I recently participated in the Goose Pond Christmas Bird Count, and we had TONS of Mallards, Pintails and Shovelers in the air all day. Duck numbers were far outstripped by goose numbers, however; Greater White-Fronted and Snow Goose counts ran up into the thousands. The western Gibson County CBC a few days before had ridiculous Mallard numbers at Gibson Lake, but little else. The weather has been mild enough so far this winter that many birds have stayed farther north, and those that have come down are scattered far and wide, rather than being concentrated at a few sources of open water.
Im not a duck/goose hunter but seen prob. 50 to 75 geese feeding in a corn field the other evening when we were going out yote hunt'n... We are 25 - 30 miles north east of indy... Ive had a small group of mallards in a creek all deer season in a woods I hunt they have been there every morning, it got a creek running thru the woods that feeds into a old gravel pit... Haven't been to that spot for awhile to see if they are still there tho.
Hunted Fri/Sat/Sun this past weekend on Lake Barbee in North Webster IN, last weekend of North Zone. Ducks were moving real good up there, tho not the numbers we had weeks ago. Managed to bust 2 mallards, a goose, and a scalp. Woodies have long disappeared. Wigeons were abundant, but flew high and never made any indication of hanging around by us.
Seeing a fair # of ducks here in SE Indiana. Not awesome by any means, but that only happens maybe 1 year in 10 so it's ok.
Goose numbers are really good in our spots. Actually saw a small flock of Lesser Canada Geese the day after Christmas. Was surprised to see them down here as warm as we've been. Typically we see them in years where they get froze out up north.