Niagara. Pheasants were not quite as numerous in the area 

 north of western Lake Ontario, and severe winter weather 

 during 1970 is thought to be responsible. Pheasants in this 

 latter area were hit hard again by weather during the winter 

 of 1970-1, and a lower population was predicted for the 

 1971 season. In the Niagara area and in Essex, Kent and 

 Lambton, the snowfall was not as severe and there was a 

 reasonable carr\over of pheasants. 



Sportnnen's clubs and 'regulated' townships continue to 

 stock birds provided by the Department. The Department 

 produced 29,800 chicks, 17,150 poults, and 7,050 fall adults. 

 The latter were used on public hunting areas across southern 

 Ontario. In addition, about 2,600 spent breeders were re- 

 leased in late spring across the southern counties. 



Under the regulated township system, pheasants are pro- 

 vided to municipalities which frequently enlist the co-opera- 

 tion of sportmen's clubs to rear and release the birds under 

 Department supervision. Municipalities, where birds were 

 reared to adults for stocking just prior to the open season, 

 had the best hunter success. Release of younger pheasant 

 stock is much less successful in putting birds in the hunter's 

 bag, and the total cost per bird bagged is much higher. 



HUNGARIAN PARTRIDGE 



The best Hungarian partridge hunting in Ontario continues 

 to be provided by the eastern Counties, but huns were at the 

 lowest levels in several years in the fall of 1970. The decline 

 was evident in the average number of birds bagged per 

 hunter day; it fell from 2.9 in 1968 to 1.4 in 1969 to 1.1 in 

 1970. Causes of periodic declines in Hungarian partridge 

 populations are not known. It is quite possible, however, 

 that this bird undergoes cyclic fluctuations of scarcity and 

 abundance much as the ruffed grouse or varying hare; only 

 continued obser\'ations will confirm or disprove this. 



Weather conditions during 1970-1 in the Kemptville area 

 were severe with snowfall at record levels. Kemptville 

 District staff live-trapped partridge from unhunted areas, 

 and a release of 24 birds was made in Sombra Township, 

 Lambton County, in the same area where 45 were released 

 the year previously. It is hoped to establish huntable popu- 

 lations of huns in every suitable area of southern Ontario. 



RABBITS AND HARES 



Ontario's "rabbits", including the European hare or jack- 

 rabbit, the cottontail rabbit, and the snowshoe or varying 

 hare, produce excellent recreation, particularly in southern 

 agricultural areas of the Province. 



The varying hare continued to increase and was obviously 

 on the upswing of its usual nine-year cycle. This species is 

 sought by hunters, particularly in eastern Ontario. 



Hunting for cottontails, European hare and varying hare 

 was more difficult in 1969-70 because deep snow came early 

 and continued to accumulate during January and February. 

 Lake Simcoe District checked 616 hunters who had taken 

 .33 "rabbits" per hunting trip. This was a slight decline from 

 the 0.40 figure obtained in 1969. 



WOODCOCK 



The popularity of this migratory game bird is increasing each 

 year. Breeding ground surveys of singing males were made 

 for the second consecutive year on over 50 randomly 

 selected routes across southern Ontario. An average of 5.15 

 woodcock per comparable route was heard, and this average 

 was the second highest of 24 states and provinces from 

 Wisconsin to the Atlantic coast, exceeded, only slightly, by 

 New Brunswick. 



Federal surveys of migratory bird hunters estimated that 

 97,906 woodcock were taken in Ontario during the 1970-1 

 season, compared to 76,232 in 1969 and 55,952 in 1968. 

 The average bag per successful hunter was 5.2, down slightly 

 from the 6.1 average the year previously. 



WATERFOWL MANAGEMENT 



Waterfowl management objectives in Ontario include the 

 maintenance of waterfowl populations at or near levels 

 which occurred in the 1956-62 period, a period of both high 

 and low population levels, and the provision of sustained 

 quality recreation for hunters and non-hunters alike. 



Preliminary figures from the Federal Government suggest 

 a small increase in the number of resident migratory game 

 bird hunting permits sold, and a slight decline in the number 

 of non-resident non-migratory bird permits sold in the 

 Province. 



Waterfowl hunters enjoyed a successful season. Although 

 unusually high numbers of local waterfowl were observed 

 in early autumn, mild and sunny weather conditions 

 throughout much of the season influenced success and pro- 

 vided good, rather than excellent, hunting. The exceptionally 

 fine weather contributed to a lower bag of snow geese on 

 James Bay; although geese were plentiful, a greater degree 

 of effort was required to bring a bird to bag. 



Pre-season waterfowl banding continued to be an im- 

 portant management activity in following trends in popula- 

 tions where, unlike western Canada, aerial and ground 

 surveys cannot provide good information on such impor- 

 tant forest nesting species as the black duck and the wood 

 duck. Over 16,000 ducks and geese were banded by the 

 Department in association with private co-operators at over 



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