Dealing with continued restrictions should be expected by duck hunters

By DOYLE DIETZ CORRESPONDENT Sep 12, 2020 Updated 9 hrs ago
Four mallards take off from the Susquehanna River in West Pittston.

Waterfowl hunters — duck hunters in particular — will be dealing with continued restrictions for mallards set by the Pennsylvania Game Commission in an effort to offset recent population declines.

PGC waterfowl biologist Nate Huck said these conservation-based restrictions are inline with recommendations from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Also implemented are restrictions on Atlantic Populations of Canada geese in the Atlantic Flyway.

“Mallards throughout the northeastern United States have experienced a slow, steady population decline for the past 20 years,” Huck said. “Atlantic Population Canada goose numbers have dropped more abruptly over the past three years, and the best available data indicate recent harvest levels for these species were not sustainable.

“That’s why the Atlantic Flyway Council recommended, and the USFWS approved, regulatory changes to reverse these population declines in 2019-20 and 2020-21. Mallard daily bag limits in the Atlantic Flyway remain at two daily with no more than one hen, and in a few years, our annual population surveys should reveal whether these bag-limit restrictions are working.”

According to biologist Tom Moorman, there are many factors that influence distribution of waterfowl in fall and winter, some that occur annually and others that cause longer-term changes. Recently, he addressed some of these issues for Ducks Unlimited.

“Most waterfowl hunters understand the effect weather has on waterfowl migration,” Moorman wrote. “After all, who among us is not guilty of checking our favorite weather app daily to see if Old Man Winter has awakened and hastened waterfowl migrations? “Except for the few species that are hardwired for more dependable long-distance migrations, such as blue-winged teal, waterfowl are adapted to migrate only as far as is necessary for them to find food, open water, and places to rest. For some species, it may take several consecutive days of freezing temperatures and snow cover to push them southward.”

Moorman went on to write that without freezing temperatures and snow to cover food sources, waterfowl linger. It is advantageous for them to reduce risk of mortality from migration and remain closer to spring breeding areas. Especially among mallards and northern pintails, birds arrive earliest on breeding areas in spring have access to the best territories, which results in a higher probability of nesting successfully and rearing a brood.

Snow and ice cover and their influence on waterfowl migration and distribution are intuitive to most duck hunters. What may be less understood is the trend toward warmer winters, but the science is very clear — if current climate trends continue in North America, mid-latitude and northern regions will have less frequent ice and snow cover in future winters.

Considering that waterfowl are adapted to stay as close as they can to breeding areas, such a trend does not bode well for waterfowlers farther south. In fact, recent research publications that model both climate and bird distribution indicate that by 2050 the core of the mallard wintering range may extend from Nebraska eastward to the Great Lakes Region.

Other species of ducks are likely to be similarly influenced, meaning significantly delayed fall migrations and shorter periods spent on southern wintering areas. Similar northward shifts are being documented in Europe, and given these trends hunters should expect increased variability in migration activity and waterfowl distribution in the years ahead.

Moorman said other factors are landscape change and variation, weather and landscape interactions, annual waterfowl production, wetland restoration and hunting pressure. Of these, hunting pressure is probably the least understood variable in the waterfowl distribution equation.

“We do know that ducks and geese do not like disturbance and will abandon heavily disturbed areas for places where they can find food and rest,” Moorman wrote. “Furthermore, hunting has changed in the past few decades with advances in equipment and technology having made it easier to access nearly all places waterfowl are found. “Many hunters have purchased or lease land that is intensively managed to attract waterfowl for hunting, leading to more and often higher-quality habitat on many landscapes. Hunters commonly use motion decoys, where legal, and machines that keep wetlands from freezing in cold weather.

“Regulations enabling multiple, split seasons in any given state mean that waterfowl are subjected to more hunting pressure in mid-latitude and southern states. The effects and interactions of these variables are poorly understood, however, the surest way to lower the quality of hunting in your favorite duck hole is to disturb birds too often by hunting or even riding through it too frequently.”

In conclusion, Moorman advised that ducks simply will not tolerate intense disturbance and will readily relocate to other areas, sometimes far away.

(Dietz is parliamentarian of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association)

https://www.citizensvoice.com/sports...813ba7c75.html