David Hart

AMERICA'S BEST CRAPPIE LAKES

outdoorlife-editor — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:26:38 -0400

1. Grenada Lake, Mississippi

Experts agree that this 36,000-acre lake is the top destination for trophy-class crappies. Three-pounders aren't scarce and 2-pounders are fairly plentiful. Roger Havens, owner of the Crappie Shop (662-226-1510), suggests dropping 2-inch tubes next to shallow stumps in Turkey and Red Grass Creeks and around Graceport Landing.

2. Kentucky Lake,
Kentucky and Tennessee

Guide Darrell VanVactor (270-395-4204) says lots of 2-pounders are caught in the Blood River and Big Sandy areas. Crappies stage on main lake points in early March and move into coves by early April. Dunk live minnows, slow-troll white Beetle Spins or jig 2-inch tubes in sparkle/chartreuse.

3. Lake Eufaula, Oklahoma

Despite heavy pressure, limits come easy and include plenty of 2-pounders. Work the riprap along I-40 and probe shallow cover in Gentry, Cole and Gaines creeks with 2-inch Yum Beavertail grubs on 1/8-ounce jigheads. First-timers should hire a guide; Todd Huckabee (405-520-8980) is a good one.

4. Logan Martin Lake, Alabama

This 15,000-acre reservoir is on fire right now. Crappies in this Coosa River impoundment are plentiful and big, many in the two-pound range. Guide Bobby Bright (256-593-7830) slow-trolls in 8 to 15 feet of water in creek arms in the upper end of the lake beginning in March.

5. Weiss Lake, Alabama

A 10-inch size limit has helped this 30,000-acre lake. Lots of 1-pounders, and a few 2-pounders, fill limits. Guide Butch Young (706-862-2230) says the best way to find fish is to slow-troll nose-hooked minnows or tiny spinners in the Little River and Yellow Creek areas.

Top Crappie Guides

Tim Gibson

A summer guide on Indiana's Patoka Lake, Gibson (812-936-3382) specializes in catching hefty stringers of big-water crappies.

Richard Lindsey

A touring pro and guide, Lindsey (318-294-4168) fishes the Red River and other slow-moving streams in his home state of Louisiana.

Fact or Fiction?

outdoorlife-editor — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:26:36 -0400

When stories of two giant wild hogs recently circulated on the Web, they were met with both amazement and skepticism. The first hog was reportedly killed last June on River Oaks Plantation in Georgia by guide Chris Griffin. Plantation owner Ken Holyoak estimated that the hog, dubbed Hogzilla, weighed at least 1,000 pounds and was 12 feet long. He and Griffin lopped off the head and buried the body in a trench.

The online tale of the other huge hog varies in its location-one places it in Florida, another in Texas-but the pig was indeed shot in Florida by Larry Earley, an Orlando firefighter. Earley's pig was never weighed, but Rob Bradow butchered it and estimates it at more than 1,000 pounds.

National Geographic dug up Hogzilla's remains and reported its findings on the show Explorer. Scientists estimated the animal weighed around 800 pounds and measured about 8 feet, smaller than originally claimed. A geneticist determined that it was a hybrid of a wild hog and a Berkshire pig, a common domestic breed able to reach more than 1,000 pounds. Earley did a little snooping and determined his was also a crossbreed that grew large by raiding local cattle feeders.

Blue Ridge Rabbit Hunt

outdoorlife-editor — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:26:35 -0400

The first cottontail of the morning crosses a bare patch of earth 20 yards away, cuts left and nearly runs over my boots. Like a bird hunter who refuses to shoot a quail that wasn't pointed by one of his dogs, I hold my fire, unsure if I'm supposed to shoot a rabbit that wasn't pushed by my host's beagles. Woo Daves, a professional bass angler who loves rabbit hunting as much as he loves fishing, grins. He assures me that the purpose of our hunt is to shoot at them, and yes, any running rabbit is indeed running from the dogs.

When deer season ends in Virginia, Daves trades his deer hounds for a pack of stubby-legged beagles, yapping machines that live for the smell of cottontail. For my host and his friends, late-season rabbit hunting is as sacred as deer season, even church itself. They gather in Daves' garage Saturday mornings, caravan to a nearby clear-cut and turn the dogs loose. The hunters all carry .410s or 28s-a mix of single-shots, pumps and over/unders-to give the bunnies an honest chance. Still, these guys have plenty of experience. Few rabbits get past them.

