Columnist Paula Del Guidice: Thousands of ducks show up for opener

Wednesday, Oct. 7, 1998 | 10:54 a.m.

Paula DelGiudice's outdoors notebook appears Wednesdays. Reach her at PDelGiudice@compuserve.com.

Predictions of high numbers of ducks available for the opening weekend of the waterfowl hunting season were realized last weekend at two of Southern Nevada's hunting areas. With 15,000 ducks present in the Pahranagat Valley, according to Bart Tanner, manager at Key Pittman Wildlife Management Area (WMA), hunting was fair. Hunters fared slightly better at Wayne E. Kirch WMA.

"Most of the ducks in the Valley were pintails, though they appeared third in the bag," Tanner said. "Most common in the bag were green-winged teal and mallards.

"We had more teal than last year when the big botulism die-off in Utah impacted population numbers."

This is the first year of the implementation of a new regulation outlawing boats on Nesbitt Lake at Key Pittman. The regulation was enacted to see if birds would stay around longer if they weren't pursued by hunters in boats.

When birds are pushed hard at Key Pittman, they fly to Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge and sit in a protected area where hunting is not allowed.

Tanner said the theory is if the ducks stay at Key Pittman, they'll give hunters more opportunity to hunt them.

Historically, though, only a few hunters used boats. Those who did typically hunted every hunt day, stirring the birds up and moving them to quieter refuge areas.

The regulation seems to be achieving its intent. The second and third days of hunting have yielded more action and more birds for hunters than in the past.

Opening day yielded an average of 3.2 birds for 58 hunters. The second day of hunting yielded just under 3 birds per hunter. The third day provided 2.6 birds per hunter.

"Typically, the third day of hunting is dismal around here," Tanner said.

Hunters should know they must be prepared to wade after their downed birds or bring a retrieving dog with them. Boats and flotation devices may not be used to retrieve downed birds. Hunters are responsible for retrieving the birds they shoot.

Duck hunting at Kirch WMA in Nye County was very good for the opener. Hunters averaged 5 ducks on Saturday.

Hunters in Christmas Tree Pass and the Highland Range reported light hunting pressure and fair numbers of quail for the opening weekend. Several hunters in the Kane Springs area and the Mormon Mountains reported hunting was good on Saturday, but slowed considerably on the second day of the season as hunting dispersed birds.

Fair hunting for chukar and quail was found in Cottonwood Valley and Lovell Canyon. Chukar hunting was reported as good in the Beatty area.

For waterfowl hunters, the cold front that has moved through Idaho and dipped into Colorado bringing early season snow to much of the intermountain West will be moving birds through Nevada as they head for warmer climes. Hunting should only improve in the weeks to come. _________________________________________________________________

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The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) has named Ducks Unlimited a "Refuge Hero" in recognition of the organization's contributions to conservation on our country's national wildlife refuges. Jamie Rappaport Clark, director of the USFWS, presented DU with the honor in Washington, D.C., as a kickoff for National Wildlife Refuge Week Oct. 11-17. DU was recognized for design and construction of 470 projects worth more than $21 million on national wildlife refuge lands. *** Tickets are on sale for the Las Vegas Ducks Unlimited Chapter's Annual Sportsmen's Extravaganza Nov. 13 at the Rio Suites Hotel. To reserve your space call Gregg Kraemer at 261-1000, ext. 8022. *** DU will launch the newest, most exciting source of information about wetlands and waterfowl conservation on the world wide web this month. The redeveloped site can be found at the same address as DU's old site: www.ducks.org. The site features a waterfowl identification section, complete with photos, species information and natural sounds in streaming audio. For members, there is a message board and a Listserv function. ***

The final channel catfish plants of the year are scheduled Thursday in ponds at Floyd Lamb State Park, Lorenzi Park and Sunset Park. Rainbow trout from the NDOW's hatchery at Lake Mead will be stocked in late October or early November depending upon water temperatures. Catfish are stocked in the ponds monthly during warm weather months, when the water is too warm for trout to survive. Rainbow trout are stocked every two weeks during the cooler months. *** The dedication of the new Wetlands Park Information Center is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday. The Center is located in the CCP&R old ranger station at Sam Boyd Stadium. The renovation is complete and exhibits have been set up.