The North American continent, at the time of its discovery and early
settlement, had a waterfowl population which was one of its many
wonders. So far as the evidence shows, no equal area of the earth’s
surface ever supported such vast numbers of so many different ducks and
geese, and this situation persisted to a time within the memory of
living men. Long after the end of early settlement on this continent,
hunting was free and harvest unlimited. But as the advancing tide of
settlement reached into the north-central prairie states and provinces
in the final years of the Nineteenth Century, radical changes began.
From that time on North American waterfowl habitat began to deteriorate.
Literally millions of acres of former nesting ground in the north have
now been drained and put to the plow. South of the breeding range, not
only agriculture, but industrialization and urbanization also have
steadily reduced available resting and wintering grounds.
The progressive decline in waterfowl numbers which followed these
changes in land use led eventually to the scientific management of
waterfowl. Spring shooting and market hunting were abolished in the
second decade of this century. Ten years later the federal government
undertook detailed regulation of migratory waterfowl so the annual
harvest could be made proportional to the annual production. This was
accomplished through collective effort by State, Provincial and Federal
agencies of Canada, Mexico and the United States to obtain scientific
information. In keeping with biological principles, most of the
restrictions on bag limit and means of taking have been used with some
flexibility.
Throughout the decline of all waterfowl populations some species have
been underharvested. These species have declined in about the same
proportion as those species on which the bulk of the harvest occurred.
The Central Flyway Council feels that a refinement in waterfowl
management is possible by directing hunting pressure on these previously
underharvested species. This goal can only be accomplished through a
knowledge of species identification by the waterfowl hunter. This
booklet is a start in that direction.
In recent years most waterfowl populations have made encouraging
recoveries from the low point of the early 1930’s, when disastrous
drouths, drainage and changing land use patterns took their toll. Still
drainage continues, and industrialization is further reducing the
habitat. Hunting continues as a major sport, however, maximum
utilization of all species must be accomplished if hunting is to be
fostered at a reasonable level of freedom and enjoyment.
The very future of duck hunting depends upon a more effective
partnership between regulatory agencies and the many thousands of
gunners whom they serve. The federal agency is charged by treaty and law
with husbandry of the waterfowl resource. The State agencies assist in
the responsibility. However, they need the help of all sportsmen, and
particularly they need the understanding help of waterfowlers who know
their birds and who keep abreast of current plans for management. To
foster this essential cooperation between agencies and gunners is a
primary purpose of this booklet.