Feds change way they set seasons

[JABIII]

Duck and goose hunters will know by opening day this fall what kind of a duck season they can expect in 2016 – dates, bag limits and all.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is changing the way waterfowl hunting seasons are decided.

Beginning this September, federal frameworks for waterfowl seasons will be established by the end of the preceding year instead of the current rush-to-judgment from July to early August, deadlines states need to publish their regulations in time for opening days,

In other words, 2016 seasons will be aired this September and October and in the federal register by December with states taking up season-setting next spring.

There is no change in the procedure for 2015, with seasons due to be set by late July.

Currently, flyway biologists have to wait until spring nesting surveys are completed across Canada and the United States, then base their season recommendations on current counts of nesting ducks, largely dependent upon adequate water and marsh/wetland nesting habitat.

Those counts will still be conducted, but will no longer factor into the current year's hunting, which will already have been decided.

Brandon Reishus, waterfowl biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said goose-hunting seasons also will be decided in the same time frame. It's easier to set goose seasons in advance because they don't depend nearly as much on spring nesting as they do on three-year average population estimates.

Duck seasons, he said, have a 50-year history of nesting ground surveys and biologists believe they can adequately adjust subsequent seasons if marshes and wetlands suffer dry periods the year before.

He said while biologists are a little uncomfortable about deciding seasons in advance, without knowing water conditions in prairie Canada and Alaska – the major duck factories – "I don't see any drastic changes."

Current water and wetland conditions in Canada look good for nesting ducks in the West, not so good in the East, he said.



Read more: http://billingsgazette.com/lifestyle...#ixzz3ZvpNvXOc

[Rubberhead*]

In a certain way, it's a good change. I've often thought we should delay increases for a year before allowing an bump up in days or bag limits. Case in point the 2-canvasback season and the 4-scuap season. The USFWS was quick to increase the limit but in both cases the populations crashed because yearling birds were being taken out of the population before their first breeding season. My opinion is that it would be best to let the first population surge to have at least one shot at breeding before the internal limit is adjusted. This might offer a greater chance at a sustained population comeback.

But, it would still be wise to quickly lower days and bag limits if the population is down enough. We should know before the hunting season if the current population of canvasbacks, for example, can sustain a full 1-bird limit for the full season length. If not, the season should be shortened or reduced.

Just my opinion, but I think the new proposal is slightly better than what we have and will help the season setting process flow more smoothly.

[Catdaddy]

If the farmers completely switch to winter wheat like predicted and trending, all this will be irrelevant,.............except in an extreme drought situation.