When Winston Churchill spoke of Soviet Russia as a “riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma,” the British prime minister might just as well have described the duck dilemma along the South Platte River in northeast Colorado.
It took another half a century for the Soviet puzzle to play out, perhaps still a work in progress. Colorado wildlife managers hope to solve their conundrum in considerably less time.
To that end, the Division of Wildlife will make its initial presentation Thursday to the Wildlife Commission at its meeting at the Renaissance Hotel. These findings emanate from a series of three meetings by a blue-ribbon panel aimed at improving what is perceived as a deteriorating hunt opportunity in the state’s premier duck region.
At the center of the issue is a DOW survey that suggests hunters averaged six-tenths of a duck per trip during 2005 hunts in the river corridor, a figure commissioner Brad Coors termed “unacceptable.”
Coors has been a driving force behind an initiative to find ways boost waterfowl success in the region, fearing that such lagging fortunes ultimately will erode interest in a sport often viewed as an important building block in the overall structure of outdoor participation. An earlier commission attempt to change regulations was shelved to allow the panel’s recommendations to take shape against the backdrop of another season of staff research.
Although wildlife officials are cautious about pre-empting commission decisions, certain problems and proposals have become evident over time.
What becomes increasingly evident is that the South Platte system has changed dramatically over the years, with alterations in both physical habitat and the way hunters deploy during the season.
Rick Kahn, a DOW wildlife manager directing the study, knows the score as well as anyone.
“I’ve been hunting the Platte since 1973, and there’s no doubt the river is more channelized. The sloughs are in worse shape than they used to be, and the vegetation is much thicker,” Kahn observed.
“There’s been a big change in the way crops are planted and the availability of water.”
All these elements serve to make the corridor less hospitable to ducks — particularly the drying up of warm-water sloughs that provide both refuge and food during periods of intense cold. Such shifts caused ducks to spend far more time on the several large reservoirs in the region, effectively out of reach of public hunters whose access exists primarily on state wildlife areas along the river.
Among the points of discussion are these:
* How to rattle birds off the reservoirs and back to the river, a condition that now occurs only during those rare periods when the flat water freezes. This might be achieved by allowing hunting boats at select sites. Jackson and Jumbo reservoirs have been proposed as test areas.
To explore this on a widespread basis, DOW must balance conflicts with hunters who have leases along shore.
* Determine the effect of daily hunting on duck dispersal. DOW commissioned a study by a Colorado State University graduate student to determine the effect of hunter disturbance. Final results are pending, and researchers hope to learn more from actual practice of hunters.
“We’re considering some form of alternate-day type of hunting,” Kahn said. “We’ve tried it at certain state wildlife areas, with mixed results.”
* Improving habitat, particularly providing food sources later in the season when the highest concentration of mallards occurs.
Kahn noted that DOW, Ducks Unlimited and private landowners have spent considerable sums on early season habitat, expanding hunting prospects during October.
The key, Kahn said, is to balance an effective long-term approach against the desire for more immediate results.
“The whole point is to take a look at these actions, what works and what doesn’t work,” he said.
“We’ll try some things and see if we can make it better.”
