Waterfowl Report for December 28th, 2001

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WATERFOWLERS GET BOOST FROM COLD WEATHER
by Steve McCadams
(from December 28th, 2001)
www.stevemccadams.com

    Activity improved last weekend for area waterfowlers as a long overdue cold front arrived down south, sending temperatures to normal or below normal ranges in some areas.
    Up until this week, duck and goose hunters had been the victims of warm and wet weather that had not stimulated much movement from waterfowl. Areas to the north have been warm as well, keeping many ducks well to the north of
their normal wintering grounds.
    Flooding had been the big hurdle for duck hunters as thousands of acres had been inundated with water throughout west Tennessee and neighboring Mississippi, Arkansas, and west Kentucky. Simply put, ducks have had too many places to go. Finding food and resting areas has been easy for them.
    With the arrival of colder weather and some snow now in the forecast for this weekend, action should improve for waterfowlers. The high water throughout the Mississippi River drainage and the river itself was starting to recede just before Christmas.
    Ice in the backwaters, along with falling water in the river bottoms, should send ducks back on a normal flight pattern in the weeks ahead. That's good news to duck hunters who have battled the elements thus far this season. Blinds have been turned over or damaged in the high water, as have
levees on wildlife management areas, refuges and private farms.
    During warm weather, ducks also act different as their desire for foods such as corn and soybeans is somewhat diminished. Cold weather quickly sends them to grain, as that is the food of choice for body heat. Other times they
can feed on various aquatic plants, acorns, and vegetation.
    Winter waterfowl counts taken last week along Kentucky Lake's Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge indicated increased numbers of ducks using the three units here. Aerial counts taken on December 19th indicated 125,490 ducks and 2,828 geese on hand.
    Those numbers broke down to reveal Duck River unit holding some 88,000 ducks, while the Big Sandy unit had 35,000, followed by 1,700 on the Busseltown unit.
    There were a total of only 2,828 geese on the refuge. That's down 40 percent from the 5-year average for this time of year. Ducks were also down 30-percent from the 5-year average for counts taken at this time of the
year.
    Elsewhere, toward the Northwest at Lake Isom and Reelfoot National Wildlife Refuge the numbers were also lower than normal. Total duck numbers on Grassy Island and Long Point indicated approximately 77,000 ducks there at Reelfoot. Just south on Lake Isom there were 13,000 ducks using that unit.
    The lower numbers clearly indicated the influence of the warm weather we've had up to this point but the flooding has really been the culprit as there are several ducks in west Tennessee, yet up until this week they've been quite scattered.
    Things have changed quickly these last few days and hunters are reporting improvement. More ducks are here and moving around now than there were last week. And, a few windy days should help stir up the birds and send
them winging toward hunting areas.
    In year's past the waterfowl counts on local and state refuges often peaked between Christmas and New Year's Day. However, the last few years the warmer weather has sent peak numbers reached in mid to late January. That's
likely to be the case this year as hunters are now anticipating a good late season. With the statewide season yet to reach its halfway point, there's still a lot of opportunity left for a great season.

Steve McCadams
is a professional hunting and fishing guide here in the Paris Landing area and host of The Outdoor Channel's television series IN-PURSUIT.

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