McNary Hunt

[Dan-o]

Costs money to hunt a refuge? What a joke that'd be. Kinda figrd our duck stamp was still worth something

Duck stamp dollars go to refuge land acquisition. Not refuge maintenance, staffing, etc.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

Hunted waterfowl for about 30 years and the stamp did nothing as advertised while duck numbers continue crashing. Access only gets worse while seasons get better on paper only.

Huh. Says that in 2015 we had a record number of ducks in the USA. Like literally never had more than that. It’s true that numbers have been down since then . But boy oh boy for someone who doesn’t hunt ducks anymore you sure do complain about it a lot. Seriously every post about waterfowl has a comment from you complaining about something. Hunting partners, access, now the stamp. Seriously either get some professional help to deal with your depression or just move on.

Basic math and basic facts shows our sport and gun rights need professional help for sure.  Just do some basic research and think just like how you described waterfowl numbers almost 10 years ago.  Sorry for me keeping up with the present instead of sounding like an old person talking about 2015.  Let me help you it is almost 2024.

lol. You stated you have hunted waterfowl for the last 30 yrs and duck numbers “continue crashing.” That leads one to believe that you are stating that waterfowl numbers have been crashing for the last 30 yrs. Curious how you would know what waterfowl numbers look like when you don’t hunt anymore?? Oh well one more reason for you to stay glued to your couch and leave all this crappy hunting to the rest of us.

You just lack experience.  When I first started hunting some parents would not let their kids hunt ducks because they didn’t want their freezer filled in less than a day.  Why are you being a bully?  I know most hunters support that behavior but doesn’t mean you have to.  Basically yes duck populations have been crashing longer than 30 years and luckily for you it was recognized long ago or you would have nothing to hunt today.  If all people thought like you then why is there conservation?

I'm a casual waterfowler, but I'm still getting ducks when I do go.

Where are you getting your information?

I snipped this from the DU Homepage:
Total populations were estimated at 34.2 million breeding ducks in the traditional survey area, 12 percent lower than 2019’s estimate of 38.9 million and 4 percent below the long-term average (since 1955).

4 percent below the Long Term Average since 1955 doesn't seem like a population crash to me.

Comparing 2016 to the 2023 breeding survey some might wonder how they missed the funeral.

Yes, we all know that duck numbers fluctuate pretty good from year to year.

That's why comparing just 1 year to another doesn't tell you much.

That's also exactly why I posted the Long Term Average (LTA), so that you could see that duck numbers really aren't plummetting - they are fluctuating.

I'm really not sure why you can't find ducks.
There are plenty.
I'd limit out more if I was a better shot.

[MeepDog]

"Id limit out more if I was a better shot"

  you and me both

[hdshot]

Pretty sure at this point Hdshot is an anti hunter trying to poo poo hunting in any way he can. If he cared about the sport he'd be looking for ways to get more hunters involved and active. Spewing negativity on a public forum isn't how that's done.

 

Unfortunately our past generation left us kicking rocks on the passenger pigeon.  3-5 billion passenger pigeons gone forever because of habitat loss.  You don’t want to be like that guy.

[hdshot]

Costs money to hunt a refuge? What a joke that'd be. Kinda figrd our duck stamp was still worth something

Duck stamp dollars go to refuge land acquisition. Not refuge maintenance, staffing, etc.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

Hunted waterfowl for about 30 years and the stamp did nothing as advertised while duck numbers continue crashing. Access only gets worse while seasons get better on paper only.

Huh. Says that in 2015 we had a record number of ducks in the USA. Like literally never had more than that. It’s true that numbers have been down since then . But boy oh boy for someone who doesn’t hunt ducks anymore you sure do complain about it a lot. Seriously every post about waterfowl has a comment from you complaining about something. Hunting partners, access, now the stamp. Seriously either get some professional help to deal with your depression or just move on.

Basic math and basic facts shows our sport and gun rights need professional help for sure.  Just do some basic research and think just like how you described waterfowl numbers almost 10 years ago.  Sorry for me keeping up with the present instead of sounding like an old person talking about 2015.  Let me help you it is almost 2024.

lol. You stated you have hunted waterfowl for the last 30 yrs and duck numbers “continue crashing.” That leads one to believe that you are stating that waterfowl numbers have been crashing for the last 30 yrs. Curious how you would know what waterfowl numbers look like when you don’t hunt anymore?? Oh well one more reason for you to stay glued to your couch and leave all this crappy hunting to the rest of us.

