Goose production for the State was 24 per- 
cent above 1962 and 36 percent above the long- 
term average, 
Duck production was judged to be excellent. 
for southern Idaho, with favorable weather 
and water conditions prevailing. 
CENTRAL FLYWAY 
WATERFOWL KILL SURVEY 
An estimated 439,200 ducks were bagged in 
the Central Flyway during the 1962-63 water- 
fowl season, a decrease of 48 percent from 
the previous season (table A-8). An addi- 
tional 131,700 ducks were knocked down but 
not retrieved, for a total kill (bag plus 
cripples) of approximately 570,900 ducks. 
Analysis of the total Flyway duck bag by 
species, as derived from data provided by 
the Duck Wing Survey, shows that the bag of 
mallards (203,200) comprised 46 percent of 
the total bag of all species, The bags of 
green-winged teal (43,200), pintail (46,900), 
gadwall (35,800), and American widgeon 
(29,500), together with mallards comprised 
83 percent of the Flyway bag of all ducks. 
All species of ducks registered sharp 
decreases in bag as comparedtothe previous 
season, except for gadwall which registered 
an increase of 29 percent and wood duck 
which registered an increase of 6 percent, 
The total Flyway goose bag ofan estimated 
156,700 birds dropped 24 percent from the 
previous season, An additional 27,500 geese 
were knocked down but not retrieved, for a 
total kill (bag plus cripples) of approxi- 
mately 184,000 geese (table A-9). All States 
registered sharp decreases in total goose 
bag as compared to the previous season, 
except Oklahoma and Montana (no change). 
These decreases primarily were due to a 
reduction in the number of active hunters, 
for the average seasonal goose bag per 
hunter increased in many of the States, 
An estimated 10,100 coots were bagged in 
the Flyway, a decrease of 26 percent over 
the previous season, An additional 7,900 
coots were knocked down but not retrieved. 
yielding a total kill (bag plus cripples) of 
about 18,000 coots. 
All States registered substantial decreases 
in the total duck bag with the exception of 
North Dakota (411%) (table A-10). The in- 
crease in the duck bag of this State was due 
to a slight increase in the number of active 
hunters and a moderate increase in-*the 
average seasonal duck bag. 
A total of approximately 161,000 waterfowl 
hunters were active during an estimated 
997,000 hunter-days, registering decreases 
in these estimates of 30 and 23 percent 
from the previous season, | 
WING COLLECTION SURVEY 
Flyway-wide age ratios of the more im- 
portant species of ducks in the killduring the 
1961 and 1962 hunting seasons are listed in 
table B-2, Eight of the 12 species for which 
comparisons between years could be made 
showed a decrease in the ratio of immature 
to adult birds in the kill. Mallard age ratios 
in the Central Flyway (table B-3) were again 
the lowest in the Nation, although most States 
26 
in the Flyway did show an increase in the 
ratio of young to adult birds in the kill in 
1962. Species composition in the Flyway 
kill is shown in table B-5. The percentage 
of the total kill consisting of mallards de- 
creased from 54 to 49 percent in 1962, 
lesser scaup decreased from 6.6 to 2,5 
percent, while ringnecks increased from 1.7 
to 2,3 percent of the total kill, 
