Don't let them fool you...
- Thread starter smashdn
- Start date
smashdn
12 pointer
I didn't say that was what you said or meant, and if that was how you took it I think you took it wrong. Those ducks (not just mallards, I'm not a mallard hunter, I'm a duck hunter) will find that natural food.
And I get the corn concept. Corn works wonders, a lot of the time, and is dynamite when it is cold. And I thought I said that. Those ducks don't have to have the free hand out to stay up there. Meaning that without corn minus the weather they are still going to hold a bunch.
I don't think the simple lack of corn is going to cause the ducks to skip over MO and SOIL. And my original bit was about water not food. There is water. And there will be more water. You put that water, on the natural food that is there, with no weather to force them to corn or force them down they will stay. Your next best hope then is pressure to move them. I can get behind that.
I can't see them flying over because there is no waste grain on the ground or the duck parks aren't feeding them. They will find food this year up there where there is water. There is more water up there than they are letting on. That was my original point.
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I gotcha. And i will have to say that yes, if we dont get the weather to get them down here, your right. food no food, water no water we wont get anything. On a warm year, they will definately use the sloughs and feed on things other than grain. I just cannot see the lack of corn not effecting it somehow. It always seemed to me that they would bounce beetween union co, big lake, and ballard. But the weather is and always will be your deciding factor in what your gonna get and when. If we have another warm winter, I may have to take up another hobby. Wayyy too much work for not much. But i know i will never quit in the back of my mind.
smashdn
12 pointer
Put SEMO and Reelfoot in that circle as well.
And that brings up another good point that KDFWR should take note of. You got this wad of birds that loops around over that way. Set you up a primo duck haven (Doug Travis, Clarks River latch on, farther east?) and get it in the loop. Then once you got that place set up start moving east. There is duck habitat that way it just most often lacks water control and ducks, principley ducks unfortunately.
In my heart of hearts I bet if they made it a priority they could slide that thing east. Maybe no tthe whole thing but atleast attempt to create a bulge at KY. Widen the neck of the funnel.
And that brings up another good point that KDFWR should take note of. You got this wad of birds that loops around over that way. Set you up a primo duck haven (Doug Travis, Clarks River latch on, farther east?) and get it in the loop. Then once you got that place set up start moving east. There is duck habitat that way it just most often lacks water control and ducks, principley ducks unfortunately.
In my heart of hearts I bet if they made it a priority they could slide that thing east. Maybe no tthe whole thing but atleast attempt to create a bulge at KY. Widen the neck of the funnel.
B.M. Barrelcooker
12 pointer
clarks river is the most under estimated duck potential place in the flyway. it could be enhanced from darn near the tennessee line all the way to the ohio river. yes it really has the potential and I bet in it's day...100-120 years ago it had plenty of ducks in the winter.
bigpuddin43
12 pointer
Also don't think just because yields are down there won't be corn on the ground actually quite the opposite. Because of the drought corn kernels this year have a large range in size making it difficult to get combines set to collect them all. Also with the drought stalks are much more brittle and lots of ears will fall to the ground before going thru the combine.
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puddin, it is true that once the silks get fried the corn naturally stops production? That two weeks of heat that we had from what I had been told supposedly burnt the silks on the ears and stopped the ears from producing. I am by no means a farmer, just curious. I didnt notice anything like that with my corn in the garden, but I kept mine watered also. BTW my garden was crazy this time.
I honestly believe that we are right above the V, ducks from the prairie and from eastern canada. If enough was done, and moved to the east I think there is possibility and a good one to move us on the V. After five straight years in SEMO, I have noticed that the flyway does not include the east side of the mississippi. You never see much until you cross the river, then its like a playground. My thinking is that they simply cut the corner at ballard.
Our habitat is way more diverse than SEMO and what i have seen on ARK. mostly flat, not many lakes compared to here. not nearly as much slough, cover. The climate is close enough to easily do rice. People say yea but its a lot of ground work for rice, but its no different than in SEMO. They build those fields the same as we could. A lot of waterfowl could be had with simple drainage systems and a bag of seed.
I honestly believe that we are right above the V, ducks from the prairie and from eastern canada. If enough was done, and moved to the east I think there is possibility and a good one to move us on the V. After five straight years in SEMO, I have noticed that the flyway does not include the east side of the mississippi. You never see much until you cross the river, then its like a playground. My thinking is that they simply cut the corner at ballard.
Our habitat is way more diverse than SEMO and what i have seen on ARK. mostly flat, not many lakes compared to here. not nearly as much slough, cover. The climate is close enough to easily do rice. People say yea but its a lot of ground work for rice, but its no different than in SEMO. They build those fields the same as we could. A lot of waterfowl could be had with simple drainage systems and a bag of seed.
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duckslayer870
12 pointer
Its no joke BM, My family grew up stomping around the main swampy part of clarks river near the graves/McCracken/Marshall line and even 50 years ago there were scads of ducks. Mostly what happend is the Corp dredged the river and put in ditches to stop flooding. There are hundreds of acres of oak flats and wooded areas that would hold water given the right structures in place. It could be like white river in arkieland if they wanted it to be and also have flooded corn fields. I have gotten in on a few murderings given the right elements of water, food and weather.
O RDP are you sure!!!!!!
smashdn
12 pointer
Little damp here this morning.
EKYridgerunner
10 pointer
- Sep 13, 2010
- 1,169
Got washed outta the stand this morning...I can take being wet, but not being able to get back across the creek always gets me moving...bring on the rain! Our holes are all needing it.
Marsh CallUser
12 pointer
When I was over there a few weeks ago, they looked terrible. A lot of fields had corn that was only thigh high or less and if they had a cob, it was dang pitiful. The sloughs had food though... Low water=summer grasses=duck food(in most cases)
ChevyKyfowler24
8 pointer
i have a lease off clarks river now, and last year we had plenty of water in our slough here in McCracken county and we actually did really well. over the past severals years growing up hunting the slough we've still had some awesome days. no its not your 1 hour in the swamp and have your 4 man limit, but sitting there all morning long you could scratch out a man or 2 or 3 worth of limits of ducks. do not see an excpetionaly huge amount of duck traffic but the ones we do we work 8 out of 10 times. little to no pressure along the river around us. we work small groups to huge groups. last year we only got to hunt it 8 times. between two of us we shot right at 50 ducks, and 9 different species of ducks. some days we killed our 2 man limit while others we walked out with zero or 1-2 ducks. i love hunting around clarks river and like most say its overlooked by many people. little bit of duck management and it could see some good duck numbers.
smashdn
12 pointer
More rain coming down. And this is historically a pretty dry time of year.
