3 Pintails
- Thread starter Carl
- Start date
Wyatt Russo
Member
From what I understand it’s proposed it’s not yet approved, but most likely will happen
Wyatt Russo
Member
If I had any say if it goes to 3 it should be either 2 drakes 1 hen or drakes only
jode hillman
Well-known member
It's been approved in the Atlantic flyway for sure. We have it for 25/26
Wyatt Russo
Member
That’s crazy any detail on how many drakes/hens we’re allowed to shoot?
Allowed on west coast and central as well. I swore the only reason it wasnt in effect last season was because it was approved 1 week after the seasons limits were finalized. So they approved it to start 25/26 season. Last I heard was 3 pintails, didnt necessarily make up drake/hen ratios. I never shoot hens (or its very rare) and Im glad about this change. I bet I had a few hundred pintails in and out of my decoys most hunts early season. I would get my 1 good one for the day, and then just watch and weed through them for the mallard to show up. Oh I will be ready for this change, one of my absolute favorite birds is a good ol Pinnie drake.
jode hillman
Well-known member
As far as I can tell, it is three either sex.
Our final regulations are not out yet but in our season setting meeting there was no differentiation made between Hen and Drake
Wyatt Russo
Member
Hopefully someone makes that differentiation
Josh Jenson
Member
I was just in North Dakota snow goose hunting….. the pintail show every morning was pretty amazing! I’ve never seen so many! Last fall we would have our pintail limit in short order and then pass them the rest of the morning.
bob welsh
Well-known member
I was wondering if this spring you noticed an out of balance in the sex ratios of Pintails. The number of 7 to 1 drakes to hens is the number that I heard being tossed around. The reports state that hens are in poor condition being pursued by so many drake suitors .Being that the birds are in their best colors right now it should be easy to spot a brown ducks in the flock.
I would agree with this. I remember quite a few full bachelor flocks. I was also seeing 2 hens to flocks of 20 drakes. I will say though, there were many groups of 3-5 birds that came in that were all hens, but anytime it was a big group decoying, primarily drakes that I saw. I had good looking birds all season. October to January. The only difference between my October birds and my January birds was sprig size. First pic is beginning season pintail, second pic is second to last weekend of the season. Shot this ol susie, she sat in the decoys and I kept looking at how much black she had in the bill. I thought it was actually pretty cool. I had been telling myself I needed a hen for reference pics for my airbrushing this summer. Even though I kept telling myself, I just wasnt doing it. Finally when I saw her, I had to see that bill. One of the blackest darkets bills ive ever seen on a hen. She was a nasally sassy thing in the decoys. A ton of fun to watch before I killed her.
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Josh Jenson
Member
Oh it’s definitely out of whack, it was mostly drakes from what I saw ….. although my eyes are definitely drawn to those and my observations are very unscientific!
Technically the interim strategy has been approved and is proposed to be implemented in 2025-26 season, however, the actual final regulations have not been issued by USFWS yet. In the future, USFWS is looking at a different way of establishing regulations which would streamline the administrative process saving time and money.
Josh Jenson
Member
My other observation is that without significant rainfall in the very near future the nesting season in the dakotas will be dismal….however….. since the tiny temporary potholes favored by pintails are already dry maybe they will make use of more permanent spots and success will be higher? 
Interesting that there's such a large imbalance. I was hoping that wasn't the case since most of the pintail we saw this season were hens. We do not see many, maybe a couple hundred in a year, but at least 2/1 in favor of hens this year. I shot two drakes. We only see them late season so I would think juveniles wouldn't be deceiving us.
bob welsh
Well-known member
Brad, I read your interview in F&S and I was glad to hear a mention of the BPOP survey for this spring and the impact it may have on the pintail limits. The hen pintails have a tough go of it. They are grass nesters. One of the first to arrive, their timing of hatch is just in time for the furbearing predators to take a toll. Many go under the wheels of a tractor as well. If pintails dont find acceptable grass nesting sites they just quit looking. Its these non breeding pintaile that are being counted as a surplus. The science says harvesting these non breeders ,under current modeling,should have no impact. My friends who are biologists here in Illinois say that even shooting the hens during the season is insignificant . I still think a strap with drakes makes a better pic, so I try to lay off. This info is no news to you, im sure, but to the average duck hunter shooting more birds when the population is HALF of what it was in 2016 seems a hard sell.
I wonder if this lower (vs. historic) level of pintail (and lesser scaup) population is in reality the new benchmark?
Has habitat impacts & agricultural practices resulted in a change in carrying capacity to a point where this is the new normal?
And did the coinciding crash in the fur market also have an impact, now that predator populations are no longer suppressed due to intensive trapping?
I'm not sure these questions have been answered.
Has habitat impacts & agricultural practices resulted in a change in carrying capacity to a point where this is the new normal?
And did the coinciding crash in the fur market also have an impact, now that predator populations are no longer suppressed due to intensive trapping?
I'm not sure these questions have been answered.
Paul Taylor
Active member
It definitely seems like we keep moving the goalpost. Many hunters that are having dismal duck hunting seem to be begging for a reduction in season days and bag limits yet a "new study" indicates shooting 3 pintails won't harm the population. I know in S. Louisiana we quite possibly could shoot 3 pintails per hunt most days. I remember past seasons with no Pintails being legal to harvest but don't have a clue as to the Pintail population then.
We have permanently lost prairie nesting capacity due to farming practices. Droughts have led to more land tiling, land we will never get back into duck production which adds to your carrying capacity comment.