Migration Alert: Great Lakes Region Hunters Wrap Up Waterfowl Seasons

With the exception of late dark goose seasons, which remain open through next week in a few states, and the annual Light Goose Conservation Order, waterfowl seasons have closed across the Great Lakes region. Looking back, this season was characterized by some ups and a lot of downs for many hunters. 

“I would say we had an average to below-average season,” explains Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Resident Game Bird Specialist Nate Huck. “Teal numbers were spotty during the teal season, and we had decent bird numbers during the first week or so of the regular season, but after that bird numbers were spotty. We definitely had a trickle migration throughout the season. Some areas had good numbers while others saw few birds. The cold front toward the end helped many have a good close to the season.”

The season was similar next door in Wisconsin, according to DNR Game Bird Ecologist Taylor Finger. “I would say that we had a pretty average season across much of the state. Our duck season in the north ended when most of the water was still open so there was likely some additional opportunity for the north after the season closed,” Finger says. “In the south, the water started freezing tight the week leading up to the end of duck season, so the timing worked out fairly well there. I would say that we had excellent hunting early in the season and then through much of late October and November the birds became fairly stale. Following the cold snap toward the end of the season, the hunting was excellent right up until the end.”

“Our goose season was fairly typical in that we had good production, so the early season was very good, and crops came off somewhat early, so we had fields available for hunters throughout the middle and later parts of the season,” Finger adds.

Across Lake Michigan, Wolverine State hunters were faced with poor early season hunting conditions, which impacted waterfowl movements and hunting success. Thankfully, mid- to late-season opportunities improved as colder temperatures and more waterfowl arrived from the north.

“The incredibly mild fall had a big impact here on the Harsens Island Managed Waterfowl Hunting Unit,” says DNR Wildlife Technician John Darling. “Our refuge counts were down by about 30 percent from a normal year, peaking at around 15,000 ducks on the refuge and having less than 10,000 ducks most weeks. Consequently, our harvest was down 17 percent from the average for the previous five years.”

To the south, the western basin of Lake Erie was one of the bright spots in the Great Lakes region this season. Hunters reported consistent success for diving ducks offshore as well as puddle ducks on coastal marshes. Inland, the story was different.

“From what I have heard the Lake Erie marshes did pretty well overall this past season, especially on ducks,” says Ohio Division of Wildlife District Manager Scott Butterworth. “Inland was tougher due to the drought, and I am seeing more ducks now than I have in years in the Findlay area. There are still good numbers of geese around, and the north zone ends February 4. I feel the recent colder weather has been more ‘normal’ and that has helped with bird numbers.”

Indiana hunters were affected by the same weather and spotty bird numbers as states to the north, but toward the end of the season, the big freeze allowed many hunters to finish strong. There were plenty of reports of outstanding duck hunts across a huge portion of the Hoosier State in late-December and early-January.

Straight south of Lake Michigan, Willow Slough Fish and Wildlife Area is often a major hub for migrating waterfowl. “I feel like most DNR property managers who I have talked to thought it went very well for as dry as we were. Better than expected really,” says Willow Slough Property Manager Mike Schoof. “I expected a bit better for the Slough, but we have had no water for a few years with all the work we’ve done.”

Illinois was another bright spot this season in terms of waterfowl numbers. “Overall, the duck season was very productive for us compared to the last few years, and we harvested more mallards during the unique weather pattern we had in December and January,” says central Illinois hunter Zack Wentz. “The first Arctic front hit in early December and pushed in thousands of new ducks to the area. After that front, the weather remained seasonal to mild over the next three to four weeks, so a lot mallards and some gadwalls stayed around until the next weather event in early January. If you were where they wanted to be, hunting was very good.”

With the current warm-up and south winds, reports are coming in across the southern Great Lakes region of northward migrating ducks and geese. Snow geese are already stacking-up in southern Illinois and Indiana, and hunters should have plenty of Canadas and a few specks to work with during the remaining days of dark goose seasons.