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Show Waterfowl Season Opening Utah nimrods will soon be breaking out the scatterguns as the 1977 waterfowl season kicks off at noon Saturday, Oct. 1. WILDLIFE Resources Waterfowl Wa-terfowl Supervisor Al Regenthal predicts a good flight of ducks headed our way. Says Regenthal, "We should have about as many ducks coming through this year as we did last. Local production of redhead and cinnamon teal is somewhat down, but this probably won't be reflected in the hunter's bag." IN SPITE of the drought, Wildlife Resources wate-iowl management areas are in good shape. Water levels inside in-side the dikes along the Wasatch Front are at or near normal levels. Biologist Regenthal reports, "In general the marshes look good, much better than we expected at the beginning of the year. Migrating ducks will find plenty of feed." DROUGHT conditions pose a threat of massive outbreaks of botulism among waterfowl. Fortunately, that hasn't happened hap-pened here. The Bear River federal refuge west of Brigham City reports no significant sig-nificant losses to botulism, nor have any state-managed areas. Botulism :.s a common disease among ducks, and some losses are to be expected expect-ed every year. The water supply is adequate, if not abundant. Water levels are down at Pintail Flat outside the dike at Ogden Bay, and airboaters may not be able to launch at North Run and Little Mountain. Moun-tain. DUCK limits will once again be liberal with bag and possession limits set at 7 and 14. Daily bag and possession limits for geese are five. No more than two birds may be of the dark species, which includes Canada geese. All's well on Utah's marshes; and with a little help from Mother Nature, we're in for another good season. |
