While numbers are down this year for black ducks and ring-necked ducks, 2017 breeding duck numbers for mallards, green-winged teal, goldeneyes and hooded mergansers are up this year in the Eastern Survey Area for the Atlantic Flyway. (Lynn Burkhead photo)
August 16, 2017
By Lynn Burkhead
Waterfowlers in the western two-thirds of the U.S. sat up and took notice thanks to the good news brought about by the August 15 release of the 2017 Trends in Duck Breeding Populations survey.
While the report of 47.3 million breeding ducks this year in the fabled "Duck Factory" of the northern U.S. and Southern Canada breeding grounds is certainly good news, that's true primarily for hunters in North America's Mississippi, Central and Pacific Flyways.
But what should duck hunting enthusiasts on the Eastern Seaboard expect in...