Sports - Outdoors

Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009

A BOUNTIFUL HARVEST Duck experts predict a good season in South Mississippi

This time of year, waterfowl hunters across the nation are asking the same question. ”Where are the ducks?” But duck hunting enthusiasts are in for a bountiful season, according to Duck’s Unlimited conservationists.

“It would appear that we had a very good hatch,” Ducks Unlimited chairman Tommy Schafer said.

“But ducks have wings and they could be here today and gone tomorrow.”

Some hunters have been wondering if the ducks will be as plentiful, as some experts are predicting while others are trying to figure out why they cannot find a good duck hunting area these days.

Schafer said if duck hunters are scratching their heads these days it is because after Hurricane Katrina, many of the Coastal wetlands were lost in southeast Mississippi creating high levels of saline in the waters.

“That changes the vegetation and ducks go where the food is,” Schafer said.

“Mother Nature has a lot to do with where the ducks go. One thing you can count on is that everyone has an opinion about duck hunting successes.”

David Hector, who was also with Duck’s Unlimited, announced at Hancock County’s Annual Ducks Unlimited Banquet on Thursday that this season will be a good one.

The news of who believed the estimation is another story but hopes still remained high.

Hector said there are several reasons why he and the experts know there will be a healthy season ahead.

“I feel like the adequate rains and cooler weather that we have already experienced is a good sign for duck hunters,” Hector said.

“Something else is at play here too. Since we have had so much rain, the farmers cannot get out to their fields to harvest them so there is a lot of food for the ducks to feed on.”

At the banquet, several duck hunters discussed the fact that there have been more ducks migrating south from Canada and that it has created a lot of optimism in the duck hunting world.

The bottom line, they said, is that ducks only come south in order to find food and to find water that is not frozen.

While Hector said migratory patterns change over time, he said that it would not force so many ducks to change migrations in such a short time.

Birds go where they find food, water and safety, and they stay as long as the habitat they are in can satisfy those needs. A duck can store up to seven days’ worth of fat on its body before it must eat.

If that is not enough for a debate on duck hunting strategies, consider this.