NOVEMBER 2018 NOVEMBER 8, 2018

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1 MISSISSIPPI VALLEY DUCK HUNTERS ASSOCIATION A NON-PROFIT ASSOCIATION OF, BY, AND FOR THE DUCK HUNTERS. NOVEMBER 2018 VOLUME 62 ISSUE 11 NOVEMBER 8, 2018 FROM OUR PRES PRESIDENT S PAGE NOVEMBER 2018 Welcome to November and opening of the waterfowl and voting seasons. I am writing this before the election so I hope everyone that is a legal resident, non felon, and registered will do their duty and vote. No matter what the outcome, the sun will still rise in the east and set in the west. Enough said about the election, I am looking ahead to the duck season! I hope everyone has had or will soon have the opportunity to go out and kill some ducks. I guess I should have used the term harvested, but that reminds me of gardening and pulling out weeds. Early reports were sort of good at some of the local public areas. I guess the new split will change that good result. We only can hope for a good season this year. Be safe and enjoy yourself in field and wait until later to enjoy your favorite refreshment. BY THE WAY, NO MEETING IN NOVEMBER!!! NEXT MEETING IS MVDHA CHRISTMAS PARTY ON DEC 12TH AT GOFF MOLL. BE THERE FOR A GREAT TIME AND MEET OLD AND NEW FRIENDS!! Thanksgiving is Nov 22nd so please enjoy the day with friends and family and give thanks for what you have. We have finally made it in the DU Mag (page30) with a full page article with pictures stating how the Club has progressed and finally made the Legacy Sponsor Level. I want to thank Bob Rakey for saving all the old checks and Bernie Urbas for transferring the data in disk form. THANKS GUYS! Mike Checkett will be at the Christmas party with a thank you from DU. I have seen the gift but am not telling (It s nice to be Pres). INSIDE THIS ISSUE: FROM OUR PRES 1 TIM GROUNDS 2 BOB RAKEY 2 OFFICER ELECTIONS 2 FOR SALE SEASON 3 CHOKES 3 WATERFOWL SURVY 4 NEWSLETTER 5 ESCRIPTS 5 UPCOMING EVTS 5 GENERAL INFO COV See you in December, Art Wende, President MVDHA

2 PAGE 2 TIM GROUNDS World Champion goose caller and call maker from Illinois dies in an ATV accident. From Facebook: I want to let all of Tim's good friends know he had a 4-wheeler accident Sunday afternoon and died instantly. He was spraying weeds down at his club and the 4-wheeler turned over on him. No arrangements have been made as yet. Hunter, his dad, and I want to thank each of you for your loyalty to Tim all through the years. He loved GOD, the geese, his work, his friends - he loved life. He taught so many and was generous to a fault. HE WAS THE #1 GOOSEMAN. And if you were his friend, he had your back and you knew it. ~ Hunter, Bill and Juda BOB RAKEY Bob finally got tired of being in the rehab facility and is back home again!!! Great to hear that Bob, glad you are doing better! Give him a call, I am sure he will enjoy it!! OFFICER ELECTIONS Ever had or thought there was a problem with the association? Ever complained about one thing or another on why this association does this or that and should do it this way? Ever thought about becoming a solution to these problems instead of just complaining about them? Here is your chance! There will be board member elections. As Art stated, there are positions for president, recording sec, corresponding sec (2), and membership are to be voted on. Step up now and put your name in the hat. Almost all of the officers have been filling these posts for over 5 years and could use some new blood injected into the organization. So if you are interested in becoming a board member, or if you have questions on becoming a board member, your questions or interest to mvdha@mvdha.com or mail them to the address on the back of this newsletter and they will be forward to Jerry. If you want to make a change, here is your chance. We are in the need for a membership chairman, if interested, step up! FOR SALE I neglected to post this last month but I understand it is still for sale: 20 foot 1996 Allweld Express deep well, very wide, boat 20 foot single axle trailer ( I will put brand new tires on) and Grease bearings HP Evenrude ( it will be in good running condition at time of sale) Mounted on front of boat 70 lb thrust trolling motor with wireless foot pedal and a hand held key fob making the boat steering form anywhere on the vessel. Attached dog platform which folds in and out for transporting, dog will be able to enter water and exit without any help from you. 20 foot Avery concealment blind that rises and lowers for transportation A lineman s spot lite for night driving is attached. $7900 Robert M Combs SEASON MDC sets migratory game bird and waterfowl hunting seasons WATERFOWL HUNT- ING YOUTH HUNTING DAYS South Zone: Nov. 17 and 18 Limits: Same as during regular waterfowl season Hours: Same as during regular waterfowl season Ducks Season: MVDHA BOARD President: Art Wende First V. Pres.: VACANT Fin. Secretary: Rob Mueller Rec. Secretary: Dave Hamilton Correspondence Secretary: Bill Hilgeman and Brad Douglass Membership Chairman: Duane Stinchcomb Board of Directors: Chairman of the Board Jerry Mercurio Directors: Bill Truebe, Jerry Mercurio Jr., Ken Liebel, James Edwards, Dale Westerhold, Robert Urbanek, Mike Goetz Ray Boschert Erik Liebel

