In most States, the average hunter went afield two or three times 
during the experimental season. In Minnesota, where the special season 
may prove to have a unique effect on the teal population, hunters 
amassed a total effort of 68,360 days. However, the season in that 
State was only 3 days long so hunters averaged only 1.85 days of hunting. 
Table 5 shows the distribution of hunting activity within the 
season. Most hunting was on Saturdays and Sundays in all States 
except Michigan (opening day on Thursday), and Indiana and Ohio (no 
Sunday hunting). In other words, hunting effort was greatest on week¬ 
ends and opening day, or both. In the Central Flyway, the third day 
(usually a Monday) showed somewhat higher hunting pressure than other' 
week days. In general, there was an even distribution of reduced hunting 
effort throughout the week and a moderate resurgence of hunting on the 
second weekend if the season encompassed two of them. 
Hunting Kill 
Total Retrieved Kill or Harvest 
The total retrieved kill of ducks during the experimental Sep¬ 
tember teal season was estimated from the mail questionnaire survey 
to be 448,060 (table 3). In the Central Flyway, the bag was 126,810 
and in the Mississippi Flyway, 321,250. South Dakota hunters made 
the largest harvest in the Central Flyway with 46,690 ducks; the 
greatest number of birds in either flyway (151,360) was killed in 
Minnesota. 
Hu nting Success 
Seventy percent of the hunters were successful - 66 percent in the 
Central Flyway and 71 percent in the Mississippi Flyway. In the 
Mississippi Flyway, 81 percent of the hunters were successful in 
Minnesota, while in Mississippi and Kentucky only 29 and 30 percent, 
respectively, of the hunters were successful. The seemingly low 
response rate to the wing collection survey was due largely to the 
small proportion of the permittees that killed teal. 
Average seasonal duck bag per participant (table 3) was 2.6 in 
the Central Flyway, 2.1 in the Mississippi Flyway and 2.2 for both. 
Per hunter, the average duck bag was 4.6 in the Central Flyway, 3.9 in 
the Mississippi Flyway, and 4.1 together. 
Daily hunting success in the various States participating in the 
teal season is shown in table 4. In most States, about half the 
hunting trips were successful. In terms of successful hunting trips, 
there was exceptional success in the Dakotas and Minnesota; exceptional 
failure in Kentucky and Mississippi. Also the States differed substan¬ 
tially in the frequency with which hunters bagged the limit. 
8 
