Refuge forum! That's where the waterfowl boys and girls hang out.
The best light goose hatch I remember hunting, within the last 15 years (strictly leaving out the good ol’ days of the 90s and I didn’t hunt in the 80s), was 2017. This year my beer math puts the juvenile density about 10-15% higher. I figure it is nearly 40-50%. The avian flu is wreaking havoc right now though. I saw thousands of dead birds laying in rice fields this year. One of my buddies sent me a video of geese falling from the sky dead. I wonder how this is going to effect the carrion eaters and raptors throughout the country, especially eagles? I think the next few years will be rough, especially for goose hunters. It is effecting ducks as well but people aren’t talking about that near as much.
Ya that bird flu is a crazy. We had nothing up here and held a bunch of birds as soon as they hit the east side of state it’s like it just popped up. I was surprised it didn’t run through the breeding grounds last year . If it kills a million snow geese I do t know that many would notice. For the future the duck factory is in great shape we got lots of snow going into the spring so the potholes should all be full. Our resident honker population is really strong and with the water back we should have a really good august and September.
I'm in north Idaho and am deep in my weekend warrior days. I'd hunt ducks more but I'm an amateur lab trainer at best, and my dog shows impatience in the blind. She'd rather be uplanding. We will hunt some private pieces but have good state access for upland and waterfowl alike. Not unusual to pass shoot mallards and geese while walking for a pheasant where I go.
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