# Divers Numbers



## R.J.M. (Jun 10, 2007)

At this time of year we should see more than what’s trading out in the 
Western Basin of Erie . 
Not sure why ???? Other than the obvious there not here . 


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## grassmaster (Jan 10, 2009)

Bridge was loaded today


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## Brougham (Jan 29, 2010)

Sag Bay?


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## R.J.M. (Jun 10, 2007)

Interesting article/ research










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## R.J.M. (Jun 10, 2007)

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## R.J.M. (Jun 10, 2007)

Wish I could post a link ???
Sorry you’ll have to google it ….


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## meganddeg (Sep 29, 2010)

Here's the link...



https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341190388_Long-term_changes_in_the_autumn_migration_phenology_of_dabbling_ducks_in_southern_Ontario_and_implications_for_waterfowl_management



A pdf is available for download. Not a long read, about 13 pages total.


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## R.J.M. (Jun 10, 2007)

Thanks for the link 


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## crawdad_79 (Mar 3, 2015)

I hunt Lake st Clair + Rondeau bay on Canadian side 
Divers showed up Oct 22, we shot a 4 man of red's and blues
It's hardly slowed down since then 
I was at the lake hunting mallards this past weekend and witnessed large rafts moving miles out 
One thing I have yet to see is #'s of Cans 
Lots of redheads this year


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## Jerry Lamb (Aug 3, 2015)

crawdad_79 said:


> I hunt Lake st Clair + Rondeau bay on Canadian side
> Divers showed up Oct 22, we shot a 4 man of red's and blues
> It's hardly slowed down since then
> I was at the lake hunting mallards this past weekend and witnessed large rafts moving miles out
> ...


I figured that they were holed up somewhere on the queen's turf(?)
We didn't see enough divers for a 4 man limit of them around harsens.
I blame the increased fishing pressure. They showed up, but went to where no one bothered them. Congrats I miss the diver days. A 4 man with Buddies(Ruddys and Buffleheads) somehow isn't the same.


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## Zeboy (Oct 4, 2002)

crawdad_79 said:


> I hunt Lake st Clair + Rondeau bay on Canadian side
> Divers showed up Oct 22, we shot a 4 man of red's and blues
> It's hardly slowed down since then
> I was at the lake hunting mallards this past weekend and witnessed large rafts moving miles out
> ...


that's interesting. Been hunting with a group out of Mitchell's Bay Canada for over 20 years. Our group was there a couple times in November, 5 days both times. First full weekend of November and over Thanksgiving weekend. Both times we saw less than 10% of the ducks that we normally see at those times of year.


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## crawdad_79 (Mar 3, 2015)

Get out there on the borderline dangerous, onshore wind days you will see them


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## Divers Down (Mar 31, 2008)

crawdad_79 said:


> Get out there on the *borderline dangerous*, onshore wind days you will see them
> View attachment 870921


So Jealous!!!
Yep, its a fine line to dance but that's the absolute best diver hunting.


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## crawdad_79 (Mar 3, 2015)

Divers Down said:


> So Jealous!!!


Been a heck of a season don’t even want to know how much $ I’ve shot in shells lol
Only lacking the cans :\


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## Brougham (Jan 29, 2010)

Some crazy mixed bag day's this year!!!


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## TSS Caddis (Mar 15, 2002)

grassmaster said:


> Bridge was loaded today


Ive never found bridge numbers has anything to do with downstate bird counts. Typically when they are not at the bridge they are not far away The bridge is just part of those birds routine. I’ve never seen it to be a migratory stop if you watch their patterns


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## ajkulish (Nov 16, 2013)

crawdad_79 said:


> I hunt Lake st Clair + Rondeau bay on Canadian side
> Divers showed up Oct 22, we shot a 4 man of red's and blues
> It's hardly slowed down since then
> I was at the lake hunting mallards this past weekend and witnessed large rafts moving miles out
> ...


I saw them trading around on the CAN side a couple times, only to hear people tell me there were no divers out there lol. Those rafts were enormous. And they moved frequently. North end can side one day, south end can side the next day.


