Ducks on a Pond.  Hunters should find better chances at ducks this autumn as numbers are notably up following NDG&F Dept. brood surveys this summer. With generally good water conditions, and many ducks lingering in the area still, young hunters participating in this weekend’s youth season should have great chances for a fun experience. Simonson Photo.

By Nick Simonson

North Dakota’s youth waterfowl weekend is Sept. 16 and 17, and with some impressive upticks in duck populations this year, the special focus of the two-day season for young and novice hunters, and the benefits it provides, many are looking forward to this year’s opportunity.

For those mentors looking to take young waterfowlers into the field, there hasn’t been a better season to do so in the past five years, as spring and summer tallies conducted by the North Dakota Game & Fish Department (NDG&F) showed significant increases over those counts from 2022.  In total, May breeding ducks surveyed in the state were up 1.5 percent from the previous year and were 39 percent higher than the average over that of the running mean between 1948 and 2022.   This summer’s brood counts continued the positive trend with major jumps, up 79 percent compared to 2022, and 88 percent higher than the 1965-2022 average index.  According to Mike Szymanski, NDG&F Migratory Game Bird Management Supervisor, many popular species that nest on the water fared the best.

“We had record production this year based on the numbers of broods that we observed on our survey routes. We have 18 of these 30-mile routes that cover the prairie pothole region in North Dakota and diving ducks were really off the charts this year, especially redheads and canvasbacks, and a lot of that has to do with them being over-water nesters,” Szymanski relates, adding, “our wetland conditions were fantastic for those species, as well as for coots and grebes and other species that nest over water.”
While some drying out has occurred on the landscape, Szymanski expects that good conditions will remain for young hunters hitting the field this weekend for their first waterfowl adventures.  Some expansion of muddy areas around the shores may provide a bit of a challenge, but plenty of popular duck species that provide good hunting are available, following a successful summer brooding period.

“We are drying up a fair bit across the state, especially working from north to south. It’s just been getting drier and drier in the northern tier of the state. So, there’s going to be some challenges there.  I would suspect that in quite a few areas hunters are going to experience some mud margins,” Szymanski posits ahead of the agency’s fall wetland surveys starting next week, “but with all of our good production we had in the state for ducks this year and actually a large number of ducks hanging around in general, it’s looking pretty good, at least to start things off,” he adds.

Szymanski stresses that the youth waterfowl weekend is a great opportunity for young hunters to get their best shot at ducks and find early success in their hunting efforts.  It’s a stance that Ben Romans, Ducks Unlimited Communication Coordinator shares, providing novices a low-stress opportunity that is all about bringing them into the fold.

“These weekends are really special because you don’t have the added pressure in the field of other hunting parties and there’s not that stress to hurry up and beat someone into the field or fill your limit.  So, you can leave the gun at home, focus on the kids, make the experience about them, and teach them some lessons along the way,” Romans suggests about the unique, youth-focused nature of the two-day season.

Additionally, being able to connect the dots between why and where they are seeing their favorite ducks, and what attracts them and allows them to live there helps build a strong understanding of conservation and the ethic that goes beyond just pulling the trigger.  Romans suggests that in the process of enjoying youth hunting weekends like the upcoming one, young hunters will carry with them not only the memories of time outdoors, but also how those opportunities come to be and what they can do to preserve them.

“I’ll speak from experience, when I take my boys into the field one of the things we talk about is how everything is related.  When we’re going to go duck hunting we’re going to talk about wetlands and why they’re important and why native grass around the wetland is important, and how the ducks benefit,” Romans explains, “mixing it in as well with some memorable moments, stuff they’re going to remember for the rest of their life, they’re going to take home and they’re going to remember what their dad or mentor taught them,” he concludes.

Ducks Unlimited in North Dakota offers a free youth waterfowl trailer, loaded with both duck and goose decoys, along with layout blinds and other gear young hunters would need for a successful setup.  Interested mentors can contact the main Ducks Unlimited office in Bismarck to check on the availability of the trailer, available dates to use it and get more details on the program by calling (701)355-3500.  The North Dakota youth waterfowl weekend is Sept. 16 and 17 with hunting hours running 30 minutes before sunrise to sunset. During this time resident and nonresident youth waterfowl hunters 15 and younger can hunt ducks, geese, coots, and mergansers statewide. The daily bag limit and species restrictions are the same as for regular duck and goose seasons, but the additional two blue-winged teal allowed during the first 16 days of the regular season are not allowed during this weekend. Resident and qualifying nonresident youth waterfowl hunters must possess a general game and habitat license. For more information visit gf.nd.gov/hunting/youth/waterfowl.