What's new
Forums
Members
Resources
Whopper Club
Politics
Pics
Videos
Fishing Reports
Classifieds
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Members
Resources
Whopper Club
Politics
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Forums
Hunting
Bird Hunting
Waterfowl
Waterfowl season 2020
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="fireone" data-source="post: 303826" data-attributes="member: 6543"><p>From the Star Tribune:</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'"><strong>With Canada closed, duck hunters will pile into North Dakota this year</strong></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'"><strong>Heading north to Canada likely is not an option, so Minnesota waterfowlers are expected, in large numbers, to try North Dakota instead.</strong> </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">By Tony Kennedy Star Tribune</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">August 15, 2020 — 4:19pm</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'"></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">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.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">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.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">“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.”</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">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.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">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.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">“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.”</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">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.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">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.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">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.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">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.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">“It’s a good question, but I don’t know if less hunting pressure will have an impact,” Afton said.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">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.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">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.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">“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.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">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.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">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.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">“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.”</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">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.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">“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.”</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">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.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">“It was definitely a good year for duck production,” he said.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">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.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #353C41"><span style="font-family: 'Roboto'">Tony Kennedy is an outdoors writer covering Minnesota news about fishing, hunting, wildlife, conservation, camping, natural resource management, public land, forests and water.</span></span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="fireone, post: 303826, member: 6543"] From the Star Tribune: [COLOR=#353C41][FONT=Roboto][B]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.[/B] By Tony Kennedy Star Tribune August 15, 2020 — 4:19pm[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#353C41][FONT=Roboto] 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.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#353C41][FONT=Roboto]“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.”[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#353C41][FONT=Roboto]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.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#353C41][FONT=Roboto]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.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#353C41][FONT=Roboto]“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.”[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#353C41][FONT=Roboto]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.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#353C41][FONT=Roboto]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.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#353C41][FONT=Roboto]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.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#353C41][FONT=Roboto]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.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#353C41][FONT=Roboto]“It’s a good question, but I don’t know if less hunting pressure will have an impact,” Afton said.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#353C41][FONT=Roboto]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.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#353C41][FONT=Roboto]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.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#353C41][FONT=Roboto]“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.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#353C41][FONT=Roboto]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.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#353C41][FONT=Roboto]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.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#353C41][FONT=Roboto]“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.”[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#353C41][FONT=Roboto]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.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#353C41][FONT=Roboto]“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.”[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#353C41][FONT=Roboto]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.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#353C41][FONT=Roboto]“It was definitely a good year for duck production,” he said.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#353C41][FONT=Roboto]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.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#353C41][FONT=Roboto]Tony Kennedy is an outdoors writer covering Minnesota news about fishing, hunting, wildlife, conservation, camping, natural resource management, public land, forests and water.[/FONT][/COLOR] [/QUOTE]
Verification
What is the most common fish caught on this site?
Post reply
Recent Posts
Presidents who added the most
Latest: grumster
37 minutes ago
More CWD NE ND
Latest: grumster
48 minutes ago
Answer me this
Latest: grumster
Yesterday at 11:35 PM
Bismarck roads and driving
Latest: svnmag
Yesterday at 11:20 PM
NFL News (Vikings)
Latest: grumster
Yesterday at 10:30 PM
Riddle Me This.....
Latest: svnmag
Yesterday at 10:28 PM
Quiet Pellet Gun
Latest: Captain Ahab
Yesterday at 9:47 PM
F
Drotto adjustment?
Latest: Fester
Yesterday at 8:41 PM
Check your bags boys
Latest: svnmag
Yesterday at 8:27 PM
I Love This Bar (NDA)
Latest: Zogman
Yesterday at 3:19 PM
Tractors
Latest: Davey Crockett
Yesterday at 11:15 AM
8
Spring snows 24
Latest: 870XPRS
Thursday at 10:14 PM
R
Tract Optics
Latest: rodcontrol
Thursday at 2:22 PM
S
Israel
Latest: snow2
Thursday at 10:35 AM
Any Birders here?
Latest: svnmag
Wednesday at 8:59 PM
Prairie ghost
Latest: johnr
Wednesday at 4:20 PM
S
Mega Live
Latest: SLE
Wednesday at 2:12 PM
G
A good movie
Latest: gillraker
Wednesday at 9:53 AM
Skinwalker Ranch
Latest: svnmag
Tuesday at 10:16 PM
ROBOT
Latest: Davey Crockett
Tuesday at 9:23 PM
Friends of NDA
Forums
Hunting
Bird Hunting
Waterfowl
Waterfowl season 2020
Top
Bottom