Finally got moved in out at my land this year and the young bucks got me to bust out all the gear. I havent been after birds in a few years. I know I cant Be the only one but i am not seeing jack compared to what Im used to. I even went to a couple ace in the hole spots and was astonished at the low numbers. I already know the difficulty in my area but I’ve been blown away at the low numbers. I live about a mile or two from the south end of the closest lake to me and i noticed after getting all my gear out that I dont Even see birds flying into roost on that lake like i used to. For instance i didnt see one single flock watching this evening. What is going on?

The bird pattern has been puzzling this year. There are birds out there, they are just on the move and in different spots.

My perception is that they haven't migrated South yet...I'm in Central Texas and drove a 300 mile loop hauling a horse for the vet. I easily scanned 200+ tanks of varying sizes...several acres to a few hundred square feet... that I have visually scanned several times each year...the results were that I only saw ducks on 2 of the tanks...7 teal on a small tank...a couple thousand square feet of surface, and then 40-50 ducks, teal and grey ducks on a 3-4 acre tank...the bird numbers in the area between (W) Burnet, TX and (E) Wheelock, TX, (N) Holland, TX and Carmine, TX just aren't there... unless they were all on that nameless lake in the area...which would not jive with reports from hunters on that lake...birds usually show in large numbers between Thanksgiving and Christmas in this area...typical tank hunts get 3-4 birds per hunter, occasionally limits, this year...averaging less than 1 bird per hunter/day.

We hunt in NE Texas every year in December, and we saw and were told the same thing. Not enough big cold fronts to push the birds down yet. Hunting was really tough. The birds were all still hanging out in Missouri. I think it's gotten a little better just lately.

Well...if they're hanging out in MO/KS its either in dry fields or the river. All the bottoms and ponds are locked up. Bit of of a thaw coming tomorrow.

Damit.

Yes, damit...we need 7-10 days with high temps below 20 degrees, in the zone above the Red River, to lock up the open water areas and force the birds South...damit,,,running out of season

We are seeing (actually not seeing) the same thing over here in Louisiana. We hunt a premier marsh in SW Louisiana. Duck numbers are horrible. Basically, we are happy to be able to shoot something. We are only seeing just a handful of ducks each hunt.

From the reports I have been getting from friends the ducks aren’t up north in great numbers. I honestly believe we are waiting on paper ducks to arrive and no amount of cold weather or snow will make those paper ducks appear.

Just my 2 cents
Big Hutch

I Agree with you 100%

What are paper ducks?

I would assume survey numbers and counts that just aren’t showing up in the real life hunting data.

Paper ducks are wood ducks that have been sent to the pulp mill...sorry, couldn't help myself///

As a forester and wildlife biologist, that’s funny right there!!

That’s right. Ducks that don’t exist in real life and only exist as numbers based on statistical calculations, extrapolations, and assumptions.

If you look at the USFWS harvest data from the past versus today, their own numbers show a dramatic decrease in the numbers of ducks harvested. That decrease in the southern states like Texas and Louisiana does nit correlate to an increased harvest in other areas of the flyways. The numbers show quite the opposite. Harvest numbers in the north are also down significantly. That indicates the “excess” ducks not showing up in the south are not in stacked up in the northern states.

You might have just missed the migration based on where you're at. I was out deer hunting at the end of the December and I saw wave after wave of ducks migrating on 12/30 and 12/31. Definitely over 1k in just what I saw from my small area and was the most concentrated migration I've seen in Cross Timbers ever

No ducks in Tx.... maybe next year

This season has been a little disappointing. 9 hunts on public, 5 birds. Hardly saw any birds on those hunts. I went out late yesterday on a big lake and did see some teal, gadwal and couple of hoodies(not woodies ) but they gave no interest and flew the middle of the lake. Heard no shots fired in the area. Day looked perfect but nothing. Couple weeks more. I'll keep trying.

It has been weird. One of the guides we hunted with began the season in Canada and remarked the migration is 3 weeks behind because of weather and fronts.

It’s been relatively slow/challenging down here in Central Texas. Birds have been scarce. We’re just now starting to see some in our spots but tried a new place today and only saw 3 birds….. which was odd.

Can echo this. We have only made a couple of hunts all season as our sections of SWLA marsh just arent holding any birds to hunt.

For about the 3rd time this season, found a spot holding about 100 mallards, and then a no show in the morning, odd…. So many mud boats on the water these days, not like it used to be. The birds never get a rest.

Agreed. I went on a scout/hunt Sat afternoon in an area where I usually see nobody... maybe one other boat. There were 3 groups hunting and I could hear boats running all around.

Saw big groups of teal and a big portion of those were hens. They should have been on the coast a month ago. Even the mesquites out west just dropped their leaves. Everything is way behind. On the plus side, I did find a lot of new birds, but so did everybody else.

We have a bitter cold front coming all across the Rockies and Midwest- several days of below zero temps, your birds will be coming down with this one if any are left up this way.

Over 100 (60% widgeon, 20% gadwall, 20% ringneck) on our 4-acre pond yesterday morning east of Sherman. Most I've seen all year. Cold weather next week ought to keep them coming.

Covered up