The Rise and Fall of SC's inland gadwalls

[Gone South]

If you could draft an online petition, we could get that going, and if you could also draft a letter that people could conveniently print out. I know a rep seeing the same wording over and over hand signed by constituents would at least get them thinking about it. Its in Santee Coopers best interests to respect the land as well.

I agree. Im not the best persuasive writer but I would send that letter off to be another voice to be heard

Or I'd be willing to do something else. Id like to see an improvement

[cut em']

What's good for the waterfowl of SC is good for all here on this site.

Question is, there are bigger organizations that have lots of political pull. Would it not be best to try and get them involved as well. Maybe even come to them with drafted plan and some funds ( easily done by a small group ) and ask for assistance.


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[MudCat05]

Just a thought but have yall been looking for gadwall after the season ends? The reason I ask is I live around Virginia Beach and over the last few years we have seen a huge push of gadwall around the second week of February. They sit around everywhere for a few weeks and then are gone. Where they go I don't know but we don't see them again. So are they short stopping South Carolina, coming late, bypassing, or not coming at all?

[GobblerHntr]

Ever heard of the term migration?

[scdiver]

I know that in the past when writing reps for fishing regulations, it has helped people know what to write with a template of sorts.

Most guys are either a) don't know what to write to the representative
b) lazy.

Either way, a template would help. I can get a link to state reps.

http://www.scstatehouse.gov/legislatorssearch.php

[murraywader]

I know that in the past when writing reps for fishing regulations, it has helped people know what to write with a template of sorts.

Most guys are either a) don't know what to write to the representative
b) lazy.

Either way, a template would help. I can get a link to state reps.

http://www.scstatehouse.gov/legislatorssearch.php

There's one on here somewhere.

[Strick9]

Its all about money as mentioned. It would be nice if it centered on SC Ducks and that indeed makes the most sense. Jab should certainly require that all members pay 10 bucks for membership or use some of the prime/sponsorship membership money to do so or increase the cost , whatever he feels he can accomodate. Imean the site is SC Ducks right? Not SCNO ducks.. That said I am a capitolist and its his money his site so whatever.. It would however certainly facilitate a large group of like minded individuals with the same interests and in the end benefit the waterfowl population if it were structured this way.

The monies collected are then used to produce an e document via Docusign or other. Each time a member esigns the edocument it would prompt a paper document to be mailed to the appropriate senator or Rep. Also each year a petition would be prompted in which all members would sign during X time period and this individual petition would be mailed to ALL reps etc.

Make sense?

The document should show that SC looses X millions of revenue dollars

*** I figured the loss of revenues associated with poor waterfowling in SC to be a very conservative 15 million annually and up to 90 million*** annually ! This revenue is lost simply because SC government and its officials have not only decided to make a very low priority of waterfowl management but also neglected it entirely in many areas. The result has been the loss of our migratory holding power period and thus the loss of revenue. The areas mostly affected are indeed the ACE, The Delta, Samworth and The Santee Cooper lakes. To say that SC is missing the bus on **one of the biggest, low impact and green friendly revenue generators** of the mighty dollar bill is an understatement and shameful.

[GobblerHntr]

Louder!

I can't hear you Jerry. LOUDER!!!!

[MudCat05]

Ever heard of the term migration?

Yes I know they migrate. I just don't know if after they leave here they stop in South Carolina, bypass it or what.

You know you used to actually post some things with substance on this forum. Now all you worry about is what smart ass comment you can make to someone. Try going home tonight and get your dick sucked. Maybe it will relieve some stress and you wont feel the need to be such an ass. Then you can actually post something worthy of reading.

[JBK]

Im down to help any way I can. I like the idea of a paid membership. Making the TP annual fee 5 bucks more to go to our cause would help. Also having something set up for businesses to donate for tax purposes would be cool.

[Griffin]

Yea squatty is a grade A douche

[GobblerHntr]

I was being sarcastic

People get their feelings hurt too easy these days. Can't even be a smart ass anymore.

[MudCat05]

I can promise you no feelings were hurt. I'm just tired of reading the B.S. all the time.

[nitro5x6's]

[Griffin]

OK so you are aware that ducks migrate. Are you aware that there is a log out button as well?

[duckman88]

To those of you paying attention over the last 5 years, you may have noticed that our inland gadwalls are declining.
I started noticing a substantial increase in birds in the winter of 2009.

