Following the recommendations of the four flyway councils, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approved more liberal hunting regulations for the 1999 duck season.
In the Mississippi Flyway, which …
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Following the recommendations of the four flyway councils, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approved more liberal hunting regulations for the 1999 duck season.
In the Mississippi Flyway, which includes Iowa and 13 other states, this means essentially the same season as last year with a slight bag limit change. Effective this year, the daily scaup limit has been reduced from six to three. The 6-duck daily bag limit for the 1999 season can include no more than four mallards (only two of which can be hens), one pintail, two wood ducks, two redheads, three scaup, one canvasback and one blackduck.
“This recommendation should not come as a surprise to any waterfowl hunters who heard the breeding duck population reports this past spring,” said Guy Zenner, DNR waterfowl research biologist. “Overall, the total population of breeding ducks rose by 11 percent to 43.4 million birds, a 32 percent increase over the 1955-98 average. With record numbers of July ponds recorded in some parts of the prairie pothole region, this year’s fall flight is projected to be more than 105 million birds, up from 84 million in 1998.”
“Not all duck populations, however, are doing great,” explained Zenner. “Pintail and scaup populations still remain lower than desirable and harvest restrictions will remain in place for these birds.” Mallards, green-winged teal and blue-winged teal, were at record highs this spring, while shoveler and redhead numbers were the second highest recorded since 1955.
Locally, duck production in Iowa was better than average. Above normal precipitation in April encouraged mallards, wood ducks and blue-winged teal to make a strong reproductive effort. “All indications are that better than average numbers of ducks were produced on Iowa’s wetlands this year,” said Zenner. “Given the good production here and the bumper crop of ducks coming off the prairies, we should see excellent numbers of birds migrating again this fall.”
The first split of the duck season will be open across the state during Sept. 18 - 22. The remainder of the duck season will open on Oct. 16 and run through Dec. 9. Youth waterfowl day will be held Oct. 9. Shooting hours are 1/2 hour before sunrise to sunset.
