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At public meetings scheduled next week
for each zone, the department's Natural Resources
Advisory Board will review the staff recommendations and gather
comments from waterfowl hunters before making its recommendations
for the 2004-2005 hunting season.
The south zone
meeting will be Tuesday, Aug. 10, at 6:30 p.m. at the Mount Vernon
Holiday Inn. The central zone meeting will be Wednesday, Aug. 11, at
6:30 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Springfield. The north zone
meeting will be Thursday, Aug. 12, at 6:30 p.m. at the Best Western
in DeKalb. The focus of each meeting will be waterfowl topics
specific to the zone in which the meeting is being conducted.
Primary topics will include duck and goose season dates.
The advisory board will further
consider and act on its recommendations for the upcoming seasons at
its meeting on Aug. 18 at 7 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in
Springfield. In consultation with the advisory board, the
department's final recommendations for this year's waterfowl seasons
will be forwarded to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for
approval.
"Our recommendations regarding
waterfowl season dates, the length of seasons and the bag limits are
made with the goal of providing as much opportunity as possible
based on the best scientific information available," said Ray
Marshalla, state waterfowl biologist with the Department of Natural
Resources. "Among the factors considered in developing the
recommendations are aerial waterfowl survey data, the historical
data on average freeze-up dates and the preferences of waterfowl
hunters."
Duck
season recommendations
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is
allowing a 60-day duck season again this year with a daily bag limit
of six ducks. Federal regulations will allow 30-day seasons for
pintail and canvasback ducks.
The proposed Illinois duck season dates
are as follows:
North: Oct. 16-Dec. 14
Central: Oct. 30-Dec. 28
South: Nov. 13-Jan. 11
The daily limit is six ducks, which may
include no more than four mallards (two hens), three scaup, two wood
ducks, two redheads and one black duck.
Proposed pintail season dates are as
follows:
North: Oct. 16-Nov. 14
Central: Oct. 30-Nov. 28
South: Nov. 13-Dec. 12
Bag limit of one.
Proposed canvasback season dates are as
follows:
North: Oct. 30-Nov. 28
Central: Nov. 13-Dec. 12
South: Nov. 27-Dec. 26
Bag limit of one.
The statewide nine-day teal season is
Sept. 11-19 from sunrise to sunset. The daily bag limit is four teal
with a possession limit of eight.
Duck
population information
The total duck population decreased to
32.2 million, which is 11 percent below last year's estimate of 36.2
million birds and 3 percent below the long-term average. May ponds
in prairie Canada decreased 29 percent to 2.5 million, compared with
3.5 million last year. The 2004 mallard breeding population on
traditional surveyed duck breeding areas in Canada, the north
central United States, and the Great Lakes states of Wisconsin,
Minnesota and Michigan is 8.36 million, which is 5 percent below
last year's estimate of 8.8 million. The mallard fall flight index
is 9.4 million, compared with last year's forecast of 10.3 million
birds. The pintail population decreased 15 percent to 2.2 million,
compared with last year's 2.6 million. Pintails are 48 percent below
the long-term average for 1955-2003. Canvasbacks increased to
617,000, compared with 558,000 last year. Green-winged teal
decreased from 2.7 million to 2.5 million but still remain 33
percent above the long-term average from 1955-2003. Green-winged
teal are typically the third-most harvested duck species in
Illinois, following mallards and wood ducks.
Goose
season recommendations
Canada
goose season
The proposed Canada goose season dates
for the north, central and south zones in Illinois are:
North: Oct. 16-Jan. 9; 86 days
Central: Oct. 30-Nov. 7 and Nov.
16-Jan. 31; 86 days
South: Nov. 13-Nov. 16 and Dec. 11-Jan.
31; 56 days
In each case, an entire zone would
close early if the quota in the quota zone of that region is reached
before the scheduled end of the season.
The bag limit is two.
