Water, water, water every where.... and some places dry as a desert...

[h2ofwlr]

You can't go by a random map from the internet.
Al has yet to learn this lesson, don't believe everything you have read on the internet.

Since when are there maps saying sloughs are down X amount of feet from a year ago?
And when locals are saying from 1-4' down from a year ago, I guess by your standards that is not credible? I even double checked with a different source yesterday who said the sloughs are down 1-3' 1 hr SE of Quill, which is 1 hr NE of Regina. And from the same informed source that confirmed what I was hearing, today he said West central SK sloughs are down 1-3' from a year ago too.

Again those 2 areas are not in the worst drought area which is S and SW of Regina.

And as for Hobby'Ds homestead being flooded - well when I was there around 18 yrs ago, Quill lakes were up way back then and had flooded many a farm - so no new news really at all. It's just like DL in ND which has been way up for 20 yrs now.

For the potholes that can only hold 1-4' of water before the water naturally drains away, guess what happens to them when you get 30-60% of normal precip over 5 months time? Basically these little potholes are like the center of a doughnut - and the doughnut is the parched land which is like a big sponge soaking the water laterally - and even up hill (per the engineering classes that I took 30+ yrs ago). Don't think so? Go ask a hydrologist or a soils engineer on how the soil can wick the water laterally to the drier areas. My point is - the smaller the water basin, the larger the drop in the water, due from both evaporation and the water being wicked away via the soils. Larger basins (lakes) like Quill, the water drop is mostly due to evaporation, and is less of a drop in height.

The bottom line is this:
Is there still lots of water for the ducks this fall in ND and Canada? yes.
if you were planning on hunting the prairies of Canada this fall - should you go? Damned straight you should! This year you can actually get around! (last year from many reports it was a difficult at best as so much water and it was impossible to drive into the fields to set up.)
If the drought continues into next year, will it hurt the duck production in the Canadian prairie region? yes
The question which no one knows the answer is this: Is this a 1 yr drought or is it going to be a 3-5 yr drought which would definitely impact our duck season - like going to a moderate season 2 yrs from now, if it continues into yr 3. Remember the USFWS changed when they set the seasons to March. So basically for next yr is already a done deal for a liberal season for 2018, but we could see species limits being reduced - like the Canvasback to 1 a day. If it is still dry on the N US and S CAN prairies in Feb of 2019, that is when we could see the 1st reduction in the Liberal season framework in over 20 yrs time for the 2019 season to a Moderate framework where we could see a 45 days season.
So for those rooting for a prolonged drought - be careful of what you wish for - as we are way over do for a prolonged drought and then the resulting cut back in season length.



BTW, I had another 2.6" of rain last night, and that's almost 10" of rain this month for me.

[lanyard]

Meh, lower slough should increase headlands nesting habitat in that area. At some point it's not MORE water that matters, it's ENOUGH water and the RIGHT water that matter.

With any luck that newly exposed shoreline becomes nesting habitat for a bit before it turns to crop production.

[hobbydog]

Meh, lower slough should increase headlands nesting habitat in that area. At some point it's not MORE water that matters, it's ENOUGH water and the RIGHT water that matter.

With any luck that newly exposed shoreline becomes nesting habitat for a bit before it turns to crop production.

Stop being so optimistic. We are talking about gloom and doom. Someone with as much hydrology knowledge as Al should know that wet/dry cycles are good for the prairie.

[Hansen]

Al, Have you been this this summer? Have you seen it first hand? Is your "source" some post from a duck hunting forum? Not saying it's correct or incorrect it just using anecdotal evidence to support a claim is usually flimsy at best.

[lanyard]

When my dad was going through cancer I learned first hand how much perspective plays into how people here the same information.

Mom's version: he's going to die a painful death in 6 weeks!

Dad's version: everything's fine, she over reacts.

Ultimately, things were more in the middle.

IF this/that/the other then he was in a 10% to not make it 2 months

On the other hand IF he was able to get a bone marrow transplant he was in the 10% of seeing 10 more years.

In the end, he followed the normal path, died 18 months later and worked even after he was in hospice. But hell, talking to either of them did NOTHING for understanding the range of risks.

So, yup, drought, maybe them areas are down 1'-3'.

And yes, that slough went dry.

But if that slough used to be someone's back yard, what has been lost if the landscape is returning to normal patterns?

Christ, what kind of loss would it take to return even 1/4 of the land Devil's annexed with high water?

So, that area ain't likely going dust bowl, nor is it as plumb as it was. But I'll be jiggered if we all don't shoot the same number of birds year over year us or minus some fraction of a bird average.

[Swartzy]

I have a hard time believing we will ever go back to a moderate or short (45 or 30 days) duck season again with reduced limits. Look at how many duck hunters MN used to have compared to the number of hunters today. And Hunter numbers continue to drop.

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

[Hansen]

I saw that. Last year I think Minnesota sold around 65K waterfowl stamps. When I started hunting it was around 120K. DNR is going a great job.

[randywatson]

Hunter numbers have decreased due to many factors.
1) Technology- kids would rather sit in front of screens than play outside.
2) High demands of employers making people work all the time. (my bro in law is in IT consulting) no clue what that means, he works 10 hrs a day comes home eats supper with is family and is back on his phone answering emails etc. til 10 pm every night. which in turn gives people less time to hunt or do other fun things.
3) The shift from country living to urban/suburban living
4) loss of habitat shifting ducks west out of state
5) more entertainment options. if you ask your kids if they would rather go lay in a cold swamp for a morning or go to Wi dells pretty sure most would pick the latter. not saying the guys kids on this site would. duck hunting isn't the most leisure filled sport out there. takes lots of extra time $ and resources sometimes.
6) hunting guides restricting access to land that was once accessible

this is just a short list for now. so to say the DNR has caused duck hunter numbers to decrease in MN isn't the only reason.

[Mallard_maniac]

Of the waterfowlers I know that have thrown in the towel the last 10 years or so, cost & time are usually the most common denominators. not sure where it fits in your list @randywatson but when I look at my trailer, boat, blinds, decoys, equipment, gun(s), etc... just a field canada spread is an expensive investment, then water, then snows, then etc...

factor in trips and whathaveyou and it's not a cheap hobby and it takes more scouting every year. I don't know how I'd start from scratch anymore. Looking through macks pw every august the $$'s it takes to hunt waterfowl now as opposed to 30yrs ago is somewhat troubling. Most of the guys I hunted with in years past would much rather sit on 80 ac trying to arrow a whitetail in sept, oct or nov than to have a big trailer, a big boat and spend most nights scouting to have their roost busted the morning of or the migration not come through at all.

Lastly I see todays waterfowlers trying to keep up with the major players in the industry. To kids like my son's age, having a 14' jon and 3 doz mallards isn't waterfowling.... it seems like "keeping up with the jones'" mentaility is getting worse with waterfowlers. If they don't have head to toe sitka, then they don't want to participate.

I don't blame the DNR for this (for alot of other things yes), I mostly blame the industry itself.... Companies like GHG and Avian X have made some outstanding products but in turn have bit the hand that fed them by making it unattainable for some.

[h2ofwlr]

The last 2 posts had some very good points which I surely can not disagree with regarding the plight of less hunters in MN.