Increase to Hen Mallard Limit

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Hen Mallard Limit Increase Brings - Mixed Reactions From SC Waterfowlers

by: Stuart Cochran - Article from Waterfowl and Wetlands - Winter 2010

Mallards are considered by many to be the king of all ducks. They are the most sought after and most plentiful ducks in North America. No matter if you’re in the fields of Canada or the flooded timber of Arkansas everyone is looking for a “greenhead”. For as long as most people can remember the mallard limit here in South Carolina has been 4 birds with only 1 of which can be a hen until this year when the SC Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) increased the limit to two hens.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) meets each year with representatives from each flyway (Atlantic, Mississippi, Central and Pacific) to set the various frameworks for each flyway’s season length, season dates, and bag limits. It is here at these meetings that any new data that has been collected over the past year is examined to determine if any changes in waterfowl hunting need to be made. For years the Pacific and Central flyways have had more liberal season lengths and bag limits with regard to the number of mallards that may be harvested. The Pacific flyway can harvest 7 ducks per day with all 7 being mallards and 2 can be hens. The Central flyway has the same daily limit as both the Mississippi and Atlantic flyways (6) but they can take up to 5 mallards per day with 2 being hens. The Mississippi and Atlantic flyways have had a 4 mallard limit with 2 hens for as long as I can remember. Each state within a particular flyway can choose to be more restrictive than the USFWS. They can do this by shortening the number of days in the season or they can choose to be more restrictive on the number of ducks harvested per day or by species.

The Atlantic flyway has for many years allowed states to harvest up to two hen mallards but the SCDNR has chosen to only allow its hunters to take one hen per day. South Carolina is one of only a handful of states that up until this year only allowed one hen mallard in their daily bag limit. Our typical mallard harvest is between 20,000 and 30,000 birds per year. If you compare this to North Carolina which has had a 2 hen limit for several years, they harvest between 30,000 and 45,000 per year. Other northern states such as New York typically harvest between 80,000 and 90,000 per year. Still many hunters in South Carolina believe that by keeping the hen mallard limit at 1 that it will make a difference in the number of mallards in our flyway. This however is not true because many of our mallards actually come from the Mississippi flyway where states such as Arkansas, Michigan, Illinois and Missouri harvest between 130,000 and 700,000 mallards annually. The number of mallards that we harvest here in South Carolina is insignificant compared to the number harvested by most other states. Still this does not keep hunters from wondering if increasing the bag limit is the right thing to do.

Waterfowl hunters are unlike most other hunters in that they are probably more dedicated to their sport than any other. Why else would anyone get up at 2:00 in the morning, drive for long distances, stand in the freezing water and spend exuberant amounts of money just for the chance at shooting a duck if we did not love this sport. Just as we love our sport we will do anything and everything we can to ensure that waterfowl continue to thrive across this continent. We not only do this for ourselves but for our children and grandchildren as well. We want them to have the same opportunities that we have had growing up.

Many times when new laws are passed in which more liberal limits are set many of us question the decision. We need to not only look at the here and now but to the future as well. The USFWS along with biologists and waterfowl enthusiast from all over North America use sound research along with many types of population estimates to determine what is best for the future of waterfowling. Although we might not always agree with their decisions we need to understand that what they are doing is what is best for not only the duck hunter but the ducks themselves. Just as the increase in the wood duck limit seems to have worked I believe that the increase in the hen mallard limit will have similar success without effecting mallard populations.