Pretty good information.
Deer do the same thing.I've been saying this for awhile now. I think the ducks that survive by going nocturnal raise offspring that do the same. Then before long, the majority are nocturnal.
I grew up hunting public landin West TN. 20 -30 years ago very few people flooded fields and left crops for ducks. They mostly hunted public land and would flood fields if we got a big rain and they flooded. These days there is thousands of more flooded ac in west TN because farmers and land owners have found out that people will pay money to lease a property. But that just means around the same number of hunters spread over a larger area. I definitely do not see many more then in the past. Just because people have more money now to lease a property doesn't mean there is more demand.This video needs to be forwarded to DU every time they give us this BS sob story about how we're losing hunters and need to aggressively recruit more.
Anyone who hunts public land, or even hunts private land but pays attention, knows dang well hunting pressure isn't decreasing anywhere in the country.
Whether or not we're seeing more hunters could be debated, though I firmly believe the number is increasing, but whether or not the number of hunters we have are hunting more, and putting more pressure on the animals across a constantly decreasing resource (# of hunable acres per hunter) is not even worth discussing. They are.
Put it this way, you think guys are paying $50k for duck leases as a result of less hunting pressure?? Come on.
Stop R3, stop giving money to organizations that promote R3. R3 really stands for Revenue, Revenue, Revenue.
I don't believe for a second that we have the same number of duck hunters hunting West TN, or anywhere in the country, today that we had 20-30 years ago. That number has increased significantly. Maybe it's not all TN residents, maybe it's some out of staters, and maybe it's TN residents hunting a lot harder than they used to. But there is no way anyone could convince me that any legally huntable species of animal is seeing less pressure than they saw 20-30 years ago.I grew up hunting public landin West TN. 20 -30 years ago very few people flooded fields and left crops for ducks. They mostly hunted public land and would flood fields if we got a big rain and they flooded. These days there is thousands of more flooded ac in west TN because farmers and land owners have found out that people will pay money to lease a property. But that just means around the same number of hunters spread over a larger area. I definitely do not see many more then in the past. Just because people have more money now to lease a property doesn't mean there is more demand.
I hear and read about a lot of frustration from Southern states because Northern states are using ice eaters to keep flooded fields open. That keeps a lot of ducks in areas they'd normally migrate out of.Look at the historical refuge count #s. West TN refuges do not hold near as many ducks as they used to which leads me to believe either there are less ducks or they are being held somewhere else.
I hear and read about a lot of frustration from Southern states because Northern states are using ice eaters to keep flooded fields open. That keeps a lot of ducks in areas they'd normally migrate out of.
Did you hunt West TN in the 1990s to 2000? I hunted public land that would have 50-100 boats on it every day of the season. The exact same boat ramp you might see 2 boats there most of the season. Most areas i hunt are somewhat busy on Saturday but during the week there is very few people hunting.I don't believe for a second that we have the same number of duck hunters hunting West TN, or anywhere in the country, today that we had 20-30 years ago. That number has increased significantly. Maybe it's not all TN residents, maybe it's some out of staters, and maybe it's TN residents hunting a lot harder than they used to. But there is no way anyone could convince me that any legally huntable species of animal is seeing less pressure than they saw 20-30 years ago.
Except maybe squirrels. That doesn't garner the attention on social media that bucks, ducks, and turkeys will.
And I don't really think that pressure is getting spread around because of the increased flooded crops. Not everyone can afford a lease, or is willing to. The prices go up every season and people will buy that lease from under you in a heartbeat. I've read several accounts of a guy paying, say $5k for a season, word gets out that spot was hot all Winter, then someone comes and offers 2x that or more.
Nothing about that says reduced pressure to me. That says guys are willing to spend mega dollars to have a place to themselves rather than fight with the increasing crowding on public land.
Any theories as to why the refuge counts are down, outside of the ones I just tossed out? Every one's theories are just as valid as anyone else'sEvery count you look is down significantly. Refuge counts as well as spring nesting pairs.
That is my strategy this year. Wait for ice up. May only get a day or two but it'll be productive. Or, atleast have odds in my favor.Just my .02. More resting areas, whether intended or not, means less hunter success IMO. Now when they all froze up last Christmas we had a good time. I have about resolved myself to not hunting until that scenario happens. It was a huge difference in what the ducks had to do. And it was way more fun than watching ducks do exactly what he described in that video. I believe the resting areas will only continue to grow and the ducks will stay in those areas from 5:45 AM until 4:45PM.