
Average Checked Per Year TOTAL NUMBER CHECKED 
Area Hunters Ducks Daily Av. Hunters Ducks 
Upper Miss. Refuge 4,821 5 935 1.23 72 ,316 89 ,039 
Louisa Unit 1,064 1,458 1.37 13 ,837 18,958 
Keithsburg Unit 122 93 -76 859 651 
Oquawka Area 548 923 1.68 682 988 * 
Gardner Unit 3,227 2,258 .69 12,911 9,035 
Middleton Island 682 988 1. 4h 1 643 2,710 x 
Batchtown Unit h 029 5 5536 1.37 56,409 77,504 
Calhoun Unit 6 ,214 5 654 -90 93,219 8h ,818 
TOTAL 1.12 251,876 283 , 763 
* Oquawka Area checked only in 1957. 
#* Middleton Island (Pool 24) checked in 1954, 1955 and 1956. 
Note: Hunting on all except the Upper Mississippi Refuge was done in 
the vicinity of the units; no hunting permitted on units proper. 
Summary of Hunting Success 
During the past 15-years there has been a great variation in 
daily hunting success ranging from a high of 2.54 ducks per day 
at Keithsburg in 1955 to a low of 0.56 ducks per day at Gardner 
in 1960. The highest average recorded in any one year for the 
entire area was 1.64 ducks per day in 1949; the lowest was 0.93 
in 1958; and the overall average for the 15-year period was 1.12 
ducks per day. 
Average annual daily bags and more specific information on 
hunters checked each year are shown in table 18. 
The number of hours a hunter puts in each day while hunting 
ducks has remained fairly constant over the years, ranging from 
a minimum of 4.64 hours per hunt on the Upper Mississippi Refuge 
to a high of 6.35 hours per day at Louisa Unit. Along the entire 
river the daily hunt averages 5.26 hours. 
Perhaps the difference in hours expended is due to the type 
of hunting and the type of hunters in the various areas. On the 
Upper Mississippi Refuge most shooting is done from blinds and in 
the marshes where there is a good chance to harvest most of the 
puddlers and some of the divers. Most hunters have good equip- 
ment, particularly boats and decoys, which are needed for this 
type of hunting. Hunters there will normally take almost any duck 
that comes along, although there are some who try for certain 
species. On the lower river hunters seem to prefer mallards, and 
27 
