Todays Duck Hunt

[Ron.C]

hey rookie Ron, awesome and great for you. Good hunt man. But your benched. Try to pass on the hen pintails. Everybody should be doing this. We are trying to see hen Pintails make a rebound as their 55 yr average is the lowest of all our ducks. I know, some a holes on other forums would like to attack me for what i just said and i'm sure someone here would like to do the same thing. Delta Waterfowl and millions of duck hunters do practice on letting the hen pintails pass. I mostly am just talking about pintails, or canvasbacks or redheads and teal. I mean i always go for the drakes and sometimes it doesn't work out. I haven't killed a hen pintail in 20 yrs. Now correct these rookie mistakes and your on your way to becoming a duck hunter And as for anyone who doesn't take voluntary restraint serious even though it's voluntary, then of course that is your choice. I'm just voicing my opinion and don't want to ruffle some Biologist a hole who thinks he knows everything. There is a guy around here who will crucify anyone talking about passing on hens. I think he got his "degree" off a cereal box and just wants to try to impress people which isn't impressive at all. Oh, and how bout that! my first post. Not very impressive!

Yes I'm new to waterfowling but lighten the hell up. You said yourself and I quote "I always go for the drakes and sometimes it doesn't work out. Sure you say you haven't shot one in over 20 years. Is it not realistic that a rookie can make mistakes as you call it? And is that not part of hunting? I bet when you started out, you were no different then I. And as for trying to target drakes, guess what. That is exactly what I was trying to do and I winged the hen. So be it. Look at my bag, the rest of my ducks were drakes. Not that it was an ethics thing, but I was getting lots of birds after I re set my decoys and I didn't want my day to end too fast so I was trying to be more selective and focus on one bird at a time "a drake". But my shooting is in no way "precise" at this point. Who cares, I was having a great time.
And that is besides the point. To my knowlege, there is nothing illegal about shooting a hen pintail.

As for me correcting my rookie mistakes so I can get on my way to becoming a duck hunter, whatever. I had as much fun on my last two duck hunts then I have had on any other big game hunts in recent memory. Why, because I didn't take it too seriously and I was just out for the enjoyment of it and the hope to get shooting. Nothing more. I laughed my ass off when I scared the geese into the next county. Sure it was a mistake, but I'm fine with it.

By the way, welcome to HBC.

[foggyhunt]

Voluntary Restraint (VR) is a Delta program that promotes and fosters a quality ethic amongst waterfowlers. VR was initiated in 1989, when waterfowl populations were at an all time low and hunters were leaving the sport. VR asks hunters to focus harvest on drakes, especially among sensitive species like pintails, canvasbacks, and bluebills.VR is based on the premise that in most duck species, drakes outnumber hens, and that focusing the harvest on drakes and passing on hens may have the potential to improve the number of hens returning to the breeding grounds each spring.
Hens do all the important work in the duck world. They are entirely responsible for laying a clutch of eggs, incubating them until hatch, and caring for the newly hatched brood. As such, efforts to focus harvest to drakes should be encouraged.
Delta recognizes that there is a long running debate about the impacts of hunting harvest. However, the wide spread adoption of a Voluntary Restraint conduct has no negative consequences, and many hunters today have adopted the “Look for the Drakes” philosophy. While it is unclear what biological implications this may have, it is an issue of personal choice and perhaps the hen not harvested will return to the breeding grounds and contribute to next year’s fall flight.
If you are a waterfowl hunter, try to uphold these top VR standards:

1. Focus your harvest on drakes of all species, not just mallards.
2. Practice good field identification techniques: learn to differentiate between species and sexes in flight, position yourself with the sun at your back, use decoys, and wait for birds to come within range. Focus on identification of birds at all times, especially during low light conditions. (Test your identification skills with our Duck Quizzes)
3. Make every possible effort to avoid losses. You can greatly increase the number of ducks retrieved by hunting with a well-trained dog.
4. Lead by example. Take a young person duck hunting, and help them improve their identification skills. Encourage your peers to use good conduct in the field and be ambassadors for waterfowling.
5. Support waterfowl conservation efforts by joining organizations such as Delta Waterfowl, and other waterfowl organizations.

[lorneparker1]

Are you for real? I am sorry you take Delta' word as the gospel. Did you not read the link i put up?

In 1989, Delta Waterfowl adopted a program that encouraged hunters to shoot fewer hens, called “Voluntary Restraint.” It came on the heels of a string of poor hatches and a sharp drop in overall duck numbers. The goal was to boost survival of hens and ultimately rebuild duck populations on the backs of those additional females that survived hunting season. Since then, a legion of hunters turned voluntary restraint into a religion. Not only do they refuse to shoot a hen, they chastise others who pull the trigger on anything but a drake. Whether a result of peer pressure or a conservation ethic, there is no question hunters are selective about what they shoot. A 1991 survey of Illinois waterfowlers showed 74 percent avoid shooting hen mallards. According to wing survey data, hunters kill between two to three drake mallards for every hen they harvest. That ratio has been relatively stable for at least 20 years.
But what about ducks whose sexes look alike? Male and female black ducks are nearly impossible to distinguish, which explains why an equal number of each gender are killed each year. Based on the “dead hens don’t lay eggs” mantra used by so many conservation-minded hunters, it would seem logical that black duck populations would be struggling. But they aren’t. Although black duck populations are well below long-term averages, due largely to the continued loss of winter habitat, their numbers have been relatively stable for the past 15 years.
There are no studies that have specifically examined the effects of VR on duck populations, but many biologists agree it has little measurable effect.
“If you look at species with sex-specific harvest restrictions—and there’s only one: mallards—you will see that there are no discernible differences in long-term population trends compared to species that don’t have sex-specific harvest restrictions,” says Louisiana Department of Fisheries and Wildlife waterfowl study leader Larry Reynolds.
That is because hunting plays a minor role in duck mortality. Graphs of most duck populations generally follow the same zigzag pattern as the amount of water on the primary nesting grounds. So does the number of ducks killed by hunters. Good nesting conditions in the spring, not a decline in harvest the previous fall, equal more birds.
“Studies have shown that hunting-specific mortality of hen mallards is about 7 or 8 percent. In other words, 93 percent of all hen mallards are unaffected by hunting regulations. The annual mortality rate from all causes is about 40-45 percent for hen mallards, and thus hunting accounts for probably less than 20 percent of annual mortality,” says Reynolds.

