It was culture shock the first time I went out there. We found a lot of gray ducks near stump lagoon and smoked their ass for 6 days. We didn’t see another boat for 3 days and then we had some company. I kept waiting for the shot chasers to find us. I can only imagine 20 years ago. This was 6-7 years ago I hunted down there for the first time. Last few years birds just haven’t been there good.

First ever time hunting in La we were in Delacroix hunting a “lease”. 10 years ago maybe. Come to find out we were trespassing bigger than hell the whole time. They do it a little different down there lol

I’m slowly making my way through these videos on YouTube. Interesting stuff so far.

One thing that hasn't come ou yet and may not but i had a lengthy email conversation with one of the scientific members of that panel 3-4 year ago and he staed that it was obvious from band return data that goose wintering grounds are shifting roughly east and ducks to the west. the first 3-5 episodes almost have to muxh info to digest at once especially the stats on rice, crawfish ponds and habitat in LA

I’ve heard that for several years now. I wonder how much truth there is to it.
I can assure you the ducks I seen here in the 80s are no longer for whatever reason. I always blamed them traveling the Tombigbee instead of staying on The TN River.

I’m agreeing with a majority of what the discussion is saying. SWDs have never been that big deal with me. These days they scare more than they bring in from my personal experiences.

Where we hunt in MS the landowner said first specks of any numbers showed there around 2000. group of 20 stayed close to his house field...every year they increased until now its not unusual for there to be 25,000 in the area when they are at there peak in mid December. We have hunted only dry ground geese since 2010....about 1 duck hunt a year. In that time 16 banded birds, 3 of which were banded at Pacific flyway Banding locations or so I'm told. Near Deadhorse AK, west of Prudhoe Bay, AK, and Shageluk. We also killed a banded lesser Canadian (cackler) which was the first band return from MS in the last 30 years...maybe ever..not that there haven't been cacklers there before. We have killed 3 in that time. We stopped duck hunting due to the extreme lack of huntable numbers. There is very, very limited habitat due to the change in farming practices. Some duck leases that plant do have some good hunts but not much rice grown in MS anymore and beans are harvested in late August and September most years making waste grain a zero factor by winter.The snow geese which used to dominate the Katy Prairie area in TX pale in comparison to what they once were as do the Specklebellies and ducks in SW LA. Lots of duck hunting in Oklahoma that hasn't historically been there also.
If you do Instagram give the Osborne Lab a follow. If you look back to last year in their posts they had a sequence of total band return maps posted showing snapshots in 10 year sequences since the 70's I believe They are with the U of Ark at Monticello and turn out some unbelievable research concerning a lot of what the SOW is talking about. And as I am, they are all intrigued by the specklebelly goose and just did a huge banding in NE AR with telemetry units put on alot of the birds. 4 years ago i killed a banded bird in MS and 7 days later was really close to where they just banded them and killed another and the band numbers last digits were 22 and 25 and banded same day 6 years previous.
I think there is definitely some validity to the thought

That’s pretty compelling.

Byers place always seems to hold a large number of specks. I wonder if that still holds true. I’d seen where they’ve been doing a lot of telemetry work with the specks.

I’d heard Kansas and Oklahoma are hotspots these days for ducks.

The snows and specs started flying thru Alabama in the mid 2000s if I recall correctly


Here’s the question and my lowly perspective. Has hunting pressure changed migrations that much. I know AR doesn’t seem to plant as much winter wheat as they did in the late 80s and early 90s. It’s evident just riding around. Could hat also be a reason the geese have gone east?

Dry field ducks is the norm in the upper Midwest yet it’s a rarity down this way. I remember my first trips to AR and seeing ducks with geese in dry wheat fields. I can’t recall any recent years of seeing that. Also the geese would be right at the road side when it was bitter cold. Never could figure that out either.

I’m enjoying the series since I’ve been asking questions for sometime.

I killed 2 specks at Millers Ferry in I think 97. Bitter cold those geese sometimes use the road bed as a windblock and feed on the leftover dandelion greens too. in MS they do it with turn rows in the same fashion. Byers place probly holds more specks than ever especially now due to they flood up and have food, water, refuge...of course they spread out when the shooting starts. Another IG to follow is Paul Link who is on the series at plinkthebander.

Duck hunting sucks!!!

