Duck Season Dates and Zone Boundaries Workshops

On February 25th, 2011 at 10:09pm frank said:

The suggestion to allow the harvest of wood ducks during the teal season is brought up fairly often. Back in 1981 Kentucky, Tennessee and Florida conducted multi-year experiment to see if the breeding population could handle an early season. This evaluation found that the harvest rate was quite high and would be potentially detrimental to sustaining healthy wood duck populations across the flyways. Additionally, it would be very difficult and expensive to monitor. Discussion of eliminating the special season for KY, TN, and FL was discussed, but the three states were grandfathered into the current federal regulations, which does not allow wood ducks to be harvested during teal season. The wood duck season in these 3 states are only 5-days in length compared to our teal season that may last up to 16 days depending on the teal population status. Examining wood duck harvest alternatives did not stop with there. From 1998 to 2008, the US Fish and Wildlife Service worked in cooperation with the Mississippi, Atlantic, and Central flyways to develop a wood duck harvest strategy to address the issues brought up through earlier wood duck population work. In 2008, the US Fish and Wildlife Service allowed the three flyways to conduct a three-year experiment with a three-bird bag limit to see if kill rates matched expectations and models that had been developed between 1998-2008. This was the last year of the study so the states and flyways are looking at the data to see how the wood duck population is holding up under this new strategy. I hope this background information gives you a better idea of what has been examined in the past and why we have the current regulations. Thanks for the question.

On February 21st, 2011 at 5:15pm Anonymous said:

how about an early wood duck season during teal season. make it a 1or 2 bird limit. people wouldnt have such a hard time identifying whats flying and enjoy an early season hunt a little more. People dont admit it often but who hasnt accidently shot a woodie while teal hunting and let it lie for fear of being caught making an honest mistake?

On February 16th, 2011 at 7:05pm lance said:

i'll hunt in single digit weather, did it several times this year , but the hunting is usually only good in a few spots. yes the birds are still around in january, but if the creek and slough go to the south zone we would have a 60 season instead of a 90 day season. when it gets below freezing for over a week in january like it has the last couple of years,10, the birds won't use the woods because the ice is thick enough to drive a truck on. i miss the timber as much as the next guy, hopefully the castor will flood this year and provide some great timber mallards.

On February 16th, 2011 at 1:43pm Darin said:

lance, you may not know but back in the day we used to be in the south zone. The duck season before this last one I had a reservation at Otter Slough the 3rd day of season. 75 degree weather is not considered good duck hunting in my opinion. If hunters that do not agree with south zone season would visit these areas after middle zone season goes out, you will see why we need to be in the south zone. Birds everywhere and they do not care about the ice, and if you are a duck hunter you shouldn't either.

On February 15th, 2011 at 7:07pm lance said:

darin, you nuts? do you really want to trade the early november hunts for more late season ice? as i recall we have had great bird counts and hunting in early november the last few years. the woods just are not what they used to be, take what you can get and shoot a limit in the fields

On February 15th, 2011 at 9:25am frank said:

Hello Zac, thanks for the suggestion.  I believe the rationale is to hold it a little bit later so folks can get home from work and grab a bite to eat before coming to the workshop.  I understand your point about not having it too late. We want these opportunities to be accessible for everyone to come and participate. Anyway, I thought I'd just explain why this time has seemed to work pretty well in the past. We'll see you there.

On February 14th, 2011 at 6:06pm Anonymous said:

I think the Department needs to look at changing the waterfowl quick draw procedure. I put in almost everyday this season for Otter Slough and was not drawn 1 time. I have been hunting Otter Slough since the early 1980s and is has progressed to be the best hunting area in the state. I think they should go back to poor line hunting only. At least then I did get to hunt 4 or 5 times a year.

On February 14th, 2011 at 3:14pm Zac said:

Frank, My only suggestion is to offer a workshop a little earlier in the day. Sometimes it is hard for older folk to get out that late in the evening because of limited visibility. Other than that, I've not had a problem with the dates-- keep up the good work.

On February 14th, 2011 at 1:51pm Darin said:

Duck Creek needs to be in the southern zone as well as Otter Slough. This will give Duck Creek time to get the water in the woods for the late season migrants.