Waterfowl Hunting Proposed Late Season Frameworks

Carl

Carl

Moderator
Staff member
Supporter
Waterfowl Hunting Proposed Late Season Frameworks
Contact:
Alicia F. King
571-214-3117
alicia_f_king@fws.gov
__________________________________________________

Washington D.C. — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced proposed hunting season lengths for the upcoming 2011-2012 late waterfowl seasons. The proposed federal frameworks include duck hunting season lengths of 60 days in both the Atlantic and Mississippi Flyways, 74 days in the Central Flyway (with an additional 23 days in the High Plains areas), and 107 days in the Pacific Flyway. The proposed frameworks also include a full season on pintails with a 2 bird daily bag limit in nationwide, and a full season on canvasbacks with a 1 bird daily bag limit nation-wide.
States select their season from within the federal frameworks that establish the earliest season beginning and latest ending dates and the maximum season length and bag limits. The proposed late season waterfowl frameworks will appear in a mid-August edition of the Federal Register for public comment. Flyway-specific highlights of the proposed late-season frameworks are below:
Atlantic Flyway (Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia):
  • Ducks: A hunting season is proposed of not more than 60 days between September 24, 2011, and January 29, 2012. The proposed daily bag limit is 6 and may include no more than 4 mallards (2 hens), 4 scoters, 3 wood ducks, 2 redheads, 2 hooded mergansers, 2 scaup, 1 black duck, 2 pintails, 1 canvasback, 1 mottled duck, and 1 fulvous whistling duck.
  • Geese: For light geese, States would be able to select a 107-day season between October 1, 2011, and March 10, 2012, with a daily bag limit of 25 birds and no possession limit. Seasons for Canada geese would vary in length among States and areas depending on the populations of birds that occur in those areas. The daily bag limit will be 5 birds in hunt zones established for resident populations of Canada geese. In hunt zones established for migratory populations, bag limits will be 5 or fewer and vary among States and areas. For Atlantic brant, the season length may be 50 days with a daily bag limit of 2.
Mississippi Flyway (Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee and Wisconsin):
  • Ducks: A hunting season is proposed of not more than 60 days between September 24, 2011, and January 29, 2012. The proposed daily bag limit is 6 and may include no more than 4 mallards (2 hens), 3 wood ducks, 1 mottled duck, 2 redheads, 2 scaup, 2 pintails,1 black duck, and 1 canvasback. The proposed daily bag limit of mergansers is 5, only 2 of which may be hooded mergansers.
  • Geese: Generally, seasons for Canada goose would be held between September 24, 2011, and January 31, 2012, and vary in length among States and areas. States would be able to select seasons for light geese not to exceed 107 days with 20 geese daily between September 24, 2011, and March 10, 2012; for white-fronted goose the proposed season would not exceed 74 days with a 2-bird daily bag limit or 88 days with a 1-bird daily bag limit between September 24, 2011, and February 15, 2012; and for brant it would not exceed 70 days with a 2-bird daily bag limit or 107 days with a 1 bird daily bag limit between September 24, 2011, and January 31, 2012. There is no possession limit for light geese.
Central Flyway (Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and portions of Colorado, Montana, New Mexico and Wyoming):
  • Ducks: Duck seasons are proposed to be held between September 24, 2011, and January 29, 2012. The daily bag limit would be 6 ducks, with species and sex restrictions as follows: mallard – 5, no more than 2 of which may be females; wood duck – 3; scaup, pintail, and redhead – 2; mottled duck, and canvasback – 1. The mottled duck season will begin 5 days after the beginning of the regular season in Texas. The possession limit would be 2 times the daily bag limit. In the High Plains Mallard Management Unit (roughly west of the 100th Meridian), a 97-day season is proposed. The last 23 days would be able to start no earlier than December 10, 2011. A 74-day season is proposed for the remainder of the Central Flyway.
  • Geese: States may select seasons between September 24, 2011 and February 12, 2012 for dark geese and between September 24, 2011, and March 10, 2012, for light geese. East-tier States would be able to select a 107-day season for Canada goose season with a daily bag limit of 3. For white-fronted geese, States would be able to select either a 74 day season with a daily bag limit of 2 birds or an 88-day season with a daily bag limit of 1 bird. In the West-tier, States may select a 107-day dark- goose season with a daily bag limit of 5 birds. In the Western Goose zone of Texas, the State would be able to select a 95-day season with a daily bag limit of 5 dark geese (including no more than 1 white-fronted goose). For light geese, all States would be able to select a 107-day season with a daily bag limit of 20 and no possession limit.
Pacific Flyway (Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and portions of Colorado, Montana, New Mexico and Wyoming):
  • Ducks: Under the proposal, States are allowed a 107-day general duck season between September 24, 2011, and January 29, 2012. The proposed daily bag limit is 7 ducks, including no more than 2 mallard hens, 2 redheads, 2 pintails and 1 canvasback. In addition, an 86 day season for scaup can be chosen with a daily bag limit of 3.
  • Geese: 107-day seasons are proposed for the Pacific Flyway between September 24, 2011, and March 10, 2012. Proposed basic daily bag limits are up to 10 light geese and 4 dark geese. There are exceptions to the basic bag limits and season structures for geese in many States, so consult State regulations for specific details. In California, Washington and Oregon, the dark goose limit does not include brant. For brant, the proposed season lengths are 16 days in Oregon and Washington and 30 days in California, with a 2-bird daily limit. Washington and California are able to choose seasons in each of the two zones described in state regulations.
The Service's 2011 Waterfowl Population Status Report summarizes information about the status of duck and goose populations and habitat conditions during spring of 2011. The preliminary estimate of total ducks from the 2011 Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey was 45.6 million birds. This estimate represents an 11% increase over last year’s estimate of 40.8 million birds and is 35% above the long-term average. The 2011 total pond estimates (in Prairie Canada and the United States combined) was 8.1 million, an increase of 22% over last year and a 62% increase above the long-term average.
Annual survey results guides the Service’s waterfowl conservation programs under authority of the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The Service works in partnership with state biologists from the four flyways — the Atlantic, Mississippi, Central and Pacific — to establish regulatory frameworks for waterfowl hunting season lengths, dates, and bag limits. Combined, these results form the largest data set on any wildlife species group in the world. They help provide equitable hunting opportunities while ensuring the long-term health of waterfowl populations.
To see the “Status of Waterfowl” report as well as last year's harvest figures, please see http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/. To view a video of the Status of Waterfowl video visit: http://flyways.us/status-of-waterfowl/video-report/.
The mission of the Service’s Migratory Bird Program is to ensure long-term ecological sustainability of migratory bird populations and their habitats for future generations, through careful monitoring, effective management, and by supporting national and international partnerships that conserve habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife.
The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are both a leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, known for our scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources, dedicated professionals, and commitment to public service. For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit www.fws.gov. Connect with our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/usfws, follow our tweets at www.twitter.com/usfwshq, watch our YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/usfws and download photos from our Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwshq.
-FWS-​
 
