Many private banders also contributed to the waterfowl programme, however, 

 these are not included in our records. 



Waterfowl Hunting Returns 



The hunting of waterfowl in Ontario is becoming increasingly difficult due to 

 the large number of hunters interested in this sport and the relatively limited spaces 

 which are suitable for this type of hunting. This crowding has led to a number of 

 distasteful instances particularly on opening day in the larger uncontrolled areas, 

 such as, Holland and Luther Marshes. As a rule, most duck hunters count on a 

 good opening day and somewhat unpredictable success on their favourite marshes 

 during the rest of the season. Under controlled waterfowl hunting conditions, such 

 as we have in five of our parks at the present time, hunting is shown to be better 

 over a longer period of time. 



Despite the variation in the accuracy of the figures, it appears that the quality 

 of hunting on the controlled unit at Long Point was slightly better than the success 

 attained at Luther under uncontrolled conditions even though Luther is a marsh 

 twice the size and at least twice the quality. Except for Rondeau these figures show 

 a significant difference in the quality of hunting which can be attained on a marsh 

 which is managed for waterfowl hunting. 



Goose Hunting in Ontario 



Goose hunting in Ontario is often thought to be limited to the areas imme- 

 diately adjacent to James and Hudson Bays but recent work in this field has 

 indicated that it is quite feasible to attract large numbers of Canada geese for the 

 hunters in Ontario. 



This year preliminary plans were made for a goose shooting refuge in 

 Cochrane and Lake Simcoe Districts. Other districts have plans pending. Some 

 geese are shot in the area of Essex County where we have an extended season but 

 the most promising experiment is being carried out in cooperation with the Lake 

 St. Lawrence Parks development where in addition to some duck management a 

 colony of breeding Canada geese has been established at Crysler Park. There were 

 1,500 in the sanctuary on April 8 which is the largest number observed in the area 

 during a spring migration. The total known gosling production on Lake St. 

 Lawrence since 1960 is 535 birds. Of these 190 were produced on the Canadian 

 side while the remainder were produced in the United States. Over 980 birds were 

 counted during the migration period in November. 



By far the greatest number of geese are still taken in the early part of the 

 season in northern Ontario. The following table indicates the number of species 

 killed in 1963. 



64 



