"Hand in Hand With Mother Nature"
September 2006

At this point the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) hasn't designated the framework for duck season, but based on everything I've heard or read I don't think there's any doubt we'll see maximum days and maximum ducks again for the 2006/2007 duck season.

In a press release I received over the weekend, Delta Waterfowl President Rob Olson said; "Mother Nature has set the table for ducks. With the exception of 1996 and 1997, prairie Canada is the wettest it's been since the 70s, and this is the second year Canada has been wet. If you put enough water on the landscape, ducks should respond." And apparently that's exactly what most species have done. According to information contained in the press release, six of the ten most popular species saw breeding populations approach their all-time high.

You've heard me say it before and I'm saying it again; "I'm a duck hunter and mallards are ducks, but all ducks aren't mallards." No doubt, mallards are a lot of fun and usually respond well to a good-looking decoy spread or a few timely toots on your favorite call, but mallard counts aren't as impressive as some of the other numbers. The mallard count looks great, with an increase of 8%, but look at a few other species.

There's nothing more exciting to me than watching a group of several hundred pintail circle your pit. I'm not sure what it is about pintail, but they have always excited me and a lot of our clients feel the same way. Last year there were very few days when our hunters didn't have several chances to take their pintail and it looks like we can expect the same this season. When compared to last year's pond counts, pintail numbers took an impressive 32% jump over last year and that is exciting news.

While pintail are my favorite rice field bird, there's nothing nicer than seeing a flock of mallards drop in from the top of the trees, unless it's a huge group of gadwall. I do enjoy it when gadwall flutter through the Tupelo and Cypress trees and touch down, making a clear ring in the lime green duck weed covering the waters surface and the gadwall numbers look nothing short of fantastic. A 30% increase over last year and 67% over the long-term average means there should be plenty of gray ducks to go around.

Green-wing and blue-wing teal numbers both showed substantial increases over last year and God's gift to Arkansas duck guides, the shoveler, still remains 69% higher than their long-term average. Redhead and canvasback numbers also showed substantial increases this year, which brings me to my point. I'm not sure Rob Olson's comment; "Mother Nature has set the table for ducks" does the increased numbers justice. I can't help but believe there's not more to it.

My thoughts go back many years, to a time when a friend and I were raising chickens in our back yard. It was an old hen house that had belonged to his granddad and hadn't been used in years. We were young and willing to try about just anything once. Since we ate a lot of eggs, we decided we would have fresh eggs every morning. Back in those days the local feed store kept chickens most of the spring, so we picked up a dozen or so layers and it wasn't long until we were gathering fresh eggs. Things were going so well we thought about selling a few eggs to some of the locals that didn't have their own chickens and that's about the same time the trouble started. Just about the time our egg numbers reached the point we were eating all we could stand, the local fox decided he liked eggs as well.

We tried to fox proof the old coop, but once a secret is out there's no turning back. It was like the old fox had told everything for miles around about our eggs. When we thought we had the fox shut out, the skunks moved in and even though it will get rid of them for good, shooting a skunk in your back yard is not a good idea. That's about the time snakes moved in and in case you didn't realize it, snakes like eggs almost as much as a fox and they can slip in through the small cracks. It was a never-ending battle; we raised the chickens and unwillingly fed the predators with their eggs.

When I reflect back on those days I can't help but laugh about the entire experience, but it was a lesson learned. We fought a nightly battle so we would have eggs the next morning. I can't imagine trying to raise them until they hatched and that brings me back to my reason for doubting Mother Nature was the only one helping with this years duck numbers. No doubt Mother Nature knows what she's doing and water is a must, but the eggs have to hatch or there's nothing left to migrate.

It takes a lot of money to manage the ducks and there are good organizations, on both the local and national level, working for the ducks. My hat goes off to each of those organizations and to everyone that supports them and a special thanks to my friends at Delta Waterfowl for their success with predator management. I couldn't keep the varmints out of a small chicken coop, yet Delta Waterfowl is managing predators on huge outdoor tracts with excellent results.

Keep supporting the ducks and support the sport through the organization of your choice and if you're lucky enough to experience a huge flock of pintail circling your pit or a group of gadwall drifting though the Tupelo trees this coming season, pause a few seconds and think about the organizations that work … "Hand in Hand with Mother Nature"to make it all possible. Charles "HammerTime" Snapp

Email: snapp1@sbcglobal.net

Website: www.arkansaswaterfowl.com

For more information on Delta Waterfowl visit www.deltawaterfowl.org