breeding ground surveys of singing males were made for the 

 second consecutive year on 72 randomly selected routes 

 across southern Ontario. The average number of woodcock 

 per route increased from 6.7 to 7.5 over the previous year. 



Federal surveys of migratory bird hunters estimated that 

 76,232 woodcock were taken in Ontario during the 1969-70 

 season, compared to 55,952 the year before. The average 

 bag per successful hunter was 6.1 woodcock. 



WATERFOWL MANAGEMENT 



Ciant Canada geese are being raised at many locations to 

 build the future breeding stock of wild goose populations 

 in southern Ontario. Above: these families are located in 

 the goose management unit at Holiday Provincial Park. 

 Photo by D. W. Simkin. 



About 40 fox squirrels, until now resident in Ontario only 

 on Pelee Island, were obtained from Michigan and released 

 near the border of Lambton and Kent Counties. These squir- 

 rels, larger than the grey, use more open-brown timber habi- 

 tat and should prove an interesting and sporty game species 

 if they become established. They compete but little with the 

 grey squirrel, and they have little tendency to interfere with 

 agriculture, which makes them most desirable immigrants. 



RABBITS AND HARES 



The European hare (or jack), the cottontail rabbit, and the 

 snowshoe (or varying) hare produce much recreation, par- 

 ticularly in heavily hunted southern Ontario. 



The varying hare, a cyclical species, continued to increase 

 over much of the Province. Only in certain areas, and in east- 

 ern Ontario in particular, is this species sought by hunters. 



Cottontails, European hare and varying hare were slightly 

 less available than in 1968. Lake Simcoe Forest District 

 checked 426 "rabbit" hunters who had taken 0.4 pieces of 

 game per hunter. It took an average time of 8.6 hours to take 

 one of these three species. This compares with 0.53 units of 

 game and 6.2 hours per rabbit bagged in 1968. Census work 

 on rabbits and hares in Lake Huron Forest District also indi- 

 cated that cottontails and jacks were slightly less abundant 

 than the previous year. 



WOODCOCK 



The popularity of this migratory game bird is increasing each 

 year. Because of its growing importance as a game species. 



Waterfowl management objectives in Ontario include the 

 maintenance of populations at or near levels which occurred 

 in the 1955-8 period, and the provision of sustained quality 

 recreation for hunters and non-hunters alike. 



The season was an extremely good one for those hunting 

 waterfowl in Ontario. Over the season, 123,891 residents and 

 9,081 non-residents purchased migratory bird hunting 

 permits. Estimated total harvests of ducks in Ontario was 

 928,112, an increase of about 20 per cent over 1968. The 



harvest was not quite as large as in 1967 when slightly over 

 a million ducks were taken in the Province. Mallards, black 

 ducks, wood ducks, blue-winged teal, green-winged teal and 

 ring-necked ducks, in that order, were the main species taken. 



Opening day hunting success for 1969 was above average, 

 and all Forest Districts in southern Ontario reported average 

 bags of over one duck per hunter. Some of the better areas 

 were Swastika Forest District at 1.8 ducks per hunter, south- 

 ern Lindsay District at 1.7 birds per hunter, and Tweed Forest 

 District at 1.5 birds per hunter. 



The year 1969 will be remembered as the "goose year" in 

 southern Ontario. Both Canada geese and snow geese stop- 

 ped over in most unusual numbers, across much of southern 

 Ontario, on their journey south. The stopover of snows was 

 most unusual since in most years they migrate practically 

 non-stop from James Bay to their wintering grounds in east- 

 ern Louisianna. Although no statistics are available, there is 

 little question that southern goose hunters harvested more 

 geese than usual. 



Blue and snow geese were in very much better supply on 

 the James and Hudson Bay coasts. Statistics from the Moose 

 River check station and commercial camps on James Bay 

 indicated that the 1969 blue and snow goose kill, at 19,312 

 birds, was the highest in five years. In addition 659 Canada 

 geese and 4,691 ducks were taken on James Bay. 



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