Quack, quack
Friday, January 19, 2007
Some duck hunters take it as gospel that January and taking advantage of the late migration is absolutely the best time to hunt waterfowl.
In today’s busy world, I preach that anytime you can get outdoors, whether it be hunting, fishing bird watching, hiking, bicycling or picnicking, is the best time to do so.
Late migration? Two weeks ago it was 65 degrees. Naked Lady Lilies and daffodils were up in my yard and I even saw a dandelion blooming out in the country while I was running the pups.
Until last weekend, when Mother Nature had a horrendously bad hair day and brought a wintery blast of rain, sleet, snow and ice to our area, I think just as many ducks were thinking about heading back north. And as for Canada geese, the bane of golf course superintendents, park maintainers and lake front owners, a good population of them stay around here all year long!
Robins can be seen in great flocks, and bluebirds, the harbingers of spring, also were quite abundant.
Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) has established a Jan. 20-28 duck season to allow hunters the opportunity to hunt late season waterfowl. This season is open in the High Plains Zone (west of U.S. Highway 283) and the Late Zone (which includes Emporia and most of eastern and central Kansas).
Also, Canada goose season runs through Feb. 18 statewide. White-fronted goose season is closed, but it re-opens Feb. 10-18. Light geese (Ross’, snow and blue) may be hunted through April 30.
All waterfowl hunters 16 and older must have a federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, and all hunters who are required to obtain a license also must have a Kansas State Waterfowl Habitat Stamp and a Harvest Information Program (HIP) stamp before attempting to take ducks and geese.
Those not required to have a Kansas hunting license include people hunting their own land and residents 15 and younger or 65 and older. Waterfowl and HIP stamps purchased during the fall 2006 seasons are valid through the winter and spring of 2007.
Supplemental
feeding of quail
Some of my friends are concerned about the remaining quail populations and wonder about putting some grain out for them during this icy weather. A warming trend this weekend should help.
During extended periods of extreme cold, snow and ice, quails’ energy demands go up by about 50 percent, and access to high-energy grain is critical. Still, most biologists do not recommend feeding because most people do it wrong and actually increase quail mortality by causing them to move greater distances than they normally would and expose themselves in open areas.
Winter quail home ranges might be no more than eight to 20 acres.
Kansas State University found that if the food value of seeds commonly eaten by quail is low in calories, they could lose up to half their body weight in just 3-4 days. Less— healthy birds might die starting on the fourth day of deprivation.
Here are some key points to remember during these stressful times for quail when the ground is covered with snow and ice:
• Use whole corn, not cracked corn. Quail can easily eat whole corn. The larger kernel allows them to quickly gather grain, and large kernels are not feasted upon by the smaller birds.
• Only put the feed at a covey headquarters. These sites include brush piles, plum thickets, cedar tree patches, etc. — places where you know quail are found, and this area provides them overhead protection.
• Put the feed inside the brushy shelter. Not outside or alongside the shelter, but inside the woody cover.
• If available, put the grain in a simple feeder made from a plastic five-gallon bucket on an 6-inch square cement block. This helps keep rodents out.
• Once supplemental feeding is begun, it must be continued until the stress period is past. Do not let the grain run out during a winter stress period like what the quail went through earlier this week.
Waterfowl recipes
You probably have heard the best way to fix waterfowl is to marinate them using your favorite sauce, smoke the meat on a hickory plank, then throw the bird away and eat the plank! They are not that bad, believe me. Make jerky or Jalapeno Poppers out of them.
The method of cooking is up to you. Oven or smoker, be it gas, electric or charcoal. A dehydrator works wonders and is clean and simple to use.
Duck strips:
Compliments of Jay and Margie Stine.
Combine:
1 C. Morton’s Tender Quick
1/3 C. Brown Sugar
2 T. Garlic powder
2 T. pickling spice such as Zatarain’s Crab Boil
Put ingredients plus filet breast meat from six birds in a one-gallon zippered bag, fill with water. Refrigerate for two days. Never use a metallic bowl or pan to marinate game. Rinse meat thoroughly before cooking and then season meat liberally with Mrs. Dash’s Extra Spicy. Cook until done, but still moist.
If you let it cook too long, call it jerky! After cooking, cut meat lengthwise at an angle.