370 



Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin 



Vol. 2j, Art. 2 



returns over the nation from approxi- 

 mately 28,000 mallards banded on the 

 Chautauqua Refuge, 1938-1943, 

 amounted to only about 5 per cent, 

 approximately one-fourth the propor- 

 tion recorded by Lincoln near Browning. 



Pirnie (1935) reported that 20.5 per 

 cent of 1,607 black ducks banded at the 

 Munuscong Waterfowl Refuge in Mich- 

 igan's upper peninsula between 1928 

 and 1934, before drastic waterfowl re- 

 strictions were inaugurated, were re- 

 ported shot the same season as banded. 

 Of 1,251 black ducks banded from 1939 

 to 1942, inclusive, on the Seney National 

 Wildlife Refuge in Michigan's upper 

 peninsula, only 9.2 per cent were re- 

 ported shot during the same season as 

 banded (reported by C. S. Johnson to 

 Richard Griffith). This is approxi- 

 mately half the percentage reported by 

 Pirnie for the earlier period from the 

 same region. 



According to Phillips & Lincoln (1930) 

 the annual duck mortality up to the 

 time they wrote (as based on first- 

 season band returns from stations 

 scattered over the continent) was about 

 13 per cent. Banding data supplied 

 by B. W. Cartwright of Ducks Un- 

 limited (Canada) disclose that, in 1940, 

 6.7 per cent first-season band returns 

 were received; in 1941 the returns 

 amounted to 5.6 per cent; and in 1942 

 to 7.5 per cent. These figures repre- 

 sent about half the percentage reported 

 by Phillips & Lincoln. 



Although these figures are only small 

 samples, their consistency is indicative 

 that regulations in force in the past 10 

 years cut about in half the rate of kill 

 made by hunters in the previous decade. 

 On the whole, the measures enacted by 

 the federal government to reduce the 

 kill of ducks accomplished their pur- 

 pose. 



Summary 



1. In order to manage well the har- 

 vest of the continental crop of migratory 

 waterfowl, it is necessary to evaluate as 

 closely as possible the influence each 

 hunting regulation has on the kill and 

 to determine the optimum dates for 

 open seasons. Cbviously, a close evalu- 

 ation covering all of North America is 



impossible at present, but it is feasible 

 in a smaller area, such as Illinois. 



2. All important waterfowl hunting 

 regulations except those relating to 

 territories were made by the individual 

 states until the federal Migratory Bird 

 Act was passed in 1913. 



3. The Migratory Bird Act of 1913 

 and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 

 1918 applied the first major federal re- 

 strictions on the taking of waterfowl. 

 However, federal regulations were not 

 very stringent until a shrinking water- 

 fowl population, alarmingly evident by 

 1933, necessitated a great reduction in 

 thekill.^ 



4. Various restrictive measures im- 

 posed on duck hunting, most of them in 

 1935, included reduction in the open 

 season to 30 days, reduction in the bag 

 and possession limits to 10 birds, limi- 

 tation of shooting to the hours between 

 7 A.M. and 4 p.m., prohibition of the use 

 of bait and live decoys, limitation of 

 shells in gun to three or less, and re- 

 duced limits or no open season on cer- 

 tain species of waterfowl. 



5. It is possible to regulate the kill 

 of certain species of waterfowl in Illi- 

 nois by opening and closing the hunting 

 season to include all or certain proper- ; 

 tions of the flight of these species within;! 

 the open or closed periods. Species i 

 differ in the time of arrival in Illinois,- 

 in reaching maximum numbers and ini| 

 departing. i 



6. It may be necessary to protect i 

 certain species more than others, fori 

 each kind of duck varies in vulnerability i 

 to the shotgun as well as to natural con- 

 ditions. Inherent wariness, flight,:| 

 flocking and feeding habits of ducks and.' 

 shooting practices of hunters are factors; 

 that affect the kill of each duck species.- 



7. In Illinois, mallards and blacks 

 ducks, as a group, were found to be the* 

 least vulnerable to the shotgun, 1938-; 

 1942, followed by lesser scaups, can-j 

 vasbacks, ruddy ducks, ring-necked i 

 ducks, pintails, widgeons and gadwalls, ; 

 green-winged and blue-winged teals, andj 

 shovelers. | 



8. Recent open seasons in Illinois' 

 (1938-1942) have protected blue-winged 

 teals more than any other species. 

 These open seasons have protected 

 other species in the following descending 



il 



