Brad Bortner is on the Duck Season Somewhere podcast and What I'm Listening To Today

Eric Patterson

Eric Patterson

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A new episode of Ramsey Russell's Duck Season Somewhere podcast was just released. Longtime forum member and contributor Brad Bortner is the guest. I started playing it on the ride home from work and already am learning some cool things like how pintails banded in Japan get harvested in the US.

I hope you folks will tune into the show and this latest episode. This is one of those rare opportunities to get digestible firsthand information on how waterfowl are managed today and be a more informed waterfowler. There is no shortage of duck hunting management discussions online, but it is very refreshing to get facts rather than opinion.

Give it a listen.


getducks.libsyn.com

Duck Season Somewhere: EP 477. Duck Season by the Numbers: Estimating North America Duck Populations and Harvests

Whether good years or bad, North American duck hunters probably harvest more ducks annually than the remainder of the world combined. There, I said it. Prove me wrong. This amazing feat is accomplished using science-based management that emphasizes maximum sustained yield and is the world's...
getducks.libsyn.com
 
Thanks for posting Eric. I hope you enjoy it. Not sure how I did. As you know it's hard to listen to yourself on a podcast. Also hard to keep up with Ramsey's multitude of questions.
 
Great stuff Brad!

I know many folks are questioning AHM and wanting "change", whatever they think that may be. I hear of hunters wanting to reduce season length and limits in order to try to grow the population of ducks. One super wet Spring can explode the waterfowl population and most hunters would be screaming if we prematurely went to 3/30 and then experienced a duck population explosion the following Summer.
Some waterfowlers are pulling their hair out with the recent announcement of a possible 3 Pintail limit coming in 2025. I like the thought that we might be allowed to increase Pintail harvest based on sound scientific data.

Thanks for your input on the podcast on AHM and HIP!
 
Brad, I listened to your podcast with RR last night & this morning, you provided great insight into AHM and what goes into the whole process. I was surprised wit all the questions Ramsey asked you, he didn't ask why some states can shoot wood ducks in their teal seasons and others can't. Maybe this has been explained somewhere else and I've just missed it. What is the reasoning behind this difference between teal seasons?
 
Dave Horvath said:
Brad, I listened to your podcast with RR last night & this morning, you provided great insight into AHM and what goes into the whole process. I was surprised wit all the questions Ramsey asked you, he didn't ask why some states can shoot wood ducks in their teal seasons and others can't. Maybe this has been explained somewhere else and I've just missed it. What is the reasoning behind this difference between teal seasons?
Click to expand...
Dave, you are taxing my memory banks. If you are talking about KY, TN and Fl, they were basically grandfathered in from experimental seasons back in the 1970s. There is a lot of history and frankly, controversy over those seasons. I could send you to years of Federal Register discussions but the bottom line is that teal seasons are considered to be special opportunities directed at a single species or species that are unavailable for the regular duck season. The teal seasons when tested showed that other species were also taken. Those states asked for the ability to take wood ducks in the teal season to evaluate the impact. Once the evaluation was over it was clear that there would be undesirable impacts to wood ducks if allowed on a flyway basis. I believe these states were given the choice of continuing the take of wood ducks in their short teal/wood duck seasons or have longer teal only seasons.
 
SC boys were probably the most notorious for misidentification and shooting Wood Ducks as biologists surveyed from "spy blinds', so much so that SC's early teal season won't allow shooting UNTIL LEGAL SUNRISE. In Louisiana the hunt is about over most mornings at legal sunrise.
 
Did you guys know there is a second episode with Brad? It is another really interesting discussion between Brad and Ramsey covering hunter satisfaction. You think managing ducks is hard? How about managing for hunter satisfaction? There is a lot of food for thought in this episode.

I don't know about everyone else, but for me bag limits are not really a driver for satisfaction. These days I crave simpler regulations, fewer restrictions, and more access, which in my opinion result in less crowding. I think the tide as controlled by state agencies has turned against me. I simply can't imagine public hunters being in this sport for the long haul given the current trends of limiting non-residents, lotteries, reduced access, etc..

podcasts.apple.com

EP 490. Duck Hunter Satisfaction

"I want the biggest pile of dead ducks over the longest period of time," implies the maximum sustained yield model by which North America's waterfowl population
podcasts.apple.com podcasts.apple.com
 
Eric, hope you found it an interesting discussion. I enjoy these conversations with Ramsey like you did on yours. I know Worth will be talking to him soon and hope everyone gets a chance to listen to Worth's wisdom. Since Duckboats.net has been mentioned on a few episodes recently, I've been wondering if you are getting new members as a result.
 
Brad

Can't say for sure, although one person did post they learned about us from that show. I wouldn't at all be surprised if more folks have started following the page as a result. Your question prompted me to look at log stats and there is one thing really jumps out. Since going to the new format registrations are way up and posts are up too. I can't see a jump around the show airing date, but for certain the mentions are good for recruitment/participation, and the recognition that this community deserves sure feels good.

Registrations.jpg
 
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I am glad that our community on duckboard.net gets recognized as a civil location to discuss ducks and their pursuit (waterborne and otherwise). I am happy to be a part of the group and plug it when I get the chance. I think all of the community members deserve recognition for the way they are vested in the tone of the board and ensuring civil discourse. Eric, Carl and Chuck J also deserve our thanks for providing this site and putting up with us.
 
Oh I can’t take any credit other than helping out with moderating and rule checking.
Eric deserves all tue credit for creating and perpetuating this amazing community for over 25 years.
 
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