We stand on stumps and mounds of dirt, anything to get a better view over the thick brush in the clear-cut as the beagles shuffle through the cover. What was once a mature oak forest is now the remains of harvested trees and new growth so thick a truck couldn't drive through it. The dogs, however, have little trouble following the scent through the mess. Despite the efficiency of the beagles, we still have to plunge into the stuff to retrieve our rabbits. Catbriers claw at wrists and pierce canvas pants. Daves' face is decorated by a bloody scratch, a badge of honor.

Rabbits run, beagles bark and shotguns pop all around me. Occasionally, I catch a glimpse of cottontail slinking through the cover, but I don't wait for the nod from Daves. I just shoot.

White-Water Catfish

outdoorlife-editor — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:26:32 -0400

The James River may be one of the best smallmouth rivers in the South, but as Mike Ostrander eases his raft down the shaded bank of this Virginia waterway, we cast tiny grubs in search of sunfish. Ostrander and I score plenty before we reach our first stop, enough to last us the rest of the afternoon. The palm-sized redbreasts are merely a step toward our ultimate goal: big flathead catfish in the whitewater of the river. Not only is the James prime smallmouth country; it's loaded with catfish with heads as wide as shovels.

We come to a short dam with a narrow chute cut into it that attracts kayakers and other thrill-seekers, but Ostrander digs hard for the far corner of the dam. Instead of running the rapid, we portage around it.
My guide isn't afraid of
the roller-coaster water that crashes against mid-current boulders and pours into swirling pockets; he's more concerned about the welfare of
his fishing tackle and, if he
has any, his clients. Besides, the real fun lies under the river's roiling surface. He'd rather save his tackle and catch a fish than shoot the rapids and risk dumping his rods.

"Catfish will move right into that fast water if they are feeding, but they tend to avoid shallow water during the daylight hours. If they have enough depth, you can catch them in rapids if you can
get a bait down to them, which is pretty difficult. I focus on the slower water because it's so much easier to fish," explains Ostrander, who specializes in tidal and upper James River catfish.

Look for the holes

Virtually every Southern smallmouth river has flathead, blue or channel catfish, but only a handful of anglers bother with them. Mostly, you'll see the remnants of campfires and forked sticks poked into a muddy bank close to a road, a sure sign that someone has been fishing for cats while the rest of us were in bed. Those campfire catfishermen tend to leave their success to the roll of the dice.

Either a fish comes by or it doesn't. Surprising when you couple a float down a rapid-laced river with the powerful fight of a big flathead or channel. Anglers like Ostrander who know how to identify prime catfish holes can clean up in the middle of the day simply by going directly to the fish.

"River catfish are pretty predictable. I catch them almost every time I go out. I average about ten per day," figures Ostrander. "My biggest is thirty-five pounds, but the typical top weight is twenty to twenty-five pounds."

On this particular day all but a few stops produce fish; the biggest is a bullish 19-pounder that comes from an 8-foot hole protected by an overhead log-prime catfish habitat. Even though that fish was within mere feet of the bank and a busy road, Ostrander says foot-bound anglers are at a general disadvantage when it comes
to river access.

"It's real important to be able to move around. Catfish tend to find a deep hole and stay in one spot throughout the day," he explains. "If you're fishing a hole that just doesn't have any flatheads in it, you'll be there a long time before they show up. A
canoe or raft will help you reach the water that bank anglers just can't reach. Plus, considering the debris and other obstacles on the river, it's much easier to fight a large fish from a boat."

Quick stops

Ostrander tends to give each stop no more than 10 or 15 minutes, although he will wait a little longer if he's confident he's fishing good water. Catfish will usually feed if presented with an easy meal. If they don't bite, they're likely not there. He typically uses two rods per angler, casting each one at a different angle to cover more area.

His rig is a 1-ounce egg sinker above a barrel swivel and an 18-inch leader tied to an 8/0 circle hook. He uses 30-pound-test Trilene Big Game mono, stout rods and reels with clickers.

Flatheads are aggressive feeders and prefer lively baits.. Four-inch sunfish are ideal (check local regulations), but jumbo shiners and even fresh cut bait will work in a pinch. The key, stresses Ostrander, is to put the bait in front of fish. Odds are, they'll eat it.

