Illinois River duck count

The last week of duck hunting in Illinois’ Central Zone doesn’t look promising.

Monday’s count of waterfowl along the Illinois River showed just 71,420 ducks—well below the average of 121,394 for this time of year. Mallards were also well behind average, with a total of 66,485 counted versus the usual 113,450.

Most of those ducks were at Goose Lake near Peoria (and near Randy Root’s Mallard Farms club) or at the Duck Creek cooling lake near Canton.

Central Zone duck season ends Dec. 29.

Here’s the complete report.

Illinois_River_duck_count_12_21_09.pdf