McNary Hunt

[hdshot]

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.

If you’re talking about me? Have not gotten one invite as expected and not my intention either.  Some made soft talk invites out of season only to make possible good reading for new people looking to start waterfowl hunting but nothing else from what I got which is fine with me.

Just sharing what the messenger is trying to tell us such as Delta and Du which is not good and don’t like it either but it’s a real world.

[hdshot]

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.

The passenger pigeon is or was migratory like waterfowl.  Doves even correlates with migratory bird seasons and regulations.

[hdshot]

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

Canvasbacks are cool but the king of ducks made the first duck stamp ever.  It was probably a lick and stick and might have been that way when I started.

[hdshot]

Couple interesting videos on the passenger. Never heard of squabbing for food before. 
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Uky2pgwyZk4&t=4s&pp=ygUQcGFzc2VuZ2VyIHBpZ2Vvbg%3D%3D

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kxBFbiD4gSg&pp=ygUacGFzc2VuZ2VyIHBpZ2VvbiBtaW5uaXNvdGE%3D

[TCHunter25]

This has been my first season hunting McNary.  Obviously we have not had any real winter weather yet, so I am curious with this cold snap setting in earlier than I would have liked will the slough be frozen over for tomorrow morning?

[hdshot]

This has been my first season hunting McNary.  Obviously we have not had any real winter weather yet, so I am curious with this cold snap setting in earlier than I would have liked will the slough be frozen over for tomorrow morning?

There will be some open spots but unfortunately the whole tri cities will be lined up to hunt there this weekend.  Tuesday could have been the best conditions with a smaller crowd possibly but unfortunately they are closed that day.  Good luck because trying to get 30 years of waterfowling restarted again but looking like I will have to keep the gun cold for another year at least with no license, no hunt partner, and no locations for a decent hunt or two.

[builtfordtough]

All im hearing from you is no, no and more no.  Go grab your gun and shoot some birds. Do you need a hunting partner for that?  Borrow a dog if you don't have 1.  And maybe stay off the huntwa forum with your GD negativity.    Getting old, actually its really old... 

[mboyle0828]

All im hearing from you is no, no and more no.  Go grab your gun and shoot some birds. Do you need a hunting partner for that?  Borrow a dog if you don't have 1.  And maybe stay off the huntwa forum with your GD negativity.    Getting old, actually its really old...

Agreed 

[metlhead]

It is a purpose troll. Just treat it like bad advertising and ingnore it.

[Klickitatsteelie]

Definitely old. Some people do nothing but b**ch. there will be some open water and where ice is should be easy enough to break. Should be great hunting this weekend with a good northern push of birds. Good luck, get out and have some fun that’s what it’s all about.

[hdshot]

All im hearing from you is no, no and more no.  Go grab your gun and shoot some birds. Do you need a hunting partner for that?  Borrow a dog if you don't have 1.  And maybe stay off the huntwa forum with your GD negativity.    Getting old, actually its really old...

Sounds you believe people don’t have freedom of speech to share true life experiences, just like my former hunting partner.  If you want to talk about negativity just read your post please, thank you.