"I catch more channel cats on smaller live bait and blue cats on fresh cut bait," Ostrander says.
He prefers to tail-hook his sunfish. Not only do they stay alive longer, but they swim upward as they struggle
to escape the inevitable bite from a monster river catfish.

For more information on fishing the James and other Virginia rivers, contact Mike Ostrander at 804-938-2350.

Long-Range Muzzleloaders

outdoorlife-editor — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 20:00:00 -0400

Chad Schearer wasn't at all surprised when his wife, Marsha, made a perfect shot on an antelope at 239 yards last fall. What might come as a shock to some hunters, however, is that she did it with an in-line muzzleloader. Schearer himself has taken numerous game animals with the same CVA Optima Elite at ranges of more than 200 yards, including a 60-pound Austrian chamois, a small mountain goat, from 217 yards.

Twenty years ago, if you could shoot a 4-inch group from a muzzleloader at 100 yards, you were doing well. Now, match shooters and hunters have entered a new era in which long-range killing shots are becoming the norm and a tight three-shot group at 200 yards doesn't merit a second look. Some shooters are even drilling targets consistently at 250 yards, which gives them a real advantage in states where deer hunters are limited by law to muzzleloaders or slug guns.

"There are three variables that affect bullet performance—the powder, the bullet and the gun itself," says Mike Mattly, marketing manager for Knight Rifles. "All three have seen huge improvements since they were first introduced. Of course, none of that matters if the person using the gun can't shoot well, but assuming he can, those three things are all factors."

Schearer, who is CVA's director of media relations, says that for most hunting situations where shots less than 100 yards are standard, it's not critical to fine-tune a rifle so it can peg a quarter at 200 yards. But sometimes a long shot is all you get, and you need to be prepared if you want to take it.

POWDER POINTS

Pelleted powder became a popular alternative to loose powder when Pyrodex introduced solid, premeasured pellets in 1997. Each pellet weighs 50 grains, giving shooters the option of pushing a bullet with 50, 100 or 150 grains of powder. For most close-range hunting or shooting situations, pelleted powder is a welcome and convenient option, but it has its drawbacks. Mattly says most guns perform best with a specific powder load, something that often can't be achieved with premeasured pellets.

"The best load for your gun might be one hundred fifty grains, but then again it might be one hundred forty grains. I prefer to have the freedom of changing the load incrementally—say, by ten grains. That's what a lot of match shooters do, although some will actually experiment with five-grain increments until they hit the right load," he says. "By shooting with different powder loads, you can find out which one performs best for your gun. The difference in accuracy between one hundred thirty and one hundred forty grains of Triple Seven [granulated black powder] at two hundred yards can be enormous."

The other drawback to powder pellets, adds Mattly, is that they don't fit tightly in the barrel. That space around the pellets reduces pressure and the ignition rate of the powder, causing inconsistencies that ultimately affect accuracy. Both Mattly and Schearer agree that loads with more powder tend to shoot better than those with less powder, because hotter loads give you more velocity and better bullet stabilization. However, Schearer warns that too much powder can create drag on the bullet as it travels down the barrel.

"We experimented with all sorts of powder loads for a fifty-caliber, and we found that there is a point of diminishing return when you go above a certain amount of powder. We did gain velocity with loads above one hundred fifty grains, but the bullet started going all over the place," explains Mattly.

BULLET PERFORMANCE

Just as modern powder components have helped increase muzzleloader performance, advances in bullet design have improved accuracy tremendously. Prior to sabots and belted, copper-plated bullets, in-line shooters were limited to round balls and cast-lead bullets. Neither was remarkably accurate. Newer bullets, however, are tack drivers when fired out of in-lines.

Many shooters don't like using sabots because they can be tough to push down a barrel, but they form a tighter seal than loose bullets, which prevents gasses from escaping around the bullet as it travels through the barrel. Mattly recommends sabots with thin petals, which open faster after leaving the barrel, permitting the bullet to travel downrange unhindered by the plastic sabot. Schearer favors Power Belt belted bullets, which slide down the barrel with only a light push on the ramrod.

