RECORD DUCK NUMBERS!!!

[TylerS]

Oh I can't wait for hunting season!

49 million ducks!!!

[bobbymalone]

I was thinking the ducks and geese are probably loving all this flooding.

[i'majigger]

Tyler, If you believe that figure I have some ocean front property in Death Valley I will sell you cheap!!! I wonder know how many times the Dnr had to count the same duck to come up with that absurd total. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to drive around and look at a few potholes to decide that they are blowing smoke up your pants leg. They talk about record numbers, there isn't 1/10th the ducks there were back in the 60's and 70's. It's about time the DNR is forced to actually show someone these 49 million ducks or fess up that they have no real idea what they are talking about.

[Superduty]

I read that mallard and teal numbers were both down in MN compared to 2013. North Dakota on the other hand has way more habitat and with the extra water, I believe the numbers to a degree. I don't know about all time records, but it is very conceivable that there are lots of ducks produced this year. The late spring might have kept some birds from continuing to Canada. They could have stopped short to breed in the Dakotas.

[TylerS]

Tyler, If you believe that figure I have some ocean front property in Death Valley I will sell you cheap!!! I wonder know how many times the Dnr had to count the same duck to come up with that absurd total. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to drive around and look at a few potholes to decide that they are blowing smoke up your pants leg. They talk about record numbers, there isn't 1/10th the ducks there were back in the 60's and 70's. It's about time the DNR is forced to actually show someone these 49 million ducks or fess up that they have no real idea what they are talking about.

You can believe what you want. I've been around North Dakota and Saskatchewan this spring. It's mind boggling the number of ponds and ducks I saw. More water = More ducks. I'm excited for fall!

[Coldwater Crappie Guy]

More water means easy pushing the the wild rice too! Nice!

[monstermoose78]

I have seen more ducks around my area. I have seen some great broods of ducks. There is 3 groups of 7 or more wood ducks on my dad's pond. There is also a mallard brood and some teal. It should be a good early season around here.

[bobbymalone]

There's always some old timer that talks about how the glory days are over.

No $#!+.

But the fact is all this rain and flooding means more habitat and better survival rates which equals more ducks, at least relative to today's standards.

Old grumps will continue to be bitter. I say wooo-hooo!

[gardn184]

All I know is the numbers make me excited to get out and hunt this fall! I'm sure it isn't the glory days our parents and grandparents experienced...but this is all we have, and if they say the numbers are up great! If they say the numbers are down....oh well I'm still gonna hunt just as much! I don't understand the mistrust of the DNR and FWS. It's all a baseline, as long as they utilize the same methods year in and year out it provides a standardized approach that will tell you if there's more or less ducks. Maybe the exact numbers aren't right, but the overall status of increasing numbers or decreasing numbers should be relative.

[fishuhalik]

I'm already regretting my move to Texas...I just have to keep reminding myself "It's for the family, it's for the family" over and over and over...

[123fish]

One thing for sure it means a sixty day six duck limit.

[123fish]

One thing for sure it means a sixty day six duck limit.

[dan z]

I don't care about the numbers its all about the horrahs and time in the blind/boats with my greatest friends if we shoot a limit sweet if we don't will try again tomorrow.

[uffdapete]

jigger - you should probably at least read the link and note that the numbers were reported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Canadian Wildlife Service before you push the DNR under the bus.

[Stringerless!]

@ DanZ. +1.

[fishuhalik]

I don't care about the numbers its all about the horrahs and time in the blind/boats with my greatest friends if we shoot a limit sweet if we don't will try again tomorrow.

^ this!!! It's always nice to kill birds but this is what it's all about

[i'majigger]

OK, I probably should have worded things differently,but when I read Tylers post about record numbers reported it just ticks me off. I don,t know what record they are talking about. Yes there may appear to be a lot of ducks around but it does not even come close to the numbers there once was so how can it be record numbers? There used to be spots we could go and stand on dry ground with not a lake or pothole in site and shoot ducks if we wanted. you could go there now probably not fire a shot the whole season. When I hunted it was not necessary to shoot a limit of ducks every time out, I had just as much enjoyment watching the thousands of migrating ducks go by. The hunters today need to get together and make the FWS, The Feds., or whoever is in charge do something about the predator problem. They are eating them faster than the ducks can hatch them. Take care of this problem and YOU WILL have more ducks than you can imagine. We have the habitat, we have the water,but they need a chance to survive. I have on 3 separate occasions watched one of the big white seagulls eat 4 little mallards chicks whole at one time, think of how many of those there are out there along with all the crows, hawks, owls along with all the ground dwelling predators, thin these out and imagine what could happen. The pheasant hunters would see a dramatic increase as well. Oh well as long as everyone thinks these guys are doing a good job you will just have to be happy with what you have, not what you COULD HAVE. Nuf said.

