November, 1^44 



Bellrose: Duck Populations and Kill 



333 



moved from redheads and buffleheads. 

 In 1941, one wood duck could be taken 

 in 15 states. The 1942 and 1943 regu- 

 lations permitted throughout the na- 

 tion one wood duck in each hunter's 

 daily bag or in his possession. The 

 1944 regulations on wood ducks were 

 the same except that in South Dakota 

 and Massachusetts no wood ducks could 

 be taken. 



Bait and Live Decoys. — The first 

 Illinois restriction on the employment 

 of bait to attract waterfowl dates back 

 to a state law effective in 1909. This 

 was repealed in 1911, and it was not 

 until federal regulations prohibited bait- 

 ing in 1935 that this method of enticing 

 ducks to a shooting stand was again 

 illegal. In 1934 it was necessary to 

 secure a permit from the federal gov- 

 ernment to employ bait; a federal regu- 

 lation prohibited the use of bait in 1935, 

 but it was interpreted to permit feeding 

 on one section of the premises if the 

 shooting stand was sufficiently remote 

 to allow birds free access to the feed 

 without being shot at. The regulation 

 was so worded the next year as to pro- 

 hibit feeding under any shooting con- 

 ditions. 



Prior to 1900, baiting was almost un- 

 known in Illinois. The consensus of 

 old-time duck hunters is that baiting 

 of ducks began in the early 1900's in the 

 bottoms of the Sangamon River, near 

 the confluence of this river with the Illi- 

 nois. It seems to have started there 

 because diversion of water from Lake 

 Michigan resulted in raised water levels 

 in the Illinois River valley that brought 

 about a paucity of native duck foods 

 in the Sangamon bottoms. 



From the mouth of the Sangamon, 

 the practice of employing bait to at- 

 tract ducks spread up and down the 

 Illinois River bottomlands; by the 

 1920's it was widespread throughout 

 most of the valley. In the early 1920's, 

 it was discovered that bait placed on the 

 uplands in Mason County would at- 

 tract ducks. Soon baited areas with 

 pens of decoys dotted the sand hills of 

 that area. 



Live decoys were limited by federal 

 regulations to 25 in 1932, 1933 and 

 1934; they have been prohibited since 

 that time. 



Three-Shell Limit. — Beginning in 

 1935, federal regulations have prohibited 

 the taking of migratory game birds with 

 a shotgun capable of holding more than 

 three shells at any one loading. 



Evaluating Regulations 



The seasonal chronology of the flight 

 of the more important duck species in 

 Illinois was determined from censuses 

 made by the author in the Illinois River 

 valley from Bureau to Meredosia, a 

 distance of 140 miles, each week, 1938- 

 1942, figs. 3-15. Fortunately, the Illi- 

 nois River waterfowl habitat consists of 

 open lakes, averaging about 1,000 acres 

 each, which are readily accessible to 

 observers and many of which can be 

 viewed from bluffs or other high points. 

 It is the belief of Robert H. Smith, 

 Mississippi Fly way Biologist of the U. S. 

 Fish and Wildlife Service, that these cir- 

 cumstances make it possible to census 

 waterfowl in the Illinois River valley 

 more quickly and with a greater degree 

 of accuracy than in any other region of 

 comparable size in the nation. 



It is popularly supposed that the 

 larger the flock or raft of resting ducks, 

 the greater is the error in the estimate 

 of its numbers. However, in my opin- 

 ion, the reverse is more likely to be true, 

 for the larger the flock size the smaller 

 is the per cent of error in the measure- 

 ment of its surface. The basis for making 

 estimates used by the U. S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service (one duck per square 

 yard minus one-third for gaps) applies 

 as well to large rafts as to small flocks. 



The duck kill data in this paper were 

 taken from the records of duck clubs. 

 The game code of Illinois requires that 

 all waterfowl clubs report the kill, by 

 species, for each day and for each hunter. 

 There has been an average of about 700 

 waterfowl clubs in Illinois during recent 

 years. In the Illinois River valley, 

 clubs own about 90 per cent of the hunt- 

 ing land. Printed forms to record the 

 kill are provided clubs by the State 

 Department of Conservation. Many 

 clubs recorded their kill for years before 

 being required to do so. Club records are 

 the most nearly complete ones available 

 for a long period of time. 



Banding data, as well as kill records, 



