The waterfowl migration report for the week of Jan. 4, 2009, from Avery Pro-Staff members:
Pro-Staff member: Erik Nilsson
Date: Jan. 3
Location: Pittsburgh
Weather: Temp: 17-32*F, Wind 5-8 mph NNE.
Snow cover: None.
Water conditions: Frozen, open water on rivers and larger streams.
Feeding conditions: Variable.
Species and numbers: Geese.
Migrations: None seen or reported.
Season stage: Late.
Hunting report: Hunted a small cornfield with some friends today, the previous day scouting placed several birds in this field. We arrived early to set up the decoys and stubble up the blinds. We waited all morning for the geese to return but at noon we packed it up and called it a no-show day. Scouting the same field on Sunday the birds came back. That’s hunting!
Gossip: Reports up North have indicated numbers of geese are still there as well as ducks.
Pro-Staff member: David Rearick
Date: Jan. 5
Location: New Castle
Weather: Teens to upper 30’s, snow/rain mix.
Snow Cover: None.
Water conditions: Most water is frozen, but some streams and rivers remain open.
Feeding conditions: Good, lots of wet corn fields, and once the top layer thaws in the sun there is plenty of available food.
Species and numbers: Good numbers of ducks and geese, more than in past years.
Migrations: None to speak of currently, except a small push of mallards/blacks.
Season stage: Late.
Hunting report: It has been tough with birds not holding to much of a pattern with the ever-changing weather conditions. The birds are sometimes also feeding day and night, just day, and just night, so patterning a good field has been very difficult. We need a steady weather pattern to make these birds repeat day in and day out.
Gossip: There are birds around but many hunters have kind of given up on hunting them at this point, making good opportunity for those still out finding the birds.
Pro-Staff member: Michael Bard
Date: Jan. 5
Location: Buffalo, N.Y.
Weather: Below-freezing temps continued this week with moderate winds and lake effect snows.
Snow cover: Couple inches of snow covered the ground throughout the area.
Water conditions: Icy conditions with at least skim ice covering protected areas and ice flows moving through areas due to winds and currents.
Feeding conditions: Fair. Fields are covered with snow and the ground frozen in many areas, however hill tops and areas receiving afternoon sun allowed birds to feed.
Species and numbers: Canada geese, mallards, black ducks and various diving ducks are still around in good numbers.
Migrations: Not much for new birds this week or birds leaving.
Season stage: Late season
Hunting report: Varied reports from hunters this week. With no new birds it sounded like it was very important to be on the X and if you weren’t, then you didn’t have a good hunt at all.
Gossip: Just a week left for the Western Zone’s duck season for 2008-2009.