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Annual Report

Annual report

Overview

The 2024 season marked the 48th year of managed waterfowl hunting at Nayanquing Point.

Crop plantings occurred within the normal production window. Corn was planted during the last week of May, three weeks earlier than the mid-June planting in 2023. Buckwheat planting began by mid-June and wrapped up by mid-July. Overall crop production was excellent, thanks to timely rains and above-average temperatures. However, large areas of corn were damaged by sandhill cranes, a growing concern each year. Mitigation strategies are ongoing to minimize crop predation.

Mild, warm weather continued well into the season, with first ice not forming until late November. The 2024 season was the slowest for harvest since 2012. The lower harvest was likely due to well above-average temperatures and generally fair weather. Harvest declined for all species except wood ducks (up 23 percent), pintails (17 percent), gadwall (124 percent), redhead (42 percent) and scaup (100 percent) compared with the 2023 season.

The best week of the season was opening week, Oct. 5–11, with an average of 86 ducks harvested per day. The second-best week was Oct. 12–18, with hunters averaging 62 ducks per day.

Draw participation averaged 13 parties per draw, with a high of 42 parties for the morning draw on Nov. 5. Several other draws exceeded 30 parties. Beginning the week of Nov. 23, hunter participation declined, averaging five parties per draw, with most numbers in the single digits. During the two-day split, Dec. 14–15, there was no participation—typical for most years due to ice on the area.

The most productive zone was Zone 24, which accounted for 233 ducks and 8.83 percent of the total harvest. Zone 26 was a close second with 197 ducks, followed by Zones 14, 11 and 15.

Nayanquing Point data

Grand totals

Area/category Hunter trips Ducks Ducks per trip % of harvest
North crops 734 222 3.31 8.42%
Middle crops 1685 1293 1.30 49.05%
South crops 968 892 1.09 33.84%
East and south marsh 968 229 4.23 8.69%
z-Totals 4355 2636 9.92175 100.00%

Cropped areas

Area/category Hunter trips Ducks Ducks per hunter trip % of harvest
2 north crops 8 0 0.00 0.00%
3 north crops 20 1 0.05 0.04%
4 north crops 28 14 0.50 0.58%
5 north crops 109 65 0.60 2.70%
6 north crops 100 67 0.67 2.78%
7 north crops 35 21 0.60 0.87%
8 north crops 78 54 0.69 2.24%
10 middle crops 91 52 0.57 2.16%
11 middle crops 153 168 1.10 6.98%
12 middle crops 101 95 0.94 3.95%
13 middle crops 159 127 0.80 5.28%
14 middle crops 227 170 0.75 7.06%
15 middle crops 174 150 0.86 6.23%
16 middle crops 158 142 0.90 5.90%
17 middle crops 172 132 0.77 5.48%
18 middle crops 123 49 0.40 2.04%
19 middle crops 124 130 1.05 5.40%
20 middle crops 116 78 0.67 3.24%
21 south crops 86 83 0.97 3.45%
22 south crops 142 113 0.80 4.69%
23 south crops 182 146 0.80 6.07%
24 south crops 231 233 1.01 9.68%
25 south crops 186 120 0.65 4.99%
26 south crops 201 197 0.98 8.18%
z-Totals 3004 2407 0.80 100%

Weekly totals

Date Ducks Geese Hunter trips Cripples Ducks per hunter trip
9/1–9/16 58 24 109 1 0.53
09/17–9/20 0 22 26 4 0.85
9/21–9/22 61 1 49 14 1.24
10/5–10/11 604 8 625 88 0.97
10/12–10/18 434 4 449 52 0.97
10/19–10/25 429 10 454 41 0.94
10/26–11/1 355 4 463 45 0.77
11/2–11/8 277 4 432 24 0.64
11/9–11/15 263 9 342 34 0.77
11/16–11/22 74 5 230 6 0.32
11/23–11/29 81 1 204 13 0.4
11/30–12/1 0 0 18 0 0
12/14–12/15 0 0 0 0 0
z-Totals 2,636 92 3,375 322 0.78

Species totals

Species/category Total % of harvest
Mallard 924 35.05%
Green-winged teal 621 23.56%
Wood duck 230 8.73%
Black duck 36 1.37%
Blue-winged teal 69 2.62%
Pintail 256 9.71%
Wigeon 90 3.41%
Shoveler 77 2.92%
Gadwall 155 5.88%
Ring-necked 50 1.90%
Redhead 30 1.14%
Scaup 26 0.99%
Bufflehead 6 0.23%
Goldeneye 2 0.08%
Ruddy duck 11 0.42%
Canvasback 2 0.08%
Merganser 16 0.61%
Other 34 1.29%
Unknown 1 0.04%
z-Total 2,636 100.00%