Synopsis of Delta Waterfowl’s Duck Migration Study

The Bipartisan Policy Center commissioned Delta Waterfowl to produce a study of ducks migration in this era of climate change. The study was completed in 2011 and, by and large, is inconclusive. We have seen good numbers and statistics compiled on nesting and hatch numbers throughout the years but virtually no reliable corresponding numbers for ducks migrating during any given time period. Delta Waterfowl undertook the study of available harvest data in their attempt to determine if waterfowl in North America are migrating later in the season in response to climate change.

The study did conclude that waterfowl hunters are harvesting ducks later in the season and suggest that mallards and possibly other ducks are not widely available to hunters until later in the season because they are migrating significantly later. There are other factors in addition to climate change which may be contributing to this change in migratory patterns. For Mississippi, the average harvest dates are later for every species including mallards 16 days later, pintails 24 days later, blue-winged and cinnamon teal 35 days later, gadwall 14 days later, and green-winged teal 25 days later.

I certainly agree that ducks are harvested later. We discuss throughout the site that such is the case. My personal observations are that there is traditionally a good first wave that produces enjoyable hunting the opening weekend through early December, numbers drop off in mid-December and customarily pick back up the third and fourth week of January. The two biggest weekends for our programs are opening weekend and Martin Luther King Jr. three- day weekend in January. Sometimes the big migration of ducks arrives earlier in January and other times (like last season) to a great extent, not at all. This later migratory phenomenon is a major reason that we have changed focus here at MS Delta Ducks to a season hunt program as opposed to the traditional single-location duck lease. Spreading out the hunting into a variety of habitats helps to maximize the harvest of available ducks. The habitat complex areas are stronger in the early season while the outlying brakes and fields yield greater numbers of mallards and gadwall from mid-January to season’s end.

Give me a call to discuss programs, leases and duck hunting in general.