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Recently closed duck season provided mixed bag for many
Unseasonable weather, low waterfowl counts worked against hunters
Joel Hood, Modesto Bee
RARE SIGHT: A pair of ducks flee rifle fire a few miles east of Butte City. Weather conditions and other factors resulted in a shorter duck-hunting season. On some days, hunters were unable to find any birds.
February 23, 2003
MODESTO — Ben Fanelli has hunted the brush and duck blinds on the shores of Modesto Reservoir for more than 40 years, but he can't recall a duck season more frustrating than the one that recently closed.
On the best days, Fanelli said he could see mallards and pintails circling in the breeze high above him, well out of reach for the 69-year-old Turlock resident.
The worst days? Those were the warm, dry winter mornings where there was little to do but count the decoys floating on the water's surface.
"I got a lot of counting in this year," said Fanelli, who estimated he hunted about six of every seven legal days this season. "It was one of the worst seasons I've ever been through. There was probably only three days I saw birds."
Count Fanelli among the waterfowl hunters disappointed by the shortened, 74-day duck season that concluded Jan. 26. The dry weather and sharp decline in breeding contributed to a luke-warm waterfowl season across the Central Valley and throughout Northern California.
But not for every hunter.
This season, more than any other in recent memory, offered a mixed bag to hunters, said Dan Yparraguirre, a wildlife biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game.
"This was a real unusual year," Yparraguirre said. "I know that hunters were all over the board. Some had a lot of success and others didn't have any."
Working against hunters this season was the valley's lowest mallard count in 12 years, said Mark Hennelly, a deputy director for the California Waterfowl Association.
That problem was compounded by unusually dry weather in the pintail's prime breeding territory in the north-central United States and southern Canadian prairies last spring. The dry conditions not only reduced the number of young birds migrating down the Pacific Flyway, it allowed many birds to stay home.
Those that did show up were predominately adult birds, and as hunters found out, not easily fooled.
"I think it just depended on where you were and what the weather was like," Hennelly said.
The season began with an uproar over tighter bag limits and a shortened season. Some felt the restrictions were too steep, while others — considering the poor breeding levels in recent years — didn't think they went far enough.
But the controversy did not appear to significantly reduce the number of hunters on public wildlife refuges. Those hunters who were lucky enough to get out during the stormy two-week period in December generally had good success, Yparraguirre said. Public hunting grounds generally had fewer numbers of hunters, but the kill averages were about the same, if not better, than a year ago.
After fearing the worst when the season began, Roger Wilbur, a wildlife habitat supervisor for Los Banos, said he was pleasantly surprised with the volume of hunters.
"It was really a pretty good season," Wilbur said. "It started slow, but after we got some stormy days toward the end of December it started to pick up. Overall, the season was better than what I was expecting."
Statewide, public hunting areas saw about a 13 percent decline this season. But on the sliding scale of success, that's not too bad, Yparraguirre said.
"I would call this a decliningly successful year," Yparraguirre said. "It was successful, but on a smaller scale than when duck hunting was at its peak in the 1960s and '70s."
In an effort to reverse the valley's gradual decline in mallard breeding, the California Waterfowl Association helped draft the Conservation Research and Enhancement Program, a federal plan that could add 10,000 or more available acres for nesting on private farm land in California.
CREP, which began last year, is modeled after the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Conservation Reserve Program, which Hennelly said has been instrumental in the rise of duck populations in the Midwest since its creation in 1985.
Under the CREP plan, California farmers are paid for providing suitable nesting habitat for mallards on their land. The program is completely voluntary, Hennelly said, and so far has been popular among area farmers.
"Over 60 percent of mallards hunted in California are bred here," Hennelly said. "It's too early to really tell how effective (CREP) will be. But we've had a lot of interest in it and I think farmers recognize the importance of getting those breeding numbers back up."
That would suit Fanelli just fine.
"I have real high hopes for next year," Fanelli said. "I'm going to be out there no matter what."
