MN bluebill thoughts

[MN Greenheads]

Land Dr., what if we don't own land that we can pay you or someone to manage for hunting ? Seed Rice? I have seen Lakes up north where the guys at the club there shoot more ducks in no rice years than in heavy rice years. I have also seen places that didn't have rice in years past but with the low water recently have rice and lot's of ducks. I know areas that had 1,000 acres of rice this year but was garbage to hunt as most of the birds were west.

Elwood, I believe true Wild Rice needs to be in cold cold water over the winter. Cultivated Wild Rice does not. It's why California grows cultivated Wild rice and we grow the true wild stuff.

I agree the DNR needs to manage what we - they have more intensely. It does take time to build, manage and let the ducks find and use a well managed area.

[LandDr]

Elwood...you need to keep your wild rice "wet" during storage and it needs to get cold enough to "cold stratify". Mother Natures adaptation for wild rice's survival is a waxy coating around the seed...this waxy coating protects the seed from drought or extended high water periods, etc. However, the waxy coating needs to "crack" before germination will happen...much like a jack pine cone needs to get burned before it will germinate. The cold stratification process will crack the waxy coating. I keep my "spring rice" in large vats of water kept at @ 34 to 36 F water and with a slow trickly of water into the tanks to keep the water from fermenting. That might be a concern with your sealed pails is that it might ferment. Spring rice can be planted as soon as the ice is out. If you got the rice in September, it would have been best to plant it then and let Mother Nature naturally cold stratify the seed and store it for you.

Elwood...I just read down the rest of the thread and see you commented that your rice is "dried". I am affraid that is not good...wild rice has to stay wet to maintain it's germination, unlike domestic rice that is a dry seed in a bag. I fear the worste for your rice. Of course give it a try and see what happens. I would get some cold water on it ASAP however and keep that water around 34 to 36 F.

MN Greenheads...something interesting is that California has not surpassed MN in "wild rice" production. Hard to believe but they have perfected the over winter storage process to provide their seed needs the following spring. I spoke to one guy a couple years back and they have tanks they store the rice in over-winter to plant the followiing spring. Amazing.

There may be another food source that responds in low rice years such as Sago and/or freshwater shrimp. In all probability there is some food source those ducks are coming into. We have a saying..."ducks like water...but they like food even better".

Another one of Mother Nature's adaptations for wild rice is that only 1/5 of the seed that drops each year will germinate the following year. That allows for a "seed bank" of seed that is dormant and ready to germinate in following years. This seed bank allows for survival thru droughts and high water periods as well. However, that seed bank will run out if the drought or high water period is too long. Very interesting!

If you don't own land...try to work with the landowner where you hunt and also get the message out to other landowners and hunters. Maybe you have a relative or a friend that has land, etc. where you can adopt some projects. If we lead by example, it will provide many many many demonstration sites across MN for others to see and ask..."Why are all the ducks going to that one pond?"

Thanks for the questions and posts.

Fish On!

[canman]

Great discussion! I agree with the lack of feed. Many places I hunt no longer have any. North Dakota is full!

Landdr, what happens when carp exist in these shallow wetlands? Will they destroy the sage/wild rice?

[Gordie]

thanks landdr. I should of got it out in september but I got kinda busy but I will just throw some cold water on it and hope for the best if it doesnt work I will try again next season and make sure that I get the rice in the water right away.

[LandDr]

Carp in wetlands? It depends on how many carp and what they are doing. Carp do root up the bottom and can destroy Sago and Celery beds as well as wild rice. But, if there is good stand of these plants, then it is more like safety in numbers. Of course it is better not to have any carp...but a few can be tolerated.

I compare the Dakotas and Minnesota to both have many restaurants...but the restaurants in the Dakotas have a lot of food to serve versus Minnesota's restaurants have hardly any food. People will still stop in to the restaurants in MN to warm up and talk, etc., but for the most part the people move west to the restaurants in the Dakotas full of food. Same with ducks...some ducks will stop at the MN ponds to swim around and rest, but for the most part the food is gone. So the ducks go to the Dakotas where there is food is...just like people to restaurants with food. We need to restore our food sources...both in the water and in the uplands.

Fish On!

[MN Greenheads]

I agree but disagree with you landdr. Minnesota has plenty of food such as corn fields and wild rice. N.Dakota has less of these than we do, yet there are more ducks in the Dakotas. Why? More Temporary or shallow water that is rich in ivertabrates, a slightly higher ph level of the soil and a closer proximity to the breeding grounds. A duck that is born in Northern. Nodak ain't making the flight to a wild rice bed in St.Louis Cty. before he heads down to Ark. or La.. He at best might go through w.MN or will probably go down the James or Missouri River to stop in Mo. or Neb.. I believe you can Improve hunting with rice or food but It isn't a guarentee and won't cause birds to switch migration routes.