What does all this water mean for us?

[firefighter520]

Im sure flood waters will go back down in time, but how does everyone feel this will affect hunting this year in the Central and Mississippi flyways? Will ducks stay up north longer due to farmers not being able to plow there fields? Just curious.

[corybdesign]

finding fields with good crops this fall will be key

[DEADEYE]

There wont be any crops in any of these flood areas,duck season will be underway by the time they dry out.

[H20-Fowl Hunter]

I thought that one of the main ideas with "global warming" is that there was supposed to be a massive drought. Definately not the case this year.

I'm not sure if the flooding will be a factor or not. The ducks will probably do one of two things. 1.) go down south then realize there is no food and go back up north till all the water freezes up. 2.) go south and realize there is no food and blow on by to Mexico.

Personally, i hope its #1 b/c being from SD our season my just be boosted by a couple more weeks. MORE FUN :)

[BigR]

I could be wrong, but the Prairie Pothole region is under a drought this year.....That's where it really matters, in the duck factory

[GooseSlayer8]

BigR you are exactly correct. I believe though for where i live the ducks will just keep on going past us this year. There will simply be no food at all for most of our area which sucks. Each year we would get a good migration that would stop on there way through to eat and rest but it is not looking like it will be that case this year. But hopefully the numbers go up and it is a great season for everyone. Hopefully :D

[H20-Fowl Hunter]

I could be wrong, but the Prairie Pothole region is under a drought this year.....That's where it really matters, in the duck factory

Actually here in my part of SD we are doing really good. Water levels are up. In some places farmers just got there crops in because of rain conditions.

Plus, since all the flooding down in the south is so dramatic we cant let any of the water out of the dams. Some of the boat docks on the missouri that havn't been in use for 8-10 years are being used.

[Wild Wings]

I hope they stay north till the end of december!!
Wild Wings

[Joe Doris]

Here down by Braidwood will produce great crops this year had minor amount of replanting to do after the rains as we speak the corn is looking pretty good some just about knee high the birds should have good feilds to feed in

[firefighter520]

When during the season do ya'll north of Arkansas see your ducks leave south?

[H20-Fowl Hunter]

Well looks like we got some of this nasty weather headed our way again for the 2ND night in a row. Here are a couple pictures of the current conditions at 12:30 Midnight. Our oldest dog is DEATHLY afraid of storms and I am the one who gets to calm it down every night (youngest always gets picked on).

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk46/H20-fowlhunter/weather.jpg

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk46/H20-fowlhunter/weather2.jpg


As for when the ducks leave the area. It varies from year to year. A lot of the ducks around here stay for a couple weeks then split. But there is always the straglers that stay behind and you can still get some decent hunting out of them.

[Killer Miller]

Will ducks stay up north longer due to farmers not being able to plow there fields? Just curious.

First of all, I'm sure you're predominantly asking about mallards, since you're talking about crop fields. IMO, it won't hold the ducks up. Once they reach a certain point, ducks seem to move south only when they are forced to, whether it be food or water (big freeze). Yes, they will move out once they run out of food but food doesn't only consist of farmers' left over crops like corn, soy beans, or in your case rice.

BUT, puddle ducks feed on many more things than just corn and soy beans....there are tons of things for them to eat in and around water. Clams, misc. insects, millet and other water grasses and weeds. Just because crops aren't going to be good in some areas doesn't necessarily mean you're going to have a bad duck season....but yes mallards and other dabblers do love feeding on corn and other crops....probably because it's so easy to get at. In the water, they have to do some work for their food....crop fields is easy pickins for them. Go find the ducks. They might not be right in your backyard like you like....maybe they've found a roost 30 miles away because there are better crops there to feed on.

Also, (at least in our area) I don't think the flooding with effect the migration much. There are plenty of fields that got planted in late April and early May. Ideal around here seems to be early April, so yeah they're a little late. So yes, they'll probably pick a little bit late as well but it seems like we don't even get ducks using cornfields much until early to late November....basically when we start seeing good numbers of migrating/staging mallards. I think most fields will be picked well before the masses of mallards/geese enter any specific area....except maybe way north.

Firefighter520, once again I'm guessing you're talking about mallards. It seems like right around X-mas every year is when we have the biggest numbers of mallards that we'll get. Illinois central zone runs their duck season to around X-mas and usually we're getting into them pretty good in cornfields. But after that, I guess I don't really pay attention much because I can't shoot them anyway. :lol:

[calling4life]

Is it just me, or were the rest of you thinking "man it would be fun to go out with a duck boat, a mud motor, and jump rooftops"

I believe it will be interesting to see what happens. Meanwhile while we are all worried about our hunting, people are watching their lives be destroyed.

My mother will be driving an emergency vehicle for the red cross down, most likely to Iowa, they said every emergency vehicle in the country will be deployed.

This is quite a few disasters to happen in a relatively short amount of time, hopefully everyone fairs alright, and we can get to rebuilding.

Truly a mess, hopefully we can get a good run these next few years and avoid this plague of natural disasters.

[MAX 4 KID]

Our duck spot in the Platte was covered in water. Then the water went down and now we have what we think is a great duck spot.

[KKarloff]

Corn is looking pretty good here it will be about head high in a few days if we get some warm weather. As far as the migration goes I hope everything goes well for everyone this year. Last year the ducks had plenty of food in the area to feed, but then we had an ice storm. The ducks could no longer get to the food they were gone the next day. So hopefully they dont just bypass all the flooded areas and keep moving south. As a farmer myself I cant imagine what those people in Iowa and Illinois are goin through I wish the best of luck to them.

[GooseHunter14]

some fields around here are holding so much water they basically look like lakes... guess i've got a few new lakes to hunt this season lol

[Duckman4Ever]

With the amount of crop damage done along the river basins I will say that a lot of the birds will pass through quickly. Looks like Ar and LA will have another good'un !