Waterfowl Population Status report is in for 2006

[JohnWester]

http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/reports/status06/waterfowl%20status%202006.pdf

shows numbers up everywhere except Minn and Wis.

[labs4me]

Minnesota traditionally relies on it's mallard count to determine the status of ducks in this state... that count made the list, but unfortunatley we only beat out the "world renowned"() mallard factories of Oregon and British Columbia... :-[? ?Pretty sad how far this state has fallen in terms of duck hunting...? From first to worst.? We used to lead the nation in rearing and harvest at one point... but look where we rank now.? We were talking about this back in the 80-90's how if they didn't start to turn things around, we would be one of the poorest states in terms of duck harvest... and it's showing.? The writing was on the walls then.? Even Wisconsin and Michigan have higher breeding populations of mallards than Minnesota!? I usually hate to be a "glass half empty" kind of guy, but the numbers get worse every year.? We still license over 100,000 waterfowl hunters but our take has slipped to somewhere in the neighborhood of a half million total birds?... not just mallards... total...that's pathetic!? We shoot that many pheasants only utilizing 1/3 of the state!? and there isn't a migration of new pheasants constantly filling in through the season!? Unless we start to take seriously the degradation of our potholes and wetlands, duck hunting will be doomed in Minnesota.? ? :'( :'( :'(? The outlook probably isn't looking any better either, with the advent of $3.00/gal gas and the push to produce more bio-fuels, there will be increased demands to drain even more wetlands and allow CRP contracts to expire than we've seen in the last 30 years.? Corn prices will begin to climb as they are more and more targeted to make ethanol and the farmers will be more and more tempted to convert marginal land into production...? I hope we get the ever promised waterfowl recovery program in place before we slide even further into the abyss.

Good luck!

Ken

[jigglestick]

Ken,
I can't help but wonder how much of this is of natural occurance, or a man made predicament.
the prairie potholes you speak of can and have been greatly effective by the eb and flow of the drop markets, but those areas are only approximately half of the states land mass. at least the northern third of the state is all but untilled forest lands.

these forest lands are not without their share of waterfowl. mallards, ringnecks, woodies, teal and the canada goose make up the majority of our take.
in the area I live, we rely on the river and it's backwaters, lakes, and water flowages often damed up by our good friends, the beaver.
what the human factor is in this region is, I am unaware.
the biggest factor for flucuation I can tell, is the water level in the damed up potholes. this is good or bad depending on the type of year we are having, wet or dry.
there are other factors that come into play here. the blue bill population seems to be crashing as a whole. that shows up here with less take per year. is that Minnesota's fault?
is the lack of fresh water shrimp to blame?
is there a lack of fresh water shrimp?

for as long as we have been keeping records, which, in the grand scheme of things has only been a minute fraction of the time ducks have been flying north and south, we are in what seems to be a big down cycle. maybe this is all part of natural occurance?

I'm not saying that we shouldn't do what we can, but as sprawl and agricultural demands increase there is only going to be so much we can do.we like to think with enough money we can fix it. maybe, just maybe, more of this is up to mother nature than we care to admit?

I could go on for hours, but it's some one elses turn.

[labs4me]

Being everybody loves my long winded posts, I'll give you another one!  :D

Dave, I agree that man has little to no impact on the climate of the earth, I don't believe in global warming (at least at the hand of man) and I believe these warmer climates in time will moderate, and yes  agree the increase in the warmth and dryness during the summer months diminishes natural wetlands, but I still believe this is a fraction of what is causing our duck demise.

In fact if anything it's exasperating the problem not only temporarily but permanently by the drying up of wetlands (which temporarily is in itself a good thing),  but on the flip side it gives the farmers a chance to get in there and really work up the land.  I see it first hand and have been getting reports of the same from friends in the Dakotas.  Land and potholes that have never been worked are being turned over this year.  The problem with Minnesota has been a long time coming... Dave, I agree to a point that the waters in your area of the state are in decent shape, but they were never considered the primary breeding grounds of waterfowl in this state... and you have to agree that barring the occasional good year or two or good shoot or two, that it has been in a steady decline in your area for the past 20-30 years.  I know this for a fact, because I was up there when duck hunting was really good in your area a dozen-15 years ago.  All this while ducks in other states have flourished during the wet 90's.  It's not as if there is a finite number of ducks in the country that go only to the best breeding grounds, the breeders (and also the migrators) are bypassing our state because as a whole we hold little of what they want.  I know in the last 15 years, waters that I hunt have been really hurt by only what I can guess is run-off.  The potholes (even out west) are really silted in and have minimal plant or aquatic life.  Why come to that water?  Is there a lack of freshwater shrimp?  I have to say out west... YES!  I can't even remeber the last time I saw one clinging to my waders or a decoy line.  Go to South Dakota and you will have thousands clinging to you and your decoys, the water is clear and there is good plant growth.  I can remember having this discussion even with you and how you said your wife every year cleans less and less ducks form the camps on Squaw Lake.  We took it for granted for far to many years, and I'm not sure we can get it back.  Do I think throwing money at it will solve it? Hardly.  I doubt if the govt. itself could physically do anything to help bring the numbers back.  It needs to be done culturally.  as long as we demand CHEAP food and allow rural America to be taken over by large agricultural conglomerates, it will continue! for therein lies the problem.... it's not the health of the land, or the love of the land, or the love of working the land, it's the maximization of profits at any and all costs.  I begrudge no one from making a good living, but unfortunatley the small farmer stands little chance competing against the likes of ADM and Cargill and either has to do as they do or contract out to them and do as they say.  I have friends with very large farms and sad to say they have no grassland and no wetlands.  I've seen photos of these same families with pheasants (piles) and ducks (stringers) and they were taken on the farm inthe 50's and even early 60's!  I bet there isn't even a pheasant left on the farm! 