3 PAGE 3 North Zone: Nov. 3 through Jan. 1, 2019 Middle Zone: Nov. 3 through 9 and Nov. 15 through Jan. 6, 2019 South Zone: Nov. 22 through 25 and Dec. 3 through Jan. 27, 2019 Bag Limit: 6 ducks daily with species restrictions of: 4 mallards (no more than 2 females) 3 scaup 3 wood ducks 2 redheads 2 hooded mergansers 2 pintails (new limit) 2 canvasbacks 2 black ducks 1 mottled duck Possession Limit: Three times the daily bag or 18 total, varies by species Hours: One-half hour before sunrise to sunset Snow Geese (White and Blue Phases) and Ross's Geese Season: Nov. 11 through Feb. 6, 2019 Limits: 20 blue, snow, or Ross's geese daily with no possession limit Hours: One-half hour before sunrise to sunset White-Fronted Geese Season: Nov. 11 through Feb. 6, 2019 Limits: 2 daily and 6 in possession Hours: One-half hour before sunrise to sunset Canada Geese and Brant Season: Oct and Nov. 11 Feb. 6, 2019 Limits: 3 Canada geese and brant in aggregate daily, 9 in possession Hours: One-half hour before sunrise to sunset CHOKES From the DU website: Shotgunning: Understanding Chokes By Phil Bourjaily The right combination of choke and load can improve your shooting performance at the range and in the field Although others claim to have invented the shotgun choke sometime in the 1860s, Fred Kimble, a duck hunter from Peoria, Illinois, often gets the credit in the United States. That's appropriate, as waterfowlers have always been obsessed with improving the performance of their shotguns. Modern screw-in chokes give us some of our most important and versatile tools for dialing in a gun's range and shot pattern. With a basic understanding of chokes and loads, today's waterfowlers can tailor their shotguns to any type of shooting. How Chokes Work Like a garden hose nozzle that can be tightened down to emit a single stream or opened to a wide spray, chokes compress the shot charge to varying degrees as it passes through the last few inches of the bore. Shot doesn't flow like water, however. Scott Trulock of Trulock Chokes says, Think of all those balls in the lotto machine bouncing off each other. That's how pellets react when they're squeezed down. By lengthening choke tubes and the tapers inside them, and by including a parallel section in the choke after the constriction, manufacturers often leave room in the tube to stabilize shot charges before they're blasted out of the muzzle. Wad-stripper chokes, like those made by Patternmaster, have no constriction. Instead, they have studs that grab the wad, slowing it and helping the shot pellets separate cleanly and without the disruption of being rammed by the wad. Although wad-strippers and conventional chokes seem quite different, they have a lot in common. All chokes slow the wad as it passes through the constricted section, and it's possible that the studs of wadstripping chokes also constrict the shot charge somewhat. Testing Chokes There are several ways to identify a choke: by thousandths of an inch of constriction, by their traditional names (e.g., improved cylinder, modified, full), or by their purpose (e.g., pass shooting, timber). Regardless of how a choke is marked, you need to test it in your gun, because every gun is different and the choke is only part of the equation. Typically, higher-velocity loads and smaller shot sizes result in more open patterns. Slower loads and big pellets pattern more tightly. Testing your choke with your gun and your hunting loads is the only way to know what it will do in the field. Choosing a Choke Ideally, you want your choke and load combination to put 70 to 75 percent of the shot charge into a 30-inch circle at the range you will most often be shooting. A lot more isn't better, because a super-tight pattern doesn't have as much margin for error around the fringes. In general, skeet or improved cylinder work best for hunting in timber or for teal, when you're shooting small shot that can fill an open pattern. Light modified or modified are good choices for shooting over decoys. Improved modified is the best pick for pass shooting. Full chokes can deliver good patterns, especially with smaller shot, but with tight chokes you begin risking damage to the choke and gun by overconstricting hard pellets.

