Hoopengarner on Outdoors
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Better weather awaits waterfowlers
It's beginning to look a lot like waterfowl hunting season.
For the past several years, Mid-Columbia Basin waterfowlers have sat in their blinds and pits during winters more typical of the Southwest.
"Maybe, we're finally going to get some real winter weather this season," said Randy Hill, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist at the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge in Othello.
However, waterfowlers should be careful about what they wish for.
Following an aerial waterfowl survey conducted by the Fish and Wildlife Service before Thanksgiving, Hill said many smaller waters in the Basin are ice covered, but larger bodies of water, such as Potholes Reservoir and Moses Lake, remain mostly clear of ice - for now.
"We've got close to 350,000 ducks and geese in the Basin right now, but if we get too much ice and snow, the birds may decide to head south," he said.
While plenty of open water can still be found in the north half of the Basin, Hill said he's more concerned about snow and ice covering up available food sources. And for mallards, that means harvested corn.
"We have some snow and ice on the fields right now, but the birds can still feed. But if ducks can't feed every day, they'll move," he said.
Based on the survey conducted by the Fish and Wildlife Service, duck numbers from the Hanford Reach to Umatilla stand at about 107,000, said Howard Browers, an agency biologist in Pasco.
"It's difficult to get an accurate number on geese in our region, but our overall numbers on ducks and geese are lower than this time last year," he said.
The Basin goose population is estimated at about 60,000, although it's possible numbers for ducks and geese have increased since the survey was conducted.
Despite the lower number of waterfowl in our region, Browers said hunters report generally favorable success.
And it generally gets better as winter weather to the north pushes more birds into the lower Columbia Basin.
"Usually, by mid-December, we should be seeing the bulk of our migratory waterfowl populations," he said.
While there is plenty of open water in the region, some areas - such as Toppenish Refuge and portions of the McNary National Refuge in Burbank - have some ice coverage, as does the agency's flooded millet field north of the Walla Walla River.
So, while winter weather is usually greeted warmly by waterfowlers, let's hope we don't get more than we bargained for.
In a related issue, the Fish and Wildlife Service noted that today's waterfowlers are spending more time in the field and bagging more birds, despite their dwindling ranks.
The services estimates that during the 1999-2000 hunting season, U.S. hunters spent an average of nine days afield and harvested about 10 ducks and two geese each.
In total, hunters spent 14.3 million days in the field and harvested more than 15 million ducks - down only 7 percent from the previous season's all-time high. The 1999-2000 estimated goose harvest was
3 million birds, also down slightly.
As most Tri-City hunters are aware, mallards are the most commonly harvested duck species, accounting for 35 percent of the harvest. Green-winged teal made up 14 percent of the harvest, followed by gadwall at 11 percent, wood ducks at 10 percent and blue-winged and cinnamon teal at 7 percent.
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To all of you who have faithfully followed this column in the past 19 years, I'd like to say thank you.
I also want to point out that this column is moving from Thursdays to Sundays and will appear on the redesigned Outdoors page in the back of the sports section.
Besides hunting and fishing, the Outdoors page also will include other seasonal recreational activities such as biking, camping, hiking, snow skiing and water sports.
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