The 2008-09 duck season was the final year of the Hunter’s Choice Bag Limit Trial. This year the Central Flyway is in the interim year of the trial when harvest and survey data collected over the last 3 years will be analyzed and provided in report form to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for consideration for future years harvest management alternatives.
The Problem: A long-term decline in pintail populations and a small population of canvasbacks have led biologists to try and come up with ways to limit the harvest of these ducks while allowing harvest of more abundant species. In recent years, there have been “seasons within a season” (SWAS) where the take of pintails and canvasbacks was only allowed for 39 days of the overall 74-day duck season. The Hunter’s Choice Bag Limit has the potential to limit harvest on pintails and canvasbacks, like SWAS, and may be more acceptable to hunters than having partially closed seasons on several ducks.
Hunter’s Choice uses an aggregate or combined bag limit category to restrict the harvest of duck species needing special harvest management consideration, while maintaining full hunting opportunity on abundant species or stocks of ducks such as drake mallards. The Hunter’s Choice aggregate bag limit category includes the hen mallard, pintail, canvasback, and in Texas a mottled duck, where only one of the duck species in the aggregate category can be taken in the daily limit. For those species in the aggregate bag category, the harvest of one will buffer the harvest of the others, thus reducing the harvest of all. Preliminary results show that the Hunter’s Choice bag limit was at least equally effective in reducing the harvest of pintail, canvasback and mottled duck as SWAS.
Waterfowl hunter’s in the Central Flyway were surveyed in 2005 and 2009. In both surveys a majority of hunters supported both partial seasons for ducks of concern with full seasons on abundant ducks (SWAS) and full seasons on all ducks with bag limit restrictions on ducks of concern (Hunter’s Choice). Hunters from both SWAS and Hunter’s Choice states agreed that Hunter’s Choice simplifies regulations and is easy to understand, and that both SWAS and Hunter’s Choice helps limit harvest on certain ducks. While overall it appears that hunters preferred Hunter’s Choice, there was sufficient evidence to show that SWAS are an acceptable regulations option to hunter’s. For more detailed information please visit http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/waterfowl/surveyresults.htm.
The report written by the Central Flyway Council will be used by the USFWS to decide if the Hunter’s Choice bag limit is a viable regulatory alternative for duck harvest within the Central Flyway. Should it receive approval from the USFWS the Council will decide where and when to implement changes within the flyway, possibly as soon as the 2010 waterfowl season.
Hunter's Choice States
Non-Hunter's Choice States
Duck Hunting Regulation Differences
Non-Hunter’s Choice States
Hunter’s Choice States
• Seasons within seasons where pintail and canvasback harvest are not allowed during periods of the overall duck season.
• Pintail and canvasback harvest is allowed during the entire duck season (one pintail or one canvasback or one hen mallard allowed per day).