1 million more ducks

[CTR0022]

https://youtu.be/cPy_aWfDiMI

Above is a new delta waterfowl initiative to put another 1 million ducks in the flyway.

A few things I took from the video. Ducks need 15-20% nesting success rates to maintain their population. Through deltas studies they are only finding up to 5% success rates.

Thats kind of a big concern of mine. I think it kinda confirms alot of hunters suspicions that we just don't have the duck numbers that we use to.

Secondly, it seems like we live in a world that thinks we can just throw money at something and it will fix the problem. Yes I know predator management and nesting sites will greatly increase nesting success. But I would still argue there are many more factors that need to be addressed.

What are your thoughts?

[Gumbo Man]

I think that without the Texas Agriculture from the past nothing is really gonna help us Texas guys.

[Double R 2]

Boy somebody better break out the pop corn. This subject has the potential to go on, & on & on...I think this is a multi facet problem but will agree that lack of agricultural in areas that once had a lot is a big factor. I hunt an area that still has a ton of ag and it still has a lot of ducks. I feel lucky b/c I know that's not the norm for everyone though.

[Johnny Dangerr]

AND Eskimos love duck eggs and know exactly when and where to gather them...

[doghouse]

Until we get back to normal rainfall every thing will suffer.

[DUKFVR]

Texas duck hunting has seen its best days. Nothing anyone does will help us get more ducks.

[Slew]

Texas duck hunting has seen its best days. Nothing anyone does will help us get more ducks.

I agree with this!! I’m glad I fish in the winter now. I might hear 5-6 shots on the lake and there’s 40 mud boat trailers in the parking lot. I’ll get me some private land Oklahoma duck shooting but my days of the public grind are long over. Least in NE Tx!

[trophy8]

Texas duck hunting has seen its best days. Nothing anyone does will help us get more ducks.

Disagree. Quality conservation can help anything.

[Razrbk89]

Numbers really aren’t that bad. You’re just going to need the weather to get them to where you are and the habitat (and low pressure) to sustain them when they arrive.

I hope this campaign is effective as much as next guy, but water levels in the breeding areas are paramount and always have been.

The differences I’ve noticed in the last ten years are:

1. Strange migration timing due to strange weather.

2. Way too many geese

3. Too much pressure on marginal spots leading to ducks patterns changing. (Large concentrations where people take care of them).

Ducks are only going to go as far as they have to in order to feed and survive. If there’s tons of open water & food north of us in Ill, MO, etc., they’re just not going to be on us in peak numbers. On the same hand, why would a duck leave my rest area if he’s fed and unpressured just to fly to marginal habitat further south in TX? He won’t leave

[J Loves Huntin]

Duck hunting for 17 years on public in N Tx. My opinion is it has ebbed and flowed with rain and weather.

[stevieray54]

A lot has to do with the shifting of the lunar phase and weather patterns. I don’t understand why they don’t dig design some revisor to hold water. Much like they do for rice farming. Then flood the pot holes when weather is needed.Why aren’t more wild duck eggs collected and hatched and then released back to the wild. Just imagine if each fly way turned loose 10,000 wild grown ducks. Much like our fishery’s. Lord only knows send those Eskimo some eggs, good god there are no shortage of those in the lower states

[Statton48]

This conversation has been around for a very long time!! Better conservation, lower the limit/closed season, shorter season, draw hunts, limit license and stamps, etc etc…. But yet, nothing hardly has been done. Texas has more waterfowl hunters in todays world than 15yrs ago. I’d love to see some water systems in place strictly for waterfowl like Arkansas does.

[Duane]

The habitat in Texas (or lack thereof) has very little to nothing to do with duck numbers in the flyway. Destruction of habitat in the northern breeding grounds is and always will be the leading cause of decline. And once land is developed or “improved” for farming, it’s gone. Measures to flood potholes, collect and hatch eggs, and predator control are all noble endeavors, but they are simply a means of making the most of the habitat that still remains.

[Duane]

Forgot to add… Good grief, RIP ducks.

[Lungbustr]

Are we trying to help the population in general or get them to Texas so we can kill them?

Nesting areas and water up north will help the most. It doesnt necessarily mean we will have many more ducks in Texas.

We lack food and habitat for wintering waterfowl.