Duck identification and regulation preferences among waterfowl hunters: a pre-assessment of the Tier II bag limit

ABSTRACT

Tier II bag limit regulations were developed to lessen constraints to participation by new duck hunters. By opting for the three-duck bag limit, hunters would not be subject to the species and sex-specific regulations of the six-duck limit. We surveyed hunters in Nebraska and South Dakota to gain an understanding about how Tier II regulations would be received by the current waterfowl-hunting population. We found that less experienced hunters stated they had greater difficulty identifying ducks and were more likely to use Tier II than experienced hunters. A significant proportion of new waterfowl hunters may make use of Tier II, and these regulations may relieve hunting constraints in a meaningful way. Wildlife agencies may want to consider how hunters transition between bag-limit regulations from year-to-year and consider means to integrate Tier II into hunter R3 efforts.

KEYWORDS:

• duck hunting
• hunting constraints
• Nebraska
• regulations
• South Dakota

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to all the hunters who responded to our survey and generously contributed their time and information to this study. Thank you to all the members of the Central Flyway and Harvest Management Working Group who worked to develop and approve the introduction of the two-tier system. We thank our reviewers who provided helpful comments, feedback, and editorial assistance that allowed us to improve earlier versions of this manuscript. MPG was supported by Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration W-130-R, administered by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC). CJC was supported by Hatch funds through the Agricultural Research Division at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and from Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration project W-120-T, administered by the NGPC.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).