2010-2011 Duck Season
 

Considering the oil spill what are some of you guys input on the upcoming duck season? I mean this as potential closing of seasons etc... I sure hope it doesn't come to that, but with our current situation I would expect wide spread closures. What say you??

I expect alot of closures. unless a hurricane or something changes things. But also I foresee the areas that are open to have a great season. Because with all the oil on the water I don't see the birds going in those areas because the food wont be there

Just recieved this DU report on the carrying capacity of South Louisiana marshes. The S.E. portion of the state may be wrecked for years to come from loss of habitat. Looks like my lease should hold birds this year, knock on wood.:smokin:






LAFAYETTE, La., June 10, 2010 – Gulf Coast Joint Venture (GCJV) scientists recently completed analyses demonstrating that the massive losses of coastal wetlands during the past half-century have reduced the capacity of Gulf Coast marshes to support wintering waterfowl. Potential impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to marsh vegetation and food production mean waterfowl may encounter even greater food shortages when they arrive on the Gulf Coast later this year“We’ve known for years that coastal habitat loss and degradation have been slowly reducing the Gulf Coast’s capacity to support wintering waterfowl,” said Dr. Mike Brasher, GCJV biological team leader. “However, no study had quantified the consequences of coastal marsh loss to waterfowl food availability. This study estimated the amount of habitat required to support winter waterfowl population objectives and compared that to the available habitat. “Basically, we asked how many acres of marsh it takes to feed a desired number of waterfowl, then compared that to what is presently on the landscape,” Dr. Brasher said. The study area included coastal marshes from Mobile Bay, Ala., to Corpus Christi, Texas. Scientists used a measure called duck-energy-days (the dietary energy needed to sustain a single duck for a single day) to estimate how much food would be required to support population goals set forth by the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. Their calculations revealed that under the assumption of a 150-day winter period, coastal marshes in these areas satisfy energy demands of 2.9 million fewer ducks and geese than what they likely did during the 1970s. In southeast Louisiana alone, coastal marsh food resources may support 1.3 million fewer waterfowl than what is targeted by GCJV population objectives “Completion of this work represents a significant step in developing quantitative coastal marsh restoration objectives for waterfowl. But the sobering fact is that these results suggest Gulf Coast marshes may presently be unable to support historic populations of wintering waterfowl. As tragic and potentially harmful as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is, I think the important thing to remember is that these marshes were under siege long before the spill, and there is every indication that those same forces will continue to threaten them long after the spill,” Dr. Brasher said
"GCJV partners recognize coastal marsh conservation as a high priority throughout this region,” Dr. Tom Moorman, Ducks Unlimited director of conservation programs for the Southern Region, said. “We believe significant progress toward reversing and eliminating waterfowl foraging deficits will require large-scale restoration projects such as river diversions and sediment delivery projects
Projects of that magnitude are in the hands of state and federal entities. In the meantime, conservation partners continue to strategically deliver local-scale restoration and enhancement projects to minimize further declines in waterfowl carrying capacities, and they hope oil will stay out of the interior freshwater and intermediate marshes which are so important to waterfowl.
Joint ventures are regionally based, biologically-driven, landscape-oriented volunteer partnerships of private, state and federal conservation organizations dedicated to the delivery of habitat conservation important to priority bird species. The GCJV spans the coastal portions of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. Its mission is to advance the conservation of important bird habitats within the GCJV region.
Ducks Unlimited is the world’s largest non-profit organization dedicated to conserving North America’s continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 12 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever.

Raymond from the pictures you had last year, i don't think you have problems holding birds, lol.

LOL, I was actually refering to the new lease south of SweetLake. Will be hunting the lease in G/C as guest from now on, can't afford two right now.

do not show scientific facts that disagree with w

Gotcha...if you are any where near Cameron Prairie or the Burns you should do great.

West of the Burns and South of Cameron Prairie.
Hope you are correct MB, it is 43 miles closer
than G/C by truck and 10 miles by water.:work:

I think you will do good....I'm sure you've seen how good the Burns is starting to look with the grass starting to come back and Cameron Prairie always has birds.

Drove through GC and PI other day. Saw lots of mottles and babies. Can't wait!

The only hunting I will probably do this year is duck hunting and hunting a spot to fish! I hope they don't close any areas.

ouch!

Sounds good to me, how do you think we will have anymore pressure than normal? If the Reserves are closed there will be no pressure there, ducks already feed at night in the rice fields due to the pressure, Miami, Vermilion, Apache, and Miller are leased up. I am one mile from Sabine border on the east and believe this will be great for me and my guys. It would really Suk if I did not have property leased and had to hunt Public.

Rut Roo.

birds will stay in the reserves with no pressure...

Yep...Should get Interesting.
I see it now....Poor wood ducks/greys on the river will not know WTH is going on...Getting Rained on from every which way.:rolleyes:

I believe you are correct to a point Sulphite but, the reserves do not get a great amount of pressure. Sabine is only open 3 days and with the main canal being closed to boat traffic there is only 5-6 thousand acres out of 72,000 + or - that are hunted. Lacassine is 15,000 + or - acres of which only 2-3 thousand acres are hunted. Cameron Prairie is several thousand and is only hunted with lottery. Fact, the Feds do not want hunters in the reserves hunting the ducks, if they did, the reserves would be managed pro actively for the activity. Fact, there is very little hunting pressure in our reserves any more. Fact, the birds already stay in the reserves and not hunting Sabine or Lacassine will do very little to change the kill rates for the up coming season.

In 2005-2006 the reserves were closed and we had a great season in P.I. with over 1,200 birds killed each year. There was no pressure on the birds in Lacassine, so why did we kill so many?

Ducks will always go back to an area that they have limited pressure. You cannot hunt a place morning, noon, and night and continue to kill consistently. Commecial clubs, and greedy land owners have ruined much of the duck hunting in America by over leasing and hunting.

"Hey, I'll tell you what. You can get a good look at a butcher's azz by sticking your head up there. But, wouldn't you rather to take his word for it?"
Nice Avatar!:*****::*****::*****:

Understand, Vermilion parish has Liberty farm road. U can almost have a conversation with each blind if the wind isn't blowing. Don't wish you any bad luck But, it will pushem into the marsh just like it has been doing for years and then I can killem.

Typical short term gain which is normal in our state, same thing happened up in Whiteville 20 years ago. Dog client of mine was killing 1500 birds per blind in 1000 acres which had dropped to 300 per blind 10 years ago.:(
Dumbazz farmers should go up on property if it is that good and maintain a lessor that cares about the future and resource. IMO

We have a rice field lease about 3-4 miles North of Libery Farm Road. From talking to some of the hunters, their seems to be a lot more blinds in than area that where we area at. BTW, we have a lot of blinds around us!!