Migration and a little history from my corner of the Mississippi Flyway
- Thread starter Ed L.
- Start date
Al Hansen said:
That's a very good memory you have there Al. That deer was taken in 2004. That buck was my largest antlered deer to date taken with a bow and arrow since taking up bow hunting in 1971. It was also the first deer taken with a brand new compound bow that year. I'm still hunting that same location to this day. It still produces. I've taken bigger deer even a 14 pointer in 2013 but none have had a rack that takes this one's place. This year was the toughest one since 1996. Low water and little food sources forced the deer to keep to the mainland this year. Private land is next to impossible to gain access to so I was fortunate to have bagged a doe this year from that same tree stand location and in fact I'm enjoying a venison snack stick as I type this.
View attachment big deer.jpg
Todd Duncan Tennyson
Well-known member
It is interesting how things have changed during my lifetime.
For example, when I was a youngster, the Willamette valley in NW Oregon used to have less than 100,000 geese, Anymore, they get over a quarter of a million geese during the winter.
The only constant is change, guess that is mother nature's way.
For example, when I was a youngster, the Willamette valley in NW Oregon used to have less than 100,000 geese, Anymore, they get over a quarter of a million geese during the winter.
The only constant is change, guess that is mother nature's way.
Al Hansen said:
Thank you. He did indeed! At the time he was a up and coming taxidermist that was suggested to me. He has done some stunning work. It's funny how a few weeks ago my grandsons were here for the day and they both know about my hunting. Especially waterfowl because I have pictures, decoys and duck and goose calls all around the living room. Anyway, I was sitting in my chair with my 4 year old grandson when I hear Camron ask his Nana "Nana how did that goat get on the wall and where is the rest of it?" I couldn't help but laugh as I heard his question and her explanation. Many times, I've seen him look up at the deer and I knew he wanted to ask but didn't know how.
todd tennyson said:
So true Todd. in the late 70's and early 80's we use to take off from work on Friday afternoon for a 4 hour drive down to Missouri to a place called Sumner, MO and hunt out of goose pits with a guide service called Goose Haven. At the time it held the largest concentration of Canada geese in the Midwest outside of Horicon Marsh in Wisconsin. You may recognize the name Habitat Flats. Today that same area is owned by Ira McCauley of Momarsh and his associates where they have made a world renown duck hunting lodge. Habitat Flats | #1 Waterfowl Lodge Network in North America
Heckuva goat Ed!! [sly]
Dale, I have heard many many stories about how hunting used to be in FL. St. Marks was created to protect the migrating goose populations that came down here. West FL where I hunt quail and woodcock used to get lots of mallards, some black ducks and lots of gadwall and tons and tons and tons on lake seminole. Now we are lucky to get good populations of coots on the lake. We do get a few fairly large flocks of redheads on the Gulf but nowhere near like I have heard about. There used to be widgeon consistently on some of the rivers around here too. Not so much anymore. Sad........
But what do you expect? changing weather patterns and 600 new residents a day in a state that is mostly swamp and water. Fill it all in and the ducks go away....
Dale, I have heard many many stories about how hunting used to be in FL. St. Marks was created to protect the migrating goose populations that came down here. West FL where I hunt quail and woodcock used to get lots of mallards, some black ducks and lots of gadwall and tons and tons and tons on lake seminole. Now we are lucky to get good populations of coots on the lake. We do get a few fairly large flocks of redheads on the Gulf but nowhere near like I have heard about. There used to be widgeon consistently on some of the rivers around here too. Not so much anymore. Sad........
But what do you expect? changing weather patterns and 600 new residents a day in a state that is mostly swamp and water. Fill it all in and the ducks go away....
Dani said:
LOL...thanks Dani!
And speaking of habitat, in the world of conservation the Ramsar Convention for worldwide habitat and wetland retention was a great start but unfortunately season and bag limits hasn't been a worldwide issue for retaining sustainable numbers of waterfowl. When I was a kid waterfowling was called a "cottage industry" Today billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of jobs worldwide have caused this hobby to become a behemoth on wall street. This of course will end at some point. I'm fortunate to have been here in the 60's, 70's and 80's when the hunting was good and we actually were considered as feeding our families. Don't get me wrong though if I'm above the grass next fall I'll be on the water as well.