Ducks Unlimited Podcast

Find out why mild weather and drought are reshaping waterfowl migration—and what hunters can do now.

Hosts Matt Harrison and Dr. Jared Henson break down the latest Ducks Unlimited migration alerts across the Chesapeake Bay, New York, and the Central Flyway.

This episode dives into why some regions are stacked with birds while others struggle, how weather patterns and habitat conditions influence duck and goose movement, and what late-season hunters should expect. From drought in the Chesapeake to ice challenges in New York and warm spells in the Dakotas, learn how these factors impact success and strategy.

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Whether you're a seasoned hunter or just getting started, this episode is packed with valuable insights into the world of waterfowl hunting and conservation.

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Creators and Guests

Host
Jerad Henson
DUPodcast Conservation Host
Host
Matt Harrison
DUPodcast Outdoor Host

What is Ducks Unlimited Podcast?

Ducks Unlimited Podcast is a constant discussion of all things waterfowl; from in-depth hunting tips and tactics, to waterfowl biology, research, science, and habitat updates. The DU Podcast is the go-to resource for waterfowl hunters and conservationists. Ducks Unlimited is the world's leader in wetlands conservation.

VO:

Can we do a mic check, please? Everybody, welcome back to the Ducks Unlimited podcast. I'm your host, doctor Mike Brasher. I'm your host, Katie Burke. I'm your host, doctor Jared Henson.

VO:

And I'm your host, Matt Harrison.

VO:

Welcome to the Ducks Unlimited podcast, the only podcast about all things waterfowl. From hunting insights to science based discussions about ducks, geese, and issues affecting waterfowl and wetlands conservation in North America. The DU podcast, sponsored by Purina Pro Plan, the official performance dog food of Ducks Unlimited. Purina Pro Plan, always advancing. Also proudly sponsored by Bird Dog Whiskey and Cocktails.

VO:

Whether you're winding down with your best friend or celebrating with your favorite crew, Bird Dog brings award winning flavor to every moment. Enjoy responsibly.

Matt Harrison:

Hey, everybody, and welcome back to the Ducks Unlimited podcast. Today, we are gonna be diving back into some of our migration alerts. We have doctor Jared Henson joining us as well. Doctor Jared, how are you doing on this fine, beautiful morning that I would love to be spending outdoors chasing some ducks.

Jerad Henson:

Yeah. I'm good, man. I'm happy to be here. Like you, I kinda wish I was out there. It's been a a tough season for for some of us, but, and I think we're gonna dive into that a little bit on this migration report.

Jerad Henson:

And another quick reminder for all of our our listeners, you wanna get these migration reports, go to ducks.org backslash migration alerts, and you can keep up to date on all this information. But, Matt, yeah, really happy to be here.

Matt Harrison:

Absolutely. Well, we're gonna dive straight into it. We're gonna go over three different migration alerts that we've had come out in the past couple days, and we're gonna start out with the Chesapeake Bay. And with the Chesapeake Bay, we're gonna specifically be talking about the Chesapeake region. Chesapeake talks about, you know, the weather pushes have been pushing a good bit of birds south, but they they lack some rain early, but they've gotten some rain as of recent, but are still just kind of lacking that little bit of cold, cold weather, and that's one of the main things that's just kinda been holding them up.

Matt Harrison:

And they said, you know, they've had plenty of amounts of Canada geese, but have just been lacking those divers. And, you know, I think that's kinda been an update in in many other places as well. But doctor Jared, what did you kinda take away from leading reading that article?

Jerad Henson:

Yeah. And this was a a a great article kinda pulled together, had really good encompassing kind of viewpoint from that whole region. And, yeah, what you said, I mean, there's geese there, but with these cold fronts, you know, people were expecting some some puddle ducks and divers to come down, and they really didn't. Yeah. And as we start getting into January, that's not super surprising to me.

Jerad Henson:

Once we pass that solstice and it it's time for the or the once we start the day length starts getting longer, it's just harder to get those pushes of ducks to go south unless you get some real, real harsh weather. Yeah. And we're not getting it. And and the the migration report talks too, I mean, that area has gotten some rain and they've gotten some more water in their impoundments or freshwater impoundments and in and around just different parts of Maryland, Eastern Shore, but but they're still in a drought. It's still behind and below average, so that's really not not helping a lot.

Jerad Henson:

And that's not just on public ground and in the, you know, areas like Blackwater or or something. That's also talking about some of those big well managed clubs. They're still not showing Yeah. Good dugout.

