Local hatch

[Nershi]

Thanks. The stupid fish finally started to eat. Got 4 that weekend and a few since. They have been following all year and most have been doing the vermilion shuffle just out from the boat.

Honestly the ducks probably got taken by crows and not a Muskie. Seen a lot of crows taking baby ducks. I kill every damn crow I can. I do think a loon got taken by a Muskie a couple years ago on the same lake. Can’t imagine what else got it. Went down by my boat. Saw a bunch of bubbles and it never came up. Sondag used to catch muskies in the fall on Detroit lakes that pooped out black feathers when the coots were in. Just goes to show muskies ain’t picky.

[Drunk_Dynasty]

Seen crows killing baby killdeer once. My mind played out an elaborate revenge fantasy where I lowered the window and shot them like Ricky got shot in menace to society, or boyz in the hood whatever fu(kin movie that was.


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[Fish Felon]

Or eagles, maybe ospreys in addition to crows.

I guess crows are being annihilated by West Nile.....going back to my previous comments on how it affects different bird species very differently. Geese don't seem to be effected at all, or very minimal. I've got a theory that any bird species that lays a larger, thicker shelled egg does better.....

But then again, supposedly West Nile has done nothing to Robins, which have notoriously thin eggs.

All I know is that in my neck of the woods....all I'm seeing for ducks is the occasional single or pair of either mallards or wood ducks streaking around here or there. Zero ducklings seen besides one small mallard brood on ML....I shit you not. Granted, I haven't been looking that hard, but not that long ago you didn't need to look at all to see plenty of broods wherever you went and saw the right types of water. I fish enough in enough places....and fuggggg.....I have eyes and ears......I love ducks, duck hunting, and have always noticed ducks for a while. At this point I don't care if you want to accuse me of pulling a "Dennis Anderson" as there is something really wrong with ducks that nest in this part of the ruffed grouse range. I'm assuming things aren't the same elsewhere, but I've got a theory that anywhere ducks nest that overlap with ruffs their numbers are going to be down significantly. In my area....I'm not sure how I can be the only one seeing it.....or rather "not seeing it," because the lack of duck broods is borderline cataclysmic. I've been wrong before on a lot of shit but this one I feel pretty confident on....despite hoping I'm just as wrong as I was in my drought prediction. I pray to God h2ofwlr jumps in as my number one favorite Al and makes the opposite prediction to my own and then absolutely destroys me in the same manner he did on the drought thread.

Only time will tell.....

Fishing has been great and will only continue to get better in our state.

I felt the need to give a positive prediction since I don't want to sound like a broken record with the negative ones I've made as of late.

I've got a hot slut on the line off tinder as well....like....almost scary how big of a slut she is.....would feel like I need to wear some Babe Winkleman type "orgy jewelry" in order to feel comfortable about describing how big of a whore this chick is, but need to humble brag a bit just to be credible in not being an overly pessimistic dbag when I say the duck numbers are absolutely fukced in my part of the state.

[maplelakeduckslayer]

My dad's gf says that turkeys expanding their territory is what's responsible for the decimation of the grouse population... apparently turkey are very territorial and destroy grouse nests/eggs....lol

[Quack]

There’s no science to refute her claim… but there’s also none to confirm it.

Turkeys and chickens are nasty birds. Wild or domestic. They eat anything including each other. They need calcium and protein in the spring for egg making. What better source than eggs?

Ever seen huge flocks of turkeys roam the woods? I have no problem believing that they would eat grouse eggs. Not for territorialism but just for food


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[Drunk_Dynasty]

My dad's gf says that turkeys expanding their territory is what's responsible for the decimation of the grouse population... apparently turkey are very territorial and destroy grouse nests/eggs....lol

The turkeys are expanding because of land use changes, changes that don’t favor grouse. Start doing more forestry shit and the grouse would come back and the Turkey hunters will be saying the grouse are eating all the Turkey eggs!


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[Quack]

[quote="maplelakeduckslayer"]My dad's gf says that turkeys expanding their territory is what's responsible for the decimation of the grouse population... apparently turkey are very territorial and destroy grouse nests/eggs....lol

The turkeys are expanding because of land use changes, changes that don’t favor grouse. Start doing more forestry shit and the grouse would come back and the Turkey hunters will be saying the grouse are eating all the Turkey eggs!


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I do forestry shit 40 hours a week. Northern MN has been doing forestry shit nonstop for 100 years. Northern MN is one of the few places with increasing acres of young forest.

More turkeys, less grouse.

Many factors influence both populations but I wouldn’t be surprised if I found out turkeys displace grouse.

I also think assholes on ATVs and West Nile may be having an impact.

It wouldn’t be difficult to look at all the drumming routes, analyze nearby habitat quality over time and quantify whether timber harvesting, aka young forest, aka habitat quality really drives grouse populations. Free Masters project for anyone who wants one! I don’t think it does… there’s plenty of awesome habitat


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[Drunk_Dynasty]

Why turkeys be moving north into new growth forest when they prefer old growth? More edges than 50 years ago? More fragmented habitat would be my guess.


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[maplelakeduckslayer]

I dunno if you knew her...you'd realize why I laugh at it lol. So many crazy theories. Maybe she's right on this one I'm no expert. But a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while

[Quack]

Why turkeys be moving north into new growth forest when they prefer old growth? More edges than 50 years ago? More fragmented habitat would be my guess.


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I don’t think the turkeys are reading the same books you are. They are opportunistic… and they be moving north cuz green jeans be loading them on trucks and releasing them for 50 years.


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