2021-2022 Duck Hunting Thread

[DUKFVR]

I definitely can agree that habitat change has forced birds to move outside of traditional migration routes. I farm rice on the Gulf Coast prairie and I think the Honeybrake guide is off the mark on the Clearfield variety of rice not being preferred by waterfowl. It is just not true. In our area, the growth of outfitters has led to significantly more pressure and these birds simply won't tolerate it. I mean almost every pond has a pile of brush with gun barrels hiding in it. No longer are guides hunting Fri-Sun. I leave my place on Sunday afternoon to return to work in the big city and around 11am on Monday my Instagram is full of guide posts with half limits. This goes on all week. And then people want to complain about the lack of ducks. Those birds are sitting unmolested on stock tanks and ponds in Central Texas and South Texas where nobody is hunting them. My opinion so open to discuss.

The next thing to remember is we have experienced terrible duck production the last 2 summers. The birds numbers are down. Not having young birds in the sky makes it tougher to kill these mature birds. I prefer to call less. I am working harder to keep my blinds brushed better. I have pulled my mojo more times than not this season. May not even take it the rest of the season. But the boys and I are killing ducks. Just not as many as past seasons and we are working harder to get limits. I still love every minute of it. A question to everyone here is how much do you love it? Enough to hunt next year if the limit is 3 ducks and the season is shortened? I think that is coming.

I would hunt if the limit is 1 duck. I am hoping they cut limits next season. I believe we are past due for it. I agree with you on your points about guides etc. Won't bother me one bit to see some so called guides fold. Plenty did last time it went to 3/30. Hope it happens again.

Some older friends of mine already have younger family members that have quit this season,because they cant pile them up. glad to see all those kinds get out. I fight enough of those me myself & look at me on public.

[97JeepGuy]

Question, aren't the hunters and DU up north making their habitat better so the birds don't have to come so far south? I have heard of them putting agitators in their water so it won't freeze over, and they actually plant food for the birds. I read a story last year about how even Stuttgart AR is slowly dying, and that was the mecca. Birds don't have to come so far south when they have food and water up North. I haven't heard a single group of geese this year, used to hear and see them all the time at least flying over. Hegar's place on 2920 West of Tomball used to always hold birds, haven't seen any there in years. When Katy went from Rice fields to subdivisions, it killed Houston area hunting. Just my opinion.

People on this site want to blame lack of habitat and the creation of more habitat up north holding the birds. We literally just came out of the warmest December on record for Texas and other southern states as well as top 5 hottest winters on record for the United States. If there is water for them to sit on up north there is no reason for them to migrate other than your typical calendar migrators. The lack of habitat means nothing to the birds if they never show up down here to begin with.


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[whitecrow]

I have kept one since 1976. I got more detailed as I got older.

Holy cow, you must be REALLY detailed these days!

The last time TPWD went 3/30, a lot of the duckers turned to goose hunting. They are going to be really disappointed if that is their plan again, as the goosing is FUBAR worse than the ducking. It will suck for the hardcore goose guys as the cost of doing business will go up dramatically.

Ever wonder if birds migrated to texas before the first sprig of rice was planted? Think about it.

[Pin Oak DXT]

Just out of curiosity how many of yall keep a log of every duck species and hen/drake shot through the season?

I keep a log of every duck and goose harvested by year. But I don't keep the sexes. I can tell you we do our best to not shoot hen pintails.

[Lungbustr]

Holy cow, you must be REALLY detailed these days!

The last time TPWD went 3/30, a lot of the duckers turned to goose hunting. They are going to be really disappointed if that is their plan again, as the goosing is FUBAR worse than the ducking. It will suck for the hardcore goose guys as the cost of doing business will go up dramatically.

Ever wonder if birds migrated to texas before the first sprig of rice was planted? Think about it.

They did but go back and look at the historical aerial images. There was wetlands and ponds everywhere.

Those have been removed to make the landscape more usable for farming, grazing, and building on.

[Pin Oak DXT]

I would hunt if the limit is 1 duck. I am hoping they cut limits next season. I believe we are past due for it. I agree with you on your points about guides etc. Won't bother me one bit to see some so called guides fold. Plenty did last time it went to 3/30. Hope it happens again.

Some older friends of mine already have younger family members that have quit this season,because they cant pile them up. glad to see all those kinds get out. I fight enough of those me myself & look at me on public.

I would keep hunting for 1 duck as well. Nothing like spending time in the outdoors with my boys and dog watching the sunrise over wetland habitat. I have sat numerous times after the season just to "watch" the birds. I get every bit as much enjoyment managing the wetland habitat during the spring and summer as I do anything else. It is very rewarding.

[Scubasteveo]

People on this site want to blame lack of habitat and the creation of more habitat up north holding the birds. We literally just came out of the warmest December on record for Texas and other southern states as well as top 5 hottest winters on record for the United States. If there is water for them to sit on up north there is no reason for them to migrate other than your typical calendar migrators. The lack of habitat means nothing to the birds if they never show up down here to begin with.


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This is true, but it really has been a steady decline in birds the last 5 to 10 years that I have seen. And to me a lot of that correlates with the practices done further north. It was warm this year, but it hasn't been that way every year since the decline has started IMO.

[Russ81]

This is true, but it really has been a steady decline in birds the last 5 to 10 years that I have seen. And to me a lot of that correlates with the practices done further north. It was warm this year, but it hasn't been that way every year since the decline has started IMO.

I travel for work thru Texas, Arkansas, Missouri and southern Illinois and one thing I see alot more up there along the highways is more water and agricultural fields then subdivisions like I do down here. We have lost acres upon acres of habitat along the coast here in my 40 years of living outside of Houston. Where it used to be strictly rice around me they're putting in subsidies crops that just don't attract the birds like rice did.

