I was really surprised how young appearing two of them were.

It's making us look at the way we can preserve the history of the coast. We've lost major character-defining buildings. These were buildings that defined the community.

The final piece of the puzzle is how do these birds respond to hunting pressure. Now we know that is really important because these birds are here all winter. I think we can accomplish that next year, if we don't drop the ball.

So there is enough evidence to suggest that the one-week closure between our second and third seasons is not enough to get the birds back.

In the first year, we learned how many waterfowl we have on the South Platte River and how they've been using it.

They are not just passing through. That means it's very easy for hunters to educate them. These birds know how to avoid the gun, and they do a very good job of avoiding hunters.