I appreciate you taking the time to post this, Carl..Thank you. We are indeed fortunate to have yet another liberal season to hunt.
Al
 
I don't understand why the atlantic gets 60 days, but the pacific 107.
 
My understanding: They have lots of ducks and a lot less hunting pressure.
 
That is my understanding as well, Carl. It is calculated using both harvest and waterfowl population data for a given flyway or area. In Ontario we get very liberal seasons and harvests because we have very few hunters and lots of birds compared to other areas.
 
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I don't understand why the atlantic gets 60 days, but the pacific 107.
Click to expand...

Because we have lot's of ducks and lots of tree huggers that don't hunt. It's not all bad here in CA. Plus, if you don't mind a few hour drive, you can travel to the northern part of the state and hunt an extra two weeks for a 121 day season. And, we will get a 5 day special goose season this year making 126 days of waterfowl hunting. Then there are 4 more days of youth season and about aother month of a special goose season in the NW corner of the state. Not such a bad place to be for a waterfowler.
 
It basically comes down to the number of ducks, duck hunters and amount of waterfowl habitat. These roughly determine the harvest pressure in a flyway. The Atlantic Flyway has relatively few ducks, relatively little habitat and lots of hunters, the Mississippi Flyway has lots of ducks, lots of hunters and moderate amount of habitat, the Central has relatively lots of ducks, fewer hunters and less habitat while the Pacific has lots of ducks, moderate amounts of habitat and few hunters. It wasn't rocket science, but the traditional flyway differences in regulations go back many years and are considered one of the truly sacred cows in waterfowl management.
 
After going to our state meeting last night I learned that the Atlantic FLyway was a hairs breath away from a reduced season due to down trending Mallard pair numbers. The percentage was very close and not a long way away from a closed season. The Biologist felt that the heaviest model is not responding to all the factors, but did agree with the fact that the Mallards are not showing a higher reproductive rate of success with a declining total population, as was thought when the model was developed.

Possible big changes in the next two years for the Atlantic.
 
Bob, while the model is not performing well, efforts are under way to investigate the problem and find a solution. The duck season in the Atlantic is a long way from being closed.
 
Brad, Im not an alarmist and did not mean to get a fire storm going on the net. Probably the wrong place to talk about it. But I do not have a good read on the way the model is set up and what the tools are. It was stated that the breeding pairs are down and trending that way, likely based on the 60 day season and other factors that are not apparent. What it will take to get the information to work seems to be in short supply in most states...... Money for research.

But we have been hearing that the 60 day season is hard on some species for quite a while.
 
Thanks Bob and I wasn't thinking you were trying to be alarmist. I appreciate you sharing the information with others. While it's not really a good time to say " we are from the government and here to help", we are working to try to figure out what is going on and why.
 
Thanks for working on this Brad.
I am on the side of the "Mallard is a Park Duck, Black duck is King" crowd. So, with flame suit on I say, it is my opinion that I would like to see a more species wide approach to the seasons. But I fully understand the issues with open and close dates, hunters shooting closed birds, and just plain falling hunter numbers, not to mention a host of others including the shortage of dollars available to measure the actual birds.

I believe the managers have our best interests in mind and try hard to keep us hunting.

I would still go if we only had a 1 duck limit. But that is just me.

I think the biggest issue was the fact that at the meeting there were only 30 guys compared to 60 most years. I hope that was due to the friday night timing of it. But I worry that we need more than that to have any traction in the State House.

Bob
 
Bob,

Fri. night was pretty discouraging with the small turn out. I suspect at least some of it was due to last year's season start vote being ignored. Hard to keep the facade that we have input after that fiasco. A couple of guys stated that as their excuse to blow it off, to paraphrase, "emails get more weight than the voice of those who bothered to show up". Not sure I can blame them but I still like seeing everyone and hearing the seasons straight from the horse's mouth. And just maybe plant a seed with my comments.

Friday rush hour traffic through Hartford does make the trip a bit painful.

Scott
 
Does this mean that Iowa won't have an early season starting on the Sat. closest to Sept. 20 this year? If not we won't get in on the BWT migration anymore.
 
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