Outdoor News Daily

Excellent breeding conditions this past year in the northern Prairie region and Canada should mean productive hunting for the opening of duck season Thanksgiving Day.

“Every population of every species but widgeon are holding their own or up big time,” said John Brunjes, migratory bird biologist for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “There are lots of birds out there and it should be a better than normal season, but it is all weather dependent. The combination of what Mother Nature has in store for us will determine the success of the duck season.”

Duck populations are at their highest levels since the population surveys began in the mid-1950s. Biologists report 16,000 ducks at Ballard Wildlife Management Area near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers in Ballard County right now. Mallards make up about 75 percent of those ducks.
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With the opening of Iowa’s two shotgun deer seasons. About 70,000 hunters are expected over the five day (December 4-8) first season. Another 50,000 should be pursuing whitetails in the nine day (December 11-19) second season.

December weather always factors into hunter participation and deer harvest. For this weekend’s opener, it looks like hunters will avoid ice, heavy snow or bitter subzero temperatures; important as wildlife officials work to balance the state’s deer herd.

“Our shotgun seasons are the most popular in the state. The majority of our harvest comes from the shotgun seasons,” notes Tom Litchfield, DNR deer biologist. “In the overall scheme, shotgun seasons are very important in managing the deer herd in Iowa.”
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Iowa pheasant hunters already know it. They will see fewer birds when they step into the fields this weekend and for the next couple months. Iowa’s pheasant season opens October 30, on the heels of the lowest pre-season survey ever recorded.

“We estimate a harvest of 200,000 to 300,000 birds this fall,” forecasts Todd Bogenschutz, upland research biologist for the Department of Natural Resources. “About 30% of our harvest is in the first nine days of the season. That’s a lot of activity spread over those first two weekends. With most of the crops out of the field, it should concentrate the birds more, in areas of good cover.”
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