Did anyone else notice there seeming to be more of them around this year than in the last few years? Ive seen 50+ numerous times while out hunting different properties and seems to be the same kind of numbers on neighborhood ponds also.

Water buzzards....hate them......

Yes, been seeing more and more every year.....

We used to get a permit to kill them from the State of Texas but USFWS took over that program a couple years ago and I didn't ever feel like messing with the federal goverment.

I never understood why the nasty, fish eating varmints are protected! I guess someone had a sick sense of humor.

I can’t stand them... each one eats like 7,000 lbs of game fish a day

Do a lot of bird watching, in the off season. This is an ironic thread in that today the local trout stocked pond had 50+ birds on the bank. Cormorants are becoming more common, due several factors, Before anyone says We stop shooting them, stop and think. There are a lot more stock ponds( stocked fish) especially with trees around them. Urban ponds that are more like refuges with protected nesting trees and roost, that hold nesting birds and allow easy feeding for young and old birds. We have several hydroelectric plants in the state that have warm water and allow cormorants year round fair to excellent fishing. There becoming pond rats, eat,& sleep make more. I cut back the trees from the families ponds and there has been less cormorants staying there. I may not be able to get rid of them, but so not going to help them.

Their numbers were really low at one point thanks to DDT.
https://www.animallaw.info/article/cormorant-conflict

If you hunt public enough you'll run across some dead ones. Giant wood crow duck I suppose.

I say open up a season.

Cormorants and fish populations

Clearly no longer the case.....choot 'em!

Agreed! They are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act... maybe it is a real PITA to amend or change it?

I always see a few hunting, but one time this year I saw a group of 20 or so flying and couldn’t believe it. I’d never seen that many together.

water turkey's must die

Go down to Falcon Lake and you can see waves of them numbering into the thousands. Just unreal how many there are down there.

Can't say I saw more this season, I would say I saw less, but I think that is probably more about where I hunted. Some areas/spots are on cormorant travel routes, some aren't. But they are nasty birds and all should die. Fishing this pond by my Mom's house many years ago me and my son, I keep noticing many of the bass we were catching had these holes/injury on the tail. It took me a while to figure out, dang cormorants, they chase the fish and snag them with their fish hook beak!

We see tons of them every year.

Last year while deer hunting near Proctor I watch 20 groups or more of 50+ come over in waves from the deer blind.

The long feathers in ladies hats in the 1800s and early 1900s were primarily died cormorant feather. Cormorants were nearly hunted to extinction.

A lesson in how hard it is to unprotect a species once it gets on a protected list. How many is enough?

I shoot near them to keep them off our lakes, sure wish I could use them as target practice.
They can definitely ruin a pond in a day or two if left unchecked.

My grandpa used to choot ‘em off his pond with a rifle from his back patio when I was a kid. I have no idea if he knew they were protected, but I also doubt he cared. His catfish were all he cared about.

They are fun to shoot.
They fly straight line at a cool 45 yrd altitude.
Perfect pattern testing


The Nuisance Double-crested Cormorant Control Permit issued by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) has been suspended and until further notice. All control activities previously authorized under a Nuisance Double-crested Cormorant Control Permit must cease immediately.

TPWD's authority to issue Nuisance Double-crested Cormorant Control Permits was based on the United States Fish and Wildlife Service depredation order for double-crested cormorants to protect public resources. See 50 CFR §21.48. A recent federal lawsuit has resulted in an order issued by a federal court vacating or suspending the USFWS depredation order for double-crested cormorants to protect public resources; therefore, all Cormorant Control Permits issued by TPWD no longer authorize double-crested cormorant control activities and all previously authorized control activities must cease immediately. See Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, et al, v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service, et al., No. 14-1807 (D.D.C. May 25, 2016) (Order and Memorandum Opinion on Vacatur).

If you need to control cormorants due to depredation, you will now have to apply with the USFWS Permits Office (505-248-7882) for a new individual Migratory Bird Depredation Permit (FWS Form 3-200-13). See 50 CFR 21.41.

They're freaking everywhere!!! I hate those things. There's a petition going around on change.org to legalize shooting them suckers! click link below to sign!

https://www.change.org/p/the-department-for-environment-food-and-rural-affairs-place-great-black-cormorants-under-general-licence-so-there-numbers-can-be-reduced-by-50?recruiter=923988771&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial.pacific_email_copy_en_gb_4.v1.pacific_email_copy_en_us_3.control.pacific_post_sap_share_gmail_abi.gmail_abi.pacific_email_copy_en_us_5.v1.lightning_2primary_share_options_more.variant&utm_term=psf_combo_share_initial.lightning_2primary_share_options_more.control&utm_content=mit-14034335-1%3Av2&fbclid=IwAR0oqtx8KAwB-Ia5gxECmto2FvKHUpJ4H9NIPhac_N7YRWX2AXGcEOFzxGM

I think you are missing a decimal point

I stock and feed the bait fish in my pond that ultimately feed my bass.

Just got down to the Farm and the pond is covered up in Pelicans and Cormorants.

The picture doesn’t do it justice. There were 4X this number out of the picture.

All I'm saying is that a one day season would be more than enough...

Basically, that ponds screwed. Pelicans are way worse than cormorants.

I’m all for a cormorant permit. I have noticed a huge increase in water turkeys (cormorants) in every spot I’ve hunted.

My wife is from Florida where Sandhills are a pretected species. She was chased as a 5 year old on the beach by two. They thought I was crazy when I told them we hunted Sandhills because of the devistation they do to crops where they can be hunted. It has helped my families main income.

As conservationist I would support anything that helps promote the outdoor preservation of a huge monetary generator in Texas, which is mostly fishing driven