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Mallards, the most popular species of duck for Arkansas hunters, are down a little in numbers in northern breeding grounds. (Joe Mosby Photo) Duck hunting season to be set Saturday, Jul 12, 2008 By Joe Mosby Here we are well into July, and the guessing game is under way. No, the reference is not to how the Razorbacks will do in football and if Bobby Petrino will make fans forget there ever was a Houston Nutt. We're talking about duck hunting. It's become a summer tradition. We get the reports of the breeding grounds population surveys by U.S. and Canadian wildlife people, and we speculate on what the hunting season will be. "Have you heard" is accompanied by "60 days again" or "they're gonna cut it to 45 days" or something else that's off the wall. In reality, we have to wait a few weeks. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service customarily plays it close to the vest, although there may be some people in bureaucratic circles who pretty well know what the framework of duck hunting will be for 2008-2009. Still to come are the meetings of the four flyway councils then the announcing of the parameters of the hunting season. Finally, the wildlife agencies of each state will set the dates, the bag limits and other rules. For Arkansas, this will be on Aug. 21, when the state Game and Fish Commission meets in Little Rock. The little bit that we know at this point is that those surveys of ducks up north have found the total number of ducks is down slightly from last year but ahead of the long-term average. The individual species fluctuate quite a bit, and for most Arkansas hunters that brings forth the question of mallards, the much preferred duck across the state. The Fish and Wildlife Service said that mallard populations are 7 percent below last year. An estimated 7.7 million mallards were on traditionally surveyed areas this spring, compared to last year's estimate of 8.3 million birds. However, mallard numbers were similar to the long-term average. All right, not good, not bad overall. Probably, and take this as guesswork, the limit authorized by the Fish and Wildlife Service will remain four mallards a day, of which no more than two can be females. Arkansas in the past few years has trimmed that female limit to one per day. There may be some pressure on the Game and Fish people to allow two female mallards a day because other states have not gone along with Arkansas' conservative move. Look also for some people to urge Arkansas to remove its ban on spinning wing decoys. Other states have not followed Arkansas' lead on this issue either. The major issue for duck hunters is length of their hunting season. The division of the dates is a secondary factor. For quite a few years now, we have had a 60-day duck season in Arkansas, divided into either two or three segments. This is what the Fish and Wildlife Service terms a liberal season. The other possibilities under the North American Waterfowl Management Plan are 45 days or moderate and 30 days or conservative seasons. When the Game and Fish Commission meets in Little Rock on Thursday, it will hear recommendations for duck hunting from Luke Naylor, its waterfowl program coordinator. Naylor is looking at a 60-day season with dates of Nov. 22-Dec. 1, Dec. 6-24 and Dec. 26-Jan. 25. the youth hunt would be Jan. 31-Feb. 1. Look at these as written in pencil. The commissioners may change them, or they may ratify them as presented. Naylor's dates are a little different from last year, partly because of calendar "creep" and partly because of people wanting as much duck hunting as possible during the Christmas holiday season. There will also be a proposal to the commissioners for September Canada goose hunting to be made statewide. This early hunt for Canadas was started in 2007 for the northwest quadrant of the state. Canada geese, virtually absent from Arkansas 30 years ago, have increased in numbers all over the state. -------- Joe Mosby is the retired news editor of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and Arkansas' best known outdoor writer. His work is distributed by the Arkansas News Bureau in Little Rock. He can be reached by e-mail at jhmosby@cyberback.com. |
