2024-2025 Species Log

[Rick]

2024 September Teal: 238 blue-wings and 2 green-wings

[Rick]

2024-2025 Regular Season First Split:

black-bellied whistling ducks - 166

blue-wing teal - 47

gadwall - 51

green-wing teal - 67

mallards - 20

mottleds - 4

pintails - 21

redheads - 7

ringnecks - 44

scaup - 5

shovellers - 35

wigeon - 4

wood ducks - 2

speckle-bellied geese - 3

First Split Totals: 473 ducks and 3 geese

[Rick]

2024-2025 Second Split:

black-bellied whistling ducks - 85

blue-wing teal - 14

fulvous whistling ducks - 2

gadwall - 21

green-wing teal - 61

mallard - 10

mottled - 1

pintails - 8

ringnecks -23

scaup - 1

shovellers - 26

wigeon - 3

Specklebellies - 3

Second Split Totals: 257 ducks and 3 geese

[Rick]

2024-2025 Third Split:

black-bellied whistling ducks - 66 (1 banded)

blue-wing teal - 8

fulvous whistling ducks - 5

gadwall - 3

green-wing teal - 45

mallard - 20

mottled - 1

pintail - 9

ringneck - 16

shoveller - 15

wigeon - 3

wood ducks - 3

Third Split Total: 191 ducks

[Rick]

2024-2025 Regular Season:

black-bellied whistling ducks - 317

blue-wing teal - 69

fulvous whistling ducks - 7

gadwall - 75

green-wing teal - 173

mallard - 50

mottled - 6

pintails - 38

redheads - 7

ringnecks - 83

scaup - 6

shovellers - 76

wigeon - 10

wood ducks - 5

speckle-bellied geese - 6

2024-2025 Regular Season Totals - 921 ducks and 6 geese

[Rick]

correction we shot 3 wood ducks in the second split, not the third

[DComeaux]

Your log is a good example of how harvest numbers taper off as the season progresses. They'll probably show up next week.

[SpinnerMan]

Your log is a good example of how harvest numbers taper off as the season progresses. They'll probably show up next week.

I was curious, it was 15.9 birds per day the first split (30 days),16.3 birds per day the second split (16 days), and 13.6 the last (14 days). Also I think Rick lost 2 days to the weather which would give 15.9 birds per day for the last split. That's pretty close to steady as she goes. You would need account for the number of hunters in the blind to really see if it was that different. Averaging 2.6 limits, 2.7 limits, and 2.3 limits per day for every single day of the season. Amazing.

Although, I think there was some youth and vet days that throw off my averages.

Regardless, I can only dream of that kind of "slow" hunting. Over 20 years, me and my buddies have killed a little over 1100 ducks and geese. Rick almost does that in a season. Glad to get to live vicariously through his and all you all's logs that hunt in much more fruitful territory than I do.

[DComeaux]

Your log is a good example of how harvest numbers taper off as the season progresses. They'll probably show up next week.

I was curious, it was 15.9 birds per day the first split (30 days),16.3 birds per day the second split (16 days), and 13.6 the last (14 days). Also I think Rick lost 2 days to the weather which would give 15.9 birds per day for the last split. That's pretty close to steady as she goes. You would need account for the number of hunters in the blind to really see if it was that different. Averaging 2.6 limits, 2.7 limits, and 2.3 limits per day for every single day of the season. Amazing.

Although, I think there was some youth and vet days that throw off my averages.

Regardless, I can only dream of that kind of "slow" hunting. Over 20 years, me and my buddies have killed a little over 1100 ducks and geese. Rick almost does that in a season. Glad to get to live vicariously through his and all you all's logs that hunt in much more fruitful territory than I do.

If you remove the non-migratory birds from each split you get 307, 170, and 120 respectively. When I say non-migratory I mean in the traditional sense, from the north. Using Ricks log as a bellwether from this exceptional piece of marsh.

[SpinnerMan]

Your log is a good example of how harvest numbers taper off as the season progresses. They'll probably show up next week.

I was curious, it was 15.9 birds per day the first split (30 days),16.3 birds per day the second split (16 days), and 13.6 the last (14 days). Also I think Rick lost 2 days to the weather which would give 15.9 birds per day for the last split. That's pretty close to steady as she goes. You would need account for the number of hunters in the blind to really see if it was that different. Averaging 2.6 limits, 2.7 limits, and 2.3 limits per day for every single day of the season. Amazing.

Although, I think there was some youth and vet days that throw off my averages.

Regardless, I can only dream of that kind of "slow" hunting. Over 20 years, me and my buddies have killed a little over 1100 ducks and geese. Rick almost does that in a season. Glad to get to live vicariously through his and all you all's logs that hunt in much more fruitful territory than I do.

If you remove the non-migratory birds from each split you get 307, 170, and 120 respectively. When I say non-migratory I mean in the traditional sense, from the north. Using Ricks log as a bellwether from this exceptional piece of marsh.

10 per day, 11 per day, and 9 per day. It's not big difference. The first split was 30 days and the last 14, if he got about the same in the last, it would have been a disastrous first split. He didn't fall too many short of killing all the law allows almost every day and including the last split. He's too successful to really tell much from his totals since they are nearly all limits. So was the difference more hunters in the blind, better shooters, more ducks, or what for the second split?

[Rick]

Been years ago, before the framework was extended beyond the nearest weekend to 1/21, but I took a hard look at the first and last two weeks' tallies for several years and found it pretty much a wash: with some years leaning one way and some the other.

If I were waterfowl king, we'd go back to that old framework to mess less with pair bonding issues and give the birds more unpressured time to imprint here. Would also cut the limit to 4 to further mitigate some of the harm of maintaining days afield.

But I'm neither waterfowl king or much inclined to grind my gears over things beyond my control.

[SpinnerMan]

Would also cut the limit to 4 to further mitigate some of the harm of maintaining days afield.

Ironically, this would probably make your customers happier. If they shoot 4 ducks and the limit is 4, they got their limit. Success. If they shoot 5 ducks and the limit is 6 ducks, they came up short. Disappointment.

Happier customers and shorter work days for you. Win - win.

Too bad you aren't king.

Now if I were king, I'd grant you that and align our second season with yours. Then I'd actually get that 4 duck limit more often.

[Darren]

Took the time to crunch for Rick (and our accounting) the relative success metric of ducks/hunt:

1st Split
473 ducks on 30 hunts/days
15.8 ducks/hunt


2nd Split
257 ducks on 16 hunts/days
16 ducks/hunt


3rd Split
191 ducks on 14 hunts/days
13.6 ducks hunt

This of course doesn't account for the nitty gritty metric of ducks/hunter effort, would need to go back and document how many hunters on each hunt, but nonetheless tells us middle to late January isn't as productive as earlier in the season.

[Rick]

Would also cut the limit to 4 to further mitigate some of the harm of maintaining days afield.

Ironically, this would probably make your customers happier. If they shoot 4 ducks and the limit is 4, they got their limit. Success. If they shoot 5 ducks and the limit is 6 ducks, they came up short. Disappointment.

Happier customers and shorter work days for you. Win - win.

That was the finding of a LDWF hunter satisfaction survey done after the point system's possible ten bird limit was cut to five. Satisfaction went up after the almighty limit became easier to achieve.

But you left out the more important win of less pressure on the birds in terms of hunter hours.

Will also note that our "3 and 30" years suggested that three bird limit was the tipping point where a great many hunters abandoned them and turned to other pursuits. Duck leases went begging, while goose and deer leases sky-rocketed.