By David Draper

With temperatures still peaking around the century mark and a persistent drought, it’s kind of hard to believe duck season is just around the corner. Despite the conditions, many hunters are anxious to get out next week when early teal seasons open up in several states along the Central Flyway. Unless the remains of tropical storm Isaac suck some moisture up onto the Plains, the biggest challenge for hunters might be finding a huntable piece of water. [ Read Full Post ]

By Michael R. Shea

Up and down the Atlantic flyway, resident Canada goose populations seem to be fluctuating on a state-by-state basis. But waterfowl biologists north and south all agreed there are way too many.

In Maine, spring resident goose surveys “were off the wall,” said Kelsey Sullivan, migratory and upland game bird biologist with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. “We had really high production.”

Typically the state’s bird count will show 40 to 60 percent young birds. This year it was closer to 80 or 85 percent, Sullivan said. “Overall it’s been very good hatching conditions. At some of the sites the birds were well along, near fledging, so they appear to have made it through.”

New York state resident goose numbers peaked five or six years ago, averaging 240,000 birds, said Brian Swift, section head for game management, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. This year the spring count came up with 206,000 birds. Even still, “you don’t have to travel very far to find birds in New York,” he said.

By contrast, Delaware Fish and Wildlife estimates around 12,000 resident Canadas, up from 8,400 in 2001. “But Delaware is such a small state that it’s generally under sampled,” said Matt DiBona, game... [ Read Full Post ]