here's a thought?

[gator]

before i begin, let me explain that i am not against a shorter season, in fact, i think that in many ways (most have already been discussed so i'll spare you) that it would be the best thing. my thought is this, it seems to me that lowering the limit would be the best alternative...my reasoning is simple multiplication - 51 x 6 = 306 and 51 x 3 = 153...one half of last years kill...the only thing i can see to be a problem is that i rarely kill the limit, so this wouldn't really cut down on my kills and from what i see...a few of ya'll never miss [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img] i realize this is kind of a compromise and we may need something drastic, but i would like to hear your thoughts on my alternative...not that anyone will listen or has asked

[tupe]

The reason that this is not an option for sound management is that the number of days in the field has more of an impact on the total harvest than the bag limit. That is because, as you said yourself, most hunters do not kill the limit every day. In order for a reduced bag limit to have a significant effect on overall harvest the beag would have to be drasticaly cut, perhaps to two or fewer.
Cutting the days is the only way to maintain a reasonable bag limit and effect the overall harvest in any meaningful way.
Not that I want a shorter season, but it is how the math works.
Personaly I think that our baghas been too high for several years now. But, that did not stop me from killing my limit when opportunity presented itself.

M.B.

[Welldoggie]

I have to agree with MB...it's days not daily limit. If we don't get to hunt past Jan 21, then that also reduces the harvest below Missouri (while those northern folks enjoy prime hunting conditions during all of their alloted days [img]images/smiles/icon_mad.gif[/img] ). And most of all when the cold weather happens relative to available days of hunting.

But if they want to reduce the limit, 3 ducks is enough for me.

Also, for those of us who hunt public areas, harvest numbers directly affected by the number of times you encounter a group of jackass skybusters....but, that's another discussion.

[jstanard]

There is also a greater potential for Outlaws to shoot over the limit and get away with it than it would be to hunt out of season.

If a warden or even a sportsman is in the area when someone is popping caps the day after the season closes, There's a good chance somebody is big trouble.

It's a lot tougher to crack down on the outlaws who are killing over their limit. If they are in the right place at the right time, they could be in and out in 30 minutes with twice the bag limit (or more).

If you happened to be hunting on one of those days when the ducks form a tornado right over your decoys, its going to be tempting to kill over your limit "just this one time". It shouldn't be a big deal, since I didn't come close to killing my limits last year right?

If I had my choice, I'd go with a smaller bag and longer season. With small children at home, it is hard to get out of the house even on weekends, (much less weekdays when the kids have to be picked up from school, daycare, etc). For personal reasons, I'd like the season to include as many weekends as possible. But I'm willing to admit that a longer season could be a detriment to the ducks.

If we do get a smaller bag - regardless of the length of season, be sure to bring your camera, so that you can keep on "shooting".

[gator]

i agree w/ all points and like jstanard, it is more for personal reasons that i would prefer a longer season and a lower limit, but i'll take what i can get...bring on 30/3 and it'll be the best 30 days of the year [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

[HDC]

Are there any studies that show that the number of ducks taken by hunters (under todays guidelines, exlcuding the old days of market hunters) have any recognizable effect on the following year's numbers? It's my understanding that nobody has ever been able to show that number of ducks killed by hunters one year has any significant effect on the number of ducks in the following year.

[tupe]

I can not quote them "chapter and verse" but from what I unerstand from my reading the studies have not been conclusive either way.
One thing is for sure, dead ducks don't breed.

M.B.

[RedEyed Duck]

My wife is saying heck yeah go with the shorter season. Me personally, well I would prefer the longer season with the reduced bag limit. No matter what happens I'll be out there in the woods as often as possible!

[tupe]

I guess maybe I didn't explain well enough. In order for us to be able to have a long season and a reduced bag limit the bag reduction would have to be drastic, around two ducks or less. Now, that might serve to reduce the overcrowding problem, but the hit funding would take from the decreased lisc. and stamp sales would be a disaster.
Under AHM, the current system by which waterfowl seasons are defined, regulatin is designed to allow the maximum harvest of the available resource. Though I know it is oft quoted that"you can't stockpile ducks" the truth is we have never tried.
What I might suggest would be a moderation of limits even during high productionyears to see if in fact taking less during high brood count / wet cycles could have a positive impact on sustaining high concentration of waterfowl through dry times such as we are seeing now.
People often sight the long term average and say that as long as we are near or above it we should keep limits high and seasons long. But think about it, as the overall population falls, so does the average, sure it is a slow effect but as populations decline over a long term so will the average.
Now, if that is the case, why is it considered sound management to hervest the highest # of birds when the numers are only near average.
I will stop there for now as I fear I may be getting a bit muddy in my thoughts. I guess what I am wondering is, if during those years of high population we had set our bag limit at say, four birds total, might we now not be facing such a drastic reduction in our seasons and bag limits?
Just a thought.

M.B.

[Welldoggie]

one more thought...to have the best chance of reducing harvest numbers (other than a sucky season like last year) number of days seems to be the most feasible to police. I have met folks who have no problem whacking and stacking and leaving behind all but a limit. Much harder to glass ducks falling and catch 'em than waiting for trucks at the road near shooting.

[jstanard]

That's exactly what I'm sayin' welldoggie. Don't forget that alot of private leases aren't close to public roads, and the access roads are usually gated to keep poachers out (or at least make 'em walk). Makes it even harder to enforce bag limits.

M.B., I'm not questioning your reasoning...just pointing out that drastically reducing the bag is going to create a lot of outlaws and thus might still not achieve the desired results.

I have no intention of becoming one, and I don't think that the members of this board are the type either, but we make up a small handful of Mississippi hunters.

[tupe]

Like I thought, all my rambeling has my point a bit unclear. So here it is...

You ar ecorrect, shortening the season is the most effective way to reduce the overall hunter harvest, second however is that I personaly believe that we were over harvesting for the last few years, yeah it was fun, and I had more than my share of limit out days, but truth be known I would have been just as happy if I had left the field withmy limit if it was four rather than six birds.
I most likely won't make any friends with this kind of talk but I just don't see any need for more than a four bird bag. Mind you I lived out west at one point and had a SEVEN mallard limit, talk about crazy.
It might be worth the effort to voice our opinions to those who have the power to change things, USFWS et al. As many of you have said I would rather have more days out there and a lower bag, the only way that I see that as possible is to not have such high limits at the top end of the scale. If you read the way the AHM works, doing so would increase the likelyhood of "liberal" seasons, if what defined a liberal season was more days but with a moderated bag throughout the entire framework.

M.B.

[peewee]

M.B. Waters I agree with you on the 4 limit thing. I am tickled to death if I get to harvest 4 of them boogers.

[Doc & Nash]

I kinda like the 4/45 but the 3/30 would be great if it ran from Jan 1-30. As we all know there are not any ducks around during December anyway.