4 PAGE 4 Given the price of an aftermarket tube, it can make sense to buy one choke and vary your patterns by changing ammunition. I'll confess to using light modified, or what used to be called skeet 2, for almost everything. With small shot this choke produces good patterns for doves and teal, size 2 shot tightens it up for mid-range chances at big ducks over decoys, and with BBs I can confidently shoot at any goose out to 40 yards. Slow BBB loads tighten patterns even further if I really want to reach out. Choke Tube Care A rusted-in tube is expensive and sometimes impossible to remove without wrecking the choke and maybe even the barrel. At the end of every season and anytime a gun gets wet, take out the tube, dry it, scrub the threads on the barrel and tube, put a dab of grease on the threads, and put the choke tube back in the gun. A little grease, plus elbow grease, costs a lot less than a new or rethreaded barrel. WATERFOWL SURVEY From the Delta Web Site: Breeding Duck Population Declines, Most Species Remain Strong Annual breeding population survey estimates million total ducks, down 13 percent, while May pond counts drop by 14 percent BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA North America s spring duck population declined, but most species remain above long-term averages, according to the 2018 Waterfowl Population Status Report released today. The annual survey, conducted jointly by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Canadian Wildlife Service since 1955, puts the breeding duck population at million, a 13 percent decrease over last year s population of million, but still 17 percent above the longterm average. Overall, the 2018 survey marks the lowest total breeding duck population estimate since The breeding population decreased, but remains quite strong, with most species remaining near or above longterm averages, said Dr. Frank Rohwer, president and chief scientist of Delta Waterfowl. Ducks declined due to dry conditions in large portions of the breeding grounds. Fortunately, we continue to benefit from carryover birds hatched during highly productive springs over the past several years. Following a record high two years ago, mallards declined 12 percent to 9.26 million, but remain 17 percent above the long-term average. Wigeon are the only index species that showed an increase, climbing 2 percent to 2.82 million, 8 percent Blue-winged teal fell 18 percent to 6.45 million, 27 percent Gadwalls dropped 31 percent to 2.89 million, 43 percent Green-winged teal decreased 16 percent to 3.04 million, still 42 percent above the long-term average. Northern shovelers declined 3 percent to 4.21 million, 62 percent above the long -term average. Redheads de-

5 PAGE 5 clined 10 percent to 1.00 million, 38 percent above the long-term average. Canvasbacks dropped 6 percent to 686,000, 16 percent Only two breeding population estimates are below long-term averages. Northern pintails declined a concerning 18 percent to 2.37 million, 40 percent below the longterm average. Scaup (lessers and greaters combined) declined 9 percent to 3.99 million, 20 percent below the long-term average. Bluebills are drifting dangerously close to a return to restrictive harvest regulations, Rohwer said. And the pintail number is disappointing. We d hoped that good wetland conditions across Montana, and portions of southern Alberta and southeastern Saskatchewan, would be enough to give pintails a boost. That was clearly not the case. Across the U.S. and Canada, the May pond count registered 5.23 million 14 percent lower than last year and in line with the longterm average. Pond counts in prairie and parkland Canada, which covers Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, decreased 15 percent to 3.66 million, but were still 4 percent Pond counts in the north-central United States, which covers Montana and the Dakotas, declined 11 percent to 1.57 million, 8 percent below the long-term average. The pond count has been above, in some cases way above, the long -term average for many years, and we ve enjoyed huge duck estimates as a result, Rohwer said. This year, the count is average and in some