Mallards are a staple species for West Virginia’s waterfowl hunters, and state wildlife officials believe there will be plenty of mallards to hunt during the winter segment of the waterfowl season. Credit: Photo courtesy USFWS
If what Mike Peters has seen is any indication, West Virginia’s duck hunters might enjoy a pretty good winter.
Peters, waterfowl project leader for the state Division of Natural Resources, said he saw higher-than-normal numbers of mallards during the early November segment of the state’s duck season.
“That’s not normal for me,” he added. “I’ve never seen that many local mallards before.”
Peters hunts primarily in the state’s northern counties — Monongalia, Barbour and Marion — but he said he has received similar reports from hunters in other locales.
“I talked to some folks in the Eastern Panhandle who said they saw more mallards, too,” Peters said. “Other hunters I talked to said they saw good numbers of mallards during the [early October] season segment. It looks like mallard numbers are up here in the state.”
Weather during the season’s winter segment almost always determines whether Mountain State waterfowl hunters enjoy good hunting or endure poor hunting. Peters doesn’t expect this winter to be any different.
“If we have a mild winter like we did last year, we could have some pretty good hunting,” he said. “Last year, at least in [the northern] part of the state, we got a lot of ducks that came down from the north and just stuck around all winter. We had pretty good numbers of black ducks and mallards for the entire season.”
Peters said a severe cold snap in the Great Lakes region also could result in pretty good hunting, but only if the weather in West Virginia stays relatively mild.
“Ducks always come in when lakes and rivers to the north of the state freeze over,” he explained. “They’re looking for open water. As long as we don’t have a freeze-up here, the ducks will stay. But if our waters start to freeze over, those birds will move out and head farther south.”
The season’s winter segment, which will open on Dec. 14, arguably provides more variety for hunters than either of the season’s two earlier segments. The early portion of the season mainly features wood ducks and mallards, with a sprinkling of teal. The middle segment features mallards and black ducks along with some gadwall and widgeon.
Under the right weather conditions, winter-segment hunters could see just about anything. The mallards and black ducks usually still are around, along with gadwall and widgeon. But during really cold weather, Peters said species not usually seen in the Mountain State begin to show up.
“That’s when the diving ducks start coming down — canvasbacks, redheads, greater and lesser scaup, buffleheads and goldeneyes,” he explained.
Finding open, unfrozen water is a key to successful wintertime hunting. In warm or moderate winters, that’s not usually a problem. During severe cold snaps it can become difficult. But even during the worst freeze-ups, Peters said die-hard waterfowl hunters always have the state’s major rivers to fall back on.
“It would be really unusual to have the Ohio or Kanawha freeze over,” he said. “Even during the coldest winters, Ohio River hunters couldn’t care less. It would take an awful lot for the Ohio to freeze.”
The winter segment of the waterfowl season will end on Jan. 28. Legal shooting hours for ducks and geese are from one-half hour before sunrise to sunset. In addition to their West Virginia licenses, all hunters must purchase a federal waterfowl stamp and must obtain and carry a free Harvest Information Program card.
- See more at: http://www.wvgazettemail.com/outdoors/20161210/dnr-mallards-abundant-for-wvs-winter-waterfowl-season#sthash.8dF2roSo.dpuf
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