In the lean years (2002-2009) gadwalls weren't uncommon, but certainly weren't numerous along inland waterways.
After the drought I was seeing bigger, and more flocks on public water, and from 2009-2014-15 season they were the number one duck in my boat.
Granted I persued them more so than other ducks, but the increase in gadwalls wintering along the Santee Cooper watershed was definite.
We were seeing them everywhere and hunters were killing decent numbers both publicly and privately.
Both the Bluff and Cuddo units of the refuge were swarmed with them. On numerous accounts over several seasons, we have seen them stretch clear across Cantey Bay as well as Black Bottom. Several thousand.
But last season, they weren't as numerous as the season before, and this season they are even more scarce. Some private places around here are still holding a decent amount of birds, but they are just remnants of leftover imprinting.
My theory - vallisneria and southern naiad.

Up to 70% of gadwall's diet globally consists of aquatic vegetation.
While gadwalls numbers have been climbing over the last decade, our increase in wintering birds on the Santee Cooper lakes, has to be directly related to the increase of SAVs in that 09-14 time period.
Due to hard-nosed policies on Crested Floating Heart and Hydrilla, our once 18k acres of native vallisneria and southern naiad was wiped out, and I know that is why our gadwalls are finding somewhere else to winter.
We have got to make it priority and take a stance to demand that native SAVs be brought back to the Santee Cooper lakes.
The entire state will reap the benefits of thousands of acres of habitat centrally located.

Maybe it's a good idea to write a letter to your state reps asking them to support a proviso demanding this habitat be restored.

I have been holding out on this one but had to put in my .02. Bog, I respect your knowledge of wildlife and habitat but to narrow your observations of a decline of a species of waterfowl in our state down to two aquatic food sources is an absurd conclusion in my opinion.

There are so many factors which affect the migration of waterfowl both on a micro (seasonal) and macro (longer term) levels.

Micro (for Atlantic Flyway):
- Spring breeding habitat conditions in the boreal forest areas of Canada and to a lesser but still important extent in the eastern PPR
- Spring breeding habitat conditions in the great lakes regions
- Both of which are affected by annual rain and snowfall amounts.
- Fall weather - Most important. This will dictate how far the majority of waterfowl will migrate in the fall
- Habitat conditions at important wintering grounds. This goes for every state in the flyway, not just for SC. NC or VA or SC may have a banner year which results in holding more birds for a longer period

These are not all of the factors, just the most important IMO and they will change from year to year or even within the same year.

Macro (For Atlantic Flyway):
- Overall loss of wetland habitat (been ongoing for half century)
- Loss of agriculture to urban sprawl
- Overall warming of climate and thus a change in migration patterns
- Indirectly but definitely feeling the affect of the ethanol boom and the shift in migration to western flyways (Miss & Central) as well as its overall effect on the breeding grounds

Again, not all the factors but some of the most important IMO
I would totally agree that waterfowl populations in general along the Atlantic Flyway are decreasing but this goes for all waterfowl, not just one species and not just over a period of 4-5 years. Waterfowl populations and migrations are extremely dynamic between and within seasons and depend on so many different factors.

As far as what we can do, in my opinion, not much. The state and Santee Cooper are going to make decisions that will benefit the most people in our state. We are a very small fraction of that population and thus, our cries will fall by the wayside in order to benefit 'the greater good.' I am a very pessimistic person so I hope that one day I am proved wrong.

[Calibogue]

I have been holding out on this one but had to put in my .02. Bog, I respect your knowledge of wildlife and habitat but to narrow your observations of a decline of a species of waterfowl in our state down to two aquatic food sources is an absurd conclusion in my opinion.

There are so many factors which affect the migration of waterfowl both on a micro (seasonal) and macro (longer term) levels.

Micro (for Atlantic Flyway):
- Spring breeding habitat conditions in the boreal forest areas of Canada and to a lesser but still important extent in the eastern PPR
- Spring breeding habitat conditions in the great lakes regions
- Both of which are affected by annual rain and snowfall amounts.
- Fall weather - Most important. This will dictate how far the majority of waterfowl will migrate in the fall
- Habitat conditions at important wintering grounds. This goes for every state in the flyway, not just for SC. NC or VA or SC may have a banner year which results in holding more birds for a longer period

These are not all of the factors, just the most important IMO and they will change from year to year or even within the same year.

Macro (For Atlantic Flyway):
- Overall loss of wetland habitat (been ongoing for half century)
- Loss of agriculture to urban sprawl
- Overall warming of climate and thus a change in migration patterns
- Indirectly but definitely feeling the affect of the ethanol boom and the shift in migration to western flyways (Miss & Central) as well as its overall effect on the breeding grounds

Again, not all the factors but some of the most important IMO
I would totally agree that waterfowl populations in general along the Atlantic Flyway are decreasing but this goes for all waterfowl, not just one species and not just over a period of 4-5 years. Waterfowl populations and migrations are extremely dynamic between and within seasons and depend on so many different factors.

