Coastal Zone duck season set to open

Chances are, if you were born after 1996 and have become a diehard waterfowl hunter, you’ve always experienced liberal duck seasons. By liberal, I mean 60-day seasons and six-bird bag limits. In fact, I’d dare say there’s a high probability it also would be true for those in their 20s and many in their in 30s.
When the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released its 2014 Annual Breeding Population Survey Estimates way back in July, the report revealed duck numbers remain at record high levels. Moreover, a whopping 43 percent above the long-term average exceeding the previous record set in 2012.
When you parlay those kinds of numbers with a wet summer on the breeding grounds, what you have is the table set for what could be an excellent duck season rife with excitement.
For the 18th straight year, Louisiana waterfowl hunters will get to hunt another liberal season.
However, according to Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Waterfowl Study Leader Larry Reynolds, high population numbers this past summer and another liberal season set this fall is no more a guarantee hunters will see an increase in their bag limit than the number of shotgun shells it takes to get them.
Statistics provided by Reynolds from mid-winter surveys conducted during the 1996-2000 winters revealed 29 percent of the Mississippi Flyway’s mallards wintered in Louisiana. The same mid-winter survey conducted from 2011-2014 revealed those numbers now average 9.6 percent of the flyway’s greenheads.
Where geese are concerned, numbers have declined as well. From 1996-2000, when 80 percent of the flyway’s white-fronted (speckle bellies) geese wintered in the state, those numbers have declined to 37 percent during the 2011-2014 period. Wintering snow geese wintering numbers have fallen from 52 percent to 22 percent.
Reynolds said, “A point that was driven home last year is that high continental breeding populations do not mean successful hunting. There is no way around the situation we find ourselves in. We are losing coastal wetlands, our rice agriculture is moving north or being lost to sugarcane, invasive aquatics have gone wild, and we may be looking at the effects of climate change. So, the apparent fact that fewer and/or a lower percent of the Mississippi Flying birds are either coming this far south or sticking around should not be surprising. What we have to do is acknowledge that we are still wintering half of the birds in the flyway and killing more birds than any other state. So, although it’s not what it was 20 to 30 years ago, it’s still pretty good.”
Depending on who you talk to, many duck hunters say they have had a below-average season in 2013-2014. However, one of the bright spots in the southwest agricultural region last year was with a lack of mallards how speckle belly geese seemed to have filled that niche. Like mallards, white-fronted geese respond to a call. And in this part of the state, seemingly everyone knows how to call where speck music fills the air.
With the waterfowl season just days away, reports from the upper flyway have been good.
American Waterfowler editor Jay Strangis, just returning from a hunt in North Dakota, said, “From the looks of things, it was one heckuva a hatch this year. There are gobs of ducks. You can expect good things down south when your time comes.”
Text and social media messages on my cell phone have been similar. Lacassane Farm Manager Jude Zaunbrecher’s text read, “Specks are beginning to show up.”
Brent Sawyer, owner/operator of Heritage Hunting Services, posted a picture of speckle belly geese in one of his rice fields that he hunts.
The real story is how Mother Nature has compensated for what humans are doing on the prairie pothole region of the country, known in waterfowl circles as the “Duck Factory.” Wetland habitat on the prairie is being lost at an alarming rate. Farmers are opting out of the Conservation Reserve Program in favor of grain crops utilized for ethanol production and as a result, tiling wetlands to increase drainage.
Moreover, now energy production is having an impact in the Dakotas, as well.
The 2014-2015 waterfowl season has all the makings of being another good one for hunters. In fact, 18 in row.
In those enchanting moments staring out over the decoys a half hour before sunrise this fall, hunters should take pause for a moment and realize waterfowl numbers are one drought away from crashing unless something changes.
For now, Mother Nature is picking up our slack, where hunters should enjoy the upcoming season.
New products that
increase the odds
When it comes to hunting coastal waterfowl, whether in the agricultural rice fields or on public land like the Atchafalaya Delta Wildlife Management Areas right here in St. Mary Parish, a hard-hitting shotgun shell is of utmost importance. One of the best rounds on the market for shooting waterfowl over decoys is Winchester’s Blind Side ammunition.
The ammunition’s Hex Steel Shot packs neatly into a two-piece shot cup. The rounds spread quickly and pattern well at the 35- to 40- yard range, making them perfect for ducks and geese over decoys. I’ve shot both number 1s for geese and number 5s and 6s for ducks with excellent results.
In those moments before legal shooting light, there never seems to be enough minutes left to get ready.
One of the worst feelings is trying to get a bunch of tangled decoys out while birds are flying.
A new product called Decoy Buddy may have solved the problem. The anchoring system helps deploy decoys faster than conventional methods and allows tangle-free pickup when finished. For more information on the Decoy Buddy anchoring system, visit www.decoybuddy.com.
If you wish to make a comment or have an anecdote, recipe or story to share, you can contact John K. Flores at 985-395-5586