The quotas proposed for the regular
Canada goose season are as follows:
Statewide: 74,200, compared with
126,400 last year
North: 23,900
Northern Illinois quota zone: 15,300
Non-quota counties: 8,600
Central: 33,700
Central Illinois quota zone: 17,500
Non-quota counties: 16,200
South: 16,600
Southern Illinois quota zone: 8,600
Non-quota counties: 8,000
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Illinois will again offer a September
Canada goose season in all zones Sept. 1-15. The daily bag limit is
five geese for the northeast zone and two geese for the north,
central and south zones. Possession limits are double the daily bag
limit. Hunting hours are from one-half hour before sunrise until
sunset.
White-fronted goose season
North: Oct. 16-Jan. 9; 86 days
Central: Oct. 30-Nov. 7 and Nov.
16-Jan. 31; 86 days
South: Nov. 13-Jan. 31; 80 days
The bag limit is two in all zones.
Snow
goose and brant season
North: Oct. 16-Jan. 9; 86 days
Central: Oct. 30-Jan. 31; 94 days
South: Nov. 13-Jan. 31; 80 days
The bag limit is 20 snow geese, one
brant in all zones.
Conservation order snow goose season
North: Jan. 10-March 31
Central: Feb. 1-March 31
South: Feb. 1-March 31
No bag limit.
Hunters are reminded that the seasons
for regular snow goose -- which includes snow, blue and Ross' geese
-- and for white-fronted goose and brant will close with the Canada
goose season if the quota is reached earlier in the zone. The
conservation order snow goose season will open the day after Canada
goose season ends if the Canada goose season closes early due to the
quota being reached.
Goose
population information
The Mississippi Valley population, or
MVP, Canada geese spring population estimate was 726,979, a 27
percent increase from the 2003 estimate of 531,495. Due to survey
timing, the presence of molt migrant giant Canada geese on the MVP
nesting grounds likely contributed substantially to the apparent MVP
population increase. As a result, the total population of MVP Canada
geese may not have increased by the magnitude indicated.
A spring with late snow melt often has
a negative effect on goose nesting effort. Spring 2004 was a record
late spring for the MVP breeding grounds. The estimated number of
nests, 138,172, was 23 percent lower than in 2003, suggesting that
this year's late spring may have caused many geese to abandon a
nesting attempt. Weather conditions were unusually cold and wet
during the egg-laying, incubation and early brood-rearing periods
this spring. A strong storm in late June may have resulted in fewer
goslings surviving. Biologists suggest those are among the signs
indicating that 2004 MVP Canada goose production may be well below
average.
The breeding population objective
agreed to by the Mississippi Flyway Council's MVP Canada Goose
Committee is 375,000 breeders. The harvest strategy contained within
the MVP Management Plan recommends using a flyway quota of 200,000
when the breeding population falls between 275,000 and 325,000,
until the breeding population recovers to at least 350,000. The 2004
breeding population estimate was 276,344 breeders, compared with the
2003 estimate of 360,052. Therefore the flyway harvest quota
selected by the MVP committee is 200,000, a decrease of 33 percent
from last year.
Because Illinois hunters have been
harvesting more giant Canada geese than in the past, the statewide
harvest quota is higher this year than it would have been, given the
same flyway quota in past years. The current percentage of the
Canada goose harvest in Illinois that is attributed to MVP geese, as
based on a three-year average of harvest data from 2000-2002, is 38
percent. This figure is down from the 1999-2001 average of 44
percent. As a result, zones that harvest more MVP geese than non-MVP
geese will see larger percentage decreases in quotas from last year,
regardless of their three-year average harvest. The statewide quota
for MVP Canada geese is 28,200, while the quota for non-MVP geese is
46,000, for a total statewide Canada goose harvest quota of 74,200,
compared with 126,400 last year.
Youth
hunt
North: Oct. 9-10
Central: Oct. 23-24
South: Oct. 30-31
Bag limits are the same as during
regular seasons.
For more
detailed information on the proposed waterfowl seasons in Illinois,
check the Illinois Department of Natural Resources website and click
on an expanded version of this news release at the following link:
http://dnr.state.il.us/pubaffairs/pubaffrs.htm.
[Illinois
Department of Natural Resources
news release] |
