The 2016-2017 waterfowl season is officially wrapping up for us as the goose decoys are about to go into storage in the coming days.
As we look back and reflect on the 2nd season for our duck club & plan for the future, we have some major plans moving forward. Reducing pressure & enhancing habitat are at the top of the list! Gone are the days of just flooding anything and holding birds. The equation is constantly changing and we're always going to adapt with it. Working with landowners and farmers is key and long term relationships are the only way to ensure quality habitat for waterfowl year after year.
Our club's teal season was a barn burner to say the least as they harvested just shy of 2400 birds with right at a 22 bird average per hunt. It doesn't get much better than that!
Mother Nature wasn't exactly on our side throughout big duck season as we had long periods of warm weather. Even in these less than favorable conditions, our club groups still experienced some good hunting as they harvested over 5,000 ducks during the regular season. When the birds were here, our club really had some solid hunting as our system worked. We are really looking forward to how well it will work with even less pressure and more habitat.
Throughout the entire waterfowl season our 20 club groups harvested close to 7,500 birds! We can't wait to see what that number does next year when we reduce the pressure and enhance the habitat even more.
Throughout the season we are always thinking of ways to improve for the next year. Pressure and food will be the two major things we are going to change for our club. Reducing our club groups from 20 down to 15 will really reduce the amount of pressure the ducks feel. Off-season prep work will be a major focal point for us this spring and summer. Our goal is to provide the best habitat the ducks have to choose from along the coastal prairie.
Not only are we wanting to provide the best habitat for the ducks, but also for our club members. Brand new 12,000sq ft lodge is currently under construction and will be complete sometime this June. This place will have it all, huge great room, screened in porch overlooking stocked pond, fire pit hangout area, huge bedrooms with full bathroom in each one, gear/mudrooms on both floors, covered parking, next to golf course & much more!
So as another season comes to a close we are already busy working towards improving for the next. We are striving to provide the best waterfowl hunting possible and that burning desire is what drives us day in and day out.
