Waterfowl season 2020

Kurtr

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So with canada not letting nr in this year so far if it holds will it make this one of the best seasons as the birds will be less pressured? As long as the weather cooperates we might have birds that will decoy like never before. Cant wait for october to get here.
 


Rut2much

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If so, the timing couldn't be better now that I live back closer to home FINALLY (hunting the Jamestown area was a different universe). The one thing that concerns me that with far less pressure is the birds could possibly just decide to stage up there longer and take their own sweet time coming down. Those mass migrations in November due to blizzard/wind sure can be biblical though. Good luck to everyone afield this year.
 

1lessdog

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With Canada being closed to NR I wonder where they will all go to hunt Waterfowl?
 

eyexer

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Yea what will happen is the number of hunters will skyrocket as will the pressure. Pressure in Canada will turn to nothing. Birds will stay in Canada until they simply can’t stand it anymore and they will fly straight to their southern destination.
 


jdinny

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Yea what will happen is the number of hunters will skyrocket as will the pressure. Pressure in Canada will turn to nothing. Birds will stay in Canada until they simply can’t stand it anymore and they will fly straight to their southern destination.

Bingo!
without a doubt closing Canada will hurt ND not only pressure wise but bird wise as well.

- - - Updated - - -

The only positive to this is... IF you have a couple landowners who your in good with and they save fields for you if your patient and don’t blow your wad early you could load up fields so to speak.
 

Retired Educator

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Not a migration expert but have hunted in Canada many times. Have never noticed much pressure where I have hunted. Granted I don't hunt in areas that are often written about or where TV shows are filed. Have always had good success with less hunters even with less birds. So I'm not sure pressure has much to do with the migration. It seems like snow geese especially, just sometimes think it's time to move a hundred or more miles. Weather for sure will move birds but I've seen geese decide to move with 60 degree weather.

By not much pressure I've hunted for 4 days and rarely heard another shot other than my group. And those are days where limits are frequently filled. So, as I said I don't claim to be a migration expert it's just from my observations that hunting pressure is not the main reason to move.
 

1lessdog

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Up in Canada hunting does very little to moves the birds south. Your right about pressure, N.D. has 5 times the hunting pressure as Canada has. The big weekend for hunting is the week of teachers convention when the MN and WI brings there kids out.
 

Traxion

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I agree, there is certainly some pressure in Canada but I would not say it is enough to really move the birds. Very little local pressure though, so the birds will be quite content. However, I still think its a daylight thing for a lot of species and weather will ultimately push them when the time comes.

I do feel for you in ND though. I don't know if you will be over-run with hunters, but you will probably see an uptick in NR hunters. Who knows, if it is anything like turkey season here, you may even see more locals out. But no cap on the NR's will lead to more pressure for sure. Good luck!
 

1bigfokker

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Only took three posts to bring up NR hunters. Could be a shitshow record.
.
 


eyexer

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Well considering people going to Canada to hunt are non residents it would be pretty hard to avoid that in this discussion ;:;rofl
 

fireone

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From the Star Tribune:

With Canada closed, duck hunters will pile into North Dakota this year
Heading north to Canada likely is not an option, so Minnesota waterfowlers are expected, in large numbers, to try North Dakota instead.

By Tony Kennedy Star Tribune
August 15, 2020 — 4:19pm


Theories abound on how Canada’s closed border will affect duck hunting this year. People seem to be in agreement that thousands of Americans will travel instead to North Dakota.
With the prairie provinces of Canada most likely off limits to most Americans this year, North Dakota is bracing for an onslaught of waterfowl hunters who have been crossing the border for decades.

