100 days, 7 ducks... 25 geese!

[CAelknuts]

LAST EDITED ON Aug-01-14 AT 08:34PM (MST)[p]The recommendation for this seasons waterfowl hunts will be, for most zones...

100 day season. Balance of State zone will be Oct 18- Jan 25.

7 ducks. 2 hen mallards. 2 pintails. 1 canvasback. 2 scaup.

25 geese!!! 10 dark geese and 15 white geese.

Possession limits to be 3x the daily bag limit.

NOTE: this still has to be approved by the Fish and Game Commission and is subject to change but that's what is going up for approval.

 

[eelgrass]

Wow! I wonder if that has something to do with the drought? Less feed available so they need to thin some out?

Are you going to get water Dan?

Steve

 

[Bossbrott]

>Wow! I wonder if that has
>something to do with the
>drought? Less feed available so
>they need to thin some
>out?
>
>Are you going to get water
>Dan?
>
>Steve

IMO I don't think your too very far off the mark with either of your scenarios. Coupled with the drought and possible disease outbreaks due to little fresh water , the northern birds had an excellent hatch this year.
We will have massive flights concentrated on little water, a perfect storm capable of killing far more than harvested.

 

[CAelknuts]

It has to do with speckle belly and white goose (especially Ross Goose) populations being way over objective. Even though we had a poor hatch here in CA, most of western Canada has good to excellent conditions this year and Alaska was shown as excellent everywhere.

Continent-wide overall populations of waterfowl are surging, even though we don't see it here.

Steve, yes I expect to have water, though most of what is normally flooded in the Sacramento valley will be dry. It may be an epic season for anyone who gets water this year. We need to do a hunt together again, so let's talk when October gets here.

 

[jester]

I WILL PUT A DENT IN THEM FOWL.....
Field maggots make good pepper sticks...
JESTER

 

[Califelkslayer]

Guys, What's the Honker limit in NE Kali this year? After 30 years of hard core waterfowling, I gave it up for upland 10 years ago, more exercise/longer seasons, etc. BUT I could buy some stamps, blow the cobwebs offa the dekes and get back to it. Just not worth the effort for 2 birds.

I actually though about setting up on a local lake for the opener since i'll be deer hunting in the area and a duck/honker break may be nice.

 

[CAelknuts]

2 NE honkers is all. Breeding population is very, very low.

 

[sageadvice]

"2 NE honkers is all. Breeding population is very, very low."

That is my findings too! We daily can usually see mid hundreds of Honkers be born and raised on the Almanor shore and meadows right off the Eastern Highway headed into Chester. Both last and this year seemed very poor to me.

My numbers expressed here are not factual but intended to give one a impression only.

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

 

[eelgrass]

Thanks Dan! You have a very special place!

Andrew Susac is getting some time I see. Catching for Lincecum has to be a challenge. I wish him well, he had a good teacher.

Eel

 

[Califelkslayer]

nuts/Sage,

Breeding pairs low????? Almanor is as high as ever so why the lack of geese? I understand high country meadows were dry but Almanor, Walker, Antelope, etc should have produced breeding.

Plus, the geese we used to kill AFTER the first month were not bred here.

Oh well, I hear the pointers in the other room breathing a sign of relief. But as my knees get older the thought of another 4 month chukar season makes them ache.

 

[sageadvice]

Hunter, I don't know for sure but it's not like even a few years ago. We used to have thousands of honkers right out off the Causeway. Last year, i could hardly find a goose, very poor. This year is better, quite a bit, but nothing like there used to be.

Yeah, i think "most" of these geese raised around here move down below once the season starts and they get pressured. Some stay through the season and they can be patterned if a guy puts in the time. There are also some that winter here, not many, but there are usually always geese on the lake.

I'll say this, several years ago and steady before that, you could hear the yotes yipping and howling every night without fail right out where the geese nest. Sounded like Dozens of them but we know that half a dozen can make a big racket in the night. I believe those yotes teamed up, got to raiding nests, from one to another, causing substantial impact on the amounts of birds allowed to reach maturity.

Some years, big late snows in the spring come cover up the nests. A little snow is no big deal but a couple feet or more when they are nesting, usually you can figure to see fewer birds later on. This hasn't been the case lately.

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"