Ducks have yet to flock to wetlands in Missouri’s Middle Zone

As the duck opener in Missouri’s Middle Zone approaches, hunters are hoping a change in the weather will bring a change in the outlook.

With the recent mild weather, the major migration of waterfowl has yet to occur. But the predicted cooler temperatures could bring at least a minor push of ducks into the area just in time for Saturday’s opening day.

Both of the major public hunting areas in the zone — Four Rivers and Schell-Osage — have below-average numbers of ducks using the marshes. A count earlier this week showed that Four Rivers had 11,000 ducks, half green-winged teal. Schell-Osage had low numbers of ducks on the conservation area, but many more in the area.

There is hope, though. During the youth season over the weekend, 37 hunters shot 154 ducks at Four Rivers. At Schell, youth hunters averaged three ducks per person Saturday and 1.2 Sunday.

Both conservation areas enter the season in the midst of uncertainty. They were affected by late-summer flooding that greatly diminished marsh food supplies. It is uncertain how that will affect the area’s ability to hold ducks.

“A couple years ago, we had major flooding in that Truman-Schell basin and we didn’t have a lot of food left,” said Andy Raedeke, waterfowl biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation. “We didn’t think that area would be very attractive to ducks. But it turned out to be a good season.

“We had a lot of ducks and hunters did well. So we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”

Youth deer season totals down

Missouri’s youth deer hunters didn’t exactly open the firearms season with a bang.

In the weekend firearms hunt reserved for youngsters ages 6 to 15, hunters took 14,095 deer. That was down from 18,091 taken during the early youth season last year and the lowest total in the last five years.

Franklin County led the state with 338 deer checked in. Osage ranked second with 288 and Howell third with 288.

Missouri fall turkey season

An increasing number of hunters found success during the recently concluded Missouri fall turkey season.

Hunters shot 6,158 birds in the season that ran Oct. 1-31, up from last year’s total of 5,680. Dent County led the state with 210 birds checked in. Greene ranked second with 159 and Franklin third with 148.

Kansas license fee hike

Kansas hunters and fishermen will be paying more for their licenses starting next year.

The Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Commission recently approved a staff recommendation to increase the price of permits. Starting Jan. 1, residents will pay $45 for a hunting or fishing license, up from the $25 currently charged.

Non-residents will pay $95 for an annual mall-game hunting license (up from $72.50) and $50 for a fishing license (up from $42.50).

Resident deer hunting permits will go from $30 to $40. Nonresidents will pay $415 for combination deer permits (up from $346.96).

This story was originally published November 5, 2015 at 1:42 PM with the headline "Ducks have yet to flock to wetlands in Missouri’s Middle Zone."