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<blockquote data-quote="TNGunsmoke" data-source="post: 5785842" data-attributes="member: 10346"><p>It's a complicated problem, and there isn't a simple solution. Pressure on the resource is only one part of the equation. Farming practices are part, weather(both here and to the north of us) is part, and season dates are a part. We can't control the weather, the season dates are set by the Feds, and are not likely to change at all, and farming practices are notoriously slow to change. No till farming has taken over and with it there are more waste grains left on the ground that isn't burned off or tilled in like in prior generations, so there is more of a food around. With tilling in/burning off of crop fields after harvest, there was a food wasteland and birds had to move more to survive.</p><p></p><p>With more food on the ground, there is no pressure north of us to make birds move as the northern areas seasons close, so they stay put unless weather forces them to move, and then they move only as far as the snow/ice line and not much farther. </p><p></p><p>And I feel like refuges need to change their practices somewhat to account for some of the issue of stale ducks sitting there on the refuge during daylight hours. On the refuge, ducks have all the food they want, water to swim and rest, and no pressure on them at all, so they get there and sit there until they decide to move on, and then they mostly seem to move on at night, or after season is closed.</p><p></p><p>As far as hunting pressure, I'm thinking it's only a matter of time before certain types of motion decoys are restricted or banned, at least on public hunt areas. Wouldn't surprise me much to see further restrictions to limit the number of decoys or size of blinds and hunting parties. And a drop in the number of birds in a limit would not shock me either.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="TNGunsmoke, post: 5785842, member: 10346"] It's a complicated problem, and there isn't a simple solution. Pressure on the resource is only one part of the equation. Farming practices are part, weather(both here and to the north of us) is part, and season dates are a part. We can't control the weather, the season dates are set by the Feds, and are not likely to change at all, and farming practices are notoriously slow to change. No till farming has taken over and with it there are more waste grains left on the ground that isn't burned off or tilled in like in prior generations, so there is more of a food around. With tilling in/burning off of crop fields after harvest, there was a food wasteland and birds had to move more to survive. With more food on the ground, there is no pressure north of us to make birds move as the northern areas seasons close, so they stay put unless weather forces them to move, and then they move only as far as the snow/ice line and not much farther. And I feel like refuges need to change their practices somewhat to account for some of the issue of stale ducks sitting there on the refuge during daylight hours. On the refuge, ducks have all the food they want, water to swim and rest, and no pressure on them at all, so they get there and sit there until they decide to move on, and then they mostly seem to move on at night, or after season is closed. As far as hunting pressure, I'm thinking it's only a matter of time before certain types of motion decoys are restricted or banned, at least on public hunt areas. Wouldn't surprise me much to see further restrictions to limit the number of decoys or size of blinds and hunting parties. And a drop in the number of birds in a limit would not shock me either. [/QUOTE]
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