Where did all the ducks go?

Written by: Hamish Carnachan - How often does it happen that ahead of duck season the water on your pond or around your maimai is teeming with ducks, but after the initial first flurry of shooting on Opening morning the birds have gone, seemingly disappeared into the ether?

And then, as if by divine intervention, as soon as the season ends, mallards start appearing again in numbers. Inevitably the chat echoes around rural pubs and across social media that there were fewer birds around, or the need to change season dates to coincide with “when the ducks are here”. 

A kaleidoscope of theories are trundled out – “steel shot is to blame”, “the ducks have migrated”, “the hunting isn’t as easy as it once was”, “mag extensions and spinning wing decoys are the culprit…” Armchair experts exploit any platform available to pontificate their particular take on it.

Certainly, the hunting in recent years hasn’t been helped when Opening is greeted with blue skies and calm, settled weather, and these conditions prevail throughout the season. After all, we all know nothing stirs ducks up and keeps them moving around like a bout of bad weather.

However, research coming out of the US indicates that, contrary to much of the rhetoric and populist theories, mallards are simply getting increasingly hunt-smart, indicating that hunters need to hunt smarter to increase their success.

An excellent article by Joe Genzel on Meateater.com details how telemetry studies of mallards by doctoral student Ethen Dittmer in the southern states has shown that the ducks become programmed to avoid hunting pressure and human disturbance once the season is underway. The key finding of the research, Genzel highlights, is that the reason hunters are seeing fewer ducks during the season “might have more to do with the evolution of the species than the migration”. 

In a nutshell, both Dittmer’s Masters and PhD research shows that once the duck season starts, mallards quickly adapt to survive, spending their nights feeding on flooded agriculture land and flying back to refuges before shooting light in the morning. They spend the remainder of the day on these sanctuaries and do not fly out to feed until after sunset. The mallards remain on this strict regime for the entirety of the season unless a substantial weather event forces them to move.

“It was really clear that once hunting season ended, mallards started using these formerly [heavily hunted] risky areas. Presumably, they somehow knew it was safe,” says Dittmer in the article.

Dittmer’s research also reveals that the ducks aren’t likely to fly away or come in from somewhere else once the season ends.

“What intrigued me most about these mallards, other than how smart they were, is that most of them stayed within the vicinity.”

The findings are quite profound when put into a New Zealand context because, unlike the US, the migratory movements of our waterfowl species are less significant. Here there are certainly instances where some mallards move away from a region because of lack of water or higher food availability elsewhere, but could the US research indicate that plenty of birds remain locally, just hidden away out of sight of hunters?

“I think you can absolutely say that,” says Matt McDougall, Fish & Game NZ’s lead waterfowl scientist. “Our staff working in isolated, often rough wetland areas with plenty of cover that aren’t hunted, often come across large numbers of mallards seeking refuge during the season.

“And we know that when the weather is calm mallards will raft up in great numbers on large water bodies out of range of hunters, sometimes even out at sea,” he adds.

Looking at Fish & Game’s own hunter-harvest surveys and duck banding programme adds further support.

“The significant majority of banded ducks that are harvested by hunters haven’t moved far from the banding site; and we know from aging those birds that most of the ducks shot, certainly over Opening Weekend, are the younger birds. The older birds are already ‘hunt-smart’ – they know how to survive.”

How they survive is by finding refuges, well away from the guns. Just look at how ducks behave towards maimais and hunting stands almost immediately after Opening Weekend – their movements around waterbodies and flight paths take them well out of range of man-made structures, especially poorly camouflaged hunting stands. 

When it comes to the mallard duck, the term ‘bird brain’ certainly does not apply!

“Hunting is a great way of redistributing ducks to places where they aren’t being disturbed,” notes Southland Fish & Game manager Zane Moss. “Mallards are very averse to pressure.”

He points towards duck camps to illustrate this: “After the season has started, and they’ve felt a bit of hunting pressure, mobs of mallards will stay holed up in good cover, flying to feed at night. They’ll stay there for weeks if they’re not disturbed.”

Ducks love to hole up in out-of-the-way places after they've had hunting pressure.

Indeed, that is supported by the US research which found about 70 per cent of mallards observed would choose one refuge and stick to it the entire season, usually flying no more than a few miles away. And they typically flew twice a day, sometimes less.

A lot of the sentiment about lack of ducks or a tough season seems to stem from hunters who are set in their ways, sticking to the same stand or maimai, overshooting the same pond, and not adapting as the season goes on.

“What hunters need to realise is that the ducks’ behaviour changes rapidly, even after just a few shots have been fired at the start of the season,” says Eastern Fish & Game wetland expert and experienced waterfowl hunter John Meikle.

“That’s why we are constantly advising hunters to prep their hunting stands and do their pond maintenance well ahead of Opening Weekend – if you’re doing the work the week or days before, the ducks won’t tolerate the disturbance, and they’ll head elsewhere.

“Sure, there are some regions that don’t have the waterfowl resources that other parts of the country have, but whether you’re in Eastern or Southland, you’ve got to hunt smarter to get results the further you get into the season. Put in the leg work to find where the birds are holding, and you’ll reap the rewards.”

Moss is another strong advocate of scouting around to find where ducks are camped, and he suggests a very cautious approach when mobs are located so as not to disturb them.

“They won’t tolerate humans getting too close; stay well back and use binos. If you do disturb the birds, there’s a risk they won’t return, particularly if they’re in tight cover, so I’d suggest waiting a few days and carefully confirm the birds are still in the location before returning for a hunt.

“I’ve had too many hunts over the years where only one or two ducks have returned to where there were big numbers prior to being disturbed.” 

The key take-home point from the experts here and overseas is this – seek and you will find ducks during the season; they adapt quickly to hunting pressure, so too must you.

Hunting spots that are a little harder to get to will reap rewards.

You need to think 'outside the box' when the hunting becomes harder.

Taking this on board and hunting the season through will certainly increase your harvest and hopefully your enjoyment of the pursuit. To hunt successfully throughout the allocated months requires research and a preparedness to explore. Satellite imagery is great for identifying new water – potholes off the sides of larger wetlands and open water, potential loafing sites on river bends, or farm dams that could be accessed by door-knocking and a courteous enquiry.

Do some ground truthing and look for established flight lines along which the ducks travel from feeding to roosting areas. Then plan how and where best to intercept them.

Utilise well-camouflaged structures and maimais, or, preferably, hunt from natural cover or layout blinds after Opening. When it comes to decoys, set up to imitate what you’ve seen when scouting. Birds pair up later into the season, so sometimes less is more when it comes to decoys. Same goes for calling – duck chatter changes as the larger mobs break up and birds start pairing, so often a single hen call will be enough to bring them in.  

Hunting from natural cover is probably a better bet than a maimai later in the season.

Picking the weather is also a big part of it. Head out when the weather is going to be in your favour. A front preceded by strong wind is hard to beat. This kicks the birds off the big water sanctuaries and forces them to look for refuges. Birds will be constantly on the move during the first six to 12 hours of a big wind event, which allows a few hours hunting even if it’s after work. Remember, though, if you can only hunt weekends and the forecast doesn’t align, get out there anyway – it’s far better being in a wetland, and in with a chance of a bagging a bird or two, than being at home doing chores!

Mixing up your hunting can seem daunting if you’ve always adhered to your rituals and traditions. But this season, give it a shot. There are times when you might struggle, and things won’t pan out as you’d hoped; that’s part of the learning process and only makes it more rewarding when you eventually do – and will – get it right.