"This is the heart of the duck abundance range in Wisconsin," Gatti said. "We want to find out if CRP is helping the ducks in their primary range."

Gatti points out that budget cuts and the shifting of DNR focus to combating chronic wasting disease have resulted in less management on public grasslands. Managers have not been able to spend as much time fighting the encroachment of woody vegetation with burning and cutting.

"We're finding fewer duck nests this year, perhaps because there are more saplings," Gatti said. "Fields that are clear of trees have good numbers of duck nests, however."

Gatti is currently working to raise funds for a three-year radio-telemetry study to begin in 2006 designed to determine why blue-winged teal numbers are declining in Wisconsin and not elsewhere. Blue-wings were the most abundant breeding duck in the state as recently as 30 years ago, but their numbers have declined steadily over that period. Gatti has secured federal funding, but there is no state money available for required matching grants, so he has appealed for funds to groups like Wisconsin Waterfowl Association, Ducks Unlimited, Safari Club International and "every little waterfowl group and club" he can find. The DNR's Website has a page that describes the proposed study at www.dnr.wi.gov/

FALL HUNTING PROSPECTS
Kent Van Horn has a few thoughts about duck hunting. Duck hunter numbers have been stable for the past 25 years, he points out, but today's hunters face different challenges than waterfowlers of a generation ago.

"Because there are so many other things going on in our lives, I think people aren't scouting and spending time 'out there' as they did in past years," Van Horn said. "When they go to hunt, they go to a large, established area that concentrates hunters instead of going to smaller out-of-the-way places where there might be more ducks."

If you want good duck hunting, Van Horn said, you must pay attention to three variables: water, scouting and weather.

"Fall water is critical to keeping ducks around," he pointed out. "And the right weather will move new ducks down from the north. The people who have the time and make the effort to scout will find ducks. Some years it's easier, and some years it's harder."

Extrapolating from Van Horn's remarks, the wise hunter will scout out hidden marshes, potholes and backwaters that other hunters either ignore or don't know about. These places are often located quite close to heavily hunted public hunting grounds, but they act as havens for ducks once the shooting starts. If you can locate them and hunt them with discretion, you should be able to stay "in the game" throughout the season.

So it was on the Mississippi River last year and in recent years for hunters who shied away from the pressured spots and sought out backwaters that held birds. So it was on Lake Michigan for layout hunters who worked divers in feeding areas and left them alone on roosting grounds. So it was for hunters who floated meandering rivers that skirted the big marshes. So it can be for you, too, if you take the time to find new places -- or rediscover forgotten old favorites!

(Editor's note: The author's video, Field to Feast, Waterfowl contains information on duck and goose hunting, field dressing and several delicious recipes. Order online at www.dansmalloutdoors.com, or send $19.95, plus $4.50 shipping, to Outdoor Videos, Dept. GF 10, P.O. Box 433, Grafton, WI 53024. Wisconsin residents should add 5 percent state and appropriate county sales tax where required).