By M.D. Johnson

North of Missouri, duck seasons are but a memory – and, for many, not a real good memory. So bad, in fact, a buddy from here in Iowa recently posted a thread on a ‘fowling forum titled “Good Riddance to 2012.”

Cruising the Internet reveals gunners for the most part are having a tough time of it in places like Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi (but there are some happy exceptions). A lack of water seems to be a common denominator throughout much of Arkansas and Mississippi, though the lack of new ducks, aka The Stale Bird Syndrome, appears a frequent complaint, too. Conversely, though, I get the impression that some closed-mouthed hunters in some spots are getting some birds.

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By David Draper

After last week’s report stating freezing temperatures up north were sending ducks winging south into Texas, several readers in the Lone Star state chimed in to say they were waiting, maybe not so patiently, for birds to show up. Thus is the nature of a late, and spotty migration. Hunters on one side of the road can be into birds, while nearby waterfowlers watch empty skies and wait. Still, as duck numbers up here in the north continue to decrease in direct proportion to the amount of ice on area lakes, hunters down south should continue to see more birds.

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By Duane Dungannon

When my son Tyler’s knee surgery ended his college basketball season at Eastern Oregon University, it also cut short his duck hunting season. Because he was hobbling around the house on crutches during the holidays like Tiny Tim, I bought him the duck hunting game for the Wii. Don’t feel too sorry for him, though; his virtual hunting seems to be better than real thing for virtually all West Coast waterfowlers this week.

In northeast Washington, hunters like Kent Conteras and Allen Riggs of Avery Outdoors started the New Year with cold duck on ice. [ Read Full Post ]

By M.D. Johnson

John Gordon, a good friend from Memphis and the man responsible for compiling the migration reports for Avery Outdoors each week, included this note with his weekly email sent up here Iowa way: “Here you go, brother. It’s pretty slim pickins’.” And ain’t that the truth.
 
Here in eastern Iowa, I’ve made the transition almost entirely from waterfowl to whitetails. Our late muzzleloader season runs through 10 January 2013, and three of us are sitting on eight of nine tags remaining. Translation: We have a lot of deer hunting to do if we’re planning on putting anything into the freezer. [ Read Full Post ]

By David Draper

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas on the Central Flyway as winter storm Draco pushed across the northern plains this week, bringing snow, freezing temperature and high winds with it. Hopefully this equates to an early gift of new ducks for hunters as the mallard migration works its way down the Flyway, where hunters have been impatiently waiting all season for a push of greenheads. [ Read Full Post ]