Matt Harrison:

Exactly. And, you know, a lot of times when you do get some some rain whenever you're in the middle of your season or even late season, a lot of times that rains high expectations to kinda bring in, you know, some newer ducks. There's more habitat for the ducks to get in, to feed in, but they said with the recent rain, they still just haven't quite seen the usage that they were looking for for those, you know, areas that have just received rainfall. So that kinda surprised me a little bit when reading this. You know, I know that anytime we get new water, it offers that opportunity to bring in new ducks, but also spread some ducks out.

Matt Harrison:

But, you know, as this article reads, that they just really haven't experienced that as much as they would have liked to.

Jerad Henson:

That's right. It's it's just the, you know, the birds aren't there. And as we move into kind of our next migration report, it tells you why. I don't know if you wanna jump into New York right now, but if you go just a little north of there up into New York, that's a completely different tale. They're having one of their best seasons they've had in recent years.

Jerad Henson:

They still have a lot of habitat open. They got a lot of water, and they've got a lot of ducks compared to to what they've had in in recent years. So while people along the you know, hunters along the Chesapeake are are struggling, those New York duck hunters are are having a good season. I mean, that makes sense with pretty mild winters and then drought conditions south of them that you would have more ducks hanging up north, and and it's all across New York, not just in, you know, a few areas like we've seen sometimes. It seems like Lake Lake Erie and the Niagara River, they're holding holding lots of birds.

Jerad Henson:

Lots of divers are still there. Ice is increasing is what they're saying. But if they can find areas without ice, lots of success is being had.

Matt Harrison:

And I see too where they they speak on that early season, you know, they had exceptional wood duck numbers where they were just seeing plentiful amounts of wood ducks. And now, you know, being later season, they're seeing strong flights of mallards and black ducks and divers. And as you mentioned, ice is now one of the major one of the major hurdles kinda, you know, creating concentrated opportunities where, you know, finding open water. You know, whenever it gets this time of the year, it gets very, very, very cold in in some areas, you know, which offers the, you know, the bad side of things as far as finding open water and finding those ducks in those areas, but it also offers great opportunity because normally when you do find them, you find a good amount of them using these certain areas. So but as an overall, you know, season outlook for this, you know, specific area.

Matt Harrison:

It seems like they've had a great year so far, you know, and have have have had a season that really and truly, you know, I don't know if they were expecting it. I'm not from that area and don't hunt it up that way. But anytime you have a good start to a season, also a strong finish to a season, that's always something a waterfowl hunter is, you know, is thankful for.

Jerad Henson:

All I can say is I'm glad somebody's getting them right now because it ain't me.

VO:

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Jerad Henson:

But one of the cool things up there interesting things up there too is is one of the points that were made was access being a limiting factor, not bird numbers. Yeah. And you think about it, when things start icing up in there, you might have open water out in the middle of the lake or out on some areas of the lake, but you can't get a boat in the water. Exactly. And that starts to get you can't get the boat through the ice too.

Jerad Henson:

I mean, that's the the kicker there.

Matt Harrison:

No doubt.

Jerad Henson:

If you move to, like, Western Lake Ontario in that area, they're seeing lots of good, like some sea duck numbers. So golden eyes, long tails, and some white wing scooters, it looks like there. Finger Lakes region getting tons of redheads. Yep. But lots of diversity, lots of paddlers and divers, lots of black ducks in that area.

Jerad Henson:

But, again, it's one of those things. If if you can find a way to get around the ice and you'll

Matt Harrison:

care an opportunity.

Jerad Henson:

You got ducks.

Matt Harrison:

And, you know, one thing that I've noticed this year, doctor Jared, just kinda through the year how we've done these, you know, migration alerts on the podcast side of things, you know, I've seen where there's been strong numbers of geese. You know, we we just did one, you know, start out with the Atlantic Flyway, the Chesapeake Bay region, and they mentioned that the Canada geese numbers are are great. And then, you know, we also see where, you know, there's strong numbers as well here, you know, for the for the this New York, you know, report as well. They have great geese numbers, and they've seen, you know, around the Long Island and Eastern regions where hunters are reporting, you know, quick limits and and great opportunities to to chase these geese. So that's one thing that has kinda stuck out to me throughout the year is where people are really seeing, you know, a good number of geese.

