News Break

BY CHRIS YOUNG
Those without a duck hunter in the family might think of the phrase “wait until next year” as the sole property of fans who follow struggling sports teams.

But hope springs eternal for diehard waterfowl hunters, too. No matter how disappointing the hunting may have been in the past, a new year is cause for hope and optimism.

Helping fan a hunter’s enthusiasm — or worry — are the numbers published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service each summer concerning duck populations and habitat conditions.
During May and early June, biologists fly over the primary duck breeding grounds in the north-central United States and Canada to estimate the number of wetlands available. They also estimate the number of ducks using these areas. They’ll take those numbers into account later this summer, when meetings are held to establish season lengths and bag limits.

The Fish and Wildlife Service estimates total duck populations at 37.3 million breeding ducks, down 9 percent from last year’s estimate of 41.2 million. But this year’s number still is 11 percent above the long-term average taken from 1955 to 2007.

Ducks that improved in abundance over last year:
Green-winged teal improved slightly from 2.890 million last year to 2.980 million in 2008, an increase of 3 percent and 57 percent above the long-term average.
Redheads increased 5 percent from 1.009 to 1.056 million. That’s 66 percent above the long-term average.
Scaup, always of concern to biologists because of precipitous drops in numbers over the years, increased 8 percent from 3.452 to 3.738 million. Scaup numbers remain 27 percent below the long-term average.