I have had the good fortune to hunt the same piece of property in south Louisiana since 1973. In the past 43 seasons we have seen many changes in the marsh/swamp. We are far enough north to not be effected by coastal erosion, but several hurricanes have created new ponds and filled in old ones. Native trees on a 200 acre portion have died and the area basically turned from swamp to marsh. Back in the late 70's we had an area the ducks would use as a roost. It was great pleasure to watch the mallards pour in right at dark.
Beginning in 2000 we started to see a drop in duck numbers. Since then we have not enjoyed a great season. We have killed some birds, with a couple of years being good, but a lot of years are just plain terrible. I will hunt there until I die but feel the best of our duck hunting is behind us.
We leave for Cold Lake Alberta in a couple of weeks to go duck/goose hunting. This is our fourth consecutive year to go. The duck and goose numbers there are unbelievable. The only bad thing is I cannot hunt with my dogs.