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## just ducky (Aug 23, 2002)

Jerry Lamb said:


> I figured that they were holed up somewhere on the queen's turf(?)
> We didn't see enough divers for a 4 man limit of them around harsens.
> I blame the increased fishing pressure. They showed up, but went to where no one bothered them. Congrats I miss the diver days. A 4 man with Buddies(Ruddys and Buffleheads) somehow isn't the same.


So Jerry, if you think the fishing pressure is doing it, how do you (I) explain Saginaw Bay? My place is on the west side, and I'm telling you it was a ghost town this fall for birds AND fisherman. I know guys said the east side had birds, but not the west. My theory is it's food sources that have changed. I did see one or more agencies is hitting the phrag and doing a decent job of controlling it. And saw more rice on the west side than ive seen in a while. But celery and cabbage? Not much. I assume the Canadian side of LSC has more food for them? Just my two cents


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## Jerry Lamb (Aug 3, 2015)

just ducky said:


> So Jerry, if you think the fishing pressure is doing it, how do you (I) explain Saginaw Bay? My place is on the west side, and I'm telling you it was a ghost town this fall for birds AND fisherman. I know guys said the east side had birds, but not the west. My theory is it's food sources that have changed. I did see one or more agencies is hitting the phrag and doing a decent job of controlling it. And saw more rice on the west side than ive seen in a while. But celery and cabbage? Not much. I assume the Canadian side of LSC has more food for them? Just my two cents


I’m sure that’s part of it. I sold my two man end of an era.


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## don novicki (Oct 13, 2017)

I can tell you that here in Erie Pa at Presque Isle Bluebill numbers are way down. This is all anecdotal but they haven't been good the last few years. I know die hard old timers that still layout just about every day and they are wondering where they are also. I do know that the water level is still way up over normal so maybe that has had some effect. But we are not even seeing coots like we used to, and I'm not talking about 20 years ago either. I'll have to read the report above, but things have changed. Additionally I am only 13 miles from the Ohio line and we used to hunt Conneaut Harbor with the layout but the place never has any birds anymore. I don'thave an answer but there appears to be a problem......


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## cruiseplanner1 (Aug 6, 2012)

Agree we had good north winds both the first week of October and November during the full moons. Migratory birds take advantage of that and bail out.


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## just ducky (Aug 23, 2002)

Zeboy said:


> Not true JD. No where near the numbers there either. Small fraction of what it was 10 years ago.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G973U using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


Ok I didn't know. Never hunted there


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## TSS Caddis (Mar 15, 2002)

Jerry Lamb said:


> Less pressure from hunting and fishing boats. Undeveloped shoreline, less run off.


And inability to harass them layout hunting


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## dankoustas (Sep 18, 2007)

Definitely seeing less divers in Lake Erie the past 3-4 years and this year was perhaps the worst. The only positive is that our water levels were down about 1.5 feet from just a year ago, so we may be entering a low water cycle, which hopefully will help food sources to sprout up again. I feel like we did better on divers when the water was lower than its been the past few years
Dan


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## mi_hunter65 (Jan 1, 2021)

Here I am at 23, have been actively diver hunting LSC for the past 6 years, layout hunting it for 5 years. Yes I have heard the numerous stories of the good ole days of bluebill limits and not another boat in site. When I first started layout hunting in my area, there was two other rigs. I knew both of the guys and we would communicate the day before where we went. They've since sold their stuff. Yes, bird numbers are down from what I've seen years ago, but I enjoy the technique too much to just give it up. 

I believe that the higher water levels did affect the migrating ducks greatly, and that with the current lower water levels it is a sign of what will happen for the next several years. This year was my best layout hunting, and there is plenty of room for improvement.


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## Zorba (Jan 24, 2007)

mi_hunter65 said:


> Here I am at 23, have been actively diver hunting LSC for the past 6 years, layout hunting it for 5 years. Yes I have heard the numerous stories of the good ole days of bluebill limits and not another boat in site. When I first started layout hunting in my area, there was two other rigs. I knew both of the guys and we would communicate the day before where we went. They've since sold their stuff. Yes, bird numbers are down from what I've seen years ago, but I enjoy the technique too much to just give it up.
> 
> I believe that the higher water levels did affect the migrating ducks greatly, and that with the current lower water levels it is a sign of what will happen for the next several years. This year was my best layout hunting, and there is plenty of room for improvement.