“It could be a real zoo,” said Al Afton, a hunter and wildlife ecologist who lives near Bemidji. “North Dakota will be shoulder to shoulder.”
Afton, an adjunct professor of renewable natural resources at Louisiana State University, said the global coronavirus pandemic will lessen pressure and disturbance on ducks and geese as they begin their migration from arctic and sub-arctic breeding grounds. A decision is expected soon on whether to keep the international border closed to nonessential visitors past Aug. 21, but most people believe it will stay closed for months.
It’s unclear what that means for waterfowlers hiding behind cattails in Minnesota and other places in the north-central flyways of the U.S. Part of the uncertainty stems from the lack of reliable data this year on the birds’ breeding success. COVID-19 social distance restrictions kept many wildlife agencies in the U.S. and Canada from surveying habitat conditions and production of young.
“We don’t have much quantified data,” said Afton, who has hunted waterfowl in Canada every fall since 1973. “We don’t know what the flight will look like.”
In Saskatchewan and elsewhere in Canada, American duck hunters outnumber resident hunters. Of the 17,000 licensed waterfowl hunters in Saskatchewan in 2018, 54% were nonresidents.
The approaching drop-off in hunting pressure in Canada has prompted some U.S. hunters to speculate that the birds might linger in Manitoba and Saskatchewan longer than usual.
Afton said the lack of disturbance won’t delay or prolong the migration of “calendar ducks” such as teal, wood ducks and pintails. They are typically the earliest ducks to reach United State skies and they take flight regardless of the food supply in Canada.
He said weather — like always — will be a major influence on the movement of other species. If mallards, bluebills, geese and other waterfowl can’t feed because of snow and ice, they will travel. Even in times of normal hunting pressure, a good food supply will keep the birds in Canada, experts say.
“It’s a good question, but I don’t know if less hunting pressure will have an impact,” Afton said.
On the other hand, with many hunters expected to be staged in North Dakota, the ducks and geese could backtrack temporarily into Canada if they get blasted, Afton said.
John Devney is senior vice president of Delta Waterfowl Foundation in Bismarck, N.D. He said he has received calls from hunters throughout the U.S. seeking advice on where to hunt in North Dakota as an alternative to Canada. South Dakota isn’t an option for nonresidents unless they obtained a license through a lottery that’s now closed.
“The outfitters in North Dakota are starting to get pretty filled,” Devney said. He predicts that Minnesota also will see an increase in duck hunting this year. Minnesota’s duck season opens Sept. 26. In North Dakota, nonresidents can hunt starting Oct. 3.
Devney said waterfowl hunters are optimistic by nature. One theory about the upcoming season that’s already floating around anticipates that lots of “young and dumb” ducks normally shot in Canada will be ripe for the taking when they sail into the U.S.
But Devney said the Canadian harvest — even when aided by American hunters — has been greatly diminished by the loss of hunters. Canada just isn’t shooting that many ducks anymore, he said.
“I don’t think hunting pressure is materially affecting migration timing very much,” Devney said. “Things definitely are going to be different this year, but it’s a little bit hopeful to think the hunting will be better.”
Mike Szymanski, migratory game bird management supervisor for North Dakota Game and Fish, said “it’s a little bit concerning” that thousands of duck hunters who usually take trips to Canada will instead be looking to locate themselves near lakes and wetlands in North Dakota. Some of the groups will be larger than normal, looking for the kind of field hunts that happen on trips to Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.
“We’re expecting to take kind of the brunt of it,” Szymanski said. “We expect there to be quite a bit of competition for hunting spots.”
Unlike Minnesota and other states, North Dakota completed waterfowl-related field work this spring. The surveys showed a good year of production with ample precipitation and standing water. Szymanski said the fall flight of North Dakota waterfowl is projected to be up 9% compared to a year ago. Drought conditions have crept into parts of central and western North Dakota, but brood surveys showed robust populations.
“It was definitely a good year for duck production,” he said.
To the contrary, habitat conditions in Saskatchewan and Manitoba have been on the dry side, and waterfowl hatches further north may have been below average because of prolonged cold weather, especially on west Hudson Bay and on Southampton Island.
Tony Kennedy is an outdoors writer covering Minnesota news about fishing, hunting, wildlife, conservation, camping, natural resource management, public land, forests and water.
 

Migrator Man

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Outfitters in Nebraska are pushing hard to get those hunters booked. I already saw the Divebomb squad is in ND for early goose opener
 

Retired-Guy

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Maybe ND will follow Canada's example and close its borders to stem the spread of COVID-19. :;:muahaha:::
 

eyexer

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We should cease all non residents licenses for hunting due to the virus. Only makes sense to me
 


Migrator Man

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Let them all come. Once they realize all the ducks left after the nonresident opener roost busting none of them will come back. October hunting has been tough the last 5 years and also doesn’t help when all the birds migrate in 5 days with many not even stopping in ND. I can see why guys go to Canada instead.
 

Duckslayer100

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I'm actually thinking of taking the entire resident opener week off just to pile up the brown birds before the floodgates open. Then with a freezer full, say to heck with it and hunt something else the reset of the season.

I have friends coming out of the wood work wondering where to hunt in ND. People who haven't said so much as "hello" to me for a decade now suddenly are chummy and looking for spots. "With Canada closed, we're thinking of trying North Dakota again. Mind pointing us in the right direction?"

Sure, buddy! Devils Lake. Can't beat it. Ducks everywhere and ample lands to hunt. Just bring your wallet.

Enjoy!!
 

Kurtr

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i think the pressure up there is going to help us down here if the weather cooperates. I have also have people ask me about hunting up there which i never have so i am really no help. if devils lake is the answer i guess thats where i will tell them to go;:;rofl
 

snow

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So a normal year the ND state sells nr waterfowl tags about 30+k licenses/year with "oh canada shut down add another 10k+ maybe not good for local residents or birds,roost busting,field jumping from lawless ingnorant idiots from all over the country I suspect a shit show in north dakota ,more than usual.
 
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