BISMARCK -- It's too early to say what it means for hunting this fall, but pond counts and breeding pair numbers suggest North Dakota is in for a strong year of duck production, preliminary results from a North Dakota Game and Fish Department survey show.
Game and Fish has conducted the annual water and breeding pair survey every spring since 1948.
As part of the survey, the state is divided into north-south transects from the South Dakota border to Canada.
Two-person crews then tally all the wetlands and waterfowl they see within one-eighth mile of the road along the 1,816 miles of survey routes. Biologists use the findings to compile an index to measure long-term trends.
Final survey results are still being tabulated.
