Another DB outfitter?

[Ramblingman]

100% honest report. Everything I have posted is true. I hunt 50-60 days a season. I hunt 90% public. I am surrounded by outfitters which greatly reduces my opportunities. Are some places overrun with OOS'ERS? Absolutely yes. I no longer hunt them as much as I really love those places. Are some places less pressured? Yes. But, I am still seeing the OOS pressure building in those areas each year. Some points in time, those places are also overcrowded. I hunted from western KS to Eastern KS this season. I saw 3 to 4x more OOS hunters than residents. KDWP has acknowledged to me personally that there is a NR pressure problem. They are going to address it. I could go to Oklahoma and find good hunting, I could do the same in any state. That doesn't mean those states don't have tremendous pressure. Being in the right place at the right time is most important. A little luck and you can do well before word gets out. I have been a traveling hunter since I was old enough to go along with my dad. I am honestly reporting that there is a problem and it will get worse if not addressed.

 

[FriedPotatoes]

100% honest report. Everything I have posted is true. I hunt 50-60 days a season. I hunt 90% public. I am surrounded by outfitters which greatly reduces my opportunities. Are some places overrun with OOS'ERS? Absolutely yes. I no longer hunt them as much as I really love those places. Are some places less pressured? Yes. But, I am still seeing the OOS pressure building in those areas each year. Some points in time, those places are also overcrowded. I hunted from western KS to Eastern KS this season. I saw 3 to 4x more OOS hunters than residents. KDWP has acknowledged to me personally that there is a NR pressure problem. They are going to address it. I could go to Oklahoma and find good hunting, I could do the same in any state. That doesn't mean those states don't have tremendous pressure. Being in the right place at the right time is most important. A little luck and you can do well before word gets out. I have been a traveling hunter since I was old enough to go along with my dad. I am honestly reporting that there is a problem and it will get worse if not addressed.

Just keep them in Kansas, don't send them further south please. There's no ducks in OK and we wanna keep it that way

 

[Tuleman]

Anyone who claims that Kansas does not have a hunting pressure problem is not being truthful, whether it is intentional or not I cannot say.
And, as Ramblingman said, the problem is getting worse by the year. The KDWP troops in the field are quite aware of it, and have been for awhile.
Now, whether the people with KDWP authority to make significant changes will address this issue head-on is not known at this point.
Those of us who want to preserve Kansas' history of duck and goose hunting hope it will be addressed.
Those who want status quo, so they can continue to have unlimited hunting opportunities in Kansas, are hoping nothing changes, that's clear to anyone reading this forum.

The two opposite camps have been established.
The problem is, if they win....both sides lose.

 

[WuChang]

Per USFWS
KANSAS 2020 had 20,000 active waterfowl hunters with 103,000 days afield killing 261,700 ducks for average per hunter of 13.1
2021 had 20,900 active waterfowl hunters with 105,600 days afield killing 260,200 ducks for an average of 12.5
74 day season

Average day afield per hunter 4.95 and 5.05

Missouri had 26,900 and 26,000 active waterfowl hunters
188,200 and 181,300 days afield
288,600 and 345,400
average ducks 10.7 and 14.0
60 day season

Average days afield per hunter 6.99 and 6.97

You can do your own comparison -source data here

https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/documents/migratory-bird-hunting-activity-and-harvest-report-2020-to-2021-and-2021-to-2022.pdf

 

[Ramblingman]

Per USFWS
KANSAS 2020 had 20,000 active waterfowl hunters with 103,000 days afield killing 261,700 ducks for average per hunter of 13.1
2021 had 20,900 active waterfowl hunters with 105,600 days afield killing 260,200 ducks for an average of 12.5
74 day season

Average day afield per hunter 4.95 and 5.05

Missouri had 26,900 and 26,000 active waterfowl hunters
188,200 and 181,300 days afield
288,600 and 345,400
average ducks 10.7 and 14.0
60 day season

Average days afield per hunter 6.99 and 6.97

You can do your own comparison -source data here

https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/documents/migratory-bird-hunting-activity-and-harvest-report-2020-to-2021-and-2021-to-2022.pdf

I wonder what the comparison is for public lands conducive to waterfowl hunting between the two states? Missouri has 6x the amount of land open to public hunting when compared to Ks.

 

[golden boy]

I never understood how they come up with a duck harvest number when the highest number asked on the HIP question is 11+

most waterfowl hunters know the exact number of birds harvested in the entire season even if it’s over 100.

now the real head scratcher is that they know exactly how many rabbits and squirrels are harvested.

only numbers I could trust is state stamps sold. Any other number is a freaking guess at best but now with the new go Kansas outdoors app, they know how many times we poop in the parking lot.

 

[WuChang]

As a sidebar (And, to explain why the mallard migration has shifted to Missouri) how in God's name is a commercial flooded corn operation "normal agricultural practices"? Rice and Japanese millet are aquatic agricultural plants. Corn isn't.

At the risk of rehashing a topic that has been beaten to death more than the issues on the Kansas Forum

First…..show the shift to Missouri which has the two major River systems flowing thru the state…..I tried to find the OWDC report you mentioned and you tried to find it as well…..we both came up with zip

Next,people plant and grow all sorts of crops and harvest them. The law considers corn grown and flooded as legal…ie normal
As legal as planting Japanese millet and flooding it
In fact, you can harvest corn after it has had water in the field…..truly flooded corn, like when the Mississippi is 25 feet above flood level isn’t useable……of course no other crop is either.

BTW millet is not classified as an aquatic plant but as a grass that tolerates water as long as the seed heads stay dry
In fact, it was developed by the Japanese to produce food where rice could not be cultivated
I recall Oklahoma aerial seeding mudflats with millet and then the COE raised the water levels above the seed heads and killing the millet…typical OWDC and COE not being on the same page….so much for an aquatic plant

A discussion of habitat change due to levy and drainage is too long for what is already a too long post LOL

Additional differences
A bushel of millet weighs 50 lbs…bushel of corn weighs 70 lbs
Unharvested Millet produces 5,245 duck use days of food per acre
Unharvested Corn produces 28,820 duck use days
Unharvested Rice produces 24,025 duck use days

One of reasons Missouri’s WMAs seem to do well, besides location, is Dr Mickey Heitmeyer’s involvement in setting it up……just sayin

ok…..off soap box

please return to your normally scheduled programming

 

[ED Vanderbeck]

How accurate are those numbers my guess not very accurate at all. They rely on what hunters tell them and most want others to think the are Gods gift to duck killing. Most outdoorsman kinda have a tendancy to over tell the détails to impress their peers and over exzaggerate the real numbers to make themselves look like a great white hunter

 

[golden boy]

Just got this off the fish and game website

South Carolina boys pooped in the A east parking lot an avg 2.3 times per morning and quilted 2 ply charmin was toilet paper of choice.

 

[WuChang]

I wonder what the comparison is for public lands conducive to waterfowl hunting between the two states? Missouri has 6x the amount of land open to public hunting when compared to Ks.

Yet I hear how unfair Missouri is about Kansas hunters not being able to hunt draw WMAs…….forget 4 Rivers and other areas where it is 1st come 1st served regardless of where you are registered to vote

Maybe KDWP could convince Kansas citizens to dedicate an 1/8 of a penny sales tax to fund KDWP and to fund acquisition of additional lands…….
I know….spit in one hand etc

Again….you are stuck with do nothing commissioners