Bad duck year?

[DeerWhisperer]

We have a pit in Earle Arkansas. So far been on 3 all day hunts, killed 8 ducks. Very few mallards, mostly grey ducks, lots of pintails and teal.

We have a pit on a large farm, over 1,000. acres. One thing we have noticed the past two years, the farmers are now completing discing the fields prior to duck season once the crops are out. It has been so dry they have the time int the fall to get a head start on next spring, but basically the whole farm is just plain dirt fields with water by the time duck season arrives. No feed left at all. I know farming if their primary source of income but it really has had an effect on the amount of ducks holding int that area for the past several years.

 

[Dodge Man]

Ive got a feeling that the last 2-3 weeks will be a banger for you. Last report I got is that most of the Forked Deer Bottom is still dry. Is this the case in your area as well? I know it got right to the top of the bank a couple weeks ago.

We have run 2 4" pumps for 300+ hours to fill out bottoms up 2 weeks before season and the week before the 2nd opener. We are holding about normal pool for us. The river was at the top of the banks pushing in a few ditches for about 8 hours and then it dropped out quickly.

 

[BSK]

So far it has not been good when I have gone. I hunted the Camden bottoms Monday and we had a few shots of local ducks flying over.

I'm in the high hills between the lake and the Buffalo River bottoms. Normally in mid-November, it's wave after wave of ducks going overhead between the lake and the river bottoms. This year, nothing. Don't think I heard a duck. Just cranes.

 

[Chiflyguy]

If it's any indication, there was a lot of mallards sitting in a local river up here in Northern Illinois.
Smaller ponds started freezing but will thaw this week.
Snow up here might help you down there.

 

[TnKen]

We have killed more already than all of last year. last year was terrible and our worst ever. We aren't killing them like we used to, but much better than last year.

 

[GUNNERX2]

This year, so far, has been terrible but we are ahead of last year at this time.

 

[Granddaddy]

Primarily hunting the MS delta in North MS these days. We've had better early season than last two because we have water & most around us don't. Even so not a lot of ducks. As has been the last few years we need some sustained cold & snow north & west of us to improve duck numbers. Hunted Midwest IL& a couple of KS hunts earlier this season with good success. In KS they are seeing some reverse migration, getting ducks back they lost during a short period of cold & snow. Early Dec in KS was 60°. Hoping for improved numbers in Jan here in MS delta.

 

[Blue Water Buck]

Pretty sure when I started duck hunting it started going downhill. LOL
Seriously.

I literally tell everyone this exact same thing. I don't know what a good season looks like

 

[Ol Fart]

I don't duck hunt, but my place is surrounded by duck clubs. And I'm not hearing much shooting. Is it a bad year for duck hunting?

We never saw a bird in Southern IL today.

 

[Ol Fart]

 

[Ed Cude]

I don't duck hunt, but my place is surrounded by duck clubs. And I'm not hearing much shooting. Is it a bad year for duck hunting?

Hard to get ammo

 

[TNGunsmoke]

Pretty sure when I started duck hunting it started going downhill. LOL
Seriously.

Same here.

 

[Bgoodman30]

Hard to get ammo

I have had barn burner seasons when it was hard to get steel by the end of season and we had to scramble to find it. We were talking the other day that if the weather turns and hunters start shooting their guns again folks are going to be in real trouble... I am not even sure I am into my 2nd box of the season...

 

[Chiflyguy]

Well, we got snow up here in Yankee Hell.
Hopefully push some birds down.

 

[Dodge Man]

I thought rock bottom was last year... There are some flashes of hope but this year is the absolute worst.. I know clubs that are pretty much shut down until 22.. Dodge man is right you cant bet on weather days producing anymore... Its almost like the ducks know this is the best chance of getting shot so they don't fly.. If I could of have forecasted this heat wave for the month I would have guessed it would have been this bad.. We need wet or cold/dry. Warm and dry sucks..

The only thing I have seen produce this season is rain/fog/low ceiling or cold with sunshine. It seems like your best bet with these weather patterns is to hunt rest holes or timber traffic holes. The only food holes I see producing are managed with almost no pressure. Hopefully 2022 turns around there is some real cold air holding to the North. Good luck to ya'll.

I am going to bet this is going to the new normal. You have 2-4 generations of hatchling ducks that have not migrated south of Chicago or farther North. Even if we get some bad weather they just hold up for a few days and it warms up. The Canada geese use to migrate South every winter and something changed and almost none make it this far south anymore. I think some else is making a lot of the ducks do the same. I am not going to say that zero ducks will migrate. But I bet it is a lot closer to this season or worse each year.

 

[TnKen]

I am going to bet this is going to the new normal. You have 2-4 generations of hatchling ducks that have not migrated south of Chicago or farther North. Even if we get some bad weather they just hold up for a few days and it warms up. The Canada geese use to migrate South every winter and something changed and almost none make it this far south anymore. I think some else is making a lot of the ducks do the same. I am not going to say that zero ducks will migrate. But I bet it is a lot closer to this season or worse each year.

I've been telling people the same thing. The ducks that have survived have passed their ways on to their young. I remember as a kid V After V of migrating geese. I couldn't tell you the last time i saw a flock of migrating Canada geese. Also never saw or heard snows.

 

[TAFKAP]

But what's wild is how many snows and specks move to the MS delta. They were in fields by the thousands today, and it's north of 70° outside right now

 

[TNGunsmoke]

I feel like the main flyway has shifted west of the Mississippi . We still get a few over to the TN river, but since there's no grass to speak of left on Kentucky Lake, I think they stay on the refuge during daylight hours and may feed in the WMA fields at night.

 

[Bgoodman30]

I am going to bet this is going to the new normal. You have 2-4 generations of hatchling ducks that have not migrated south of Chicago or farther North. Even if we get some bad weather they just hold up for a few days and it warms up. The Canada geese use to migrate South every winter and something changed and almost none make it this far south anymore. I think some else is making a lot of the ducks do the same. I am not going to say that zero ducks will migrate. But I bet it is a lot closer to this season or worse each year.

Yeah you are probably right to an extent... I sure wouldn't be looking at any ground south of Memphis these days but people have already forgot we are only 3 seasons removed from a great weather year with a ton of birds. I am hoping this is a just a bad cycle, la nina or whatever and hopefully that cycle shifts back... The Jet stream has hung was north but above it now its frigid. All week in the Dakotas they're seeing subzero highs and blizzard conditions.

 

[Bgoodman30]

I'm in the high hills between the lake and the Buffalo River bottoms. Normally in mid-November, it's wave after wave of ducks going overhead between the lake and the river bottoms. This year, nothing. Don't think I heard a duck. Just cranes.

Friends over that way say its deader than a hammer..