"The problem with sabots is they are almost impossible to seat after the first couple of shots," Schearer says. "I hear that from a lot of shooters who feel like they need a hammer to beat the bullet down the barrel. That can lead to short-loading, which means the bullet isn't seated all the way down the barrel. That can result in inconsistent pressure, which affects accuracy."

While they disagree on bullet styles, Mattly and Schearer agree that heavier bullets tend to shoot more accurately. Mattly prefers Barnes muzzleloader bullets between 275 and 300 grains for .50-caliber rifles. The bullets are actually .451 caliber and are longer than most muzzleloader bullets. Longer bullets stabilize better, says Mattly. Schearer likes 275-grain .45-caliber Power Belts. He says the .45 has a higher velocity and a flatter trajectory than larger bullets, offering better long-range accuracy.

THE GUN ITSELF

In the race to make a better muzzleloader, gun manufacturers have given hunters the same components they demanded on their centerfire rifles: crisp, reliable triggers, comfortable stocks and high-quality barrels. The result is out-of-the-box accuracy.

"The biggest improvement in in-lines during the last ten years has to do with the manufacturing process of the barrels. Everything is high-tech now. The barrel walls are uniform, the rifling is dead-on and there are fewer variations from barrel to barrel," Schearer says.

Knight's Long Range hunter has a free-floating barrel (a feature cherished by centerfire rifle shooters because of its high accuracy) and an adjustable trigger. Consequently, Knight guarantees that the Long Range Hunter will produce three-shot groups of 4 inches at 200 yards. That's accuracy even Daniel Boone would appreciate.

CHAD SCHEARER'S BEST SHOT

CVA .45-caliber Optima Elite (starting at about $350), 150 grains of Pyrodex (three 50-grain pellets), 777 Winchester primer and a 275-grain Power Belt Aerotip bullet. (cva.com)

MIKE MATTLY'S BEST SHOT

Knight .50-caliber Long-Range Hunter (starting at about $650), Barnes 285-grain Spitzer boattail bullet, Knight yellow sabot, 120 grains of 777 granular powder, Winchester 209 primer. (knightrifles.com)

Fishing Formulas

outdoorlife-editor — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 20:00:00 -0400

SOLVING THE FISHING PUZZLE

Professional anglers don't earn a regular paycheck by randomly shotgunning lures across lake. As 1991 Bassmaster Classic champ Ken Cook knows, successful fisherman must nail down a particular pattern that guides them around empty water and ineffective lures so they can focus on certain baits and defined locations. The Oklahoma pro says there are three basic ingredients to establishing a pattern on any body of water: the specific region of lake, the structure of cover and the lure.

With those basic considerations in mind, Cook tries different lures, locations and retrievals until he starts catching bass regularly. It's really nothing more than a process of elimination. Sometimes he pins down a pattern in an hour or two; sometimes it takes him all day to figure out exactly where the bass are and what they want. How long Cook sticks with a specific bait, technique or location depends on one thing: his confidence. He'll make a change in as little as 20 minutes if he no longer feels good about what he's doing.

Determine a Pattern

When Cook catches his first bass of the day, he takes a mental inventory of the conditions, including depth, cover, bottom configuration and where his lure was when the bass struck it. He considers lure presentation, the size and color of the lure and the line he's using. He notes environmental components such as wind direction, light penetration and water temperature and clarity. With all those variables in mind, Cook looks for similar spots in other parts of the lake.

"One fish doesn't make a pattern, but it's a good start. I'll use that first bass as a way to start whittling down a general pattern," notes Cook. "If I catch a few more bass doing the same thing, I'll know I've got the pattern nailed down pretty good, and I'll start focusing on those areas and techniques that produced the first three or four fish."

SIX CAN'T-MISS SUMMER FISHING PATTERNS

BASS

1 Punching Mats

BRIGHT SUN, HOT WATER temperatures and heavy fishing pressure can drive largemouths under cover. Florida bass pro Shaw Grigsby knows that floating vegetation serves as a roof of sorts, providing bass with critical shade. When he finds mats of floating weeds, Grigsby uses a heavy weight and a slim soft-plastic lure to bust through the cover.

Bigger bass hold in deeper water under mats. In the hottest weather, Grigsby will put his bait as far as 30 feet inshore from the outside edge. In low light, fish tend to hold closer to the outside edge.

