
than average, and black duck numbers decreased. The difference in trend 
of black duck numbers may be related to the fact that the major nesting 
range of these ducks does not correspond to that of the other puddlers. 
Wood duck numbers increased 23 percent, a substantial improvement 
over 1959-60. 
The general increase in the duck bag in 1960-61 apparently reflected 
a greater availability of ducks, because hunting pressure, as shown by 
the number of hunters and the number of trips per hunter, was almost the 
same as in 1959-60. Most of the general increase was produced by the 
increases in Minnesota (22 percent above 1959-60) and Wisconsin (16 per- 
cent above 1959-60). Small gains or small losses were recorded for the 
other States. 
The number of geese retrieved was estimated at 177,990 (table 1), a 
decrease of 28 percent from 1959-60. The number of Canada geese (includ- 
ing Hutchins's) retrieved declined 15 percent in the flyway as a whole, 
but declined in only six of the individual States. The greatest increase, 
75 percent, was in Missouri. This increase was the result of greater 
availability of Canada geese in Missouri, for there were fewer hunter days 
in the State in 1960-61 than in 1959-60. The number of blue and snow 
geese retrieved declined 42 percent to 52,507, and the number of white- 
fronted geese declined 63 percent to 5,650. 
The number of coots retrieved was estimated at 195,112, an increase 
of 136 percent. 
Hunter Participation During Different Parts of the Season 
To judge from the answers provided by cooperating hunters, there are 
certain fairly consistent patterns of participation in hunting. For the 
flyway as a whole, in both 1959-60 and 1960-61, hunter participation 
(table 3, column 4) was above average during the first four periods and 
below average during the last two periods. This general pattern was 
strongly influenced by data from six States (Minnesota, Lowa, Missouri, 
Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana), which provided more than 60 percent 
of the hunter responses. 
State variations of the general pattern seemed to be of two roughly 
defined types. In one group of States, more of the hunters are in the 
field in the earlier parts of the season and fewer later. In a second 
group of States, hunter participation is approximately the same in the 
different parts of the season or even greater in the last periods. In 