You just lack experience.  When I first started hunting some parents would not let their kids hunt ducks because they didn’t want their freezer filled in less than a day.  Why are you being a bully?  I know most hunters support that behavior but doesn’t mean you have to.  Basically yes duck populations have been crashing longer than 30 years and luckily for you it was recognized long ago or you would have nothing to hunt today.  If all people thought like you then why is there conservation?

I'm a casual waterfowler, but I'm still getting ducks when I do go.

Where are you getting your information?

I snipped this from the DU Homepage:
Total populations were estimated at 34.2 million breeding ducks in the traditional survey area, 12 percent lower than 2019’s estimate of 38.9 million and 4 percent below the long-term average (since 1955).

4 percent below the Long Term Average since 1955 doesn't seem like a population crash to me.

Comparing 2016 to the 2023 breeding survey some might wonder how they missed the funeral.

Yes, we all know that duck numbers fluctuate pretty good from year to year.

That's why comparing just 1 year to another doesn't tell you much.

That's also exactly why I posted the Long Term Average (LTA), so that you could see that duck numbers really aren't plummetting - they are fluctuating.

I'm really not sure why you can't find ducks.
There are plenty.
I'd limit out more if I was a better shot.

Why can’t you set the bar around the 2016 time? Those populations didn’t disappear overnight and the king of ducks mallards have been reduced almost 50% over that time period.  If i said everything is ok then it would feel like I lied.  My experience is problems only get worse left alone.

[Dan-o]

Hdshot,
You can set the bar wherever you want. 

The fact is that there are plenty of ducks out there if you're willing to put in a little work.

You seem to complain on every waterfowl thread. 
Maybe try to go chase some ducks.

[hdshot]

Hdshot,
You can set the bar wherever you want. 

The fact is that there are plenty of ducks out there if you're willing to put in a little work.

You seem to complain on every waterfowl thread. 
Maybe try to go chase some ducks.

Reality is real and most agree but don’t like it because they only want to deflect with buzz words and snake oil with no facts.  Those surveys are real information for real waterfowl hunters, not to give me an excuse to complain, sorry. 

[Dan-o]

Hdshot,
You can set the bar wherever you want. 

The fact is that there are plenty of ducks out there if you're willing to put in a little work.

You seem to complain on every waterfowl thread. 
Maybe try to go chase some ducks.

Reality is real and most agree but don’t like it because they only want to deflect with buzz words and snake oil with no facts.  Those surveys are real information for real waterfowl hunters, not to give me an excuse to complain, sorry.

Well, I can certainly understand why you don't hunt.
If I had your attitude, I wouldn't hunt either.
I hope you find something you can enjoy.   Seriously.

[Skillet]

Duck numbers have always fluctuated, and dramatically. Just gotta have some perspective...

https://www.ducks.org/hunting/duck-hunting-stories/how-good-were-the-good-old-days

[Klickitatsteelie]

Someone that truly loves waterfowl and loves to hunt hunts on the good years and bad and respects them all the same. Quit complaining and go hunt and enjoy the birds and the challenge/struggles they bring.

[MeepDog]

  also the king of ducks isn't the Mallard it's the canvasback. Those birds are so fricken cool.

[KP-Skagit]

Don't get me wrong, the last couple years have been hard on waterfowl. Avian flu hammered them last year and I read that a late freeze severely hurt nesting this year. Its evidenced in the Skagit snow geese where there are virtually no juveniles.

That said, everything is cyclical and nature tends to check populations in its own way. And I very much do not agree with the application of macrodata, in this case nationwide numbers, being used to represent trends on a local level.

I don't know how many times a nonhunter has told me that deer numbers are out of control because they read some article about whitetails in the eastern US.

Oh and passenger pigeons? Really? As if that correlates AT ALL to waterfowl.

[salt n sage90]

Those numbers show pintail #s are down. Not in the pacific flyway from what I see.
There are reasons to despair about duck hunting:

1. loss of public access and the rise in leased property. (not alot of free private permission these days.)
2. Crowded areas due to #1.
3. Weather seems to hit later and later every year. ( for instance take now its January, the season closes in ~3 weeks and its just now getting cold.)

