With all acknowledgement of the hardship the rain has had on the farmers, I would think the water would be seen as a positive by hunters, not a problem. Out side of crops not getting harvested, the rest should be upside. The wet spring saved us from some really low number due to drought and the hard winter. Nesting conditions were ideal with ditches seeing no mowing and heavy cover (80% of pheasants are nested and raised in ditches). Chicks had moisture during the critical first hours after hatch but not a lot of washout rains during nesting for most areas. The weeds and water produced bumper crops of bugs for them to eat. We were getting to the brink of the bad old days that we last saw in the 80s in many areas due to drought and the winter but instead are back to decent numbers.
As for hunting conditions, with the access roads on all sides I can't recall any wet year where I though access was completely cut off to productive spots. If all access is that wet, you're going to find wet habitat anyway and birds will be concentrated in nearby areas. Water in ditch bottoms and sloughs keep them out of the thick cattails and in the fence lines and drier grass areas where you can see and get at them. Dogs should be able to scent much better compared to the dusty, dry conditions that don't hold scent and plug up their noses. I think you are going to see far more birds roosting in thickets and fence lines to dry off during early shooting hours.
There was localized flooding in areas we hunt about 5 years ago we were actually able to road hunt mallards and pass shoot them out of the ditches and take pheasant on the other side of the road.
Don't forget to pack spare boots, waders and boot driers and we should have a great year this fall.
As for hunting conditions, with the access roads on all sides I can't recall any wet year where I though access was completely cut off to productive spots. If all access is that wet, you're going to find wet habitat anyway and birds will be concentrated in nearby areas. Water in ditch bottoms and sloughs keep them out of the thick cattails and in the fence lines and drier grass areas where you can see and get at them. Dogs should be able to scent much better compared to the dusty, dry conditions that don't hold scent and plug up their noses. I think you are going to see far more birds roosting in thickets and fence lines to dry off during early shooting hours.
There was localized flooding in areas we hunt about 5 years ago we were actually able to road hunt mallards and pass shoot them out of the ditches and take pheasant on the other side of the road.
Don't forget to pack spare boots, waders and boot driers and we should have a great year this fall.