DNR: Hunters prefer two-wood duck limit

Two wood ducks daily instead of three -- that's what the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said hunters would get this fall when wildlife officials set the state's waterfowl season and limits last week.

The season will open Oct. 3 at 9 a.m. and run 60 days. Six ducks total will be allowed daily. Of special note to hunters this fall, in addition to the unchanged wood duck limit, is the bluebill (scaup) limit, which will be two daily throughout the season, up from a limit last year that varied between one and two, depending on time of season.

Other restrictions in the six-duck Minnesota bag include no more than four mallards (total, including one hen), one black duck, one pintail and two redheads. Possession limits are twice the daily limit.

In an interview with the Star Tribune's Dennis Anderson, DNR waterfowl specialist Steve Cordts discussed the status of the wood duck in the state, and the decision to leave the bag limit unchanged at two.

Q Where do wood ducks rank in terms of hunter harvest in Minnesota?

A Last year, they were third. They're always in the top five. The Minnesota wood duck harvest last year was 79,000. We shot 81,000 ringnecks last year, and 190,000 mallards. Interestingly, during a five-year period recently, our harvest averaged just over 100,000, which was more than any other state.

Q Last year, the other 13 states in the Mississippi Flyway opted for a wood duck limit of three. Minnesota stayed at two. What happened to the flyway harvest of wood ducks as a result of the higher limit in other states?

Q How is the wood duck faring in Minnesota?

A Our surveyed area doesn't cover the whole state. It covers about 39 percent of the land base, and it's more prairie than forest. But estimates of the breeding population from that survey going back to when we started show that the breeding population has increased slightly. It's been a little bit below average the last four years. But overall, it's stable to slightly increasing. I should note, however, that the estimate comes with some caution. Wood ducks are difficult to count. Our estimate for them is not nearly as good as our mallard estimate.

Q Does Minnesota raise more wood ducks than any other state?

A Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin raise probabaly the most. But mid-latitude states raise them also. Wood ducks are monitored well across the North American landscape via our banding program, but not so well on a state-by-state basis. On the continental scale, all the surveys show them doing pretty well.

Q Does Minnesota present a unique management challenge for the DNR because the state raises a lot of wood ducks here, meaning the birds are resident vs. migratory -- and because Minnesota has so many duck hunters?

Q The DNR waterfowl committee, of which you're a member, met recently with Commissioner Mark Holsten and laid out for him the options regarding the wood duck harvest this year. You gave him the population survey data and other information, including results from an online survey from the DNR website.

A Yes, this year for the first time we asked hunters their opinions about waterfowl management issues. As it turned out, most who responded said they favored staying at two wood ducks this year again, instead of changing to three daily. The split was about 60-40. The difference between a two-duck woodie limit and three would be about 15 percent in harvest, and perhaps a little less in Minnesota. The main driver in terms of overall wood duck harvest in Minnesota is on when the opener occurs. Last year, for instance, we had our latest opener possible, on Oct. 4. That's going to cut into harvest, because some wood ducks have migrated by then.