[DUKFVR]

I would keep hunting for 1 duck as well. Nothing like spending time in the outdoors with my boys and dog watching the sunrise over wetland habitat. I have sat numerous times after the season just to "watch" the birds. I get every bit as much enjoyment managing the wetland habitat during the spring and summer as I do anything else. It is very rewarding.

I agree with you 100%. Before me and the wife married, some of our dates were just riding the prairie looking at birds. I have been fighting covid for a week +, but still hunting on days I feel better. One day last week I got one duck, but enjoyed the whole morning just watching nature and daydreaming of hunts past in the same place, but with mallards dropping down out of the clear cold sky. I had an otter doing his best to get the mottle duck out of the sled. Lol! There is no kind of hunting I love more than se tx coastal marsh. I will continue to go and watch nature even if things go way south with duck hunting. There will still be duck watching. You are truly blessed to be able to enjoy your land year round for waterfowl! Thanks for being one of those doing your best to help them!

[Trumpkin]

I went after ducks last weekend in CenTex, east of I35. After getting my butt whipped, I went looking to see if I could find birds anywhere. Drove past an easy 40-50 tanks of water, a couple wetland areas, and didn't see a single duck on water, or field.

[unclefish]

According to this PhD....its not weather related in the least bit. It's all related to the 1998 USFWS baiting rule that allowed the flooding of unharvested crops. Millions of acres of flooded crops/habitat in the midwest between both private land and refuges.

He has data to back it up. Two great videos explaining it.


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkE3NvSuF8E"]Where are the Ducks? Part 1 - YouTube[/ame]


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPQWQJK4WIQ"]Where are the Ducks? Part 2 - YouTube[/ame]

[MooseontheLoose]

Interesting conversation. Glad to see a good discussion going on the thread.

I’ll still be out after them if the limit drops to 3. I'm with DUKFVR and would chase them if the limit was 1. I hunt a fair amount on farm ponds and don’t see/shoot wave after wave after wave of birds anyways. I might shoot a lot more limits if we only get 3 . Heck I hunted twice last weekend and only shot one teal. Had birds around just none wanted to play. Had a good time even though my dog was bored to death. We’ll be after them again this weekend. Great sunrises with your dog and a thermos full of hot go-juice. Can’t beat it!

I’ve kept an informal log of hunts, species etc. for a just a few years. I sent wings to the USFWS survey efforts last year and am doing it again this year. They might fire me after this year though. Their report spurned me to take some better notes and logs going forward.

Although I’ve done my fair share of afternoon hunts, I’d be good with a noon shutoff time, especially on public water.

Before I broke my most recent camera body, I’d always spend time just watching and listening to birds and taking photos. I’ll still do that. Wife’s not big on the early morning, cold weather stuff, but she really enjoys watching birds too. We’ll still go find birds to watch no matter what the regs are.

[Hawkpuppy 1]

[QUOTE=unclefish;16042852]According to this PhD....its not weather related in the least bit. It's all related to the 1998 USFWS baiting rule that allowed the flooding of unharvested crops. Millions of acres of flooded crops/habitat in the midwest between both private land and refuges.

He has data to back it up. Two great videos explaining it.


Didn't Foiles get busted shooting park geese?

[150class]

[quote=Hawkpuppy 1;16042904]

According to this PhD....its not weather related in the least bit. It's all related to the 1998 USFWS baiting rule that allowed the flooding of unharvested crops. Millions of acres of flooded crops/habitat in the midwest between both private land and refuges.

He has data to back it up. Two great videos explaining it.


Didn't Foiles get busted shooting park geese?

Looks like a bunch of charges over a numerous year span.

[Razrbk89]

I wouldn’t be upset if they shortened the season and dropped limits back.

We have had pretty good seasons lately, but they certainly could be better. I’m lucky to have some good spots where we can hunt traffic if need be and always work groups. Pressure is a big deal up here, but I think it has gotten a smidge better last couple of years. It has certainly influenced where I hunt.

Looking back, I grew up spoiled when it came to duck hunting. I had access to some good woods and scorned field hunting unless it was a REALLY good field. Ducks don’t use the woods here like they used to (most of the time, at least) except for on large, well managed areas. That used to include our state owned WMAs until the pressure got them. A lot of that pressure was/is from out of state, which really chapped a lot of guys, here.

Luckily AGFC has changed things up to limit pressure somewhat on the WMAs in the last couple years. Non-residents have to choose a WMA and are permitted for a certain set of days. That way when some kid posts an Instagram worthy strap of mallards on such and such WMA, the parking lot isn’t (completely) full of SC, GA, AL, and TX tags the next morning at 3am with mudmotors and face paint.

There’s still a ton of nonresident leasing, and I’m ok with that, but I really wish they’d limit hunting to before noon only, like public ground. Guys come here, see a bunch of ducks flying, get excited and then fork big cash for gar hole bean fields that you might scratch a few teal and boot lips in on a good day. They hunt the crap out of them and it limits resting.

There’s also no doubt that ducks are concentrated like never before by big clubs/farms that manage habitat for them. Again, I don’t hate this because it holds birds. A friend of mine berms up corn right next to his reservoir and pumps it (deeper pockets than mine) and it’s incredible to watch in the evenings. There’s never a shot fired over that field, but his woods are always FIRE because of it.

We are in desperate need of a few good nesting years!!! We had a dry early season, but water levels are great now and still not great numbers. A lot of that is weather (temp) related, too, but numbers are clearly down.

We worked 4 or 5 good sized groups the other day in a perfect hole and couldn’t get anything other than 1s and 2s to finish. No young dummies to break the top of the trees and pull groups down.