November, 1944 



Bellrose: Duck Populations and Kill 



357 



940, it was not long until the mallards 

 i^ere flying to the cornfields before day- 

 ireak and leaving 15 to 30 minutes 

 ater for the rest lakes. Where formerly 

 nassed thousands of ducks could be 

 een streaming back to the lakes in 

 he bright light after sunrise, now en- 

 ire cornfields appeared to rise into the 

 ,ir as tens of thousands of ducks left 

 /ith the first streaks of dawn. 



In 1942, waterfowl shooting hours 

 vere extended from 4 p.m. until sunset, 

 rhe result was that mallards, after the 

 irst few days, would not alight or at- 

 empt to alight in cornfields until sun- 

 et or shortly thereafter. Consequent- 

 y, their feeding activities occurred later 

 han under the 4 p.m. closing hour. 

 During cold, blustery weather, when the 

 hermometer was below freezing, mal- 

 ards forsook their morning and evening 

 outine, feeding throughout the day in 

 ields close to their rest lakes. 



In 1943, shooting hours were further 

 ixtended, the legal starting time being 

 )laced at one-half hour before sunrise. 



This change served no useful purpose to 

 most hunters in Illinois; in fact, it was 

 detrimental to duck hunting in many 

 places. Disturbances caused by hunt- 

 ers in going to their shooting stands at 

 an hour when the ducks were commenc- 

 ing to feed resulted in considerable 

 avoidance of those areas by mallards. 



Field observations in 1943 revealed 

 that, because of hunting disturbance 

 during the early morning hours, mal- 

 lards fed very little in cornfields close 

 to the Illinois and Mississippi rivers 

 until after the end of the open season. 

 The bulk of the population obtained 

 food in the mechanically picked corn- 

 fields 20 to 40 miles from the rest lakes. 

 In this vast territory, mallards were 

 able to find fields where there was little 

 hunting disturbance. 



Because of the distance they traveled 

 for food, mallards frequently returned 

 from the morning feeding to their rest 

 lakes as late as 10 a.m.. Central War 

 Time. The time of return probably 

 depended upon the availability of the 



Photo by Bob Becker 



Duck club caretaker (left) and Illinois Natural History Survey game technician checking 

 the composition of duck bags at a shooting club in the Illinois River valley. 



