For the first time since the drought conditions of the late 1980s and early 1990s, there is a sizable force of duck hunters concerned about the sport. A lack of consistent success afield has caused far too many hunters to surrender to the notion that duck hunting’s glory days are in our past. And it’s not only a lack of birds harvested – fewer ducks have been seen in the sky or in other haunts that previously were slammed full.
I experienced the 30-day, two-mallard limit days of the late 1980s and early 1990s during my college years. These seasons began on Thanksgiving weekend, ended in the first week of January and went by in a flash. However, the current framework, which extends hunting until the bitter end of January (with a faction of hunters begging for February), has not led to increased success on a broad scale. Studies have shown that hunting past mid-January has a detrimental effect on ducks, yet this practice continues all in the name of hope.
But hope is not a strategy for wildlife management.
The desire to hunt late is fueled by a misconception that the ducks are just arriving. A bulk of our “big ducks” show up around Halloween, then another good push in mid-December, and that is it. The January cold front push is becoming a myth. The winter of 2024 proved this point as a significant winter blast hit almost the entire middle third of the country, and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission recorded its lowest mallard count since 2009 after the lockup. Missouri recorded its highest mallard population during that same period. The ducks flat-out didn’t show up with that epic cold snap. So, if they didn’t push here in mid- to late January with that epic cold, will they ever?
Hunting to the end of January is the most egregious example of the hunter being put before the duck in making a regulatory decision. After listening to his home state’s waterfowlers complain that their duck season ended before the ducks showed up, Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott ran a controversial end around of the waterfowl science community in the late 1990s and early 2000s, extending the duck season to Jan. 31.
Arkansas pushed forward with hunting until the final Sunday, but hunters complained that perceived optimal days were left on the table when the 31st fell midweek or later. For the 2019-20 season, Arkansas locked in Jan. 31 as the end date and hasn’t looked back, regardless of when the 31st falls on the calendar. This coming season will end on a Friday. Boo.
Hunters all desire to have more enjoyable days chasing ducks than not – myself included. But the collective is going about it all wrong. Too many hunters lobby, complain and desire things that benefit the hunter without considering the impact on ducks. Social media, message boards and Arkansas Game and Fish Commission surveys bear this out year after year. Unfortunately, not enough resource-first-thinking hunters participate in the AGFC surveys, and regulations keep steering toward opportunities rather than what is best for waterfowl.
The opportunity-first hunter wants hunting until Jan. 31, regardless of its impact on breeding pairs, and to hunt every day of January, without breaks to ease pressure on the ducks. The Wildlife Management Area hunters want their trees left alone and water all season despite the destructive impact of undesirable trees and water on nondormant trees. The WMA hunters purportedly wanted spinning wing decoys allowed on state-managed grounds, despite a majority of hunters knowing those devices fall short in terms of fair chase and will lead to longer crippling shots made on treetop ducks.
With the midcontinent mallard breeding population at its lowest point since 1993, now is the time for hunters to stop thinking about their own decoy spread and put the ducks first. Now is not the time for hunters to be greedy or for regulatory agencies to cater to what the public wants. Not since the early 1990s have ducks needed us as hunters to put them first.
Hunters can self-impose rules. By making sacrifices, we may avoid the dreaded 30-day season. Some duck clubs are imposing three mallard limits. Others are making efforts to lay off hen mallards and strictly manage when vehicles and boats can be on property. We can ease the pressure on ducks.
Now is the time to do what is right by the resource first and the hunter second. Resource first is how the population bounces back and hunting improves. Hunter-first mentality hasn’t worked. It all boils down to this: Do you love ducks or just love killing them?