cases, well-below average. Dry conditions in the eastern Dakotas (down 32 percent) and southern Saskatchewan (down 21 percent) impacted duck distribution this spring. Dry conditions across many areas of the prairies doesn t bode well for duck production, Rowher said. However, timely rains in during nesting season, particularly in North Dakota, certainly aided duck production in some regions. And following May surveys, habitat conditions grew even more variable, forcing ducks to further compete for breeding habitat and decreasing their odds of nest success. That could impact waterfowl seasons, because hunters shoot the fall flight, not the breeding population. There will be plenty of ducks in the fall flight, but unlike years when there are plenty of easily decoyed juveniles, hunters can expect savvy, adult birds, Rohwer said. NEWSLETTER As part of membership to the Mississippi Valley Duck Hunters Association this newsletter is distributed to the members either by mail or via . All members who have an address will be receiving this newsletter via . With the cost of postage, printing, labeling and handling on the increase this will save YOUR MVDHA a little over $1.00 per month per member that can be used in other areas. That is a substantial savings, with a projected cost savings of over $ a year if all members received the newsletter via . If you still wish to receive your newsletter via snail mail, just let me know at the next member s meeting or if you wish to no longer receive it by snail mail and want to save the association funds you can provide me your address by sending me an at mvdha@mvdha.com. Please consider this, it will save the association money over the time of your membership that can be used elsewhere. ESCRIPTS escripts Contribution: $ 5.34 EScripts is proven to be a fantastic resource for fundraising where participating business partners contribute a percentage of your grocery loyalty cards, credit card, and debit/ ATM card purchases to the school, group or organization of your choice. Here's How it Works You register any one or all of your existing grocery loyalty, debit and credit cards for use in the program. Participating merchants will make contributions to your chosen group, based on purchases made by you, just by using the cards you have registered. Your purchases are tracked and available to you online, allowing you to see just how much you are earning. Bottom line, it costs you nothing. All you have to do is do your normal shopping at listed stores like, Schnucks, Macy s, Orvis, OfficeMax, Pepboys or even American Airlines. This is a no brainer in helping to raise money for your MVDHA with no effort at all, except to hand your escript card to the check out person. Tony has over 200 cards just waiting for you to call at or you can him at huntfishteach@gmail.com Up Coming Events Nov 14 : NO MEETING Dec 12 : Annual Xmas Party

6 General Information This newsletter is distributed to our active members. For non-active members check the website for the current newsletter. We have our general meeting the second Wednesday of every month at 7:30 PM and our Board of Directors Meeting every fourth Monday at 7 PM. Members meetings are held at the American Legion Post Goff Moll Post 101, at 2721 Collier, Brentwood, Mo Board Meetings are held at TBD. In case of bad weather call the Post at or Art Wende at or Jerry Mercurio at Visit YOUR web site at to get the most recent news, events and updates. There you will find this newsletter and other helpful information concerning conservation and the great outdoors that we love. If you would like to be added to the listing of important news and updates you can do that through the web site through the contact us link, fill out the form and make sure you add your address. Any comments or suggestions concerning the newsletter or the website can be sent to mvdha@mvdha.com. I am always looking forwards to suggestions concerning content and what you would like to see or be presented in these publications. Next members meeting: NO MEETING Next Board Meeting: November 26, 2018 Members are invited to the Board Meeting Member s meeting start at 7:30, Board meeting starts at 7:00