2017-18 Duck & Crow Seasons set (rolling)

[JABIII]

******* — The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission approved 2017-2018 waterfowl season dates Friday in Grand Island.

The commission adopted waterfowl season orders that include opening the early teal season on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend — a week earlier than staff had proposed and the same as the 2016 teal season — as well as discontinuing the Public Nuisance and Health Hazard Order for crows in Buffalo, Dawson, Franklin, Harlan, Kearney, ******* and Phelps counties.

The 2017-2018 waterfowl and crow season dates are:

Early teal — Low Plains: Sept. 2-17; High Plains: Sept. 2-10. Daily bag limit: six; possession limit: three times the daily bag.

Duck and coot — Zone 1: Oct. 14 to Dec. 26; Zone 2: Oct. 7 to Dec. 19 and Jan. 8-28 in High Plains; Zone 3: Oct. 26 to Jan. 7 and Jan. 8-28 in High Plains; Zone 4: Oct. 7 to Dec. 19. Daily bag limit: six (with restrictions); daily possession limit: three times the daily bag.

Youth — Zone 1: Oct. 7-8; Zone 2: Sept. 30 to Oct. 1; Zone 3: Oct. 21-22; Zone 4: Sept. 30 to Oct. 1. Daily bag limit: six (with restrictions); daily possession limit: Three times the daily bag.

Dark goose — East Unit: Oct. 30 to Feb. 11; Niobrara: Oct. 30 to Feb. 11; North Central: Oct. 7 to Jan. 19; Panhandle Unit: Oct. 30 to Feb. 11; Platte River Unit: Oct. 30 to Feb. 11. Daily bag limit: five; possession limit: three times the daily bag.

White-fronted goose — Statewide: Oct. 7 to Dec. 10 and Feb. 3-11. Daily bag limit: three; possession limit: three times the daily bag.

Light goose — Statewide: Oct. 7 to Dec. 31 and Jan. 24 to Feb. 11. Daily bag limit: 50; possession limit: no limit

Light goose conservation order — Rainwater Basin Zone: Feb. 12 to April 5; East Zone: Feb. 12 to April 15; West Zone: Feb. 12 to April 5. Daily bag and possession limits: no limits

[Sportin' Woodies]

Thanks. I've been biting my nails clean past the cuticles wondering when Nebraska crow season starts.

[JABIII]

crow-eating-mummy-eye-tattoo-on-back.jpg

[Sportin' Woodies]

That's wicked. As many of you know, I dressed like "the crow" for my entire high school and college careers.

[JABIII]

At its April 7 meeting, the Missouri Conservation Commission approved recommendations from the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) for the upcoming 2017 migratory-game-bird-hunting season and 2017-2018 waterfowl-hunting season.

2017 MIGRATORY GAME BIRD HUNTING

Mourning Doves, Eurasian Collared Doves, and White-Winged Doves

Season: Sept. 1 through Nov. 29

Limits: 15 daily and 45 in possession combined total for all three species

Hours: One-half hour before sunrise to sunset

Sora and Virginia Rails

Season: Sept. 1 through Nov. 9

Limits: 25 daily and 75 in possession combined for both species

Hours: One-half hour before sunrise to sunset

Wilson's (Common) Snipe

Season: Sept. 1 through Dec. 16

Limits: 8 daily and 24 in possession

Hours: One-half hour before sunrise to sunset

American Woodcock

Season: Oct. 15 through Nov. 28

Limits: 3 daily and 9 in possession

Hours: One-half hour before sunrise to sunset

2017-2018 WATERFOWL HUNTING

Duck-season dates for 2017-2018 provide additional late-season hunting opportunities.

Teal

Season: Sept. 9-24

Limits: 6 daily and 18 in possession

Hours: Sunrise to sunset

Ducks

Season:

North Zone: Nov. 4 through Jan. 2, 2018

Middle Zone: Nov. 4 through 10 and Nov. 16 through Jan. 7, 2018

South Zone: Nov. 23 through 26 and Dec. 4 through Jan. 28, 2018

Bag Limit: 6 ducks daily with species restrictions of:

4 mallards (no more than 2 females)

3 scaup

3 wood ducks

2 redheads

2 hooded mergansers

1 pintail (new limit)

2 canvasbacks

2 black ducks (new limit)

1 mottled duck

Possession Limit: Three times the daily bag or 18 total, varies by species

Hours: One-half hour before sunrise to sunset

Coots

Season: Same as duck season dates in the respective zones

Limits: 15 daily and 45 in possession


Hours: One-half hour before sunrise to sunset

Snow, Blue, and Ross's Geese

Season: Nov. 11 through Feb. 6, 2018

Limits: 20 blue, snow, or Ross's geese daily with no possession limit

Hours: One-half hour before sunrise to sunset

White-Fronted Geese

Season: Nov. 11 through Feb. 6, 2018

Limits: 2 daily and 6 in possession

Hours: One-half hour before sunrise to sunset

Canada Geese and Brant

Season: Oct. 7-15 and Nov. 11 – Feb. 6, 2018

Limits: 3 Canada geese and brant in aggregate daily, 9 in possession

Hours: One-half hour before sunrise to sunset

Light Goose Conservation Order

http://dailyjournalonline.com/sports...6dd513d5c.html

[HEAD]

How can other states plan their seasons months and ssometimes at the end of their seasons for next year and sc cant release ours till august or later

[MDman]

Because they don't have idiots in charge

[BEAR]

How can other states plan their seasons months and ssometimes at the end of their seasons for next year and sc cant release ours till august or later

Because nobody tries to plan a trip to South Carolina to duck hunt months in advance, like in other Midwest- Western states. That's my guess.

