Getting their DUCKS in a row


By CHRIS YOUNG
OUTDOORS EDITOR

Illinois Conservation Police officers went back to the classroom earlier this fall to prepare to enforce waterfowl regulations. Waterfowl season opens Oct. 30, one-half hour before sunrise.
Twenty-one new officers attended “duck school” at the Illinois State Fairgrounds Sept. 21-24 to identify baiting situations, brush up on duck identification, learn about the legal kinds of shot available and review numerous other regulations Illinois waterfowl hunters must follow. Three U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents also attended.

Conservation police officers already are considered highly trained because they undergo traditional police training and receive additional instruction in conservation law enforcement.

Towards the end of the week, officers moved out to Conservation World on the Illinois State Fairgrounds for hands-on work at a variety of stations.

Sgt. Jim Dever of Canton was running officers through the Canada goose permit system. Hunters must call a toll-free number to record the geese they kill so officials can monitor the progress of the season and be sure the numbers of geese taken are within the quota allowed.

In addition to explaining the rules and procedures, Dever shares techniques for working with the public with the young officers. He stresses that officers must enforce the law consistently and fairly.

“Then you can hold your head high. Fairness is the key word,” he says. “Nobody likes to get a ticket. But they will understand if the officer is fair.”

He adds that a little legwork will go a long way toward building relationships with the hunters in the officer’s area.

“It’s a lot of walking, but it’s a good chance to get to know the hunting community in your area,” he says. “It’s not rocket science. It’s hard work.”

Dever explains why relations with the public go hand-in-hand with enforcing the law.

“This is a school for new officers, and they haven’t gone into a season yet,” he says. “I want to hit those points with them and get them to relax a little bit and enjoy what they do.

“They can’t let their guard down,” he adds. “But there is a right way and a wrong way to approach people.”

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service resident agent in charge Tim Santel has taught migratory game bird regulations to conservation police recruits for the past decade. He also is an instructor at the federal law enforcement academy for the migratory bird portion of the training there.

“(Waterfowl identification) is one of the hardest parts of this work, and probably the most intimidating,” he says. “The public expects the game warden to know what the ducks are, even if they don’t. It’s important for our officers to have a good working knowledge of what’s in the hunter’s bag. These guys get thrown a lot of stuff in a week.”

Chris Johnson, an officer based in Woodford, agrees.

“It’s a tremendous, tremendous amount of information,” he says. “I’ve never waterfowl hunted in my life. I’ve basically gone from knowing nothing to having most of the tools I need to go out there and get the job done.”

He adds that despite an intensive classroom schedule, many officers stay after hours to be sure they get it right.

“I noticed a lot of us, even after the day is over, we still go back (for extra study) so we are sure we know what we need to know,” Johnson says.

Capt. Mark Ottis has been a conservation police officer for nearly 25 years and currently oversees conservation law enforcement in Region Four, which includes Sangamon County.

He points out that hunting regulations for other seasons are a bit more uniform because hunters usually are after a single species (deer, turkey or upland birds), whereas waterfowl hunters must contend with very specific bag limits for certain species and observe seasons within seasons.

Telling all those birds apart can be very difficult, especially in flight.

“What we concentrate on is identification by the wing only,” he says. “It takes a lot of seasons of experience observing waterfowl in flight to pick out the characteristics of different birds in flight.”

Birds may differ in plumage from male to female, juvenile to adult or breeding season to molt. The wing, however, provides a consistent benchmark.

“The wing is a distinguishing characteristic for all of them,” he says. “A hunter may have it all wet, soggy and muddy in the bottom of their boat, his dog chews on it a while. But if they can get a hold of that wing they can tell what it is.”

Santel says hunters must be willing to pass up a shot.

“Hunters aren’t always sure,” he says. “Some don’t make the identification until they get the bird in hand, and that can pose problems with limits. You may end up shooting something you didn’t intentionally try to shoot.”

Some ducks, such pintails and canvasbacks, have abbreviated seasons due to lower numbers.

For Santel, the solution is fairly simple.

“If you don’t know, don’t shoot. If you’re not sure, don’t pull the trigger,” he says. “So what if it goes by? Maybe you’ll get another chance. The ‘shoot first and look later’ method of hunting is really risky.”