"We started off with a bang last season -- a lot of bangs, I suspect. But toward the end of the season, we saw the harvest tail off, thanks to an early warming trend."

That statement from Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) Waterfowl Program coordinator Rocky Pritchert most likely sums up what most of last year's duck hunters experienced.

"We had a pretty hard freeze early on. That pushed a good number of birds into the Commonwealth in December. And our habitat conditions were good through the month over most of the state. So hunters were able to find plenty of opportunity and get in some consistently good hunting through the Christmas holiday period."

Then the weather started moderating and re-opened a lot of smaller bodies of water previously frozen. That's when ducks and geese spread out to the additional habitat, and made it tougher for hunters to locate and harvest them. Cold periods, when potholes, ponds and shallow-water impoundments are frozen solid, concentrate ducks on waterways like rivers and backwaters, or larger bodies of water like reservoirs.

"A big key to success on ducks is keeping tabs on where open water is when it gets sub-zero for an extended period," said Pritchert.

"If you can find places where a good bit of water is frozen, but a spot or two remains open, that's where a lot of the ducks in the area are going to spend time. When it thaws, they go all over the place."

Overall, Kentucky's reported duck harvest declined a little from the previous year, mostly due to the change in conditions toward the end of the season, dropping from 198,000 in 2004 to 187,000 birds in 2005. That's not a bunch, but some. Waterfowlers know that weather conditions play a big role, if not the biggest, in hunting success -- even more so than overall population numbers.

If harvest figures can help judge the health of duck populations, there has been a significant improvement in some duck numbers in recent years. Some species, however, have different nesting-habitat needs, which continue to concern resource managers. Currently, scaup, a species that comes through Kentucky during their migration, are on that list. Pritchert notes that hunters may see a reduction in the 2006 season bag of this species until the outlook improves.

Otherwise, there have been slight increases in the numbers of mallards, blacks, wood ducks, teal, gadwall, pintails, redheads and canvasbacks from a production standpoint. Overall, duck numbers are up around 14 percent, based on nesting-ground surveys.

But that doesn't necessarily mean harvest or success will show similar increases. Ideal weather is the key.

According to Pritchert, Kentucky's premier waterfowling areas should continue to offer similar opportunities. Since about two-thirds of Kentucky's duck harvest comes from the western end of the Commonwealth, you might suspect -- correctly! -- that the best public places for ducks and geese lie in the west.

BALLARD & BOATWRIGHT WMAs
Improvements in management and regulation to the Ballard Wildlife Management Area (WMA) continue to better duck hunters' opportunities on this public area. This season, hunters who've applied to hunt the 8,000-plus-acre area will find some new approaches being taken in hunt setups. They should also benefit from additional habitat improvement work going on at the WMA.

"We're likely going to lengthen the hunting day and extend the time of when hunters have to be off the area to 2 p.m. this season," said Pritchert.