Migration Alert: Drought Adds to Difficult Conditions in the Pacific Northwest

With a few exceptions, duck hunters in Washington and Idaho should add sunscreen and polarized sunglasses to their blind bags.

“It’s so dry,” reports Tina Blewett, DU biologist in Spokane. “It’s 70 degrees outside right now. We’ve never seen some of our BLM lands so dry.”

Joe Sands, a wildlife biologist for the US Fish and Wildlife Service regional headquarters in Portland, says that he hasn’t heard of any band recoveries from a multitude of ducks banded this past summer in Alberta.

Opening weeks in both states did see action on local birds for hunters with access to water.

A recent snow in Canada seems to have driven some green-winged teal south, Sands says, although mallards have yet to arrive in any numbers. All eyes are focused on the weather in Alberta, where forecasts predict the season’s first hard freeze is coming next week as far south as Calgary.

That said, die-hard hunters don’t have to give up the proverbial ship. Local birds haven’t moved out of town yet either; they’ve just been educated, and there are ways to stay a little ahead of the curve.

Washington

Teal, which are typically among the first to get out of town with the first frost up north, joined local mallards in the upper Columbia Basin and provided an average opener.

Farther downriver, opening weekend results haven’t been posted yet for Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge near Vancouver, a barometer for the lower Columbia that usually matches results at Sauvie Island Wildlife Management Area, which almost directly across the river in Oregon. Sauvie hunters had a slower opener than usual and are bagging roughly two birds per gun—mainly wigeon, teal, and mallards.

Coastal hunters have found wads of pintails along with mallards and teal, but diving duck action won’t pick up until the weather gets harsh up north.

Perhaps the state’s best duck hunting, and the most challenging, will be in north Puget Sound’s tidal areas.

“Mind the tides,” advises Rob Wingard, assistant regional manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s northeast sound. “It could be a tough one for hunting the tides.”

Ducks feed mostly when high tides flood the marshes, and successful hunters time their trips accordingly.

Hunters who have found water inland across the sound have been doing some shooting, Wingard adds. “There are a decent number of geese, if you’ve got some private land. I’ve heard some banging around here and there,” Wingard says.

Idaho

The state’s best opportunities have been split between the panhandle and the Snake River, which cuts across the south-central part of the state.

Panhandle hunting has been fair, with local mallards, wood ducks, gadwalls, and teal in the mix.

Along the Snake, teal, wigeon, mallards, and some early divers were in the bags of early-season hunters, but many of the river’s backwaters are dry.

Magic Valley hunter Matt Peterson offers some sage advice.

“In conditions like this, with not much water around, the birds get educated and move back and forth along the river,” he notes. “I’ve had to drive a lot farther with my boat, but there’s lots of places to get to the river and hunt.”