Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Disturbances from occupied hunting blinds and boats caused birds to seek open waters for refuge during the day. These factors were more significant in preventing ducks from using the Middle Grounds than for any other location on the lake. In pre-season counts, ducks using the Middle Grounds made up 20.7% of duck-use days; after hunting started only 7.4% of the duck-use days were in the Middle Grounds. [See the following two papers, which seem to be based on this thesis.]