November, ig44 



Bellrose; Duck Populations and Kill 



355 



Some hunters believe that the season 

 might well be set earlier. As fig. 16 

 shows, most Illinois duck hunters prefer 

 to do the greater part of their hunting 

 early in the season, when waterfowl are 

 rather evenly distributed and tempera- 

 tures are comfortable. While an earlier 

 season of 60 days or more would include 

 a smaller proportion of the waterfowl 

 flight, records of the Duck Island Pre- 

 serve, table 9 and fig. 17, and figs. 5, 6 

 and 7 indicate that it would increase the 

 kill of ducks in Illinois. The greater 

 vulnerability of the species and indi- 

 viduals present early in the season more 

 than compensates for the reduced popu- 

 lation in Illinois at that time. 



Setting the season earlier would en- 

 able waterfowl hunters to bag more 

 coots. It is generally agreed among 

 wildlife technicians that a greater kill 

 of coots could and probably should be 

 made, and, since almost half of the coot 

 population of the Illinois River valley 

 is present by the middle of October, an 

 earlier opening would result in a greater 

 kill of that bird. 



Although an earlier season might pro- 

 vide a more equitable distribution of the 

 take and more comfortable hunting, it 

 must be realized that in Illinois such a 

 season would tend to increase the pres- 

 sure on species that are least able to 

 withstand it. 



The closing date for the waterfowl 

 hunting season in Illinois should proba- 

 bly be December 10 or earlier. According 

 to records of the Peoria weather station, 

 the average date of closing of the Illi- 

 nois River by ice (1867-1930) is Decem- 

 ber 10. In most states of the central 

 zone the mean daily temperature falls 

 below 32 degrees by December 15, fig. 

 2. While, as fig. 10 discloses, a large 

 percentage of the mallard and black 

 duck populations remain after the 

 freeze-up in the Illinois River valley, 

 winter conditions then usually do not 

 favor duck hunting. The remaining 

 mallards and black ducks concentrate 

 on only a few lakes and, partly because 

 of such local concentrations, only a small 

 percentage of hunters continue hunting, 

 fig. 16. Under such rigorous weather 

 and feeding conditions as occur after 

 the freeze-up, few ducks may be killed, 

 or, occasionally, excessively many. Be- 



cause most duck hunting ends with the 

 winter freeze-up, there is little reason 

 to extend the season in Illinois beyond 

 December 10 or 15. The same closing 

 dates may be applicable to other states 

 in the central zone. 



If, in the future, it is necessary once 

 again to shrink the open season to 30 

 days, I believe that for Illinois the sea- 

 son should be set from November 1 

 through 30. This would place most of 

 the shooting pressure on mallards and 

 black ducks, species that are, as already 

 discussed, best able to take it. If con- 

 ditions were critical enough to warrant 

 a 30-day season, they would almost cer- 

 tainly justify giving greater protection 

 to some species than to others. The 

 ducks in need of greatest protection 

 would probably be the blue- and green- 

 winged teals, shoveler, widgeon and 

 ruddy duck, species that complete a 

 large part of their fall migration through 

 Illinois by November 1. 



If the status of waterfowl is such that 

 a 45-day season is desirable, I believe 

 the optimum period for Illinois is from 

 October 22 through December 5. This 

 would place flights of mallards, black 

 ducks, lesser scaups, ring-necked ducks 

 and canvasbacks under shotgun pres- 

 sure longer than other species less able 

 to withstand this pressure, and it would 

 cover the period in which ducks are 

 most abundant in Illinois. 



Should an abundance of waterfowl 

 permit a 60-day shooting season, and 

 most species are sufficiently numerous 

 to be secure, the optimum season for 

 Illinois would be from October 10 

 through December 8. 



Should the continent's waterfowl pop- 

 ulation justify a 70-day season, then I 

 believe the season, insofar as Illinois is 

 concerned, might best be set at October 

 1 through December 9. 



Recommended dates for an 80-day 

 season are September 26 through De- 

 cember 14; recommended dates for a 

 lO'J-day season are September 20 through 

 December 28. 



Optimum Season Lengths 



Does the duck kill increase in direct 

 ratio to the length of the hunting season ? 

 Waterfowl investigators have done little 



