Increased Waterfowl Populations Greet Resident Hunters at Opener

A wet fall of 2019 and abundant moisture which carried over into the start of 2020 primed the pump for

a successful breeding season for waterfowl in North Dakota's prairie pothole region. With good

recruitment comes increased numbers of ducks for hunters headed out to stake out their favorite slough

as the season starts for resident waterfowl hunters on Sat. Sept. 26. Despite drier conditions in the back

half of summer, many wetlands remain in good shape, particularly in the eastern third of the Peace

Garden State for the upcoming waterfowl hunting season.

"The wetland conditions in the eastern third of the state are quite good for this time of year," reports

Dane Buysse, Conservation Programs Biologist for Ducks Unlimited in North Dakota, adding, "as you

move further toward the central portion of North Dakota - I was out just this last weekend - and some of

those wetlands are drying up out there and you're going to see drier conditions as you move to the

northwest part of the state."

North Dakota was unique in comparison to the rest of the nation, as many state wildlife agencies

cancelled their spring and summer counts for returning waterfowl and brood surveys due to the Covid-

19 pandemic. With social distancing in place, and single-person survey routes drawn up, the North

Dakota Game & Fish Department (NDGF) was able to tally the state's waterfowl populations like in

previous years, with a little more focus and work by its agents.

"Talking with biologists across the state, it sounds like duck numbers are quite good, I've been seeing

great duck numbers on the wetlands I've been driving by," Buysse said of the summer survey results,

"it's really cool that we do have data on that, and their mid-July duck production survey showed that

you should see a nine percent increase in the number of birds you're seeing this fall, which is pretty

awesome," he advised.

In addition to an increased number of temporary wetlands which allowed not only more habitat for

territorial waterfowl to spread out on across the landscape, but also for more abundant food sources for

nesting hens and growing broods, many acres that were normally planted by producers adjacent to

pothole sloughs and other duck-rearing lowlands went unused due to the wet conditions. This in turn

helped provide better nesting habitat and more cover for ducks and ducklings.

"Those wet conditions last fall carried over into spring and provided an incredible buffet for all those

hen mallards and other species of ducks that were coming up to nest here, so they had ideal food

sources going into the spring," Buysse explains, adding, "there's also a 2.5 million acre prevent-plant

count for this year, so that had some additional nesting cover for those birds being those acres weren't

disturbed...which is unfortunate that farmers were unable to plant it, but it does provide some

additional habitat for them to nest in."

For those watching the migration, Buysse is hearing good things from Canada, as production remained

good north of the border. Despite it being closed to human travel, again due to the continuing

pandemic, it is likely Canadian waterfowl will begin making their way south in earnest in the coming

weeks. When they do, North Dakota's hunters will likely see more migrants than in previous years.

"The adult male blue-wing teal were heading south this past week and it sounds like hunters [in

southern Canada] with those early teal seasons were having some incredible success," he relays, "those

birds are beginning to move south, they had decent production up in Canada and it will be interesting to

see those birds – as the weather patterns continue to change – how many of them move down into the

Dakotas," Buysse concludes.

More information on the migration, along with events and habitat efforts the organization is carrying

out for North Dakota waterfowl can be found at the Ducks Unlimited website: ducks.org. The North

Dakota general resident waterfowl season opens Sat. Sept. 26 and runs until Sun. Dec. 6 in the High

Plains (1) and Low Plains Units. Nonresident waterfowl seasons are delayed one week and open on Sat.

Oct. 3. For more information on waterfowl hunting, visit gf.nd.gov/hunting/ducks.