By Todd Schaller, WWA Vice President
This article originally appeared in Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s February, 2023 Newsletter edition.
Recently, the WDNR Migratory Committee supported moving to a five year cycle in setting waterfowl seasons, with the goal of improved consistency for hunters, hunter planning, alignment to zone setting cycles and reducing staff workload (minimal changes from year to year).
The decision makes good sense and the conversation made me realize waterfowl hunters are similar to Green Bay Packer fans.
A large subset of Packer fans have never experienced a season without an MVP caliber quarterback (1992). Similarly, a large subset of Wisconsin waterfowl hunters have never experienced a duck season shorter than 60 days (1996). As a waterfowl hunter who enjoys the Packers, having lived through the “tough years”, these similarities are a positive.
So why the comparison. As the WDNR works through the process of establishing a 5 year season setting process it will include reference to a duck season shorter than 60 days. With many hunters not being familiar with the federal season setting process I fear reference to a shortened duck season would create a hunter panic.
No need to panic; a duck season shorter than 60 days isn’t anticipated, however in this rule change it needs to be part of the planning process. Continue reading for more information on the federal season setting process.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) process for setting waterfowl seasons occurs at the Flyway level (Atlantic, Mississippi, Central and Pacific). The season length, including earliest start date, latest end date and total number of days, plus daily bag limits are the same for each state within the Flyway. The system does allow for a state to be more restrictive than the federal structure, however they cannot be less restrictive. For example, the federal hen mallard limit in the Mississippi Flyway has been two and until recently Wisconsin has maintained a one hen mallard limit.
As you can image, managing ducks at the Flyway level, when considering all the variables impacting populations, is very complex. It also recognizes the impacts of hunting regulations cannot be predicted with certainty. While complex and uncertain, history has demonstrated the system works and usually errors on the side of species protection, which is important.
The system is referred to as “Adaptive Harvest Management” (AHP). While it is complex, the foundation is based on population estimates (surveys), habitat (pond numbers in the Prairie Pothole Region, etc.) and mallards. Using a matrix with population and habitat, AHP lays out four possible duck season structures for Mississippi Flyway states (WI), along with associated total bag limit, mallard limit and hen mallard limits:
- liberal – 60 days,
- moderate – 45 days,
- restricted – 30 days, and
- closed – zero days
While mallards are the foundation, it always considers individual species population estimates, which may impact other limits; for example, two pintail, two canvasback, etc.
If interested in understanding more about rule waterfowl season setting, plan to attend one of the waterfowl presentations by Taylor Finger (WDNR) or check out the Adaptive Harvest Management link.
Please weigh in on the survey later this month to express your perspective on how the possible shorter seasons should be implemented in Wisconsin.
As a waterfowl hunter and Packer fan, I’m looking forward to future winning seasons.