Outdoor News Daily

MADISON – Variable spring habitat conditions observed in the United States and Canada present a mixed picture for the fall 2009 waterfowl seasons in Wisconsin, according to the state waterfowl biologist. Preliminary information shows areas ranging from very good wetland conditions to very dry. Wildlife managers will have a better understanding of what impact these conditions had on actual breeding waterfowl numbers when they finish compiling and analyzing spring waterfowl breeding surveys.

Three primary sources of information on yearly waterfowl breeding conditions are used to determine the fall season structure for Wisconsin, according to Kent Van Horn, Department of Natural Resources migratory waterfowl biologist.
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The North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s annual spring breeding duck survey showed an index of more than 4 million birds, an increase of 18 percent from last year and 87 percent above the long-term average (1948-2008). The 2009 index is the eighth highest on record.

Pintail (up 157 percent and the highest since 1972) and northern shovelers (up 102 percent and the highest on record) showed significant increases. All other dabbling ducks except for gadwall (-42 percent) showed increases from last year (blue-winged teal, +53 percent; mallards, +43 percent; wigeon, +44 percent; and green-winged teal, +14 percent).

All diving ducks except canvasback (+96 percent) decreased from last year (scaup, -60 percent; redhead, -16 percent; and ruddy ducks, -10 percent). However, all species were well-above the long-term average.
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LAKE VILLAGE – The unofficial opening of Arkansas’s fall hunting season was one of the main topics at today’s meeting of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. As an added bonus this year, dove hunters may get extra days to enjoy their passion. The opening of dove season is the date many Arkansans point to for the fall hunting seasons in the state.

Last season, Arkansas dove hunters had a 60-day season, but under the new proposal the season would be extended to 70 days. Final approval for the seasons will take place during the Commission’s meeting in July.

Two season proposals were presented to the commission:

Mourning Dove and Eurasian Collared Dove
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will host the First Day of Sale for the 2009-2010 Federal Duck Stamp and Junior Duck Stamp on June 26 at the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World retail store in Nashville, Tennessee. Bass Pro Shops will also be sponsoring First Day of Sale events at eighteen other retail stores throughout the country that day.

The 2009-2010 Federal Duck Stamp features a long-tail duck and decoy painted by wildlife artist Joshua Spies of Watertown, S.D. Last fall, a panel of five judges chose Spies’ art to grace the new Duck Stamp from among 270 paintings at the Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest in Bloomington, Minnesota. The new Junior Duck Stamp, featuring a single wood duck, was created by Lily Spang, a 16-year-old from Toledo, Ohio.
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SPRINGFIELD, IL – Waterfowl hunters are encouraged to mark their calendars for upcoming waterfowl hunting blind site random drawings to be held at several public hunting areas in Illinois this summer.

Duck and goose hunters must register in person for waterfowl blind site drawings and must be present at the drawing – held at each location designated below immediately after the registration period – to claim their blind sites. Mail-in registrations are not accepted. Blind allocations are good for one year, except on the Mississippi River.

To participate in a drawing, applicants must present a 2008 or 2009 Illinois hunting or combination sportsman’s license and a 2008 or 2009 Illinois Migratory Waterfowl Stamp at the time they register, unless exempted by law.Applicants must be at least 16 years old by the date of the drawing. Participants should save their 2008 waterfowl stamps in case they have difficulty purchasing new stamps.
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