wburns, I think even ND Game & Fish would tell you that one reason more birds were shot last year than 2010 was also weather-related: given your mild winter, hunters were still doing their thing right up to the end of the season. Makes a big difference vs a season that ends in early Dec due to a whole lot of snow.
Agreed about the longer season for most due to weather but our bird numbers were just not there and most visiting hunters I know never even bothered coming back. I hunt a fair amount all around the state and unless you were in the sw part it pretty much sucked except for isolated pockets. Most people are not that hardcore to keep hunting even if the weather is decent if the numbers are way down. My area is traditionally one of the top nonres spots and hnter numbers were way down.