IDEAL CONDITIONS: Hot, still weather, bright sun.

TECHNIQUE: Punching small lures through thick mats of floating aquatic vegetation such as hydrilla.

LURE: 3½-inch Grigsby's Pro Series Baby Beav beavertail soft-plastic rigged on a 4/0 Eagle Claw HP hook with a 1- to 1½-ounce Penetrator tungsten weight. Grigsby allows the weight to slide freely on his line. Pegging the sinker makes it tough to feel subtle bites.

TACKLE: 8-foot Quantum Gary Klein Signature Series flipping stick and 65-pound-test Stren Super Braid on a bait-casting reel. The heavy braid cuts through thick vegetation better than monofilament.

PRO TIP: Apply Spike-It attractant scent spray to the bait, and reapply after every few casts. Not only does the spray draw bass, but the scent oil lubricates the lure and allows it to slide through the vegetation more easily.

BASS

2 Fishing Deep-Water Points

WHEN THE SCORCHING SUN pushes bass to deep water, California pro Ish Monroe reaches for a topwater lure and makes a long casts over and around deep main-lake points. It's tactic that works best during the middle of the day. Monroe's go-to lure is a Reaction Innovations Vixen, a walking surface lure. He first casts the floater across the end of the point, then parallel to it, and finally he works the lure over the structure from a variety of angles. The clearer the water, the longer his casts need to be.

If points don't produce, Monroe will fish aquatic grass and flooded bushes in the backs of pockets with a white Snag Proof Pro Series Tournament Frog. This tactic is viable at any time of day, even under a high, bright sun.

IDEAL CONDITIONS: Hot, bright sun.

TECHNIQUE: Casting topwaters over and parallel to tapering points in clear water.

LURE: Reaction Innovations Vixen.

TACKLE: Team Daiwa Advantage bait-casting reel with 6.3:1 gear ratio and 7½-foot Heartland fiberglass rod. Thirty-pound-test Power Pro braided line is best because of its strength and lack of stretch when setting the hook over long distances.

PRO TIP: For added attraction, put a feathered treble hook at the tail of the Vixen. Bass will often hit the feathers and get caught by the trailing hook.

WALLEYES

3 Mining Wing Dams

VETERAN WALLEYE PRO GARY ROACH targets river wing dams in summer. Walleyes stack up on the backsides close to the fast water and are vulnerable to leeches, minnows and night crawlers offered on a three-way dropper rig. Roach's version includes a 1- or 2-ounce sinker and a bare hook tipped with live bait that rides about 2 feet off the bottom. The hook is attached to 3 feet of monofilament, which is tied to the three-way swivel. Roach casts the bait into the swirling eddy off the tip of a wing dam and works is slowly across the bottom.

IDEAL CONDITIONS: Warm, sunny, calm.

TECHNIQUE: Dragging live bait on dropper rigs around wing-dam eddies.

BAIT: Leeches, minnows or night crawlers.

TACKLE: 7-foot Mr. Walleye Series rod and Abu Garcia 6500 reel loaded with 14-pound-test Trilene XT line.

PRO TIP: When fishing crankbaits around wing dams, use an 18-inch coated wire leader to avoid losing lures.

BASS

4 Probing Cover at High Tide

TIDAL RIVERS ARE BASS factories, but even red-hot action can come to a grinding halt when the tide stops. When the fishing gets tough, Virginia pro Wood Daves adjusts his location and continues targeting active bass. He shifts to the inside edge of aquatic vegetation on a flood tide, where he often finds a band of open water between shore and any grass bed. He favors contained banks—those with an abrupt, defined shoreline that keeps the bass from roaming far up into shallow flooded vegetation. Daves moves his boat down the line of open water and throws a Bass Pro Slim Dog, a small walking surface bait that might draw a reaction bite from active and inactive bass. He works it with a rapid cadence, giving it three twitches before letting it pause for a second. Daves stalls the bait next to laydowns, grass points or other bank irregularities.

IDEAL CONDITIONS: High tide cloud cover, clear to slightly stained water.

TECHNIQUE: Walking a surface bait adjacent to flooded vegetation.

LURE: Bass Pro Shops' Slim Dog.

TACKLE: 7-foot medium-action Bass Pro Woo Rod and bait-casting reel with 7:1 gear ratio and 12-pound-test Trilene XL.

