has acquired with duck-stamp funds since 1960, Johnson said."

That statement is the epitome and essence of the commercialization and the greed that is influencing the modern day market hunters.

http://www.madduck.org/pdf/pressure.pdf


----------



## zettler (Sep 7, 2002)

bioman said:


> That statement is the epitome and essence of the commercialization and the greed that is influencing the modern day market hunters.


That is an interesting and poingent observation.


----------



## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

Wow....does that tell the story or what?

Problem is that non-hunters have no clue as to what is going on.


----------



## g/o (Jul 13, 2004)

12


----------



## bioman (Mar 1, 2002)

> Bman, more bs from you, show the facts check with the game and fish and see how many acres are leased.


Since Johnson works for the Game and Fish, I would venture a guess that he did check the facts.

Typical response from the likes of you and your ilk :roll:.


----------



## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

On the set aside acres issue I think there were just as many or more reserve, fallow, setaside acres in the 70's than now even. Back then the farmers used to let at least one third their land rest every year to control weeds and manage moisture. Now adays they farm all they have, use chemicals to control weeds and the government to control natural disasters such as drought or flood caused losses. Farming is not dependent on nature, it is dependent on farm programs.

Nesting birds normaly return to the area they were born and raised to bear and raise their young. So knowing this we should realize most birds we see were born in much safer enviroments than a farmed field, they are more apt to be hatched in pastures and marginal lands not used for anything but cows. Food for thought!!


----------



## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

Good point Buckseye....I can count the number of fallow fields I've seen around here on one hand.

And now the CRP program should be changed to CHP....Conservation Hay Program.


----------



## g/o (Jul 13, 2004)

delete


----------



## gaddyshooter (Oct 12, 2003)

Unfortunately, I'd say there are a lot of factors contributing to the decline of duck numbers. Loss of breeding habitat, and habitat all the way down the flyway to the wintering grounds. There simply isn't as much habitat suitable to duck production in large numbers as there used to. Predation on duck nests and low nesting success also means fewer ducks heading south each year.

Overharvest of ducks each year also is contributing IMHO. Less ducks that survive the hunting season means less ducks returning to the breeding grounds. Less ducks attempting to breed coupled with the above reason of low nesting success means fewer and fewer ducks each year. The "liberal" season framework needs to go. I don't think the numbers this year supported a liberal season at all. I think closer to a 40-50 day season/ 4 duck limit would be more reasonable.

Increased harvest in the northern areas of the flyway IE Canada /ND/SD also are playing a part in the overall declining numbers I believe also. Just using rough numbers here, I believe that I have read in other threads on here that the number of OOS hunters in ND has increased by about 20,000 over the last 5 years or so. So, just using 20,000 additional hunters, and I'll use the possession limit of 12 ducks that those 20,000 hunters can take home. 20,000 X 12 ducks =240,000 extra ducks a year being killed in ND alone. I would argue also that most hunters travelling to ND are killing more than 12 when they come up there, but that is just an example. Most of those ducks that are killed up there are also the juvenile/newly born ducks of the year that are the healthiest of the ducks and the next years breeding stock. I have found when we come up there, that the ducks are way easier to hunt up there than what they are by the time they get down this way. Probably because they are juveniles and never been shot at yet. The boom of the use of the spinning wing decoys over the last several years has also undoubtedly increased the number of birds killed all up and down the flyway.

Sorry so long, got on a roll.


----------