[TylerS]

OK, I probably should have worded things differently,but when I read Tylers post about record numbers reported it just ticks me off. I don,t know what record they are talking about. Yes there may appear to be a lot of ducks around but it does not even come close to the numbers there once was so how can it be record numbers?

[CANOPY SAM]

+1 Tyler! You're spot on!

This is great news! I'm gonna make sure to get my two sons out to central Nodak this year. We haven't been out there in too long, and this is exactly the news we needed to ensure a trip out there this fall!

[booger]

MN numbers were way down.

http://news.dnr.state.mn.us/2014/06/30/b...r-to-last-year/

This year’s mallard breeding population was estimated at 257,000, which is 12 percent below last year’s estimate of 293,000 breeding mallards, 1 percent below the recent 10-year average and 13 percent above the long-term average.

The blue-winged teal population is 102,000 this year compared with 144,000 in 2013 and remains 53 percent below the long-term average of 215,000 blue-winged teal.

The combined populations of other ducks, such as ring-necked ducks, wood ducks, gadwalls, northern shovelers, canvasbacks and redheads was 116,000, which is 53 percent lower than last year and 35 percent below the long-term average.

[i'majigger]

It's just sad that everyone thinks there are a lot of ducks just because there are a lot in Saskatawan and Alberta. There used to be ducks like that every where. Oh and by the way when you are hunting in North Dakota or Canada ask some of the older duck hunters how the numbers compare now to years ago. I have as I travel through all these areas and they all tell me that there is NO comparison! Now I'm not saying there are not ducks out there but you still cannot tell me it's a record number.

Good luck hunting this fall and start saving gas money to drive to the places where there are ducks left. Canopy Sam you should ask some of the hunters up in your area what the flight used to be like over Lake of the Woods compared to what it is now, Or Thief Lake Refuge. It's to bad you could not have seen it because it was a sight to behold and I say it could be again if managed right.

[fish_hunt_guy]

Imajigger the flyway has changed. Love it or hate it, but it is what it is. Those millions of ducks that used to migrate through much of Minnesota now migrate mostly through the central dakotas. Now as to why that is can be up for much debate, but it is what it is, the largest breeding population of north american waterfowl on record since the counts began in 1955. Im sorry they dont all migrate through your backyard anymore. So take advantage of it, put some miles on those tires and shoot some ducks this fall!

[fishuhalik]

You guys just can't understand what it's like until you live right under the flyway. I lived in MN my whole life & hunted the Winni/Bowstring area. In my short 17 years of waterfowl hunting I've seen duck numbers plummet. Then I moved to NoDak. I had a very unique opportunity though. I was based out of Williston (20 miles from Montana & 50 miles from Canada) but my job would daily take me to Minot one day, Dickenson the next & Montana the day after. I also drove the entire length of NoDak 2x every 20 days. I worked 15 days on & 5 days off & would drive home to MPLS every time, so obviously I was looking for birds the whole time. I witnessed the full migration both for 2 fall seasons & 2 1/2 spring seasons. I've had days where, from Williston to about 30 miles east of Fargo, there was never a time where there wasn't at least 500 birds within sight. I've seen fields with 100,000 snows. This spring driving north from Minot one day, I saw more honkers than you can imagine along the flooded Missouri River. Last spring as we sat in a snow goose field we had thousands Ipon thousands of pins, specks & mallards landing all around us. flocks of 500+, one after another. I've seen lines of mallards that went almost from horizon to horizon. Not to mention the ridiculous numbers of local ducks all through the state in every puddle bigger than a swimming pool. I ABSOLUTELY believe that there have never been numbers like there are right now. Maybe I'm wrong & there use to be way more, but how many birds do you need?! Maybe only seeing a million birds in a day isn't enough. I guess my standards are pretty low.

[i'majigger]

Next, they will tell you guys that the sun rises in the west and sets in the east and in a short time they will have you believing that too!! Shoot them while you can before there all gone.

[RuddyDuck]

I don't understand the mistrust of the DNR and FWS.

Some hunters think they create more "Paper Ducks" to hopefully sell more licenses and stamps.

I never get pumped up about the numbers in MN good or bad, as the season is usually Fair at best. Just not the habitat like the Dakotas and more pressure. If you hunt in MN, it is what it is for duck numbers. Some good days, some bad days. Better hunt with good friends as you will need to enjoy the company your with on alot of days.