This weekend, our abbreviated duck hunting season ends. The reason for closing the season down earlier than we’ve become used to, is to preserve the ducks that pair up in June to begin their mating cycle. This season we’ve been encouraged to ‘go for green’, that is, to harvest mallard drakes in preference to hen birds (and presumably grey ducks also – gender is indistinguishable). I’ve been given a sneak report that according to band returns, harvest is up on last year but the harvest has been centralised on areas with water. No data on age/gender harvest was given to me.
So, is harvest up because with less time to hunt, those who do so spent more time in the field? Possible, maybe even probable. Has the increased focus on returning bands spiked the results? I don’t think so really, because normally the band data is reviewed in conjunction with the game bird harvest phone based survey so you get some normalisation of effort expended vs birds harvested. (Equally, I don’t ‘know so’). The biggest issue I see with the harvest survey is that unless guys keep a diary, it can be pretty hard to recall what you were doing on 8th May, how many hours you hunted and for how many birds.
Will we ever have an 8 week season again? Sorry to be the pessimist, but the whole population estimate is just that, an estimate. Without proof that the population is positively affected by season length reduction, then the status quo will be kept and that’s a 1 month season.
On a happier note, I’ll spend the whole of the day tomorrow and Sunday in the maimai. I’m very much looking forward to it.
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