BILLINGS — It's going to be a very good fall to be a waterfowl hunter across Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas. There should be plenty of ducks and geese filling the skies.
"It's looking very good this year. We've had a lot of good news," said Jim Hansen, Central Flyway biologist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. "There was more water in the breeding grounds, and it looks like ducks have responded to that." It comes as no surprise that water is much of the key to waterfowl. In years when there is plenty of water, ducks and geese do well. During drought times on the prairies, waterfowl suffer.
"Montana is in good shape for the most part. North and South Dakota are really wet. Manitoba and most of Saskatchewan are wet. There are some drier areas in Alberta," he said.
These areas form the nation's so-called "duck factory" and are responsible for much of the overall health of waterfowl species and their relative abundance from year to year.
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"The number of ponds in prairie Canada and the prairie pothole region of the U.S. are way up over last year," Hansen said. "All those areas showed a 45 percent increase from last year and are 31 percent above the long-term average.
"That allows the ducks to spread out for breeding," Hansen explained. "When it's dry, you can have the same number of breeding pairs, but if they're crowded into the same small areas, they don't do so well. In a dry year, the ducks may not nest at all. They sit around and survive, but they don't nest.
"A pair of mallards will tolerate a pair of blue-winged teal in their territory, but they won't tolerate another pair of mallards. So if there isn't enough water, there isn't enough room for the mallards to spread out," he said.
"In dry years, certain species, like pintails, will overfly the prairies to go further north, but they're not as productive up there. This year, they're nesting where they're supposed to nest to provide peak production," Hansen said.
As a result, the total, continent-wide duck flock is up 13 percent and is 25 percent above the long-term average. Mallards are up 10 percent over last year and 13 percent above the long-term average. Pintails are up 23 percent over last year overall, which is good recovery for a species still 20 percent below the long-term average.
Record numbers of green-winged teal were found in the surveys, gadwalls were 73 percent above the long-term average, and blue-winged teal were 60 percent above the long-term average.
For Montana and Wyoming hunters who mostly hunt local birds early in the season, Hansen said, "Survey areas in Montana and western Dakotas combined are up 117 percent over last year and 53 percent above the long-term average in total ducks. Mallards are up 26 percent from last year." As far as geese are concerned, there's good news in local populations, though production in far northern Canada appears to have been hit by drier conditions and a very late spring.
"Canada geese are doing very well," Hansen said. "I would expect with the improved water situation, I would expect it to be very good. The Canada geese we shoot here are mostly ones that nest in Montana or in southern Canada. We're doing well with the larger Canada geese." Waterfowl season will open in Montana with the special youth waterfowl/pheasant weekend on Sept. 26-27.
"That weekend is set aside for youngsters age 12-15," he said. "Youths must be accompanied by an adult at least 18 years old to help them out with gun safety, setting out decoys and bird identification and anything else they need help with. The adults can't shoot, but it's a good time to take kids out when they don't have to compete with adults." The general duck and goose season will open on Oct. 3 in both the Central Flyway and Pacific Flyway portions of the state. The dividing line between the flyways are the eastern edges of the county lines for Park, Meagher, Cascade, Chouteau and Hill Counties. All counties west of that line are in the Pacific Flyway. All counties east are in the Central Flyway.
Hansen said that the Central Flyway daily bag limit will be six ducks, of which five can be mallards with no more than two hen mallards and no more than three wood ducks, two redheads, two hooded mergansers, two scaup, one pintail and one canvasback per day.
The Pacific Flyway daily duck limit is seven ducks, of which no more than two can be hen mallards and no more than two pintails, two redheads, one canvasback and three scaup.
The daily goose limit for Montana is the same for both flyways with four dark geese (Canadas and whitefronts) and six light geese (snow, blue and Ross') per day.
Complete copies of the waterfowl regulations are available from FWP offices or license agents across the state or by going to the FWP Web site at fwp.mt.gov.
For more details on the status of waterfowl across the continent, you can go to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Web site at www.flyways.us, which also has a video report available at www.flyways.us/status-of-waterfowl/video-report.
"It should be a great waterfowl season this year," Hansen said. "Some areas had the best spring water conditions they've had in years. And that water means more waterfowl for everyone to enjoy." Mark Henckel is the Outdoors Editor for The Billings Gazette.