Jerad Henson:

You know, and and I I think as by the time this thing comes out, I'm pretty sure New York's duck season will have closed, but hopefully, those folks up there ended their season on a high note.

Matt Harrison:

For sure. Well, now let's shift a little bit to the Central Flyaway and talk a little bit about kinda their latest update from what we've seen. You know, they've kinda experienced a little bit of warm weather and scattered birds and kinda had mixed hunting results. And, you know, I feel like that's that's kinda been, again, the scenario and case for a a good bit of areas. You know, even the specific area that I hunt, you know, we've experienced those same hurdles as, you know, one day you'll have some decent waterfowl hunting weather, then the next day you're outside and it's sunny and 75 and you're in a t shirt.

Matt Harrison:

You know? And that's That's it. The inconsistency in the warm weather and cold weather has just been a hurdle for a lot of different, you know, regions as far as chasing waterfowl goes.

Jerad Henson:

Yeah. And and and if you look throughout the Central Flyway, North Dakota, South Dakota, and into Nebraska, they don't have a whole lot of snow cover. What snow cover they had with these warm weathers that are jumping up into the fifties and sixties in like the Dakotas, that's melting the snow and that's spreading birds out bad. And so there's birds around, but they're not isolated. You have to go find them, they're real spread out.

Jerad Henson:

So that's that's gonna make success different. But as all everybody's season starts to close, right, you know, those birds are are are already you know, there's lots of reports of duck I mean, a few ducks going back north from, you know, Kansas up into Nebraska. Lots of geese going north. Snows, Candida's and Specs are are moving back with that frost line. They're gonna start working their way back as that weather allows them to find habitat.

Matt Harrison:

Exactly. And, you know, as the seasons close up north, you know, as long as they're not being pressured and they have food and open water, there's no reason for these ducks and geese to migrate south. So, you know, like you mentioned, they're gonna follow that that line. And whenever these seasons start to close and they're able to find food, open water, and no pressure, I don't see why they would they would move because I know whenever I'm warm, being fed, and cozy, I'm not going anywhere either.

Jerad Henson:

Right. Well, that's it. I mean, there's such a drought further south from those areas. The habitat's kind of kind of tough, and so there's a lot of hunting pressure on the habitat that's available. So ducks are gonna start trying to find areas to go that they can escape that pressure.

Jerad Henson:

But there's still a few places out there still chasing them. It looks like there's, you know, still opportunities throughout those habitat, Southern states and and kind of, Midcontinent states are still have a little bit of time left in their duck season. So there's still opportunities to be had. It's just birds are pretty spread out in in some of those areas, and managing pressure at this point is gonna be a big big part of how you, work that game.

Matt Harrison:

Absolutely. Absolutely. As we always mention, you know, as long as your season's open and you have opportunity to get out there and chase them, whether the report in your area says that hunting's good or hunting's average or hunting's poor, you know, you still have an opportunity to get out there and chase them. Hey, we all know as waterfowl hunters that it can completely do a complete turnaround to the very next day because, you know, weather, cold fronts, wind, all these different variables can completely shift and change, which presents a whole new opportunity. So as we mentioned, always, always, always get out there and get after them if you can.

Jerad Henson:

Yeah. Give it a chance. And if you want to to get a full download on these migration reports with more details, jump on our website, dusk.org, like I said earlier, migration alerts, backslash migration alerts. You can find all these. You can also sign up for these via email and they'll be emailed to you, so you'll be up to date as soon as these come out.

Jerad Henson:

These are a great resource to get an idea of kind of what's going on up and down the flyways. Go check that out if y'all haven't.

Matt Harrison:

Well, doctor Jared, thank you so much for taking time to hop on and discuss these migration alerts. And we also wanna thank our podcast listeners for tuning in to the Ducks Unlimited podcast. Also want to thank our podcast producer, mister Chris Isaac. Thank you all so very much for tuning in. Y'all take care and God bless.

VO:

Thank you for listening to the DU podcast, sponsored by Purina Pro Plan, the official performance dog food of Ducks Unlimited. Purina Pro Plan, always advancing. Also proudly sponsored by Bird Dog Whiskey and Cocktails. Whether you're winding down with your best friend or celebrating with your favorite crew, Bird Dog brings award winning flavor to every moment. Enjoy responsibly.

VO:

Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe to the show and visit ducks.org/dupodcast. Opinions expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect those of Ducks Unlimited. Until next time, stay tuned to the Ducks.