Kennedy letter to the US FWS

[drwilly]

There can be no argument for change in waterfowl regs without the total elimination of MRP in all forms.

Agreed. Both need to happen.

no MRP would decrease number of "hunters" significantly. We kill very few mallards yearly where we hunt. We have killed 8 so far on just a few hunts. all small. I suspect release birds from somewhere around. not sure if they still clip toes. the way they decoyed you would think I'm Buck Gardner and I'm not. The fact that it took SCWA a quarter of a century to stop is ridiculous and I suspect it was only bc of optics and press rather than conviction. But hey let's keep championing Camp Woodie bc ...you know... the kids.

As someone else stated, the limit isn't the issue as much as number of days.

[Rubberhead*]

There can be no argument for change in waterfowl regs without the total elimination of MRP in all forms.

Yep and it needs to be said occasionally, least anyone forget, that SC Ducks (JABIII, et. Al.) were the first and most vocal resistance to the MRP even back before most folks realized the damage it would do. It's sad that it's taken 25+ years and the near complete ruination of the Eastern mallard before others caught to that. It's sad that the only thing any of the any of those early "rebel leaders" can do now is to say "I told you so" but it needs to be said. As a point of reference for those too young or new to the sport, at one time, even Duck Commander was a proponent of the MRP.

I know without any doubt that George Bird Grinnell and others endured death threats when they started speaking out against market gunning but their gumption eventually prevailed and saved duck hunting for at least a few generations. JABIII and the voice he gave to the anti-MRP movement through SC Ducks should be viewed through a similar perspective.

It's been a long and uphill battle but kudos to JABIII for the voice and the platform. History probably won't record it thusly but you were ahead of all the politicians and biologists when it comes to the MRP issue.

[JABIII]

There were a bunch of us back then. I remember you and I taking Phil to task over it and we did some good work there. I never had a doubt that he would recognize it for what it was, but the folks that he influenced wouldn't. As far as South Carolina went, we got our legs chopped out from under us by Judge Davis in Orangeburg when she ruled on that over the hen limit bust. "They bought them, they can do what they want with them"...

[Rubberhead*]

There were a bunch of us back then. I remember you and I taking Phil to task over it and we did some good work there. I never had a doubt that he would recognize it for what it was, but the folks that he influenced wouldn't. As far as South Carolina went, we got our legs chopped out from under us by Judge Davis in Orangeburg when she ruled on that over the hen limit bust. "They bought them, they can do what they want with them"...

I had my legs cut from underneath me a bunch of times on this topic including the WAC. I was so naive that I thought a little bit of logic and everyone would come around. It just doesn't work that way. $ > Logic...

[scquackaddict]

Just outlaw pay to hunt guiding. That’ll pretty well fix the killing problem. If you wanna kill a duck you gotta do it yourself, and outlaw release mallards but that goes without saying. It’ll never happen but damn it would be great

[Palmetto Bug]

All it would take to end the MRP is for the Feds to write some tickets for live decoys.

[Tranquility]

Go Sen Kennedy!

[Rubberhead*]

30/3 for a few seasons, goes a long way to solving these problems. It's just too hard to financially justify the expense of "big duck" with such a short window. Any business with high fixed costs, makes all of its profits on the last 15%-20% of their customers. Cutting just 10% of the revenue and the profit motive is removed.

The liberal season framework should be 45/4 at the most, I prefer 45/3 for the eastern 3 flyways.

[Duckman#1]

We have to "trust the science" right? .

For the most part no one trust the science unless it backs their personal opinions. We’ve seen that with turkey research.

[Panther11]

Jab was able to impart change on way more folks than he thought he would. He was right from day one!

[ccleroy]

What's lunacy is an actual discussion on ducks here...

I literally had to look at the dates of these post's as I thought it was one from 20 years ago.

[Slaya]

All it would take to end the MRP is for the Feds to write some tickets for live decoys.

I know they wrote/caught some last year. Pulled primaries on released birds... Not sure that it took, but I was told the birds were required to be destroyed. Never have heard the final outcome of that deal, and it may be ongoing, yet. Who knows?

I'm perfectly happy to shoot teal, woodies, ringnecks and gadwall these days, even if we have to go about it sparingly. Never been a Mallard purist - could never afford to be in my lifetime hunting SC, and actually prefer a mixed bag on a salt marsh or a wade in swamp hunt to most anything else I've encountered with ducks. Sure do enjoy when the big blacks make an appearance in the swamps. That is a treat above all else, for me.

We'll flood corn, rice, native vegetation, oak trees, and millets again next year, in the hopes a few wild birds will use it. Happy to switch to MSM, rice, and/or millets and leave the corn out, if everyone else will. I'd like to see a reduction in days and bag, and a complete ban on MRP. Would like my boys to have the ability to hunt with their children and enjoy what the Good Lord has blessed us all with.

[cajunwannabe]

For the most part no one trust the science unless it backs their personal opinions. We’ve seen that with turkey research.

Absolutely, or the opinions of the waterfowl social influencer that they like, love, support, idolize who posts duck pile shots online and could give two rips about their admirer because they do it to monetize waterfowl. It's so entertaining though.

One thing for certain, duck hunters are a passionate bunch, for that I am happy to see. I believe it's the only way duck hunting will survive for my grandkids.

[Catdaddy]

Lets say there is good proof that the migrating mallards are being short stopped in Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, and Tennessee.

Which would be better for the ducks?

1. Being closer to the breeding grounds.
Having plenty to eat.
Only getting pressured once every 7 to 10 days.
Having good habitat until March and a shorter flight to nest.

