The Drought May Actually Improve Hunting.

[Feathers and Fins]

Im a constant opptomist Marty you know that lol. I really think the birds will be here and in large numbers, I think many guys will feel like there wont be hardly any birds and give up soon which is good for those who work to find birds or have larger stock ponds. There is plenty of food around for birds when ponds get low, might actually be even better as birds will go to them for feed and the fields but then back to big lakes for roosting and give people more options if they can zero in on the pattern.

[Idylwilde]

I understand that Texas County is loosing deer to Blue Tounge in the past week or so. I have talked to three people who have seen the deer drop dead on their farms. Anyone else heard of this?

[Bird Watcher]

I think it's really hard to predict waterfowl hunting. We can all guess and draw on past experiences, but you just never know. Stay flexible and scout and you should be alright if you want it bad enough. I'm much more concerned about the snow cover and weather north of us. I think that these days, that makes a much bigger difference. It will be interesting though. I think one of the biggest factors influencing the majority, not all, of the waterfowl migration the last 5-10 years has been the increased corn production throughout the midwest. I'm curious to see how the migration changes, or if it does, due to the widespread loss of the corn crop this summer. It may not matter if the current generations of birds have become imprinted on that migration pattern or it may completely change things. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I do agree with F&F that if the birds are around they will be much more concentrated where there is water. I've had some great hunting during drought years, but every year is different. We'll just have to see. If it's slow and the weather is like last year, I'm heading to Prairie Creek for a 40#er

[lee G.]

Found one dead on my farm two days ago, but unsure why it died.

[jdmidwest]

A friend of mine is worrying about his deer herd that he raises for profit. There is an abundance of the midge fly that is spreading the disease. Ponds are drying out and exposing lots of foul mud and stagnant water spreading the problem insect. Cattle are affected to.