Declining duck hunting

[tellico4x4]

Robin taste like dove but with a bigger breast, or so I heard

 

[Lost Lake]

I'm not a duck hunter, but have several good friends that are.

My first common sense question would be….are there more duck hunters now than ever before? If it's even a little like deer hunting, more hunters, smaller tracts of land, more pressure, and ducks adapting quicker than ever before. I seriously hope it gets better for y'all.

As I said, I've never fired a shot at a duck, but kind of what I had on my mind.

 

[BSK]

Many things done and many things eaten in times past

I've eaten groundhog and racoon. Both were greasy and terrible.

 

[TheLBLman]

I've eaten groundhog and racoon. Both were greasy and terrible.

I've had barbequed racoon (like pulled pork with barbeque sauce) many times that was delicious. Others also thought so, until they found out what it was
Our minds often tend to project what we'll think before we can be objective.

I probably never ever would have tried pork "chit-lins"
if I had known what I was trying. But being told it was gourmet tenderloin,
I tried it, and thought it was a fabulous gourmet dish.

But then, just about anything is good "battered & fried".

 

[TNGunsmoke]

I've eaten groundhog and racoon. Both were greasy and terrible.

The secret to cooking racoon so that it isn't greasy is to keep it up off the bottom of the pan so the grease has a place to run off and you aren't cooking it in its own grease. Don't know about groundhog, but I suspect it works the same.

 

[Crosshairy]

Me Personally, I think it is a combination of all 3 but I think the weather has been the biggest factor. We had our worse season ever. We killed a total of 2 ducsk and 4 geese. We were hunting about 20 miles southwest of Jonesboro,AR. I have been hunting for over 20 years and the past 5 have far been the worst for me personally. Each year I keep thinking it cannot get worse but it does. I am honestly thinking about hanging it up. It is almost impossible to find a decent place to hunt without out driving hours away. When I was younger it was no issue driving 4-5 hours each way every weekend to hunt but with age, family and everthing increassing in cost the return is just not worth it anymore. Dont get me wrong, I absolutely love to waterfowl hunt, the sights and experiences I have had over the years have created memories I will never forget. We have a core group of guys that have hunted together for years, we all attend church together and time spent in the blind has been great. However, we are all thnking hard about giving it up after this year unless we can find a place closer. I absolutley love the sport but it is definitley not like it once was.

Interesting to hear that perspective. I was talking to a guy at work the other day who hunts at a pretty $$ club in the Jonesboro area (slightly north, I think?). He was saying they had their second-best year in 17 years, killing around 1400-1500 ducks on a 150-ish acre club that primarily hunts one big established blind with a lot of surrounding rest areas to hold birds.

I didn't do very well at all this year, but several of my buddies killed a ton of birds while hunting the MS river and even some public draw spots in mid-December through mid-January.

The birds were here earlier in December than normal, since we had some cold fronts come in earlier in the season. But the last 2 weeks of January were worse than normal where I was (SW TN) - those are typically the better days of the year.

 

[Popcorn]

Reading through the posts, it appears most of you duck hunters feel the hunting has really declined over the last four or more years. Do you believe that is because of 1) declining duck populations over-all, 2) changing flyway location, or 3) not enough cold weather to force ducks south, or a combination of the three? I haven't kept up with the duck research and I'm curious.

........or more refuges for the ducks to sit on without a worry in the world. Just a thought, as I am not a duck expert.

^^ THIS ^^

The acres of food and refuge down the Mississippi flyway has increased dramatically over the last 25 years and that has altered migrations to no further than the the first grain field or refuge south of the ice over. That and the cost! Duck hunting must be the single most expensive hunting event in this country per event and certainly per pound of reward! I am not a duck expert either but I work for a few guys that might be.

 

[RUGER]

When you're really hungry, a bird is a bird, and it all tastes like chicken.

Nope.
Blue Jay tastes like

 

[Bgoodman30]

De railed!

 

[TNGunsmoke]

De railed!

Yeah, Rails taste like crap too....

 

[Bgoodman30]

Interesting to hear that perspective. I was talking to a guy at work the other day who hunts at a pretty $$ club in the Jonesboro area (slightly north, I think?). He was saying they had their second-best year in 17 years, killing around 1400-1500 ducks on a 150-ish acre club that primarily hunts one big established blind with a lot of surrounding rest areas to hold birds.

I didn't do very well at all this year, but several of my buddies killed a ton of birds while hunting the MS river and even some public draw spots in mid-December through mid-January.

The birds were here earlier in December than normal, since we had some cold fronts come in earlier in the season. But the last 2 weeks of January were worse than normal where I was (SW TN) - those are typically the better day of the year.

Yes I heard there were a lot more ducks in AR than their have been in several years with folks having good success. AR seemed to get the better weather more rain, snow when we had ice etc. Mallards want backwater.

 

[BSK]

That and the cost! Duck hunting must be the single most expensive hunting event in this country per event and certainly per pound of reward! I am not a duck expert either but I work for a few guys that might be.

Only people who spend more money are quail hunters. At least those who want the Old South experience of hunting from mule-pulled wagons, dogs, etc. Those quail plantations in south GA and north FL are CRAZY expensive!

 

[JagwalCrush]

That's September through March they are subjected to tons of human pressure.

There's my exact though.