The NUMBER 1 thing you can do for ducks, Is have more duck hunters. And if this is how you preach to someone brand new to the sport you are the complete opposite of what these Organizations look for in members and are a disgrace to all "waterfowlers" I am curious what chapter of Delta do you belong to?

Lorne

[Ron.C]

I read both replies. The "Voluntary Restraint" POV as well as the information Lorne has posted.

Seems to me like in any other type of hunting there are different camps that beleive different things. Take shooting does/fawns for example. Some think this is bad for the species, others say it has no impact, and some just don't care either way. And like shooting does /fawns, there always seems to be conflicting "research" that each camp uses to justify their position and try to sway the new hunters opinion to their side.

Here is what I say, the best thing for all of us hunters regardless of what we choose to hunt is to increase hunter numbers. Period. I have been guilty of it myself when I get "too serious" and lose touch with why I hunt and jump on the "new guy" for making a rookie mistake. This is the quickest way to kill someones interest in the sport or discourage him/her from getting involved on a bigger scale.

Foggyhunt, I do see your point and don't entirely disagree, but the way you made it has left a bad taste in my mouth wrt "Delta Waterfowl" and makes me think your organisation is some what of an elitist group that I want no part of.

Let those new to a particular type of hunting enjoy the sport for what it is.

[BiG Boar]

Yeah I got that same bad taste for delta waterfowl now. Not because of the hen shooting affecting the population, but the way you approached it with a higher than thou approach. All sorts of anti hunter on here that if they can divide hunters, they will. You're as bad as them now in my books, because you're doing exactly that.

[Dano]

Delta Waterfowl is a great organization. Unlike Ducks Unlimited, they will fight for the rights of hunters and fight to keep areas open to hunting and work to open areas that are closed. They also do work like DU on habitat and nesting sites. You'll see mallard nesting tunnels that were put up by Delta Waterfowl in the Pitt and Delta/Ladner areas.
There's lots of good work done by Delta Waterfowl, it's made up of all types of guys like those who use this site. They include hunter's interests in the work they do and we should all appreciate the fact that they are looking out for us.

Back to the post,.... nice birds! My only advice to all new hunters would be to remember we have a limit of only 4 pintails out of your daily limit of 8 so once you have knocked down a couple pintail, you really have to be careful and make a good duck ID on you next shots.
Dano

[Ron.C]

Back to the post,.... nice birds! My only advice to all new hunters would be to remember we have a limit of only 4 pintails out of your daily limit of 8 so once you have knocked down a couple pintail, you really have to be careful and make a good duck ID on you next shots.
Dano

Good point, and that's exactly why I stopped when I shot my last Pintail. My bird ID still needs work and I didn't want to shoot a 5th by accident.

In any case, will be back out this Friday morning to try again

[fowl language]

good on you for stopping at 4 if your not sure of your identification..as for delta waterfowl ,like dano said they are hunter friendly unlike other organizations.they gave us huge support when we put on our delta banquets in richmond and very supportive when we started to oppose area closures for hunting and guided us along as we had never done it before.if it wasn,t for delta helping us keep langley open,other municipalities were watching to see the out come .you all owe them a debt of gratitude...... as for telling a newbie how he should shoot because this is your belief,if there was a shortage of hens in any species we would have a reduced limit on that species.our biologist do as good a job with waterfowl as money allows and i know of many that tend meetings at their own cost because they believe.i believe there needs to be science based decisions to mantain a balance of nature and surplus allowable harvest. there are more pintail in the delta then i,ve seen in along time.i realize it,s only one area ,but have seen a number of pintail on this forum.......dale

[foggyhunt]

Are you for real? I am sorry you take Delta' word as the gospel. Did you not read the link i put up?



The NUMBER 1 thing you can do for ducks, Is have more duck hunters. And if this is how you preach to someone brand new to the sport you are the complete opposite of what these Organizations look for in members and are a disgrace to all "waterfowlers" I am curious what chapter of Delta do you belong to?

Lorne

I was only throwing some Encouragment Rookie Ron's way. The rest of you twits chill out.

[Duck Buster]

I was only throwing some Encouragment Rookie Ron's way. The rest of you twits chill out.

If encouragment to you is talking down and belittling a guy for having a great hunt than we can all do without your style of encouragment, then you go and call the rest of us who defend Ron "twits" this is not a good way to sway people to your views and opinions. I think from now on I will just regard everything you say as BS regardless of the post since I am only a twit and probably won't be able to understand what a high brow fella like you is saying anyhow. In the mean time I think I will make my next limit all brown just for you......

Happy New Year everyone.