What we are left with in the southern 2/3 of the state is a mono-culture of beans and/or corn.  Miles and miles of weed-free row crops.  At least the goose population is benefiting from this.  They've adapted to the urban life, prefer our well manicured lakeshores and ponds and the easy un-pressured city living where the biggest predator is a car when they cross the road from one golf course to another.  Plus a quick flight to the edge of town (still in city limits) to feed out of a field of cut corn that next year will be a new sub-division!  In fact my last 2 goose fields in Woodbury are now houses!   We have systematically pushed the ducks out... Is it increased pressure on our small/shallow lakes? Maybe a small piece.  Is it enviromental?  Maybe another piece.  Is it all development? Nope but it's a good sized piece.  Is it all poor farming practices? Nope but it's a bigger piece.  we can keep adding it up, but common sense tells us we have a problem and we have to do something if we evne stand a chance to turn it around.  Do I have the answers?  Hardly... but there has to be someone out there with a high level of intelligence that can begin to come up with a process to slowly turn things around.  It's taken a couple generations to degrade it, Let's take a couple more to fix it.

I can even say little things like late season fishing are having an impact. 15 years ago it was rare to see a boat out fishing past the 1st of October, now it looks like any other summer weekend except  that time of the year you see raft after raft getting chased around as the fishermen motor from spot to spot.  The ducks have problems even finding a spot to rest on weekends.  Again a small piece but a piece none the less.

I started duck hunting 28 years ago and I can honestly say it has diminished greatly.  I can still remember vividly the lst time I saw the "grand passage".  It was in 1997 in Douglas county.  We had 8-10 birds or so, and then the sky just opened the flood gates and for 3-4 hours we just layed in the grass and watched thousands upon thousands of ducks in wave after wave begin their journey south.  I can remember well all through my high school and college years witnessing this phenomonem, but have not seen it since.  Oh sure i've seen migrating ducks, and maybe even a good bunch of migrating ducks, but I have not seen a "true" migration in Minnesota since 1997.  We keep attributing the lack of birds to shoot as "they are migrating late" or "coming through after the season", but even on those years where we use those excuses, I never see a real build up of birds.  I think as a whole we are putting our heads in the sand and don't want to see the problem, but I really believe it's there and I don't believe Ma Nature caused it...

In the end, I hope that I am just Henny Penny crying the "sky is falling" and every hunter out there can say "I told you so", but my gut tells me otherwise.   

Here's to a great season to all hunter's!  May the birds all have their feet down and commited, may you shoot well and your dog never miss a mark!

Good Luck!

Ken

[jigglestick]

let me add to my example two words...
Greater Scaup.
these birds amounted for one third or more of the average northwoods hunter's bag. often 100%. these birds do not nest here and yet they are declining. they weren't even sure where they nested until not that long ago. now they have been doing studies to try to figure out why the numbers are steadily tumbling. all that has been produced so far are theory at best.

had you convinced me that man was the cause of the greater scaup's decline, you would have gotten an "A"
thanks for your insight

[GRIZ]

 It might be hard to say what the problem is except that it isn't just one problem in itself it's many factors. Since they migrate it's also easy for one region to blame another for the decline.

Remember back the controversy over lead shot? Yes it did kill a few ducks, but not as many as people were claiming. They made it illegal to use lead which cost hunters more to buy steel shot. Did we quit hunting? NO. Did it cost jobs? NO. Did the duck populations still decline? YES.

Now think about chemicals and pesticides that are sprayed on fields. They end up finding thier way into the waters. It affects the plants and shrimp that they feed on. No one has ever even denied it. Now they havn't made them illegal and why? It would cost jobs, Cost of food would go up, Cost of transportation would go up. When the cost of transportation goes up everything we buy goes up.

Now I may be way off base here but until we can convince people it's going to cost them more to live to have more ducks and they happily accept that fact I don't expect to see more. They way I see it it's totally money related and who could blame anyone.

I have no clue how to fix it, but chemicals are not the only cause. In my area it is along with draining of potholes