As far as what we can do, in my opinion, not much. The state and Santee Cooper are going to make decisions that will benefit the most people in our state. We are a very small fraction of that population and thus, our cries will fall by the wayside in order to benefit 'the greater good.' I am a very pessimistic person so I hope that one day I am proved wrong.

Agreed....

[Griffin]

I have been holding out on this one but had to put in my .02. Bog, I respect your knowledge of wildlife and habitat but to narrow your observations of a decline of a species of waterfowl in our state down to two aquatic food sources is an absurd conclusion in my opinion.

There are so many factors which affect the migration of waterfowl both on a micro (seasonal) and macro (longer term) levels.

Micro (for Atlantic Flyway):
- Spring breeding habitat conditions in the boreal forest areas of Canada and to a lesser but still important extent in the eastern PPR
- Spring breeding habitat conditions in the great lakes regions
- Both of which are affected by annual rain and snowfall amounts.
- Fall weather - Most important. This will dictate how far the majority of waterfowl will migrate in the fall
- Habitat conditions at important wintering grounds. This goes for every state in the flyway, not just for SC. NC or VA or SC may have a banner year which results in holding more birds for a longer period

These are not all of the factors, just the most important IMO and they will change from year to year or even within the same year.

Macro (For Atlantic Flyway):
- Overall loss of wetland habitat (been ongoing for half century)
- Loss of agriculture to urban sprawl
- Overall warming of climate and thus a change in migration patterns
- Indirectly but definitely feeling the affect of the ethanol boom and the shift in migration to western flyways (Miss & Central) as well as its overall effect on the breeding grounds

Again, not all the factors but some of the most important IMO
I would totally agree that waterfowl populations in general along the Atlantic Flyway are decreasing but this goes for all waterfowl, not just one species and not just over a period of 4-5 years. Waterfowl populations and migrations are extremely dynamic between and within seasons and depend on so many different factors.

As far as what we can do, in my opinion, not much. The state and Santee Cooper are going to make decisions that will benefit the most people in our state. We are a very small fraction of that population and thus, our cries will fall by the wayside in order to benefit 'the greater good.' I am a very pessimistic person so I hope that one day I am proved wrong.

That was refreshing. Someone actually gets the big picture problem

[Strick9]

All we are trying to do is get the state and feds to properly manage the govt controlled land in which duck food can and will grow when and if properly managed. I have it keyed to four majors: Samworth, The Santee Coastal Reserve, the Ace basin and the Santee Cooper Lakes. If you grow the food you have the ducks especially when you have as much acreage as we do.. which in and of itself can provide not only food but also sanctuary.

AS to weather, All one has to do is go to Florida during the early seasons to see waterfowl flights actually do migrate without the huge cold fronts that we all deem the ultimate reasoning. They absolutely help but are not mandatory for migration to occur.

I do agree with your overall synopsis but one could make it even more complex if so desired to include micro and macro organisms, trace mineral ingestion, viruses, breeding response to cover densities, predation response yada yada yada.

We just want to keep the whole management topic on a very SIMPLE easy to understand, easy to address basis for the sake of everyone.

Properly managed state and federal waterfowl lands = waterfowl food growth and sanctuary = waterfowl migrations usage. Imprinting, all things else left equal will do the rest.

Nothing at all complex about it and there doesn't need to be, the complexity gives the biologists a place to find cover, the politicians a reason for confusion and so on...

[Rubberhead*]

... but to narrow your observations of a decline of a species of waterfowl in our state down to two aquatic food sources is an absurd conclusion in my opinion.

I agree to a point but data rather than just anecdotes does back up the fact that there is a direct correlation between ducks killed on the Santee Cooper system and coverage of beneficial SAVs. I think that's BOGSTER's primary point.

See the attached graph. I put this together from publicly available information. I couldn't find the data down to species, like gadwall, and I had to use the WMA's that count ducks killed as a proxy for ducks killed on the entire Santee Cooper system (since that number, as far as I know, is not counted, calculated or even estimated).

The WMAs I used were Sandy Beach (Cat I), The Hatchery, Potato Creek, Hickory Top and Santee Cooper (all Cat IIs)

Note that (1) Lakes were extremely low during 2007-08 duck season around 67.00 feet AMSL so Sandy Beach and Hickory Top were not hunted, (2) Lakes were near full pool during the 2009-10 duck season and, (3) Lakes were very low (~71.00 feet) prior to duck season so Sandy Beach and Hictory Top were not hunted.