The cold front that is supposed to barrel through our area during opening weekend couldn’t come at a better time for north Louisiana duck hunters. We need a little rain, too. That would bring more birds into the area and give them some place to stay.
According to the figures released late Thursday from the LDWF aerial survey of all of north Louisiana, only about 246,815 ducks are in the area. Some of the more popular hunting areas have very few birds.
Thanks to Larry, Reynolds and his crew, here’s the official report:
“The landscape is very dry! 90% of the water on the landscape has been put there by hunters or land managers. All natural waterbodies are low with little to no duck food in the water or around the edges. Most of the ducks and geese are concentrated around flooded rice fields.
Bunkie is the hot spot for this survey. That area was holding over 70% of the ducks and about 33% of the geese counted on the survey. The Bonita/Mer Rouge area was dominated by geese which were using most of the available flooded rice fields there.”
The best estimate from the survey shows around 11,000 mallards, 54,000 gadwalls and 43,000 green wing teal. And oh yes, 71,000 shovelers. And more geese than ducks.
Stay tuned. It will get better. Be safe out
