Waterfowl hunters in Southwest Washington have been finding a lot fewer ducks and geese this season when compared with recent years.
Reports from hunters and the local refuges all point to pretty slow hunting, leaving many hunters to wonder where the birds are, and whether it will improve anytime soon.
Doug Hargin of the Washington Waterfowl Association (WWA) has found few opportunities to hunt this year, but it has been slow when he has gotten out. He also reports that many other hunters he knows have had a hard time finding limits, even seasoned hunters.
Hunting on both private lands, and on local refuges has been poor.
“Last year hunting on the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge was pretty good, but this year it has been slow,” said Hargin. “Last year they were getting about a hundred birds a day. This year they are getting only about 30 to 50 birds per day.”
A quick look through the hunt reports on the refuge website bears this out, including in the third week of hunting, when about 100 ducks were taken for the entire week. The hunts have rarely boasted a birds-per-hunter ratio of over 2 birds.
Recent wet, windy weather had hunter’s feeling hopeful, but the hunting has not improved much.
“I really thought with all the storms we had, it’s going to start getting better,” Hargin offered. “I kept thinking we would start seeing more birds, but I guess that is just what duck hunters do.”
Hargin has a friend who hunts the refuge almost every day, and keeps an eye on the hunting there. He has the hunting on the refuge pretty well figured out, but even he is struggling.
“He is still getting limits sometimes, but it has been tough, and he is not being as selective as usual. They are shooting a lot of shovelers out there.”
Shovelers are one of the most common ducks that winter in Southwest Washington, but they are not as highly prized as mallards and other ducks that are better on the table.
Hargin has hunted a couple times on a private lease he holds, but that hunting has been about the same as on the refuge. They did have one good day, but overall, it has been slower than usual.
The numbers of geese have also been lower than usual, as has the harvest. While there seemed to be good numbers of the smaller, cackling Canada geese when the season started, Hargin reports that the numbers seem to have dropped.
“There are some geese around here, but not like we usually see,” Hargin said. “Earlier I was seeing geese, but now I am not seeing as many the last week or two. There are usually a lot of geese that winter here, but I am not seeing that this year,”
A lack of water is not the problem, since the recent storms have filled all the refuge marshes. However, too much rain and water can make the hunting difficult.
“When you get that much rain, you get a lot of sheet water, and that can really disperse the birds anywhere.”
The local forecasts point to drier and colder weather for a week or more, and that could dry out some of the sheet water.
Colder weather could also bring fresh birds down from British Columbia. That would certainly bring some much-needed optimism for local waterfowlers, but it remains to be seen whether it actually improves the hunting.
During the opening day hunt at Ridgefield, 44 hunters took 84 ducks. The hottest blinds were No. 2 5 and 6. The hunting slowed after that, and by the third week daily totals dropped to 40 to 50 ducks, although hunters did take 37 geese that week.
By week six, from November 12-16, hunters did better for ducks, with 167 taken that week.
Hunters at the Ridgefield NWR can enter a preseason lottery system to obtain reservations for priority check-in. They can also try for a blind as a stand-by hunter, or even wait for blinds to empty, and then hunt mid-day.
There is a draw each day to decide which blinds are hunted, and by whom. On busy days some stand-by hunters may not get a blind to hunt until the early hunters begin to check out.
There are 21 spaced blinds on 760 acres of land, with various kinds of blinds offered, including pit and box blinds, and two ADA accessible blinds for hunters with disabilities. Hunters must shoot from their assigned blind.
The refuge is open for hunting three days a week.
Another local option is the state-run Shillapoo Wildlife Area, which is located on the southwest edge of Vancouver. It also includes Vancouver Lake. These areas are first-come first-served areas, and no reservation is needed. The Wildlife Area contains 2,420 acres in three units, the Shillapoo North Unit, Shillapoo South Unit, and the Vancouver Lake Unit.
This area includes grain fields, pastures, and marsh habitats. Hunters at Shillapoo do not have to shoot from assigned blinds. The grain fields can provide excellent gunning at times, especially when they are filled with sheet water.
