Waterfowl seasons throughout the country are now officially closed. Die-hard waterfowl hunters are starting to feel the first symptoms of post-season regret. "Could I have hunted more? Could I have hunted in better places? Were my decoys wrong? Do I need a new gun?" Most importantly, this season many hunters are asking, "Where were the ducks?" Here are a few answers that might help solve the puzzling riddle many hunters faced in the Mid-South.

Winter waterfowl surveys conducted by state biologists in Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Missouri confirmed what hunters had reported: duck numbers were not what they expected. But it wasn't necessarily due to a lack of ducks – just ducks flocking to different habitats. Most hunters' expectations were high given the encouraging breeding numbers coming into the season. However, those expectations often met meager results thanks to some unusual weather conditions.

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) biologists flew midwinter aerial waterfowl surveys Jan. 4-6, just as the coldest weather in more than two decades was hitting that state. Preliminary estimates for the Delta region showed a population of roughly 2.8 million ducks, including 2.3 million mallards. While this number might seem high, AGFC waterfowl program coordinator Luke Naylor said it's important to keep in mind that this number is distributed across the large area of Delta acreage in the state. This high number is also deceptive because many ducks were using non-traditional habitats thanks to heavy rainfall and very low temperatures.

"Duck hunters who stuck to traditional areas often were disappointed with numbers of ducks seen. With the wetter than normal conditions, wintering ducks opted for non-traditional locations in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV)," said DU Chief Biologist Dale Humburg.

Humburg is referring to the extremely heavy rainfall that hit Arkansas and the southern region in late December. Those rains flooded river bottoms, agricultural fields and other important waterfowl wintering areas. This wet period added to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) report of a statewide average precipitation of 70.52 inches, Arkansas' second wettest year on record. A few days after this December downpour, a mass of arctic air descended on the state, bringing the coldest temperatures in more than two decades.

Naylor said due to the excess water, many ducks opted for non-traditional habitat, such as scrub-shrub habitat in areas along major river bottomlands like the White and Arkansas rivers. Biologists also noticed heavy waterfowl concentrations in reforested wetlands such as Wetlands Reserve Program lands, which usually don't flood until later in the season. Observers reported a notable absence of birds from traditional habitat, such as flooded agricultural fields.

Kevin Brunke, a Mississippi waterfowl biologist, echoed the report that ducks often dispersed into non-traditional locations this season – often away from where hunters expected to find them – saying, "the part of the MAV south of Vicksburg had many more ducks than usual."

Just because the ducks weren't easily seen doesn't mean they weren't around, at least in Louisiana, said Larry Reynolds, a Louisiana waterfowl biologist.

"It's good to crunch the numbers before making any statements based on 'perception.' Coastal transects in Louisiana showed increases in duck numbers over those surveyed in December, and although they were somewhat lower than the 30-year average, they were well above the record low of 1.6 million a year ago." These numbers support the fact that, due to the excess water, ducks had more options for habitat and stayed away from traditional spots.

The situation in Missouri proved very similar. The arctic air that descended upon the state led to early January temperatures that were 10 to 23 degrees below the long-term state average. Ice quickly got thicker, with even the larger reservoirs in the state freezing over. Missouri waterfowl biologist Frank Nelson pointed out the obvious effect this drastic weather had on the state's duck numbers this season.

"The total number of ducks on surveyed areas in Missouri was lower than that in January 2009 and much lower than the five-year average on managed public wetlands. Simply put, the habitat, and therefore the ducks, were shut out by the icy temperatures."

Too much water, too warm early, too cold late – the scenarios for duck hunters in the region changed rapidly and drastically. With waterfowl not visiting traditional areas, blinds were quiet in rice fields and sloughs where the roar of a shotgun echoed regularly in the past.

—Lauren Oxner, Ducks Unlimited

Contact:
Chris Jennings
cjennings@ducks.org
901.758.3732