OR

2. Going to Louisiana and being chased 7 days a week......and if you make a mistake,.....you're gumbo.

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[LabLuvR]

I vote for going to LA and I'm there 5 of those 7 days to shoot the shit out of them. It has sucked in LA the last few years.

[cajunwannabe]

I grew up in Michigan. Used to jump off the 2nd floor balcony of my uncles house into the snow 8' deep in winter, not these measly "artic blasts" or "polar vortexs" that last a week.

Mallards don't need to come South anymore it's nearly 50 degrees in Detroit today. Sure it's going to get cold next week but tough ducks like a Mallard aren't leaving. Shooting has stopped, open water, closer to nesting sites, plenty of food, plenty of ducks to hang with, they good.

[Duckman#1]

I grew up in Michigan. Used to jump off the 2nd floor balcony of my uncles house into the snow 8' deep in winter, not these measly "artic blasts" or "polar vortexs" that last a week.

Mallards don't need to come South anymore it's nearly 50 degrees in Detroit today. Sure it's going to get cold next week but tough ducks like a Mallard aren't leaving. Shooting has stopped, open water, closer to nesting sites, plenty of food, plenty of ducks to hang with, they good.

The guys I know out west, Northwwest have also had a bad season. Very warm, no snow and there’s pretty much no flooded corn out there to speak of.

[duckcommander727]

The guys I know out west, Northwwest have also had a bad season. Very warm, no snow and there’s pretty much no flooded corn out there to speak of.

Yep here in Wyoming it’s been really warm. Had maybe 5-7 days below freezing. Most days in the 50s. A friend in SoDak said they were covered in ducks. Weird year for sure


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[JABIII]

I had my legs cut from underneath me a bunch of times on this topic including the WAC. I was so naive that I thought a little bit of logic and everyone would come around. It just doesn't work that way. $ > Logic...

I know you did. If I never said it, thanks for trying. When they asked I knew that I couldn't. I will speak truth to power in a heartbeat, I can't speak truth to dumbfucks for an instant without calling their heritage into question. Older I get, I understand that is on me...

[Duckman#1]

Not mine


The Mallard Duck, The Modern Day Buffalo

In 1804, Meriwether Lewis wrote, "The Plains and River bottoms are covered with them (buffalo), and it is scarcely necessary to use any caution when approaching them." Historians estimate that between 30-60 million buffalo walked the plains when Lewis and Clark stumbled upon them. Fast forward to 1887, only 83 years later, Teddy Roosevelt wrote, "On one of my trips, we spent three months hunting through a country where, but ten years before, buffalo had been plentiful, yet we never saw a single one." By 1887, historians suspect the population had dropped to around 500-1000 buffalo. Between market hunters, the railroad, unregulated sport hunting, and westward expansion, the buffalo had dropped from tens of millions to under 1000.

Now, for the mallard duck, I myself, being young, have watched the migration go from a pour to a trickle. Our total duck population today has taken nearly a 15% drop from 1960, when the USFW began surveying. Beginning at around the 40 million mark, and sitting at this year's survey today at around 35 million, in contrast, most surveys note a total duck population of 38 million in 1937, when Ducks Unlimited formed. So, the question is, what gives? Why, with Ducks Unlimited, who has raised $3.5 billion, and Delta Waterfowl, who has raised $284 million and promised a "million duck campaign" (producing one million ducks annually), are our numbers showing little growth from the day they started?

Take a lesson from the buffalo; talk with any waterfowl hunter in the south, and you will hear the same old story, "not like it used to be," but it seems nobody has a fix for it. Arkansas, in particular, has seen a dramatic decrease in the quality of duck hunting in recent years. Our hunting situation today is very similar to the market hunting that ducks and buffalo experienced all those years ago, from the fields of northern Canada to the Gulf of Louisiana; ducks have been overhunted, over-pressured, and tormented. Let's look at North Dakota, for example. In 1992, there were 300 licensed waterfowl guides; in 2023, there were roughly 3000 (going off of the ND Game & Fish department). South Dakota, in 1991, had 450 guides; in 2022, over 1900. Most research shows a 3.5-5x fold increase since the early 90's.

Now, this is not a message to down outfitters; it is simply stating the facts and letting people gather for themselves. Ducks experience just as much, or more pressure from private individuals. The list of things ducks have going against them is long: less food left from combines, more ground worked in the fall, more level ground, leaving less natural sloughs in the field after a rain, solar panels, expansion of farm ground; the list goes on. The point of this message is awareness; waterfowl is not exempt from overpressure, a declining population, or any other obstacle the bison faced. We, as hunters, have to realize that; the mindset seems to be "take, take, take" instead of "give, give, give."

What is the fix? I personally do not have a one-stop solution. I look around and see fewer places for ducks to go in the winter and not get shot; I see more hunters than I ever have in my life; I see solar panels going up, fields worked in the fall, and you have to stop and ask yourself, "what am I willing to sacrifice?" For me, it is hunting; I am willing to lose half my season, cut the limit to 3 from 6, anything to allow these birds to go back to their natural flow. Take nocturnal ducks, for example; that is a 100% man-made habit for waterfowl; no duck wants to feed at night; however, when it is the only time they can feed and not get shot, that is when they are going. I believe pressure is first and foremost, and that is not pressure in Arkansas alone, but all up and down the flyway; get pressure figured out, then we can work on the rest.

So, to wrap this up, I will say, change starts with individuals; calling your local politicians, writing letters, anything to get this issue on the public radar. I look at my nearly 2-year-old son, and I hate to know that, at the rate things are going, he will never experience what I have unless something changes. As I sit in the woods and look at the holes we hunt, which are buffalo wallows from the 1800's, I sit and compare the mallard to the buffalo.