|
|
Alaska Duck Hunting, Cordova Style: Have you ever dreamed of traveling back in time to a place where snipe, ducks, geese, and cranes blackened the skies? A place where you could search for days to find another hunter? A place untainted and untamed by human hands? You have found that place. The Copper River Delta is the largest pacific wetlands complex in North America. Literally hundreds of square miles of critical wetlands habitat and coastal sand flats are the annual spring and fall stage for the most spectacular bird hunting this side of last century. As many as 16,000,000 waterfowl migrate through the area each spring and fall. The sheer numbers are enhanced by the wide variety of species and hunting opportunities.
Peak season runs from September 1st to November 1st. Early season heralds the migration of sand hill cranes, white-front or speckle belly geese, and snow geese. Millions of snipe, sprig (pintails), spoonbills, green-wing teal, and widgeon accompany their migration during the month of September. Early October ushers in the peak of the duck and goose migrations, with lesser, taverner, and dusky Canada geese, a few brant, and lingering white-fronts filling the goose bags, and the northern mallards, gadwalls, canvasbacks, bluebills, goldeneyes and buffleheads rounding out the migrating ducks. Late October and November marks the homecoming of sea ducks and northern birds that winter in Cordova. Mallards, a few sprig and green-wing teal, buffleheads, bluebills, common and barrow's goldeneyes, hooded, common, and red-breasted mergansers, spectacled, common, and white-winged scoter, harlequin, old-squaw, and a few wintering geese comprise this bunch.
The next thing you will notice are all the elements you dream of in a once-in-a-lifetime hunt: Plenty of birds, a good caller, great decoys and dogs to hunt over, and a connection with the sport that you can only get in a wilderness community in rural Alaska untamed by the will of man. Weather can be fierce, and as most serious water-fowlers will tell you, the worse the weather, the better the hunting. Cordova averages 180" of precipitation annually. The southeasters that roll through bring new waves of birds nearly every tide, and pitch them into shoreline shelters by the thousands. If you happen to be waiting in one of those shelters over a few enticing decoys, the experience is unbeatable.
"I recall the time a friend and I steadily filled our limit with mallards, teal, and widgeon over a half-dozen decoys on a small slough that nobody had hunted in years because of the mile-long walk to reach it. One mallard short of a limit, the sand hill cranes decoyed, and we cleanly harvested a pair. Minutes later a banded mallard ended the day's hunt. Smiles don't come any wider. We didn't see another hunter that day, and only had each other and the dogs to share the experience with. That day climaxed a nine-day vacation of water fowling that left us one bird short of a limit for the entire extended week. We barbecued so many teal and mallards that we started sprouting feathers.
Last season a dozen hunts yielded 3 banded mallards. The season before yielded a banded mallard and 2 banded geese. For those who appreciate banded birds and the information it provides to the resource agencies, a bird banded in Alaska is a not-so-rare treat. Whether hunting the fresh water ponds, the creeks and rivers, the fresh water lakes, or the salt-water bays and sloughs, Cordova is sure to provide an unforgettable experience. The magic of such destinations as Alaganik and Tiedeman sloughs, Sunny and Boswell Bays, Nelson, Sheep, or Dan's Bay, the Rude or Eyak River, the Flats or Cutoff are among the most fantastic of world-class destinations. In an effort to avoid any potential conflicts with local residents and their traditional hunting areas or critical habitat areas, a select few locations have been carefully chosen to provide a singular, remarkable, uninterrupted experience that maximizes the quality of your hunt. These are not high-volume hunts, and will be strictly limited in availability and party size. You will not be crammed into large commercial blinds with hunters you don't know, and treated like a customer. Your guides love the resource and sport as much as you do, and are committed to inviting you along as a friend to enjoy the fantastic experience they treasure. ~ Perspective of a local duck hunter Visit our Cast and Blast trip package and our World Class 3 day Water Fowling Trip.
|
Waterfowl
season starts September first, and runs the full 107 days
(to mid-December) allowed by international treaty. Cordova
is one of the few hunting destinations where one can expect
to fill a limit of birds each and every day of the season.
Be warned that late season hunting is not for the faint of
heart, and the 6 hours of daylight and inclement weather can
daunt the heartiest of hunters.
So
what is an average day of hunting like in this Valhalla of
water-fowling? The first thing you notice are all the
missing elements of a usual hunt: the sounds of traffic,
boats, and planes. You note the absence of other hunters or
their blinds, trash, or empty shells. You miss the shy, wary
birds pressured by other hunters. Most locals never
experience the thrill of calling birds or hunting over
decoys, or working a prime retriever. Why? Because none of
the usual tricks are needed to fill limits in
Cordova.
The
dusky Canada geese are a subspecies of the infamous Canadian
Honker. Duskies are a mid-sized honker weighing in at 8-10
pounds. They nest and breed only in the Copper River Delta.
Habitat changes since the 1964 earthquake have raised and
dried much of their habitat, giving predators ready access
to their traditional nesting grounds. Their numbers dropped
sharply, but have started to recover. Their distinctive dark
breast plumage (often as dark as their black head and wings)
sets them apart as one of the most beautiful geese. While
the limits are liberal, responsible hunters are careful not
to intentionally target the duskies because of their
struggle to gain balance with their new habitat. The same is
true of the beautiful harlequin ducks that grace the local
salt inlets. The Exxon Valdez oil spill hurt their numbers
and habitat, but they have recently started to rebound.
While hunting these birds is discouraged, an occasional
harvest is acceptable for mounts or incidental
harvest.
On
opening day a couple of years ago, we had set decoys out at
low tide, and were waiting for the water to lift them out of
the mud. We watched flock after flock of pintails fly by
until I got the bright idea to call to them. What transpired
can only be described as magical. Flocks of pintails wheeled
in midair and bombed onto the muddy, capsized decoys with
abandon. Have you ever witnessed 500 pintails trying to land
on a 6-foot wide saltwater slough? If you weren't busy
unloading your gun, you might pause to laugh at the
spectacle. We called 10,000 pintails, mallards and teal
during the next two hours, and had limits filled long before
the tide ever wetted the decoys. We continued calling the
birds in, and wondered at the sweet hiss of wind in hundreds
of wings directly overhead, punctuated by the soft chuckling
of our southbound friends.