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"A great guide and hunting setup" -Tony Accerano, SPORTS AFIELD MAGAZINE
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Waterfowl Forecast Click on the Weekly Waterfowl Report icon (on your left) for recent duck counts, hunting reports, and updated information. DUCK NUMBERS UP THANKS TO WET SPRING...(see chart below) By Steve McCadams It was a wet spring in much of the prime nesting area up north and you know how much ducks love water! For waterfowlers the news is good as it is an impressive fall flight forecast. Now that numbers are up it’s the weather and a few other factors that enter into the equation for southern duck hunters, namely accessible food and water here too for the winter guests. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released its preliminary report on mid-continent breeding ducks and habitats, based on surveys conducted in May and early June. Total duck populations were estimated at 42 million breeding ducks on the surveyed area. This estimate represents a 13 percent increase over last year's estimate of 37.3 million birds and is 25 percent above the 1955-2008 long-term average. "The increase in duck numbers in relation to the increase in habitat conditions is consistent with what we would expect to see in U.S. and Canadian breeding grounds this spring," said Ducks Unlimited's Executive Vice President Don Young. "History has repeatedly shown that when water returns to the breeding grounds ducks respond with a strong breeding effort." While numbers are up, DU Chief Biologist Dale Humburg explains that hunter success will still depend heavily on weather, which will dictate migration patterns. Among the other most popular species, gadwall
numbers were up 12 percent to 3.1 million; green-winged teal rose to an
all-time record of 3.4 million; blue-winged teal rose 11 percent to 7.4
million; northern shovelers climbed 25 percent to 4.4 million; northern
pintails were up 23 percent to 3.2 million; canvasbacks were up 35
percent to 662,000, and scaup rose for the third straight year, up 12
percent to 4.2 million, the highest level since 1999.
Steve
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"America's Best Known Crappie Fisherman" - Nick Sissley, FISHING WORLD MAGAZINE
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