BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Wildlife officials say record-setting wet conditions that hampered hunters in North Dakota last fall might have set the stage for prime duck hunting this fall.

An annual spring survey by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department estimates 3.98 million breeding ducks in the state. The survey gives hunters their first glimpse of how duck numbers might shape up for the fall hunt. The 4 million bird mark hasn’t been reached for six years.

Widespread drought in 2016 led to spring breeding duck numbers dropping below 3 million in 2017 and 2018 for only the second and third times in nearly a quarter century.