PRO TIP: Bass don't like to stray from cover during periods of a still tide, so put the lure close to laydowns and weed beds as possible.

WALLEYES

5 Trolling the Windy Side

WARM WATER AND wandering baitfish put lake walleyes on the move, so Wisconsin angler Dean Arnoldussen rigs up as many as six rods and trolls with night-crawler harnesses or Rapala Shad Rap crankbaits. He looks for wind-blown banks and reefs, where open-water baitfish often congregate due to wave action.

To increase the amount of water he covers, Arnoldussen relies on planer boards and sets his lines for a variety of depths, from 5 feet to as deep as 20 feet. Different weights, along with varying lengths of line, dictate bait depth. As he moves across the water, Arnoldussen uses his electronics to follow contours, keeping the boat in the same general depth range. Once he starts catching fish, he marks the spots on his GPS and sets all his baits at the same depth range before making another pass.

IDEAL CONDITIONS: Windy, warm.

TECHNIQUE: Trolling night-crawler rigs along wind-blown banks.

LURE: Night-crawler harnesses with spinner blades if various "hot" colors such as yellow or chartreuse, or crankbaits that match favorite forage in the lake.

TACKLE: 8½-foot G. Loomis GL3 rods paired with Daiwa SG47 reels and 10-pound-test P-Line.

PRO TIP: Use line-counter reels, which tell how much fishing line is out. Reset all lines accordingly when strikes occur at a specific depth.

BASS

6 Cranking Docks

GIVE GREG HACKNEY a blistering hot, sunny day and he'll head straight for horizontal cover. He fishes docks, laydowns and anything else that provides shade—the more the better. His favorite tactic is to cast a Strike King 4S chartreuse/green crankbait far up under fixed docks and around fallen trees. Hackney doesn't cast once and then move on, however. He hits the cover as many as 15 or even 20 times.

If crankbaits won't work around the shallow cover that Hackney prefers to fish, the Louisiana bass pro will swim a black/blue jig around the same cover, pulling it through the water with a steady, fast retrieve and hoping for a reaction strike.

IDEAL CONDITIONS: Hot, sunny.

TECHNIQUE: Cranking docks, laydowns.

LURE: Strike King 4S crankbait.

TACKLE: 8-foot Quantum flipping stick and 65-pound-test Stren Super Braid on a bait-casting reel.

PRO TIP: Make several casts to the same cover. Fish the lure fast and bump it into as much cover as possible.

America's Best Crappie Lakes

outdoorlife-editor — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 19:00:00 -0500

1 GRENADA LAKE, MISSISSIPPI Experts agree that this 36,000-acre lake is the top destination for trophy-class crappies. Three-pounders aren't scarce and 2-pounders are fairly plentiful. Roger Havens, owner of the Crappie Shop (662-226-1510), suggests dropping 2-inch tubes next to shallow stumps in Turkey and Red Grass Creeks and around Graceport Landing.

Waterfowl Forecast 2005

outdoorlife-editor — Fri, 30 Sep 2005 20:00:00 -0400

Duck numbers are down, but only slightly, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife and Canadian Wildlife services' Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey. An estimated 31,735,000 birds will be heading south this fall, compared to 32,164,000 last season, a decline of about 1 percent. That should mean similar hunting opportunities for Southern duck hunters in the Atlantic, Mississippi and Central flyways. Of course, as waterfowlers learned two years ago, population estimates hardly matter if cold weather doesn't jump-start the birds on their migration.

“Weather is always the most critical factor for hunting success,”says Ducks Unlimited regional biologist Mike Checkett. “Duck populations certainly matter to overall hunting success, but every state depends on birds being pushed down from the north by weather.”

Individual species showed wide variations in population changes, with northern shovelers and pintails experiencing the greatest gain. There are 17 percent more pintails this season than last, a jump of nearly 4 million birds. Much of the increase can be attributed to good nesting conditions in southern Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta, where pintail numbers increased 81, 71 and 75 percent, respectively. Nonetheless, pintail numbers are still 38 percent below the long-term average. Shoveler numbers are up 28 percent overall, with an expected 3.6 million making their way south this fall.