I’m just curious. What do you mean by , “ my best layout hunting year”? Was it quantity of birds or quality? Or experience. Please explain


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## just ducky (Aug 23, 2002)

mi_hunter65 said:


> Here I am at 23, have been actively diver hunting LSC for the past 6 years, layout hunting it for 5 years. Yes I have heard the numerous stories of the good ole days of bluebill limits and not another boat in site. When I first started layout hunting in my area, there was two other rigs. I knew both of the guys and we would communicate the day before where we went. They've since sold their stuff. Yes, bird numbers are down from what I've seen years ago, but I enjoy the technique too much to just give it up.
> 
> I believe that the higher water levels did affect the migrating ducks greatly, and that with the current lower water levels it is a sign of what will happen for the next several years. This year was my best layout hunting, and there is plenty of room for improvement.


Higher water levels? Other than lake superior all were down as far as I know. Saginaw Bay was down drastically.


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## mi_hunter65 (Jan 1, 2021)

Zorba said:


> I’m just curious. What do you mean by , “ my best layout hunting year”? Was it quantity of birds or quality? Or experience. Please explain


Well, a mixture of all. We averaged 10.7 ducks per hunt between three guys, with more big ducks harvested this season than past (redheads and bluebills mainly) Hunting experience was great. Was able to bring out some buddies that have never layout gunned before, and watched them shoot their first birds out of my rig, cannot beat that. 

@just ducky Higher water levels in past years during hunting season.


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## just ducky (Aug 23, 2002)

We live on a large lake in Oakland County. In a normal year, we see some divers building through late November into December. Not huge bunches, but enough to show me the movement is on. I find it real interesting that we've seen no build up of divers on our lake this year. None. Zero. I'm looking at a few mallards now, but the absence of divers is VERY noticeable


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## Jerry Lamb (Aug 3, 2015)

The birds aren’t there. The golden age is over.
Back to restricted bag limits and shorter seasons.
Back to field goose hunting!


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## wavie (Feb 2, 2004)

I


Jerry Lamb said:


> The birds aren’t there. The golden age is over.
> Back to restricted bag limits and shorter seasons.


I wouldn't be that quick to jump the gun. The praries are getting hammered with snow.


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## Jerry Lamb (Aug 3, 2015)

It was down 4 million from 2019. We’ll see…


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## adam bomb (Feb 27, 2006)

We saw no shortage of divers today. I’m
Not sure what they were. But there were sure a lot of them. A friend had bills and eyes today. 


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## just ducky (Aug 23, 2002)

Jerry Lamb said:


> It was down 4 million from 2019. We’ll see…


And the "great lakes mallards" apparently way down as well. Nothing good...


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## bigrackmack (Aug 10, 2004)

adam bomb said:


> We saw no shortage of divers today. I’m
> Not sure what they were. But there were sure a lot of them. A friend had bills and eyes today.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Michigan Sportsman


Plenty of them yesterday. We decided to try to shoot mostly drakes and ended up with some studs!


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## bigrackmack (Aug 10, 2004)




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## Fowl Play (Nov 30, 2014)

Oldsquaw a have been wintering in the Great Lakes far before it became popular. We use to see a ton of them on Erie as well. Bluebills, redheads, cans, buffies numbers were noticeably lower this year on Erie.


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## Zorba (Jan 24, 2007)

I don’t think you can count oldsquaw as a real duck. They may identify as a real duck. Lol. 😂


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## MIfishslayer91 (Dec 24, 2013)

adam bomb said:


> We saw no shortage of divers today. I’m
> Not sure what they were. But there were sure a lot of them. A friend had bills and eyes today.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Michigan Sportsman


There sure were a lot of them yesterday. We got goldeneye and bluebill as well.


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## Brougham (Jan 29, 2010)

How's the new ramp BRM?


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