I don't think the actual #of ducks in the pacific flyway is making hunts unsuccessful. Its a combo of the reasons above.
That isn't to say I don't worry about Avian Influenza, nesting issues, and the populations of ducks as a whole going down, I do.
I have never thought by the end of January that I hadn't seen as many ducks as I usually do in a year.

[Platensek-po]

Those numbers show pintail #s are down. Not in the pacific flyway from what I see.
There are reasons to despair about duck hunting:

1. loss of public access and the rise in leased property. (not alot of free private permission these days.)
2. Crowded areas due to #1.
3. Weather seems to hit later and later every year. ( for instance take now its January, the season closes in ~3 weeks and its just now getting cold.)

I don't think the actual #of ducks in the pacific flyway is making hunts unsuccessful. Its a combo of the reasons above.
That isn't to say I don't worry about Avian Influenza, nesting issues, and the populations of ducks as a whole going down, I do.
I have never thought by the end of January that I hadn't seen as many ducks as I usually do in a year.

I don’t know about despair. Concern might be a better choice of word. I think we can all agree that there are issues with Waterfowl. However I don’t agree with going into every thread and bitching a moaning on and on about these things. It’s gotten so old and repetitive from the one member who cry’s on every thread. He has been offered to be taken hunting, given multiple other options, been shown that it can still be fun and yet keeps crying. I think we all understand why his old hunting buddy doesn’t hunt with him anymore. I wouldn’t want to sit in a blind and listen to someone complain all morning either.

[salt n sage90]

Those numbers show pintail #s are down. Not in the pacific flyway from what I see.
There are reasons to despair about duck hunting:

1. loss of public access and the rise in leased property. (not alot of free private permission these days.)
2. Crowded areas due to #1.
3. Weather seems to hit later and later every year. ( for instance take now its January, the season closes in ~3 weeks and its just now getting cold.)

I don't think the actual #of ducks in the pacific flyway is making hunts unsuccessful. Its a combo of the reasons above.
That isn't to say I don't worry about Avian Influenza, nesting issues, and the populations of ducks as a whole going down, I do.
I have never thought by the end of January that I hadn't seen as many ducks as I usually do in a year.

I don’t know about despair. Concern might be a better choice of word. I think we can all agree that there are issues with Waterfowl. However I don’t agree with going into every thread and bitching a moaning on and on about these things. It’s gotten so old and repetitive from the one member who cry’s on every thread. He has been offered to be taken hunting, given multiple other options, been shown that it can still be fun and yet keeps crying. I think we all understand why his old hunting buddy doesn’t hunt with him anymore. I wouldn’t want to sit in a blind and listen to someone complain all morning either.

We can say "Concern"
Clearly there is more going on here than just duck talk that I'm not savvy to.

[Platensek-po]

Those numbers show pintail #s are down. Not in the pacific flyway from what I see.
There are reasons to despair about duck hunting:

1. loss of public access and the rise in leased property. (not alot of free private permission these days.)
2. Crowded areas due to #1.
3. Weather seems to hit later and later every year. ( for instance take now its January, the season closes in ~3 weeks and its just now getting cold.)

I don't think the actual #of ducks in the pacific flyway is making hunts unsuccessful. Its a combo of the reasons above.
That isn't to say I don't worry about Avian Influenza, nesting issues, and the populations of ducks as a whole going down, I do.
I have never thought by the end of January that I hadn't seen as many ducks as I usually do in a year.

I don’t know about despair. Concern might be a better choice of word. I think we can all agree that there are issues with Waterfowl. However I don’t agree with going into every thread and bitching a moaning on and on about these things. It’s gotten so old and repetitive from the one member who cry’s on every thread. He has been offered to be taken hunting, given multiple other options, been shown that it can still be fun and yet keeps crying. I think we all understand why his old hunting buddy doesn’t hunt with him anymore. I wouldn’t want to sit in a blind and listen to someone complain all morning either.

We can say "Concern"
Clearly there is more going on here than just duck talk that I'm not savvy to.

I will agree that this years weather is completely out of wack. It’s been so warm on the westside. I still see some ducks but it seems like it’s been a trickle and not big pushes with lots of numbers. To be fair I haven’t gotten out as much the last couple weeks cause of holidays birthdays and sickness in my household.