An increase in blue-winged teal (13 percent) and a nearly identical decrease in greenwings (12 percent) means hunters will see similar numbers of those little birds this season. Some regions of the traditional nesting grounds saw dramatic increases in teal while others experienced significant drops. Saskatchewan, for example, had nearly three times the nesting greenwings it had last year, and the number of greenwings nesting in Manitoba more than doubled.

Gadwall numbers dipped 16 percent, but remain 30 percent above the historic average. Wigeon are up 12 percent over last spring's breeding bird count, but they're still 15 percent below the average.

Big-water divers are all down as well. Canvasbacks declined 16 percent and remain at 8 percent below their long-term average of 5.6 million birds. Redheads are off slightly (2 percent).

Checkett says wood ducks seem to be stable throughout their range, but they aren't included in the breeding duck survey because they tend to nest throughout the United States and are difficult to tally.

The regional difference in numbers is mainly the result of varying habitat conditions, he adds. The Dakotas were dry when ducks were heading north to their traditional nesting areas, but some breeding grounds on the Canadian prairies were in excellent shape, with pond counts up 56 percent over last year and 17 percent higher than the long-term average.

“Trying to predict how the upcoming hunting season will play out is like looking into a crystal ball. There are just so many uncontrollable factors. Last year we had good duck populations, but hunting in the South was spotty thanks to local flooding in many areas. There was lots of water, so the ducks just spread out,” says Checkett. “The year before that, we didn't get the cold weather up North to push the birds down, so there was a lot of dissatisfaction from hunters, especially in the Southern states. Even though we have good numbers of birds this year, there's really no telling what the upcoming season will bring in terms of hunter success. It really just depends on the weather and other factors.”

HOT SPOTS

ALABAMA Upper Delta Wildlife Management Area in Baldwin and Mobile counties provides 36,000 acres of good public hunting.

ARKANSAS The rice region of northeastern Arkansas around Jonesboro attracts high numbers of mallards, pintails and other puddlers.

TEXAS Over 100,000 acres of public lands line the Gulf Coast region. Some are limited-entry hunts, while others have no restrictions.

VIRGINIA Coastal island salt marshes offer unlimited public opportunities, with black ducks and divers the most common species available.

NORTH CAROLINA Numerous large public hunting areas surround Pamlico, Albemarle and Currituck sounds. Also consider hunting around Lake Mattamuskeet.

SOUTH CAROLINA Drawing hunts on Santee Coastal Reserve, Santee-Delta WMA and others have high success rates.

GEORGIA Altamaha WMA's 30,000 acres are located along the central coastal region.

FLORIDA Lake Okeechobee provides abundant public opportunities, but pressure can be high. Apalachicola Bay and Lake Wimico in the northwest are also rated high.

MISSISSIPPI Delta region WMAs offer great hunting on 90,000 acres of WMAs.

KENTUCKY Mississippi River bottomlands host the best waterfowl opportunities.

LOUISIANA Atchafalaya Delta WMA covers 137,000 acres in St. Mary Parish and holds high numbers of birds.

TENNESSEE Reelfoot Lake remains a traditional hot spot, but numerous WMAs along the Mississippi River floodplain offer good public opportunities. —David Hart

Waterfowl Head Count

The total duck estimate for this year is close to 30 million, just a hair below last year's number but off significantly from 2003. Mallards are down 9 percent, from 7.4 million to 6.8 million this year, and remain 10 percent below the long term average of 7.5 million birds. Scaup populations are 11 percent lower than last year and 35 percent below their long-term average. Scaup numbers this year are at an all-time low, which may be cause for alarm. There is good news in the form of higher pintail numbers, though; they showed a strong improvement of 17 percent from 2004.

Breeding Ground Conditions

Once again, Alaska and Canada's maritime provinces proved to be in good to excellent shape for breeding waterfowl. In the Dakotas and parts of the Canadian prairies, though, ducks returned from their wintering grounds to find dry lakes and potholes. A wet late spring and summer has helped a little, because the plentiful water aids the survival of hens and their broods. This map makes it clear why mallard numbers suffered this year; they breed mostly in the central part of the U.S. and Canada, where habitat was fair to poor overall.

FIVE-YEAR AVERAGES ANNUAL TOTALS SINCE 2000 TOTAL DUCKS* MALLARD* SCAUP* NORTHERN PINTAIL* * In thousands NESTING CONDITIONS EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR POOR