364 



Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin 



Vol. 2j, Art. 2 



season adjusted to provide less shooting 

 pressure. In the northern and central 

 zones, a late opening would see most of 

 the wood ducks gone before shooting 

 commences. Census and banding rec- 

 ords in Illinois reveal that most of these 

 ducks have departed from this state by 

 November 1. 



Effect of Bait and Live Decoys 



In the years when baiting was per- 

 mitted along the Illinois River, there 

 were two diverse types of baited areas. 

 In the bottomlands, bait was placed in 

 small timbered ponds, or at shooting 

 stands in the marshes and on the large 

 lakes. Differing widely from such 

 baited areas were the upland field pens, 

 each of which consisted merely of a pen 

 of decoys, bait and, usually, a small 

 pond of water. 



The bottomland areas most success- 

 fully baited were small timbered ponds 

 and potholes. For the reason that the 

 region near the mouth of the Sangamon 

 River contained many such areas and 

 was almost devoid of natural foods, it 

 was the scene of the heaviest baiting. 

 Leopold (1931) reports that in that 

 region in 1928 clubs were putting out, 

 on a 20-acre tract, as high as 7,000 

 bushels of corn per season and that 



rates per acre ran up to 430 bushels 

 per season. 



According to Uhler (1933) field-pen 

 shooting reached its maximum develop- 

 ment in Mason County. The success 

 there was due largely to the proximity 

 of three large "rest" lakes — Clear, 

 Jack and Crane — which at the time 

 were not adapted to the growth of 

 first-class duck food plants because of 

 their extreme fluctuation in water 

 levels. Mallards were readily attracted 

 from these lakes to the nearby heavily 

 baited field pens. From a plane, Uhler 

 enumerated 250 field pens in Mason 

 County and in the adjacent part of 

 Tazewell County. Most of these were 

 within 5 miles of the Illinois River 

 bottomlands, but a few were nearly 

 twice that distance from the river. 



Uhler's description of a dry-land club 

 is as follows: "A typical field-pen con- 

 sists of a small artificial pond supplied 

 by water which is usually pumped from 

 a nearby well by means of a portable 

 gasoline engine. The basin of the pond 

 is lined in a variety of ways to prevent 



seepage The pond is equipped 



with a flock of live decoys and baited 

 heavily with corn on the cob or shelled. 

 Sometimes, the entire pond is enclosed: 

 with poultry mesh about four feet high. 

 Other ponds have the decoys confined 





Plioto by Bob Becker 



Corn being scattered at an Illinois River valley shooting stand in the days of baiting, 10 d 

 more years ago. Mallard and pintail silhouettes are shown being used as decoys. The combinatior, 

 of baiting and live decoys resulted in a duck kill so high that restrictive measures were inauguratet 

 in an effort to prevent rapid depletion of the population. 