I came just for the dog comments! I’d invite anyone to see my boy WORK. Collar, no collar, however you like it.

that was a good one. I replayed the part when the doe got rolled running across the slough a million times lol

Speaking of dogs best I ever saw was when I hunted in Gueydan La once. The guide would point his foot toward where the duck went down and shine his foot with flashlight. That damn dog found every duck. Then he rolled in a skunk that night and proceeded to sleep in the bunk house with us lol

That’s the difference in a dog that is raised in a duck blind and spent every minute with the owner learning things everyday and a dog that was sent to a trainer(not that there is anything wrong with that) to retrieve. It’s nice to watch these field trial dogs running their tests for about 10 minutes and then it all looks the same. Their is a huge difference between a true hunting dog and a field trial dog. A hunting dog never has to be told a word and a field trial dog is lost without the handler. Oh and don’t tell me I’ve never been around them because I’ve seen some of the best field trial dogs money could buy and every one of them had to be sent to where the bird fell. It’s amazing how well a good trained trial dog listens but that’s not what I want in a hunting dog. I want my dogs to do it all on their on. This is why I train my dogs mostly at night to teach them to use their hearing. Also only use a dead duck and only throw it in y’all grass for them to learn to use their nose. As said earlier, nothing prettier to watch then a well trained field trial dog, but for me I don’t want a trial with a bunch of whistles and yelling and jumping up and down. I want a dog to just go get the duck and bring it to the blind fast so we can move on to the next group of birds.

You should get out more

You probably haven't ever hunted over a good dog would be my guess. A trained dog marks well and gets the birds they see fall on their own. If they don't see it fall its called a cold blind--you simply handle the dog to the bird. If the dog is well trained and any good its pretty damn simple and quick

Explain doing it on their own--so if your dog doesn't see a bird fall you just let him run and flop all over the field until he stumbles down wind of it?

I talked to my buddy that hunts out of shell beach. Went to the Biloxi marsh opening weekend and didn’t fire a shot. He said birds were non existent in the area he hunted.

Trust me I get out plenty.

In the 22 years that I was a duck hunting guide at one of the best hunting camps in SW Louisiana I’ve hunted with some great dogs. I’ve should have worded it differently. Most had the best training money could buy but as soon as the dog would leave the dog stand the handler would start the field trial test. The poor dogs couldn’t go 20ft without the whistle being blown the told OVER or BACK. It would just get old and they were all the same hence the reason why most guides don’t like hunting with someone else’s dog. There was a couple guys that had good dogs and they would just let the dog do what it was trained to do.
As far as what I mean about the dog doing it on their own is, a dog that marks the bird or birds either by sight or sound. Dog goes get birds and brings them back, puts it in my hand and goes back and gets other birds if multiple were killed. A dog that stops hunting and watches for new birds when the calling starts and knows to get the bird it was after before going after bird that was just shot. A dog that knows how to work the wind and use their nose to find birds. And do all this without me having to give the dog no attention other then to get bird from it and throw it in the pirogue. A dog that will get in said pirogue and will sit and not move until I get the dog across the pond for a lone cripple. A dog that knows that when the pirogue gets to the marsh it knows why we are there and it hits the marsh hunts that cripple duck up fast. Gets back in duck in mouth and holds it till we get back to the blind. A dog that does all this because it is what it loves and was bred to do. Not because someone forced it to learn how to do it. A dog that will do all that everyday of the season and just like the first day, it will be waiting on you in the boat on the last day of the season. A dog that when the work is over is there with you everyday just being a companion and doing what most dogs do. A dog that will play with the kids, ride the 4 wheeler and tractors or anything it can ride on. A dog that has such a great temperament that everyone that knows it loves it. A dog that just wants to be a family pet until the duck season starts again and gets so excited to be back in the marsh hunting. That’s what I can a good hunting dog. I’ve been bless more then I deserve with some great hunting dogs but I can tell you this dog I have now that we got from some great people on this site is just simply amazing. I don’t duck hunt any more and I do regret that because this dog is a machine and I have nothing to do with that other then letting her do what she does. This dog is a hunting machine whether it’s doves,hogs, deer or retrieving geese that I shot while they were flying over my place. Hell I think this dog taught me way more stuff then I taught it. Lol. I said all that to say I appreciate a highly trained dog if the dog can do what it is trained to do. I guess it’s the handlers of the dogs that I didn’t really want to hunt with. And just for the record the most I ever payed for any of my hunting dogs was $50.

Oh ya. Our waterfowl season opened this week end. I heard of a few decent hunts but talked to lots of very disappointed hunters who saw very few ducks and geese this weekend.