[BigBrother]

Because nobody tries to plan a trip to South Carolina to duck hunt months in advance, like in other Midwest- Western states. That's my guess.

"DING".

[JABIII]

LDWF waterfowl news: Reynolds talks 2017-18 season dates, pintail limits and Venice roseau cane worries
Teal season will open on a Friday for first time in 16 years
PATRICK BONIN 11 hours ago
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The daily bag limit for pintails has dropped from two birds down to one for the 2017-18 waterfowl season, according to LDWF waterfowl study leader Larry Reynolds.

Outdoorsmen might be focused right now on spawning specks, big redfish, lunker bass and sac-a-lait slabs, but when those first cool fronts start teasing us after the dog days of summer, teal will once again take center stage.

And this year, for the first time since 2000, hunters will get their first crack at the rockets on a Friday — Sept. 15.

“The feedback I’ve received on this has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Larry Reynolds, waterfowl study leader for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. “If you open on a Friday and close on a Sunday with a 16-day season, you lose a weekend hunting day, and there are a lot of hunters that have to hunt on weekends. So that was the tradeoff.”

The season typically would have opened on Saturday, Sept. 9 and closed on Sunday, Sept. 24, which would have allowed for six days of weekend hunting.

But with a Friday opening and a Saturday closing, the season begins six days later to potentially take advantage of any late-month cool fronts, and ends on the last day possible in the framework — Sept. 30 — which results in one less day of weekend hunting.

Louisiana Sportsman Decal
But Reynolds stressed that a later-than-usual start for teal season would not be a yearly occurrence. In 2020, for example, opening on Sept. 15 and closing on Sept. 30 would mean only four weekend hunting days in the 16-day season.

“As long as I’m in charge of making the proposal, we’re not going to sacrifice two weekend hunting days to get a later season,” he said. “It’s just not worth it to lose two weekend days.”

In other news, he said the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission approved waterfowl season dates for 2017-18 at its April meeting.

The coastal and west zones open on Nov. 11 with the first split ending on Dec. 3. The second split runs from Dec. 16 to Jan. 21 in both zones.

The east zone opens Nov. 18, with the first split ending Dec. 3. The east zone second split runs Dec. 16 through Jan. 28.

Trout Masters Tool Kit
Youth hunts in the coastal zone are Nov. 4 and 5; in the west they are slated for Nov. 4 and Jan. 27. In the east zone, youth hunts will be conducted on Nov. 11 and Feb. 3.

Daily bag limits remain unchanged for 2017-18— except for pintails, which drops from two birds down to one.

“The pintail population has been declining for three years. Last year in May, when we did the breeding survey, that data showed the pintail population had dropped below what is required to have a two-bird bag limit,” Reynolds said. “So if we had been setting the duck hunting regulations like we did for 60 years, we would have had a one-bird pintail bag limit last year.

“But because we’re under this new timing and we’d already set the seasons in April, we maintained the two-pintail bag last year and will go to one this year.”

Louisiana Sportsman Decal
While other duck populations are doing well, changes on the prairie have begun to affect pintails’ nesting success, he explained.

“Pintails have been confounding us for 25 years,” Reynolds said. “They nest in short-grass prairie, which is one of the most converted and threatened habitats on the landscape. And all of this conversion has affected pintails first.”

So even though a species like mallards might be thriving, that doesn’t necessarily mean nesting pintails are having the same kind of success.

“It’s just the difference between the flexibility of the species and the changing habitat conditions, and their flexibility to adapt to them,” he said.

Equinox Series
One area of the state that could be on the cusp of experiencing major habitat changes is the mouth of the Mississippi River out of Venice, where the signature roseau cane there is being attacked by an exotic insect.

The rate at which the roseau cane mealy bug is destroying the dominant vegetation of the Mississippi River Delta is alarming biologists. And although it doesn’t directly provide great waterfowl habitat, Reynolds said its main role is even more vital to the region.

“At the mouth of the river, it’s really the only thing there holding the marsh together, breaking the wave energy and slowing the processes of coastal erosion,” he said. “Right now there are a lot of people extremely frightened — people that have spent a lot of their lives down at the mouth of the river that are worried that if this roseau cane dies — and we get a hurricane or a large storm surge event — it just gets washed away.”

The LSU AgCenter has asked hunters not to transport any infested roseau cane from Plaquemines Parish into other parts of the state with the idea of killing the plant elsewhere, where it is often seen as a nuisance. Scientists don’t yet know if the mealy bugs could spread to other beneficial crops, like sugarcane, rice, sorghum or other wetland grasses.

“Until we know more about this thing, we need to keep it where it is,” Reynolds said.

Some Google Earth images seem to indicate a potential cyclical die-off of roseau cane in the region, but Reynolds said it’s still too early to tell what impact the die-off might have on waterfowl later this year.

“If the roseau cane dies and is replaced by a broad flat of delta duck-potato, that’s great for ducks,” he said. “But if it dies off and a big storm surge event comes through and there’s no marsh left at all, then that’s really bad for ducks.

“It’s just a big ‘we don’t know’ at this point.”