Unseasonable weather, low waterfowl counts worked against hunters
Joel Hood, Modesto Bee
RARE SIGHT: A pair of ducks flee rifle fire a few miles east of Butte City. Weather conditions and other factors resulted in a shorter duck-hunting season. On some days, hunters were unable to find any birds.
February 23, 2003
MODESTO — Ben Fanelli has hunted the brush and duck blinds on the shores of Modesto Reservoir for more than 40 years, but he can't recall a duck season more frustrating than the one that recently closed.
On the best days, Fanelli said he could see mallards and pintails circling in the breeze high above him, well out of reach for the 69-year-old Turlock resident.
The worst days? Those were the warm, dry winter mornings where there was little to do but count the decoys floating on the water's surface.
"I got a lot of counting in this year," said Fanelli, who estimated he hunted about six of every seven legal days this season. "It was one of the worst seasons I've ever been through. There was probably only three days I saw birds."
Count Fanelli among the waterfowl hunters disappointed by the shortened, 74-day duck season that concluded Jan. 26. The dry weather and sharp decline in breeding contributed to a luke-warm waterfowl season across the Central Valley and throughout Northern California.
But not for every hunter.
This season, more than any other in recent memory, offered a mixed bag to hunters, said Dan Yparraguirre, a wildlife biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game.
"This was a real unusual year," Yparraguirre said. "I know that hunters were all over the board. Some had a lot of success and others didn't have any."
Working against hunters this season was the valley's lowest mallard count in 12 years, said Mark Hennelly, a deputy director for the California Waterfowl Association.
That problem was compounded by unusually dry weather in the pintail's prime breeding territory in the north-central United States and southern Canadian prairies last spring. The dry conditions not only reduced the number of young birds migrating down the Pacific Flyway, it allowed many birds to stay home.
Those that did show up were predominately adult birds, and as hunters found out, not easily fooled.
"I think it just depended on where you were and what the weather was like," Hennelly said.
The season began with an uproar over tighter bag limits and a shortened season. Some felt the restrictions were too steep, while others — considering the poor breeding levels in recent years — didn't think they went far enough.
But the controversy did not appear to significantly reduce the number of hunters on public wildlife refuges. Those hunters who were lucky enough to get out during the stormy two-week period in December generally had good success, Yparraguirre said. Public hunting grounds generally had fewer numbers of hunters, but the kill averages were about the same, if not better, than a year ago.
After fearing the worst when the season began, Roger Wilbur, a wildlife habitat supervisor for Los Banos, said he was pleasantly surprised with the volume of hunters.
"It was really a pretty good season," Wilbur said. "It started slow, but after we got some stormy days toward the end of December it started to pick up. Overall, the season was better than what I was expecting."
Statewide, public hunting areas saw about a 13 percent decline this season. But on the sliding scale of success, that's not too bad, Yparraguirre said.
"I would call this a decliningly successful year," Yparraguirre said. "It was successful, but on a smaller scale than when duck hunting was at its peak in the 1960s and '70s."
In an effort to reverse the valley's gradual decline in mallard breeding, the California Waterfowl Association helped draft the Conservation Research and Enhancement Program, a federal plan that could add 10,000 or more available acres for nesting on private farm land in California.
CREP, which began last year, is modeled after the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Conservation Reserve Program, which Hennelly said has been instrumental in the rise of duck populations in the Midwest since its creation in 1985.
Under the CREP plan, California farmers are paid for providing suitable nesting habitat for mallards on their land. The program is completely voluntary, Hennelly said, and so far has been popular among area farmers.
"Over 60 percent of mallards hunted in California are bred here," Hennelly said. "It's too early to really tell how effective (CREP) will be. But we've had a lot of interest in it and I think farmers recognize the importance of getting those breeding numbers back up."
That would suit Fanelli just fine.
"I have real high hopes for next year," Fanelli said. "I'm going to be out there no matter what."
